As we have already reported, the Director of Moige – Antonio Affinita – shared a statement dedicated to Grand Theft Auto 6, the next chapter of a saga known for its parodic representation of the United States and in which sex, drugs, violence and more are used to criticize (and not celebrate) an entire nation and its many sub-cultures.
Specifically, the statement reads as follows: “It is (sic) very serious that a video game that we have denounced several times for the dangerousness of its content continues to propose increasingly harmful content without any limit on its sale to a minor audience despite having a +18 qualification. Moreover, in GTA there have been references to drugs, drug dealers and drug addicts practically since the first edition. This is therefore a “theme” destined to be even more present, which is particularly serious.”
“There is a real regulatory Wild West on video games, at most self-regulation rules that are poorly and poorly applied, as we also reiterated in our latest report “Sold to Minors”. Urgent, strong and decisive action is therefore needed by the Government, because video games are a form of communication that involves our children by passing on unhealthy and deviant messages and behavioral styles, impacting their psycho-physical and emotional health perhaps more than TV”.
An old, now stale, speech, dusted off for GTA 6
Let’s start with a premise. Children should not play GTA 6. Probably not even some kids. We don’t think there’s anything strange in these statements, since PEGI itself clearly indicates that the video game is recommended for an adult audience. Furthermore, the classification body has a very clear system to allow parents to understand simply by looking at the video game packaging or the store page what kind of content they can expect. Anyone who says that “self-regulatory rules are poorly applied” simply needs to make themselves want to waste five minutes learning about a product, because Google exists and we swear it’s very easy to use.
When the question is “someone think about children”, the answer is “parents should do it”. A child does not walk into GameStop with 80€ or a credit card to buy GTA 6 or any other video game that is not suitable for him. A child does not have an account with free access to a credit card to freely purchase a video game from the digital store. He does not even have a console or a gaming PC unless it is given to him as a gift. There are also parental control systems to prevent access to unsuitable products, among other things, so there are no excuses like “they lent him the disk and I didn’t know it”.
If a child plays with a product, it’s because their parents have allowed it. You don’t want your offspring to get close to works that you consider (rightly or wrongly) inappropriate for them? Don’t let them. And if the reply is “all their friends play with it, we can’t tell them no and exclude them from the rest of the group”, our response is twofold: one, it seems like you’ve just decided to give them permission, two, if your children’s friends jump off a bridge, do you tell them to follow them?
A woman armed with two hammers in GTA 6: many scenes in the trailer depict real events and people only slightly modified
Now, we are exaggerating a bit with the tone, but basically because we have seen this type of speech repeated too many times, without there being any real foundation behind the criticisms or fears, and we are deeply bored by it all. First it was rock, then comics, in the middle something else probably but it doesn’t matter, there is always something that is “wrong” and that “deviates” the little ones, but video games are art, they are a product for all ages, they already have organizations that clearly and uniformly signal what is about to be given into the hands of their children and above all they are a luxury product, on average expensive, which is not easy to have access to if you are a child.
Preventing the sale of PEGI 18+ games to minors makes no practical or “moral” sense, it is only a limited form of censorship and promoting it would only be a starting point to take away people’s freedom.
This is an editorial written by a member of the editorial staff and is not necessarily representative of the editorial line of Aroged.
