Things I Hate - Game Video Age Identification
August 2nd, 2008Is there anything more pointless than asking me to enter my birthdate every time I want to watch a trailer? It may weed out the three people on the planet too imbecilic to work out that being born on ”January 1, 1937″ will let them watch whatever they want, but for normal people, it manages to fail spectacularly while inconveniencing everyone.
Posted in Geoff, Idiocy |
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:55 am
Heh… you’re not the only one…
http://alinktothefuture.com/2007/08/07/age-verification-are-you-at-least-5/
=)
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:31 am
Oops. After a year, my memory gets fuzzy.
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:58 am
indeed this shit is retarded
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:13 am
I suspect it’s intended as appeasement (for parents, parents’ groups, etc.) rather than any kind of effective safeguard. The sites don’t really care.
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Rob’s right. This is simply a “cover your ass move”. They figure the VERY minimal inconvenience is worth the legal protection it provides them.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
I think the site should default to some insanely old age instead of defaulting to today. So 1/1/1900 should be the default. Then all you have to do is click “ok.” This would still have the age verification, and if someone wanted to put their real age and get denied they could. Seems just about as logical and effective as the current approach except with out as much hassle.
I apologize to anyone who is 108 or older and congratulate you on being able to use these crazy computer contraptions.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
@inc,
One might think so. However, what you’re referring to is the difference between “opt in” and “opt out”.
“Opt in” offers significantly stronger legal protections because it requires positive action by the user.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Of course, since the protections are purely for PR purposes, I don’t think the strength of their legal basis is particularly critical.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
“Of course, since the protections are purely for PR purposes, I don’t think the strength of their legal basis is particularly critical.”
Except that they’re not purely for PR. The ESRB has, on multiple occasions, demanded that publishers take down preview and other content from Mature rated games that were not appropriately protected, even at times when an age verification was in place.
They are definitely a pre-emptive step taken to maintain compliance with the ESRB as well as avert legal action by child protection groups.
The funny part is, now the privacy groups are starting to bitch about them. Can’t seem to win when it comes to bowing to legal pressure these days. It’s gonna get you one way or the other.