That Lil Furry Guy

So I was checkin the news on CNN. com today (yes, I do try to stay edumicated on current issues) and I saw this in the headlines today. Turns out the ESRB's getting ragged on for Grand Theft Auto...AGAIN. Now I usually wouldn't trip about censorship issues, but this one hit home with me. It reminded me of a fated day long ago....

On March 5, 2001 (I was 16) I found myself going to Gamestop in the Stoneridge Mall, anticipating the release of one Nintendo 64's greatest games - Conker's Bad Fur Day. Scoring a high 9.9, I knew it was going to be good. From everything from a singing poo to drunken fights with enemies to spinoffs of great movies such as The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan, the game guaranteed nothing but fun. So I waited in line with my preorder slip in hand drooling over the $60 game that was about to be in my posession. As soon as I got to the front of the line, I presented my slip to the cashier and I heard the question that almost made me cry - "Can I see some ID?" That was the first time, and only time I have EVER gotten carded for a video game. I showed him my license, which claimed I was 16, and he refused to sell me the game. It appears that the little letter "M" on the box prohibited me, a 16 year old, to purchase the game. According to the ESRB, the "M" representing "For Mature Audiences Only" have "content suitable for persons ages 17 and older." Moral of the story - since I was A YEAR OFF the rating, I could not buy a game that contained violence and strong language.

Well, it all worked out cause I paid some 20 year old to buy me the game anyway. Think it all worked out? It didn't. Two years later, in my Senior year in highschool, I turned on the TV one day and I saw a scene from Conker's Bad Fur Day. Except this time, it was real. The footage of the bombings in the war with Iraq looked just like the Saving Private Ryan scenes presented in Conker. So not only am I thinking, "Damn Bush is an idiot," I'm also thinking, "Seven-year old kids are watching this shit, and it's no different than the game I tried to buy two years ago as a 16 year old." My point is this - I agree with censorship to a degree, but if the people high up are going to be regulated on video games like Grand Theft Auto, Splinter Cell, and HALO (which is rated Mature), then they have to start regulating Fox, CBS, and CNN.