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US representative proposes health warnings on game packaging

Warning: Ending will provoke disproportionate amounts of rage

US representative proposes health warnings on game packaging
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Two US congressmen have put forward a bill that would see cigarette-style health warnings printed on the boxes of every game sold in the United States.

Unfortunately, this doesn't mean photos of Peter's disappointed face while he plays Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D will start appearing on game packaging any time soon to demonstrate the dangers of high expectations.

Instead, these cautionary labels will take the form of scientifically dubious messages such as "Warning: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behaviour."

Warning: Clumsy default control scheme

Naturally, the Entertainment Software Association has reacted angrily to this latest attempt to push through anti-games law, stating that it is "unconstitutional", and that one of those persons responsible for the bill, California representative Joe Baca, has been trying to get it through in "six successive Congressional sessions".

"Numerous medical experts, research authorities, and courts across the country, including the United States Supreme Court, exhaustively reviewed the research Representative Baca uses to base his bill and found it lacking and unpersuasive."

Thankfully, all the UK politicians are currently distracted by both the Queen in a lift and the Budget, so no one in Parliament has been able to dutifully copy their American cousins yet.

No doubt we'll hear about a similarly naive motion in the Commons being put forward by one of the usual suspects once the Coalition Government has stopped increasing the tax on tobacco.

Gamasutra
Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).