×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
INTEREST: Kagawa Prefecture Wants Opinions on Potential Restrictions of Children's Video Game Playin


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
cookiemanstah



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 2:57 pm Reply with quote
I approve of this, video games are terrible for kids. Spoken from someone that lived with crippling depression throughout his nearly 30 years of life and drowned in video games. Video game addiction is already dangerous as it is for adults, can't imagine kids and their unavoidable lack of discipline and emotional instability dealing with it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3426
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 2:58 pm Reply with quote
I can't see them being able to enforce this outside of parents themselves specifically wanting to. But that has always been the case until now too.

What's the point of this, especially without any penalties included? Is it meant only as a symbolic gesture?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 3:15 pm Reply with quote
Blanchimont wrote:
Is it meant only as a symbolic gesture?


Likely it is.

Kagawa's government is probably being raked over hot coals on this by one or another parent's group. The only thing that it can do is declare restrictions like this, but then it comes to enforcement. Which is basically impossible since the problem is grounded in families and would depend on parents taking action.

Mark Gosdin
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 3:55 pm Reply with quote
No doubt that excess video gaming can be harmful to kids (and adults, for that matter), but there's no reason for this to be a law. This is what parents are for.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 5:33 pm Reply with quote
You can say they should never game, or they should always game, in the end it comes down to parents.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Chrono1000





PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 5:52 pm Reply with quote
There are plenty of serious addictions in the world such as drugs, gambling, and porn but I do find it a little surprising when people throw video games into the discussion. While people can become addicted to video games which can cause major problems it is generally a secondary issue that is caused by something else. I can understand regulating gatcha games since many of them are gambling games for kids but when it comes to deciding when kids can play games that is really an issue for parents. I don't think it is feasible for the government to take over responsibility for raising children and even if it was possible it would be a bad idea. Since there is no penalties for breaking these guidelines it doesn't really mean anything this time but this mentality could lead to actual laws in the future.
Back to top
bones2039



Joined: 17 Jul 2008
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:23 pm Reply with quote
Others have mentioned this, but this doesn't need government regulations. Parents need to be parents and regulate their children's gaming time themselves. Guidelines are fine but any actual restrictions are crazy and are just adding to the problem of parents not wanting to be parents.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 7:12 pm Reply with quote
They should be banning gacha systems, not restricting kids from playing the games themselves. It's the gambling systems that are harmful and addictive not the games.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mai5



Joined: 20 Feb 2013
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 10:04 pm Reply with quote
Have to agree with everyone else that says this is the parents job to notice if it’s an issue and make boundaries, rather than a law I would prefer them put money into educating the parents on signs of depression/addiction in regards to anything not just games. As well as push for better mental healthcare which is part of the problem.

Considering video games an addiction is very individual to each person. You can get addicted to anything, especially when depressed. Also to be completely honest it’s at least less harmful than other options (drugs, sex, gambling, etc...that will waste your time and probably destroy your health/savings/reputation).

Then you have people like me who get depressed and lose interest in all their hobbies and waste away for years doing nothing, which isn’t any better than playing games all the time for that period.

But if they mean gatcha games then I’m all for them passing laws to prevent companies from exploiting people’s weak points to get money though.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dragon695



Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 1377
Location: Clemson, SC
PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 12:01 am Reply with quote
Abe should pass a law banning in game micro transactions and the sale of DLC and PTW. The salt from vidya companies would be something to behold!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Tripple-A



Joined: 21 Feb 2017
Posts: 383
Location: Hamburg, Germany
PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 12:55 am Reply with quote
In general this is something parents should watch out for, not the government.
Which games are played are by far more important than the playtime, unless it's ridiculous high. I myself had a restriction of 2 hours per day until I was 10 or 11, which is a reasonable amount in my opinion
The problem with kids these days lies within the types of games they play and even more so in social media and the like.
Also video game addiction isn't as common as they often say. Of course it's an existing problem, but it's not even close to gambling addiction for example. Most of the time people tie the amount of time spent on gaming to addiction which doesn't make any sense at all.
I'm also with you on banning any form of gacha/gambling (with real money) in video games,
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2457
PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 5:19 am Reply with quote
This sounds like news coming straight from the 90s
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
DavetheUsher



Joined: 19 May 2014
Posts: 505
PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:59 am Reply with quote
killjoy_the wrote:
This sounds like news coming straight from the 90s


Nah. The article doesn't mention anything about games promoting Satanism, sexism, or shootings. It's just worried about 'gaming addition'. Although I'd argue social media addiction is far more dangerous. But they did say they're not going to actually enforce this so it's all moot anyway.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SenseRabit



Joined: 27 Jan 2020
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 7:50 am Reply with quote
That's the same with lootbox on Fifa but I think Minecraft is ok since my nephew is enjoying Minecraft and loved playing with me on building and mining.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Puniyo



Joined: 08 Oct 2015
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 8:56 am Reply with quote
cookiemanstah wrote:
I approve of this, video games are terrible for kids. Spoken from someone that lived with crippling depression throughout his nearly 30 years of life and drowned in video games. Video game addiction is already dangerous as it is for adults, can't imagine kids and their unavoidable lack of discipline and emotional instability dealing with it.


It should be judged on a kid-by-kid basis and is ultimately the responsibility of the parent.

As someone who had crippling depression, dropped out of school and was a shut-in for 8 solid years, video games is what pulled me out of it. I had 0 interests or friends and very little education, but being so enthralled with video games is what pushed me to self-study English, game design, 3D and to start drawing, and I got into college on pretty much passion alone and currently am expecting to finish university with an A* grade.

Plus you pretty much admitted in your post the issue was actually the depression, not the video games. That's like getting a cut and blaming the band aid you put ontop of it.

Hoppy800 wrote:
They should be banning gacha systems, not restricting kids from playing the games themselves. It's the gambling systems that are harmful and addictive not the games.


Should be banning kids from gacha games instead. Gacha itself isn't the problem and allows games to be free or to be made that wouldn't be financially viable otherwise, and is very fun when correctly balanced and you know when to stop. Absolutely no reason to take something away from capable adults because of a handful of unsupervised kids.


Books and movies had this exact same hysteria when those were new media. It's almost funny to see how people blindly repeat the same cycle.


Last edited by Puniyo on Thu Jan 30, 2020 11:29 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group