A New Jersey lawmaker by the name of Linda Stender is proposing a ban on publicly playable video games rated Mature or Adults Only, citing “the correlation between violent video games and violent behavior.”

There’s just one small problem, as Kotaku points out: publicly playable games such as arcade machines and pinball machines don’t actually get rated by the ESRB, meaning that the games Stender is proposing to legislate, for the most part, don’t actually exist — outside of the occasional LAN party scenario.

The news follows reports from January that Massachusetts’ Department of Transportation was pulling light-gun games like Time Crisis from rest stops, following complaints by parents that they were inappropriate in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings last year.

“Children today are exposed to violent images more than ever. Violent video games can desensitize children to violence and give them a warped version of reality where violence and death have no consequences outside their TV screens,” said Stender in her press release. “This bill hopes to minimize this exposure, which if prolonged and coupled with other factors can have a devastating effect.”

Source: Kotaku

Although we are all about games here games.on.net we are also the gaming portal for an ISP (Australia’s best, naturally) and so we’re pretty interested in the state of broadband in the country.

Today, Opposition leader Tony Abbott and shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull revealed the Coalition’s broadband plan, which calls for the current rollout to be halted and to be restarted from the beginning using Fibre to the Node (FTTN) technology.

FTTN technology is of course different from the current Fibre to the Home technology which is being rolled out across Australia, as it involves setting up optic fibre to many new ‘nodes’ (comparable to telephone exchanges) around Australia which would then deliver the data from there to the home through the traditional copper network.

Tony Abbott is being quoted today as saying he is “absolutely confident that 25Mbps is going to be more than enough for the average household”. While I can’t speak for the average household, I’d certainly rather the 100Mbps download speeds that the current NBN plan is offering, thankyou very much Tony.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Source: Liberal Party of Australia

Democratic US Senator Dianne Feinstein last week raised the possibility that the Senate could or should step in to legislate the amount of violence in gaming.

In San Francisco last Wednesday, Feinstein was discussing how to respond to the the Sandy Hook shooting with legislation, and claimed that games provide “a very negative role for young people, and the industry ought to take note of that.”

“If Sandy Hook doesn’t do it, if the knowledge of these video games this young man played doesn’t, then maybe we have to proceed, but that is in the future,” she continued.

In the same interview Feinstein also claimed that the NRA had attempted to intimidate politicians by threatening to sponsor their opponents heavily in future elections if they were to push for bans on assault weapons or high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Source: Associated Press via Games Industry

If you’d like to watch Apple, Microsoft and Adobe squirm before a committee on IT Pricing in Australia, then today is your lucky day! There just happens to be one going on right now, and it’ll be going right until 2:30 PM today.

Apple is on the stand as we speak, and currently answering (or rather, dodging) questions about how much tax they pay in Australia, and how it relates to their sales figures (which are apparently about 3% of global sales). Apple has come under fire recently for using voodoo magic to pay far, far less tax in Australia than it should.

You can click here to watch the live stream — scroll to the bottom and click on “House of Representatives Standing Committee, Infrastructure and Communications (Information technology pricing)” to launch the viewer.

If you’d prefer liveblogging coverage, Gizmodo is covering the event with their customary enthusiasm.

Source: Thanks, toasty88!

You’re sick of the Australia Tax, I’m sick of the Australia Tax, we’re all sick of the Australia Tax. Now, we’re finally going to get some answers!

Major tech players Apple, Microsoft and Adobe have been served with a summons (I refuse to even type the word ‘summonsed’) to appear before the committee handling the IT price inquiry on March 22 in Canberra. Having refused to appear before the inquiry committee on request, they now face legal ramifications if they don’t send representatives to explain themselves in front of Parliament.

Ed Husic, Australia’s most vocal opponent of the IT pricing discrepancy is pleased to hear the groups will be held accountable but says the government shouldn’t have needed to step in.

“These firms should have cooperated and been prepared to be more open and transparent about their pricing approaches,” he said. “Adobe, Apple and Microsoft are just a few firms that have continually defied the public’s call for answers and refused to appear before the IT Pricing Inquiry.”

(more…)

North Korea’s successful launch of a space-capable rocket recently and their threat to carry out further tests targeting the US has apparently inspired the creation of their new propaganda video — one which isn’t above taking footage from Modern Warfare 3 in order to show the United States under attack.

