Video games are no different than alcohol, gambling and drugs. That's not my personal belief, but the one of South Korean politician Shin Eui-jin, who announced a bill that the above items — and video games — need to be strictly regulated due to their addictive nature.
This is where we're at in the world. Video games are considered to be of the same detrimental nature as, let's say, cocaine.
Rep. Shin Eui-jin is a member of the the conservative Saenuri Party, and she is also a former medical professor. There are 14 other representatives backing her and the legislation, which would give the government the authority to regulate games as if they were addictive, like drugs and alcohol.
I will admit that gaming can become addicting to certain personalities, but so can looking at pictures of cats on the internet, or eating bacon.
Gamemeca, a Korean gaming site, said the bill has questionable language that implies the government would have the authority to interfere with game development, releases and the promotion of games. One such example in the bill is, "The governing body shall have the right to regulate manufacturing, distribution and sale of addictive substances and can also limit promotion of them as well."
Obviously, members of South Korea's gaming industry/community are up in arms, as we would be here in the states if this bill was trying to pass. Both the previous and current administrations view games negatively, and despite talking about a creative economy, their regulation of the "leading industry for content business" would hinder it instead.
This just reinforces that politicians don't understand video games. They're afraid of what they don't understand, so they try to have power over it. It's sad, really. The bill has not been brought up for a vote in the National Assembly yet, so there's still a chance that regulation of gaming won't happen.
In other news, North American League of Legends teams are on the rise…
You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com
[Image via Bluelyn.com] [Gamemeca via Kotaku]
