Yesterday in the House of Commons, Labour MP rabble-rouser Keith Vaz launched an attack on games (again). He stated that the level of violence in games like Modern Warfare 2 was unacceptable and that the government should take extra steps to be certain that these kinds of games don’t fall into the hands of children. Which is fair enough really, but seems to ignore the fact that all games are rated by the PEGI board and have clearly stated age restrictions, retailers who sell these games to minors are breaking the law and are open to prosecution.
However another Labour MP, Tom Watson, took the opportunity to go on the offensive, accusing Mr Vaz of collaborating with the Daily Mail; “To create a moral panic”. Mr Watson believes that the government should instead be seeking to assist the British games industry and to that effect he founded a new pressure group on Facebook called Gamers’ Voice.
The blurb from the group reads; “Are you sick of UK newspapers and (my fellow) politicians beating up on gaming? So am I. The truth is, UK gamers need their own pressure group. I want to help you start one up.
I don’t know how it should work yet but please register your interest if you agree that gamers need their voice heard in the corridors of power.”
We here at Critical Gamer are sure Activision and Infinity Ward are are delighted with the free publicity they’ve been given from this whole fiasco.
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