Brazil Bans Counter Strike & EverQuest

[Tami]

First I'll quote the [url=\"http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hBkj-Bi6dzGMMrid_jOE2PHFsw4g\"]AFP Google story[/url] regarding the banning of Counter Strike and Everquest:

[quote]Brazil bans popular video games seen to incite violence

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) — Brazil this week imposed a ban on popular role-playing computer games "Counter-Strike" and "EverQuest," claiming they incited violence and were "harmful to consumers' health."

The federal prohibition on the sale of the games was being applied across the country, the official consumer protection agency in the central state of Goias said on its website Thursday.

Both games allow players, typically teenage boys, to connect online to fantasy worlds where they interact with other players, form groups and carry out joint missions usually involving combat.

"Counter-Strike," a first-person-view shoot-'em-upper based on the motor powering the popular "Half-Life" game, requires participants to choose a role as either a masked terrorist or an anti-terrorist officer before going forth with an ever-sophisticated array of weapons.

An adapted version in Brazil permitted players to take on the perspective of either a police officer or a narcotrafficker in Rio de Janeiro's infamously crime-ridden slums.

"EverQuest" is a swords-and-spells game in the mold of "Lord of the Rings" in which human or elvish or other imaginary characters go on joint adventures to gain treasure and increase their avatar's abilities.

Both began in 1999 and have since developed huge worldwide followings.

Some psychologists have described them as addictive as drugs. A few players have turned professional, earning money from powerful characters they sell, or from the auction of hard-to-win virtual items.[/quote]

These games are NINE years old, and they are just banning them NOW? Granted, Counter Strike has been banned because of user-made content, but it's sometimes hard for me to fathom the fuss about getting games banned, coming from a country which does not ban games. We have a rating system, the same as many other countries, and it seems that our government believes that it is up to the buying public and retailers to follow those ratings. We don't have a Jack Thompson in Canada (thank the gaming gawds) and I hope we never do.

Brazil's Counter Strike team, g3nerationX, is currently ranked at number five in the world on the World Cyber Games ladder. This banning means that the team can no longer legally practice, qualify or participate in any way in the tournament. Overall, the Brazilian National Team tied for second in medal rankings at the 2007 WCG Grand Finals - granted, the Counter Strike team did not finish in the medals, but they still made it to 5th place out of a starting ladder of forty teams.

It seems to me that those who dislike games so much prefer to look at the small negatives and not the myriad of positives that the game industry as a whole has to offer. They like to jump on one or two small issues and blow them entirely out of proportion. I hate to think of how Jack Thompson will swing this new banning decision into his own rhetoric of the evil world of video gaming.

[Marko]

Blah, I'm sick of governments restricting trivial and non trivial stuff thinking they know what's best for you. Bunch of Tools.

[Jim]

[quote]Some psychologists have described them as addictive as drugs.[/quote]

...lol /angel_not.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\'(not)\' /> *looks at his copy of Everquest that's been open for 3 weeks* /blush.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\'(blush)\' />

maybe that's why they're banning them, to get kids back outside /smile.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\':)\' />

[Tami]

Everquest wasn't even available on store shelves prior to the ban ruling (I know that still leaves online purchases, etc.) but what kind of message does that give you about this case - ban a game that was already unavailable through traditional storefront methods.

[Jim]

To me it says that they want to look like they are accomplishing something while not really doing anything. They can say their country is a "safer" and "better" play without the games...the fact that they never really existed isn't important.

[Tami]

I know. The tragedy of this whole situation is that the Brazilian judiciary has effectively cut off the Counter Strike teams' chances of travelling to other countries for the WCG as well as taking away their chances of winning alot of scholarship money.