https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akwfRuL4os&ab_channel=chrislee

Response from Hawaiian representative Chris Lee, the person wearing a suit in the video: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/7elin7/the_state_of_hawaii_announces_action_to_address/dq62w5m/

Chris Lee here - I'm the one in the suit. My staff just told me someone apparently found this youtube upload before we had a chance to finish putting it together, but I thought I'd leave it up and just post here to explain that this fight can be won if people step up. This fight is about protecting kids, protecting families, freedom from exploitation, and the future of entertainment in this country.
People are more powerful than they think. While we are stepping up to act in Hawaii, we have also been in discussions with our counterparts in a number of other states who are also considering how to address this issue. Change is difficult at the federal level, but states can and are taking action.
Even so, elected officials can't do it alone. They need your support and you can compel action wherever you live by calling and emailing your own state legislators and asking them to act. But don't stop there. Call your allies. Call your pastors and teachers and community leaders. Ask them to call your state legislators as well. Their voices are politically powerful.
I believe this fight can be won because all the key bases of political support across the country are on the same side. The religious community, the medical community, the education community, consumer advocates, parents, even many business leaders and local chambers of commerce. This is a fight that unites everyone, even the most polarized conservatives and progressives. Doing something is a political win for Democrats and Republicans alike. And frankly, we don't need to change the laws in every state - we just need to change a few and it will be enough to draw the line and compel change.
These kinds of lootboxes and microtransactions are explicitly designed to prey upon and exploit human psychology in the same way casino games are so designed. This is especially true for young adults who child psychologists and other experts explain are particularly vulnerable. These exploitive mechanisms and the deceptive marketing promoting them have no place in games being marketed to minors, and perhaps no place in games at all.
Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one. You have the power to get involved and decide this and the choice is clear: stand up now, or let this be the new normal from this point forward.

7 years ago*

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At least something good has come out of EA's pay-to-win BS...

"...but, but it's just cosmetics!" - lol

7 years ago
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I feel like the ESRB could have mitigated the damage quite a bit if they'd have just declared randomized micro transactions as gambling with its own warning label. Originally the ESRB was created to avoid getting the government involved in the industry as much as possible, but alas they are apparently not willing to risk angering the hand that feeds them.

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7 years ago
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Uh.. my understanding of this press conference is that they are trying to get regulations on what age people can play a game that has loot boxes.
The game is currently rated teen, 13+?
And gambling age is 18/21. So.. changing the esrb rating to "adults only" 18+ would fix any legal issues while not solving any of the problems.
Call of duty is already rated 17+ by ESRB, how many under 17 are playing that? I think the technical term is a frigginbuttload.

The only good thing I see from this is that Star Wars was likened to Joe Camel, and I don't think Disney will like that.

7 years ago
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