Network now...NEWS
Govt Advisor Seeks Violent Game Tax
The UK Labour Government should raise taxes on games which feature mature and adult content.
That was the opinion of Richard Taylor, Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s newly-hired advisor on knife crime.
Richard Taylor told the Home Affairs Committee: “I have young people who I mentor and I see them go up and buy the games and it saddens me that they are being able to have such a negative impact.”
According to The Telegraph, Taylor told MPs that games with mature content are “too cheap”, and proposed that taxes on them should be “very high”. He did not, however, make any proposals on how such games could be classified, or how much tax should be inflated for such games.
Taylor was the father of Damilola, a Nigerian schoolboy who was stabbed to death in November 2000. Taylor has since campaigned to turn youths away from crime, particularly violent crime. As a Government advisor, Taylor is now preparing a manifesto which he will present to the Prime Minister.
Contact Us / About Us / Advertise With Us / BeltwayBlips / TechBlips / MassiveBlips / GamerBlips / FAQ
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
So let's combat knife crime through censorship and taxation, because if we hold our hands over our ears and eyes long enough the problem will go away, right ?
(beyond losing his son which is very sad) What are his qualifications are for the job?! And complete lack of evidence (none mentioned here anyway) to back up these claims! If video games were that bad there'd surely be anarchy on the streets given the number of people who own a console...
Plus - even if you think video games do in some way promote/cause violence, how the hell will taxing them more make any difference? Surely the real issue is that they shouldn't be selling 18-rated games to kids!!!
For me there is no issue more morally offensive than someone putting blame on the gaming industry for issues of societal violence. It is politics for the the jackass. Of course politics is run by people that perpetuate their careers through half-baked demagoguery. Like a bully would, they pick on the smallest and least defensible societal unit.
That, for those that care to understand the nature of violence, is how the Gaming Industry is picked on. Read my lips, there is no significant causal relationship between violence and gaming. Similarly, there is no causal relationship between watching a Shakespearian play and violence. If politicians like Brown, and some of the greater fools in this country, really want to stamp out violence then I would suggest that they start looking in the mirror. The same venal propensities that would assult the gaming industry, are not disticnt from those issues of violence that are promogulated in stomping off to war in Iraq or torturing prisoners in Gitmo. Are supposed to assume that killing an Iraqui, or blowing up the twin towers in New York was the result of too many Saudis playing video games. How about serial killers? Did they play too many video games, or read too much Shakespeare?
What is ironic is that politicians assume that the electorate is simple-minded enough to place moral value in something that they say, when in fact they spend their careers reinforcing violence on a daily basis. There is something more at issue here. I am waiting for the reports from American politicians who support the NRA, who with no conscience or intelligence, would impose censorship on the gaming industry.
Brandon Davis, Ph.D.
READINGMAGICGAMING
Whilst I have every sympathy for the tragedy that Mr Taylor has had to endure, I must say that I think that this type of recommendation is misguided. Why should the vast majority of people buying such games be punished by increased pricing? Is this not (taking the scheme in a coldly impartial sense) just another way for the government to recoup money that has been lost through other revenue streams?
This latest proposal just rakes over old ground, i.e. if violent games are taxed should the same apply to other forms of entertainment such as films, music and literature? This remains a valid question, but one that has consistently been ignored by individuals capable of making a difference.
Surely the answer would be for the government to stop dithering, get off its collective ass and work with the games industry and parents groups to create a thorough campaign that effectively and directly communicates to parents/guardians the need for them to take responsibility for what their children are being exposed to?
I know its not all the parents/guardians fault and that’s fair enough, but at the same time there needs to be an acceptance that they have to be responsible for their wards. How many times, as gamers in store, have we seen parents buying adult games to pacify their children?
Additionally, is it really that hard to enter a bedroom and check what your children have? Most of the boxes carry ratings of some sort or description. Failing that, the blurb on the back should give some indication of content.
In conclusion, let’s not indirectly ostracize mature adults and, in a burgeoning economy, put further pressure on wallets! Instead lets tighten our watch, find out what our children are doing and, if we’re a games store manager that catches an employee selling a certified game to a minor…. Well that’s for the big business like Gamestop and Game to tighten their policy, it shouldn’t be too hard so long as there’s will enough.