Names of the Game

What’s the significance of talking if the ideas people are communicating are not understood? Futility is very imminent. Therefore, in order to continue the scholarly discussion about video game regulation terminology needs to be established. There are five words that are prevalent in this discussion: regulation, ultra-violent, desensitization, short-term/long-term testing, and Freedom of Expression. These words need to be understood from the context and the vantage point of video game regulation and law. Here are definitions and relations of the foundational terms:

When legislators talks about “ultra-violent video games,” they are talking about games rated M-Mature due to the violent content. The extent of regulation by the various state governments is merely prohibiting the sale of ultra-violent video games to children and minors, not adults. The state of California and a few others are currently pushing to extend the Miller Obscenity Test to not only cover obscene materials, but violence in the media as well (video games are classified as a form of media). Desensitization is what happens to people who repeatedly witness crimes and violence which results in becoming emotionally and mentally “immune” to such sights. This applies to both physical and virtual images, and generally, the more realistic the more harm done. This becomes an inherent problem as video game graphics progress. Short-term testing and long-term testing both carry a significant difference in the type of results and credibility of any sort of violent video game test. Lawsuits in the area of video game regulation normally stand on the ground of the First Amendment right: Freedom of Expression. Although this term does not appear in the First Amendment, it is derived and interpreted from the Freedom of Speech and of the Press clause.