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Topics - ezknight.okceca

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Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States took up a case from California. This Case involves a law that was passed in 2005 that would regulate the sale of violent video games to minors. The video game industry, represented by the ESA, has challenged this law in federal court. Twice it has been ruled unconstitutional. It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide once and for all.

The Entertainment Consumers Association has issued a petition that they want all people who play games to sign. This petition puts to voice of the people behind the defense of the game industry from this law. I have already put my name on it and I think you should as well.

Here are my thoughts on why.

First of all, you will be hard pressed to find anyone that honestly thinks that kids should be able to play any game they want regardless of content. So this does not factor in my decision to support the petition.

The main issue is that the government will be regulating speech, something that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States says they cannot do. The is the #1 reason why the game industry and the ECA is fighting this law. There is no other reason that rises above this.

Reason #2 is that it is the parents’ responsibility to regulate their children’s gaming, not the government or retailers. They have been given all the tools they need to ensure their kids only play games they approve.

All game consoles have Parental controls so that parents can limit the types of games that their children play by rating. So if the parent doesn’t want their kid playing M rated games, they can set the controls to only allow T rated and under games.

Then there are the ESRB ratings which give the parents the ability to see what content the game contains and decide if their children should be allowed to play it.

Finally all game consoles have what we like to call the power button. If a parent finds their kid play a game they are not supposed to be playing they can turn off the console.

All these tools are available for parents to use when choosing games for their kids. If you get on a session of Gears of War or Modern Warfare 2 and hear 10 year olds playing, that is because the parents chose to let their kid play those games. They made that decision through any number of ways.

They either bought the game for the kid, didn’t set the parental controls, didn’t review the game the kid bought or do not monitor their child’s game playing.

How will this law compensate for that? If the kids are getting their parents to buy the game and the parents don’t care what the game is, what will this law accomplish aside from being a road block for game developers and retailers?

Reason #3, the games industry is already doing a great job at self regulation. Retailers have already put in place voluntary policies to not sell M rated games to minors. These are the exact same voluntary policies they have with movies that are rated R. To show how effective these voluntary policies are, the Federal Trade Commission regularly tests the effectiveness of the system.

The FTC’s 2008 Retail Secret Shopper survey found that 80% of children we being blocked from buying M rated games with Gamestop leading the pack at 94% compliency. This shows that game retailers are taking it seriously and doing so voluntarily.

Reason #4, there are no solid measurements of what constitutes a violent game. None. That decision is given to a handful of politicians to decide. So any game could be considered violent enough depending on who is reviewing the game. One city could find a game violent while another city would not. A city might think a game is violent while the Attorney General would not. All this confusion would make it difficult for a game retailer to decide which games they can sell to minors and which they can’t. Eventually they could decide that it is better to not carry certain games because the risk of fines and lawsuits would be too great. By doing that, they will be preventing some developers from marketing their games. If game developers cannot find retail space, they will decide to make “safe” games.

If you want to see this in action, look at games rated AO. Almost all retailers have chosen not to sell AO rated games. All 3 major consoles have decided not to license AO rated games. How many AO rated games have been made since those decisions? 24. That is all. Of all the 18,944 games rated by the ESRB only 24 are rated AO. All this because retailers and console manufacturers have decided they want nothing to do with them.

If you think that this will not happen if this law is passed, you are sadly mistaken.

For another example, you should research the Comics Code Authority and what it did to the comics industry. It is not a pretty picture and I would hate to see that happen to the games industry.

That is why I support this petition and you should as well

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General Chat / ECA Recruiting Contest: Ends June 30th
« on: April 13, 2009, 10:36:10 pm »
The ECA is holding a Chapter Recruiting contest between now and June 30th. The first three Chapter Presidents who submit the correct names, emails and date registered of all members between January 5th and June 30th this year will receive prize money and a mystery gift basket.

There are three prizes to be had. For the first President to submit 10 members gets $100 and a gift basket. 15 members gets $150 and the gift basket. 21 members gets $210 and a gift basket.

The contest rules state that you must be a new member, not a renewal. I must know your full name, email and date you registered. The person must also be living in Oklahoma to count for our numbers.

I am really excited for this contest. So far we already have 15 members signed up just this past Saturday at OEGE. Just 6 more and we have the biggest prize.

As an added incentive, everyone who has signed up since January 5th and those who sign up from now till June 30th, will have their name put in a drawing for their pick of something from the gift basket. Further, anyone who recruits a member and sends me their name email and date registered and I verify that you recruited them, will also have their name put in the drawing.

Don't know what will be in the basket, or how many items, but the ECA is known for their great prizes.

So get that information to me and we will win this contest.

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General Chat / ECA Officers Request
« on: March 30, 2009, 04:21:43 pm »
Hey all you Oklahoma City Chapter members. I am putting out a call to everyone.

I am looking to get a couple of ECA officers going. I need one to represent the Chapter in Tulsa and One for Oklahoma City. These two officers will assist in the duties of running the ECA in those two regions.

Duties will include but not be limited to representing the ECA at events in their respective regions. Recruiting at such events and generally running things with me.

If you are interested in becoming an officer in the Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA, send me and IM or email.

Only provisions would be that one must be a member of the ECA and a member of this Chapter. If you are a member of the ECA but not this chapter, it is really simple to join, just send me an email and I will add you to my list. (I don't think there is an official way to join a chapter through the ECA just yet.) If you are not currently a member of either the ECA or this Chapter, you can still send me an email requesting to be an officer provided you join both.

Thank you.

