Game industry leaders will meet with President Trump on March 8 to discuss school safety

[Polycount]

The video game industry has been under quite a bit of fire lately. A few months ago, the industry attracted the attention of politicians with the controversial release of Star Wars: Battlefront II and its "pay-to-win" loot box system. Though publisher EA took steps to address player complaints by temporarily removing loot boxes, many players and government officials still feel similar randomized reward systems merit further scrutiny and potential regulation.

Now, following the tragic Florida school shooting, the age-old argument that video games and other forms of violent media lead to violent behavior in the real world has resurfaced. In late February, President Donald Trump reportedly said the following in a meeting with lawmakers during a discussion about school safety:

"We have to do something about what [kids are] seeing and how they're seeing it. And also video games. I'm hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is shaping more and more people's thoughts."

A day later, Rhode Island State House member Robert Nardolillo proposed a 10 percent tax on M-rated games with the proceeds being used to fund "mental health provisions" in schools.

In March, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump would be meeting with "members of the video game industry" to discuss the potential link between violent media and school violence.

Now, Sanders confirms the meeting in question will take place on March 8.

The ESA has released a statement re-affirming their long-held belief that video games do not lead to violent behavior while expressing their interest in having a "fact-based conversation" about video game ratings and their commitment to parents. The full statement is as follows:

Video games are enjoyed around the world and numerous authorities and reputable scientific studies have found no connection between games and real-life violence. Like all Americans, we are deeply concerned about the level of gun violence in the United States. Video games are plainly not the issue: entertainment is distributed and consumed globally, but the US has an exponentially higher level of gun violence than any other nation. The upcoming meeting at the White House, which ESA will attend, will provide the opportunity to have a fact-based conversation about video game ratings, our industry's commitment to parents, and the tools we provide to make informed entertainment choices.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/73569-game-industry-leaders-meet-president-trump-march-8.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

The greatest cyber bully that has ever existed on Earth will meet with game makers to make gaming online great again!

And the funny part is how Melania’s job as FLOTUS is to work against cyber bullying.

Yet she’s married to the greatest cyber bully that has ever existed.

 

[alabama man]

"while expressing their interest in having a "fact-based conversation" "

Well that wont happen, facts mean nothing anymore, it's all about believes and religion.

"Robert Nardolillo proposed a 10 percent tax on M-rated games with the proceeds being used to fund "mental health provisions" in schools."

Maybe tax guns instead? Or do they really believe that guns aren't harmful with all the gun related deaths they have.

Make buying adult games for kids illegal, the ratings should be forced by law. Ratings mean nothing as uninterested bad parents buy their kids all the raping simulators they want. Kid having a mature game should be enough reason for the parents being neutered and having their kids taken away from them. It's no wonder they have school shootings when kids under 12 play gta all day, not that the gta will ruin them, just that at that point they have such lousy parents they wont care when he gets the ar15 and gets sent home constantly for threatening to shoot everyone. They start "caring" after he/she kills everyone and even then they only really care about their own skin. Never heard of punishment for raising a mass murderer, if people were actually responsible for their offspring they would care more and wouldn't make them just for welfare money or because their drunk or can't be bothered to use protection of any sort.

 

[Bubbajim]

The ESA looks forward to having a 'fact-based' talk with White House officials

They could have the most fact-based talk in the world and entirely shut down Donald Turd's arguments, but in post-meeting statements he and Huckabint would still just spout some crap about "a great meeting, we'll be doing big things, unbelievable things like no one has ever seen" to reduce 'violence' in games.

Also, @alabama man, I'm gonna save you from the ire of Techspot's more gun-frenzied frequenters and let you know that guns are already taxed, I think at about 10 or 11% - but update your comment to

Maybe tax guns more instead?

and you're all good!

 

[wiyosaya]

45 and his administration do not believe science is real. This is almost a non-starter to begin with.

Their only hope is to convince 45 of consensus being that violent video games have nothing to do with violent behavior at which point they might just get him to agree for a second or two.

 

[seefizzle]

I don't know why anyone with half a brain would want to work in any capacity with this administration.

 

[Gamblin Man]

I was going to comment on Trump and his meetings, but you guys have said it all quite well. Thank you!

 

[CybaGirl]

HANDS OFF OUR VIDEO GAMES!!!

You farking retards have no idea!

If you retards in power can't keep your retards in check and make sure your authorities actually take heed and listen to warnings from people reporting things.

Then how about banning the things that actually cause these deaths simply because you can't get your act together instead of blaming video games!

This isn't rocket science. If mentally challenged people didn't have access to all these high powered weapons then this wouldn't be an issue!

Anyone with an IQ above room temperature can comprehend this!

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Are you guys really so naive to believe that if guns simply didn't exist that these psychotic murderers wouldn't just use something else to commit their terrorism? There are plenty of other tools that can be used to commit mass murder. What, you think little Johnny is going to go "oh no, I can't get a gun... guess I won't go kill a bunch of people and will play Hello Kitty Island Adventure instead." Get real...

Guns aren't the problem. Games aren't the problem. People are the problem. Whether it is the crazy person themselves, their family, parents, friends, etc. that have corrupted them. People are no longer responsible for themselves or their children. A sad world we live in. Go ahead and ban everything, it isn't going to make a damn bit of difference in the end. Evil is evil.

 

[wiyosaya]

Are you guys really so naive to believe that if guns simply didn't exist that these psychotic murderers wouldn't just use something else to commit their terrorism? There are plenty of other tools that can be used to commit mass murder. What, you think little Johnny is going to go "oh no, I can't get a gun... guess I won't go kill a bunch of people and will play Hello Kitty Island Adventure instead." Get real...

Guns aren't the problem. Games aren't the problem. People are the problem. Whether it is the crazy person themselves, their family, parents, friends, etc. that have corrupted them. People are no longer responsible for themselves or their children. A sad world we live in. Go ahead and ban everything, it isn't going to make a damn bit of difference in the end. Evil is evil.

Personally, I think it is the economic system we live in. As I see it, it is not much beyond feudalism.

 

[Bubbajim]

Are you guys really so naive to believe that if guns simply didn't exist that these psychotic murderers wouldn't just use something else to commit their terrorism? There are plenty of other tools that can be used to commit mass murder. What, you think little Johnny is going to go "oh no, I can't get a gun... guess I won't go kill a bunch of people and will play Hello Kitty Island Adventure instead." Get real...

Guns aren't the problem. Games aren't the problem. People are the problem. Whether it is the crazy person themselves, their family, parents, friends, etc. that have corrupted them. People are no longer responsible for themselves or their children. A sad world we live in. Go ahead and ban everything, it isn't going to make a damn bit of difference in the end. Evil is evil.

You're right that bad people will still do bad things, but it's a huge difference of availability and potential scale.

If someone wants to try something like making a homemade bomb, that's hard, takes time, and is likely to be picked up by monitoring - just like terrorism plots are sometimes foiled. Conversely, if they have to keep things 'low-tech' and are limited to knives as their weapon, they're unlikely to be able to kill dozens of people before being stopped.

Guns being incredibly easy to get hold of makes a difference to how hard it is to stop these events before they begin. Guns also being designed for efficient killing mean the scale of any attack is likely to be larger than you might otherwise see.