More Stupid Politicians

Posted by Stropp on February 28, 2009

I just saw this press release from the European Parliament. Apparently the intelligentsia of the European political elite want all game consoles, computers, and other game devices to be fitted with a “Red Button.” This is so parents can intervene in their children’s gaming activities to quickly disable a game if they see inappropriate content.

/em forehead-slap

Seriously. Where do they get these people? Does become a member of parliament require having five sixths of the brain removed? Or is there training involved in becoming this stupid?

First of all, Mr Politician, the console, computer, or other gaming devices that you speak of already have a button that can quickly disable the game. It’s called A POWER SWITCH. It may not actually be red, but perhaps you can mandate that all new gaming devices can paint their on/off switches red. Will that do it for you? Perhaps you can deliver small tins of red acrylic paint to all households in Europe to allow parents to paint their own power switches. Could help.

Next, do you seriously want to include an additional Red Button on all computers? Even those used by business? Not everyone plays computer games, the poor misguided fools, so where is the sense in adding the additional expense of design, development, and QA to the average PC. Money is tight these days… you know?

Finally. What make you think that the average parent will even use this big Red Button, let alone even care that little Johnny is playing a virtual killer? Parents already have everything they need to know for how to choose what their little darlings can read, view, or play. There are reviews, voluntary ratings, even word of mouth. People these days don’t live in isolation from the world around them.

The fact that a lot of parents don’t care if their eight year old is playing GTA IV, killing hookers, and drinking Hot Coffee means that any attempt to make it easier to shut this down, is doomed to fail.

The parents that do care, are already using the power switch to control their child’s gaming. There’s no need for any more hoops.

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