Video Games

I had a letter published in the Seattle P-I today.

Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, makes some good points about video games in his Oct. 30 letter. But his conclusion -- that industry, retailers and government have no responsibility in protecting children -- is not supported by his otherwise reasonable letter.

I have no problem with "mature" video games. I enjoyed "Max Payne," "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" and "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." But I'd never let my kids play them.

Parents today are expected to let their kids make their own decisions on the one hand, and are told they can't expect any help from society on the other. Nonsense. I expect stores to refuse to sell products with mature content to my children, and I favor legislation to that effect.

The game industry likes to crow about how no one should take the place of parents, but that is precisely what they do when they sell mature content to a minor without parental consent.

NOTE: If you are in the small minority of Americans who think that stores should be allowed to sell porn to minors, then obviously you won't possibly agree with me on this issue, so you may as well not bother. The notion that we can restrict adult content sales to minors is based on the notion that we can restrict porn to minors, and if you won't agree with that, then there's no point in discussing the issue further.