Are games becoming too violent?

[Wojtas]

Sqrl said:
It should not be the responsibility or burden of the public at large to help parents raise their children. Nor should anything but the profitability of the game determine how violent is too violent. People need to start taking responsibility for their own lives, their own actions, and their own children.


2) we should not be desensitizing ourselves to this kind of violence:

The point we start making decisions for other people just because we feel we know what is best for them is the probably around the point we need to rethink our system of government. I think we are already going to far in the US when places like CA outlaw smoking bars. This is a slippery slope and its a steep slope at that. Just a little quote for some of you folks who may not have read it in a while....

"....Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it..."
-United States Declaration of Independence - Preamble

My point here boils down to this, if people don't want this kind of game then they will not buy it, and the genre will collapse and cease to exist. By banning or outlawing this type of stuff you are telling your people "we don't trust you to make informed intelligent decisions". And honestly if we are allowing people who would vote for this kind of ban into office I don't know that I could disagree with that sentiment....

Let the markets determine what is acceptable, by letting the customer decide what they want. Its as simple as that.

 Dude, don't go political on this. Still i can't agree with you when you say that you need to rethink the governmental system when some of your rights are being neglected or removed. Your freedom ends there where it infringes the freedom of others. That is THE most important rule of democracy. Another thing is that I see most americans as people that have been spoiled with too much freedom. So if there are ratings that say specifficaly what kind of people have the right to play a certain game, and if the people neglect these ratings then it is only normal that governments would issue laws to make the people obey and act accordingly to these ratings.Or with any other type of media for that matter.

It bubbles down to psychology as when there are certain rules that you should follow which you decide to dismiss you create a feeling, however subtle, that you are above some rules.

One more thing, if you think that the US, one of the most powerful countries of the world, wouldn't even dare to try and take control over the average Joe's behaviour, tastes etc, then you are very much mistaken.