[remixor]

These posts are taken from Ken Williams' Sierra Archive sites. A user identified as Brian Austin submitted the following post to the Archive's forums, and Ken replied. I'm not going to comment much on this (though I'm sure I will if any discussion pops up) because I very much agree with Ken anyway, and I've posted plenty about this subject in the past.


Brian Austin's post:

The ESRB and video game violence
Ken, this debate has been ongoing for some time, and I'd like to know your take on the situation since you have been tightly involved with the gaming community. For years now there has been a lot of talk about video game violence and its effect on children and adults. By some standards we have become a more violent society, and that has some people pointing fingers at the video game industry. In 1994 the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was established as a self-regulatory group to rate video games on their violence and adult themes. Yet, in the wake of tragedies like Columbine and cases of children blaming his/her behavior on video games, some are lobbying for stricter controls or all out censorship of video games. I know that in the past Sierra put out a lot of great titles that were enjoyed by youngsters and adults alike. Did you make a conscious effort to makes games as family friendly as possible and shy away from using violence unless it truly fit within the storyline? Did you or Sierra have any part in the formation of the ESRB? And on the broader topic, what do you think of lawsuits like the one in Knoxville, Tenn. alleging that a violent video game caused two boys to commit criminal acts? Do you believe that the ESRB ratings are working, or do you think we need stricter controls on video games?