Yesterday, July 21st was the 50th anniversary of the Lady Chatterley's Lover case, which is essentially the basis all media censorship cases are based on today. In case you're unfamiliar with the subject, check out the Wikipedia article about it.
Now that you've done your homework, sit down with The Sess and listen to this week's Soapbox. Adam uses this date as a springboard to discuss how video games appear to have dodged the censorship bullet, if only temporarily. Is this the time to celebrate a small victory? Or is this just another calm before the inevitable storm? You decide.
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bigmanpace
you know i used to like you adam sessler. But lately you read some books, and you act like your a intellectual. You turn your nose up to to everyone who doesn't agree with you and scoff at them. The fox news remark was just off, and innapropriate. I agree with alot of things you say about the gaming industry and games in general, but because Fox News does lean right (almost too right) they are racist and don't want brown people in the supreme court. For a intellectual that was a very closed minded thing to say. Let's not forget Mr. Intellectual Sessler, you started your career on tv making fart noises and poop jokes about kid games. I'm just sayin
RickAstin
There's always the lady chatterley tv/movie dealies for those who need to get into the frame of mind of what the book represents right?
-shrugs-
The sad thing about censorship is that it makes people want it more...
Lock the candy in the cupboard and the kiddies will try to get their hands on it and when they do get their hands on it they'll engorge themselves to the point of getting sick....leave the candy out in the open and they'll certainly treat themselves...but it wont be a OHMYGODIGOTTAHAVEIT! type affair..
yeah..maybe not the best metaphor...but I think it works....naturally you'll always have that segment of society that will overindulge no matter what the material....
though the main thing is...the more they try to hide these elements...the more importance they give to it...
beetle
i am 31 years old and this may come out sounding like im 80 but the he ll with the kids.they are nothing but trouble. i want to play my m rated game. i pay my dues. you can always tell when you are playing online with some young jacka$$ every other word is F K . FYI it doesnt make you sound older.
knight5000
I'm not in favor of more censorship per se, I believe if a game is rated M for mature you should be able to curse in it. But its a sad day and age when preschoolers my sister works with see rated R sex and gore filled movies the day they appear in theaters, and when a 3rd grader is telling me about the sex scenes in god of war and mass effect.
More censorship? Not necessarily.
More ENFORCED rules about keeping our kids out of the games that arent censored? Absolutely.
hightall
Sess i love you
phkna
Wow weird that you would try to blame the republican's 'reference using Fox' for censorship when in recent history it's the Dem's that want to censor at lest what you hear which in turn would spill over into video games oh wait Hillary Clinton has already started http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =d3GTJOZLaPY The Dem's are the reason there is labels on music and games all thanks to Al Gores lovely wife Tipper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P MRC
learnedfist
Adam, your suggestion that Fox News has a problem with "brown people" on the Supreme Court is way out of line. It's factually incorrect, obviously meant to inflame racial tensions, and not to mention, off topic. Do you remember how mad you were when some on Fox News overstated the (nearly non-existent) sexual content in Mass Effect? How are you any better when you basically call an entire network racist without cause? You should stick to analyzing video games, and check the shameful race baiting at the door.
Tavora
That's great and all, but all the bleeps I heard on the radio every day, black bars on people's private parts on tv and the inability that I have to play A rated games still shows me that there is a ton of stuff being censored out there.
The idea of censorship not existing is an illusion.
WildfireFox
I wish some of this was censored. Adam... kinda rambled on for an extra two minutes pontificating.
Hydrafiend
Adam's reference to Fox News and people who do "not want brown people sitting on the Supreme Court" is completely misguided. Its not that fact that Sotomayor is hispanic that concerns some people, but her adherence to racial identity politics when deciding cases. Remember that Democrats in Congress actually filibustered one of Bush's hispanic nominees to a court of appeals.
But most importantly, it is not the political right that promotes censorship nowdays, but the political left-ever seen what happens when a conservative tries to speak on a college campus? As applied to video games, there are those who would want to censor games which do not satisfy some political correctness litmus test, not protraying a particular group in the right way-RE5 might be an example.