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General Chat / The Conduit
« on: January 31, 2009, 12:36:21 am »
I don't know how many of you guys follow Wii games but there will be a game coming out sometime this year called the Conduit. http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/theconduit/index.html?tag=result;title;0

This game boasts up to 16 player matches in most multiplayer modes. Deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture  the flag.

Question is, without having any experience playing the game as it has not been released, how do you feel about it being included in game tournaments?

Edit: This should probably be moved to the FPS forum. My Mistake.


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General Chat / Rebates for Game Developers Introduced in Oklahoma
« on: January 22, 2009, 12:08:55 pm »
Senator Sykes of Oklahoma has introduced a Senate Bill that would apply rebates currently offered to movies and television to game developers. If this bill passes they will be able to get 15% of all operating costs back provided they spent a minimum of $500k and 50% of their staff are residents and employed in the state of Oklahoma.

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/2009-10SB/SB644_int.rtf

The only downside I see so far is that he includes a provision that the rebate will only apply to games rated T and below. There is no equivalent provision on TV and movies.

That is something I need to talk to Senator Sykes about.

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General Chat / OKC ECA at Mustang Tourney
« on: December 30, 2008, 09:16:52 am »
Hey everyone,

If you would like to learn more about the ECA and possibly get involved, we will be present at the Mustang Game Tourney on Jan. 24.

Tourney details:

http://www.okgamers.com/forums/index.php?topic=1881.0

We will be there signing up people for the ECA and helping to spread its cause.

We will also have a copy of Crysis Warhead to give out to one lucky member of the ECA.

Rules are simple, sign up that day or show proof that you are a member. Must be present to win.

Finally, If you are interested in becoming more involved in what the OKC chapter does, Be there. We will be holding a quick meeting of members to discuss some important issues involving this chapter. These will include but not be limited to, electing officers and throwing in your opinion on what we should do as a chapter.

Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting and toss in their opinion, but only members of the ECA will be allowed to vote on officers.

Come out to this tourney and have some fun and get involved with the ECA.

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General Chat / If you haven't already...
« on: November 04, 2008, 10:30:19 am »
Get out there and vote. That is if you are old enough and registered.  ;D

Seriously, Get out there and do it.

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General Chat / Fight Usage Caps on Broadband Internet
« on: September 17, 2008, 05:52:25 pm »
The ECA has started a campaign to fight usage caps on broadband internet. The major ISPs want to limit the amount of data that you can send over their network. This is under the guise of managing their networks. What this really is, is a cheaper way of dealing with bottle necks. Rather than upgrade their networks to handle more data, they are simply limiting the data able to be transmitted.

As a gamer, or even just an internet user, this can have severe repercussions. With games becoming increasingly more internet reliant, we are getting to a point where our hobby transmits a lot of data over our internet connections. This includes MMOs, XBox Live, PSN, and even the Wii. All of these offer multiplayer modes that rely on your internet connection running unobstructed. Also, games are moving to having more down loadable content and full games are available for download. Not only that, but there is a surge in video and music content available for streaming on the web.

All of these factors combined can eat up a usage limit rather quickly. Once you reach that usage limit, you run the risk of having your internet service cut off or being charged an increase in your internet fees.

To put your voices behind the ECA in stopping usage caps visit http://action.theeca.com/t/2858/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2293. and fill out the form. You can use the letter provided, add to it, or write your own. This form will automatically send your letter along with thousands of others to the heads of the major ISPs.

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General Chat / Oklahoma's 2008 Elections
« on: September 06, 2008, 08:28:19 pm »
As gamers, we should be politically active. It is important to know who your local up to federal representatives are. If you do not know who they are, you can visit http://www.ok.gov/launch.php?url=http://www.capitolconnect.com/oklahoma/default.aspx to find out. Just fill out your address info and it will tell you who your State Representative, Senator and Federal Representatives and Senators are. You will also find out which districts you are in.

This year is an election year and it will be important to know who is running for office. On a federal level, all Representatives and Senators are up for reelection. On a state level, only districts with an odd number, 1 3 5 etc, will be up for reelection. I am working on finding out who all will be running in each district both on a State and Federal level and what their contact information is. If any of you know who is running and would like to contribute, please respond.

My goal for the ECA at this time is for each member to contact the people running and to find out their stance on video game regulation and first amendment issues. Currently in the Federal Legislature, there are two bills, one in the House and another in the Senate, that would regulate the sale of video games as if they were harmful. This is clearly a parent and a First Amendment issue.

As an example of what I wish to find out, here is a snippet from an email I received from Jim Inhofe:

   
Quote
In any case, I believe we should look closely at the sale of adult-rated video games to minors and recognize the important role of the parental supervision. It is crucial that the decisions we make be informed and forward‑thinking.

He sees something that needs to be looked into and it is up to us to help him understand that there is no need for the government to get involved. I would also like to do the same on a state level. If your district is up for election, please help in this matter.

This is something that I am spearheading and I would like the help of anyone who is interested.

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General Chat / Come Join The ECA and Let Your Voices Be Heard
« on: September 06, 2008, 08:17:17 pm »
Did you know that in 2006 Oklahoma passed legislation that would have barred certain people from buying video games? Did you know that this legislation was ruled unconstitutional in a federal court? If not, you should have. But this won't happen again without your knowledge if you join the ECA.

The Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA) is an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of video game players through out the country. This includes fighting legislation that targets video games unfairly or media that slanders video games and the people who play them.

As part of this effort, a Chapter for the Oklahoma City, OK area has been formed. As a member of the OKC chapter, you will be able to work with others to stop the spread of lies in your local area. You will also be able to socialize with others who share your passion for video games.

There are plenty of other benefits available.

Check out the ECA and Join Today at www.theeca.com

Also, if you already are a member, let me know.

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