The video, spotted on Liveleak, shows a young man sleeping and dreaming of a glorious new age of North Korean space flight. The space shuttle circles the globe several times, zooming in on a joyous and newly re-united Korea, before flipping to images of New York City being blown up.

The scene in question is taken directly from a similar scene in Modern Warfare 3, and is superimposed over with text that allegedly reads “Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing. It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself.” Take a look below.

Source: Liveleak via Kotaku

In the current debate around gun control in the United States, video games have somehow managed to be called up as the bad guy by a variety of people who perhaps like guns just a little too much, but political activist, author and failed Presidential candidate Ralph Nader has gone a step further and literally referred to video games as “electronic child molesters”.

Speaking at the annual Busboys and Poets Peace Ball, Nader used his speech to attack President Obama’s inauguration and then to launch a blistering tirade against violence in entertainment.

“We are in the peak of [violence in entertainment],” Nader claimed. “Television program violence? Unbelievable. Video game violence? Unprecedented. I’m not saying he (Obama) wants to censor this, I think he should sensitize people that they should protect their children family by family from these kinds of electronic child molesters.”

I was going to close out with something witty, but what can you say? Let’s just all sit here and look a little bit terrified. I know that’s what I’ll be doing.

Source: Gameranx

Gun control and video games are in the news a lot lately, with violent games being blamed for everything from classroom massacres to increased crime rates. Our resident lawyer looks at the facts.

How would you deal with violent video games ruining your country? Tax ‘em, of course! Such is the bill proposed by Republican Diane Franklin of Camdenton, Missouri, who is arguing that all games which have “received a rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board of Teen, Mature, or Adult Only” be subject to a special violent games tax.

The proposed bill (PDF) imposes a 1% sales tax that will go towards “new and additional funding for treatment of mental health conditions associated with exposure to violent video games”. As PC Gamer points out, games such as The Sims 3, StarCraft 2, Tropico 4 and EVE Online would all be classed as ‘violent video games’ under this broad definition.

News outlet KSDK is reporting that similar legislation in Oklahoma and New Mexico has failed, so it’s likely that this one will receive the same treatment.

The future is now — Australia is finally set to receive its first R18+ rating, and the upcoming Wii U title Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is set to be the first one to receive the sticker.

The game has already been released and classified as MA15+ in Australia, but this re-release includes additional content and fixes specifically for the Wii U as well as incorporating DLC released for other platforms.

A media release (PDF) from the Classification Board claims that “Under the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games, R 18+ computer games will have a high impact and it is for this reason that these games are not suitable for under 18s.”

“Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge contains violence that is high in impact because of its frequency, high definition graphics, and emphasis on blood effects.”

We’ve all heard the joke(?) about TV being a better parent than some of our actual parents. New research shows, however, that playing video games is an even better parent than TV! Well, specifically that gaming is better for them than watching TV. This story was featured on the ABC News and the clip is linked below, but I’ll give you the highlights anyway.

Research found that playing video games helped boost self-esteem and mental development as well as physical activity levels. The lady anchor seems kind of pissed at the prospect, but the research seems sound! The government currently recommends children spend no longer than an hour a day in front of a screen. According to Dr Daniel Johnson of the Queensland University of Technology though, the right child playing the right game could spend 3 or 4 hours playing and still be considered a healthy amount.

The ABC won’t let me embed their video, but check it out here for more details on this new research.

Source: ABC News

A small town in Connecticut is planning a collection drive to allow parents and families to return violent video games to a community group, where they will be snapped and incinerated.

The town of Southington, about 30 miles away from the site of the recent school shootings in Newtown, is holding the event which is being organised by SouthingtonSOS, a collection of community representatives from organisations such as the YMCA, the Chamber of Commerce, the fire department, local government and others.

The press release about the event explains that “The group’s action is not intended to be construed as statement declaring that violent video games were the cause of the shocking violence in Newtown on December 14th.”

“Rather, SouthingtonSOS is saying is that there is ample evidence that violent video games, along with violent media of all kinds, including TV and Movies portraying story after story showing a continuous stream of violence and killing, has contributed to increasing aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and is desensitizing our children to acts of violence including bullying. Social and political commentators, as well as elected officials including the president, are attributing violent crime to many factors including inadequate gun control laws, a culture of violence and a recreational culture of violence.”

Southington’s Video Game Return Program will kick off on January 12.

Source: Polygon (thanks, PalZer0)