The days of those staunchy moralizing right wingers trying to ban Huckleberry Fin are long long over, the new fascists are coming from the left of the political spectrum
Greibach
Yeah, I was with you up till the "Brown people in the supreme court" statement. It is demeaning to suggest that someone disagreeing with a person that is hispanic and having questions as to their tendency to rule one way or another is racist. I'm glad you're talking about censorship and its history, but can we please leave race politics out of this?
Secondtooth
It's not some imaginary Christian boogeyman you need to fear,..the greatest threat to video games and freedom of speech in general is political correctness.Real censorship is going to come in the name of protecting people from getting their feelings hurt...just look at that idiotic piece on g4 the other week about how evil and racist video games are if they don't present an P.C approved story or view point.
And Btw ,Sessler..Sotomayer is only where she is because she is "brown" just like your Obama.
Secondtooth
It's not some imaginary Christian boogeyman you need to fear,..the greatest threat to video games and freedom of speech in general is political correctness.Real censorship is going to come in the name of protecting people from getting their feelings hurt...just look at that idiotic piece on g4 the other week about how evil and racist video games are if they don't present an P.C approved story or view point.
And Btw ,Sessler..Sotomayer is only where she is because she is "brown" just like your Obama.
Ejsponge61
Great Soapbox.
PoundOfFlesh
Great topic. However the throw-down on calling Fox News racist just lessens the value of the discussion.
The truth is that censorship is a part of any society and a necessary one at that. Just like everything since the start of the U.S., it needs to evolve. The literature example was dead on. Yet, as a parent, do I want my 8 year old to be able to go down to 7-11 and get the latest issue of Buns-N-Juggies magazine? Sorry, but he should be censored from that. Make him work on finding dad's hidden stash like I had to.
We just need to find the balance of controls and freedoms and continuously test them. Don't rely on the politicians to tell us what is right for us.
GabeTheReaver
To Qec:
He meant sell M games to minors. You already can't do that, since it is in fact illegal, and yet congress has these hearings to stop minors from getting M games. I suppose it's like trying to figure out a way to get marijuana out of society even though it's already illegal.
To Slimmer:
Great point to add on to what Sess said. It will be some random group that starts these kinds of battles, not the government.
slimmer
Great Soapbox, Postal2 is one of the best games.
Another History lesson : The WCTU (Womens Chistain Temperance Union) are the ones who really got Prohibition (making alcohol illegal) started which lasted from 1919-1933.
crownofwoe
Brown people in the supreme court? The fact Sotomayor is Hispanic is completely irrelevant. Every Supreme Court justice has to go through hearings to insure their impartiality. Her race is the least interesting thing about her and referring to the process as somehow passively racist dismisses the process. Should we just rush her through the process of become one of the most powerful people in law because she s a Hispanic female? Do we push someone through the political world just so we can have a 1st even though they may be under qualified for the job? Oh wait, we did that with Obama so I m sure you think so.
qec
Okay, some great points brought up by the Sess. Except one part right about 2 minutes in where he says, quote:
"Because there are these laws that almost every single state is trying to enact that'll restrict the ability to sell games with an M rating to minors, even though you CAN'T DO THAT."
I found it really hard to understand what he was trying to say here, is the 'you cant do that' because they already are not allowed to sell games with an M rating to minors. Or does he mean that in a way that it sounded to me that, they "can't do that" restricting kids from playing M-rated games.
Because at least where I am, In Canada, They already will not sell games with an M-rating to a Minor, they treat it like the movie rating system. I've been in the EB game store many times when a kid got turned away while trying to buy an M-rated game. haha, A few times the parent standing right there, and the kids think he's gonna get the game, and the clerk tells the parent: 'well ya know this game has extreme Violence' or 'ya know in this game you use a chainsaw bayonet to dismember your enemies', and every time they tell the parent that I've seen, the kid didn't get the game. And rightfully so IMO.
Like what would the point of a rating system be if kids can get M rated games, they might aswell do away with the rating system if they are going to make the games available to anyone.
crocodilius
"cencership, how about illiteracy"
Is that a joke?
FYI: censorship.(its the title at the top of the page)
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