Why we need waivers.

Being the avid gamer I am, I will run into a few great games that are rated M. This is great for me because I can appreciate this game’s high quality, but others either can’t appreciate the mature themes, or didn’t know they were in the game. This is bad considering that there is a big “M for Mature” label on the front of the box. The worst part about it, though, is the fact that unknowing people buy these games expecting kiddy level content, despite being warned that there is object able material in the games at the check out. This leads to class action lawsuits where ignorant people sue the game creators/companies on the terms of “I didn’t know there would be sex/violence/drug references in game X.”

I have been thinking of many different ways this could be fixed, but out of all of my different ideas, I think the best choice would be to make people sign a digital waver.

“What would the contents of this waver be” you ask? Simple: “I am _ (insert signature here) and I am aware that game X is rated M for mature, I will not molest the creators of this product due to content, and I am aware that game X includes the following content descriptors: X, X, and X. ”

“I don’t know what you are talking about! Since when has anybody sued a game company because of game content?” Well, one of the most recognizable stories like this is the Rockstar case of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ “Hot Coffee mod”   A user-made hack which allowed players to crudely simulate the act of having sex, this could have been an issue if it wasn’t for the fact that the back of the game box states the following:

MATURE 17+

Rated M   Blood and gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs.

Florence Cohen, an 85 year old grandmother who supposedly bought the game for her 14 year old grandson, filed a class action lawsuit against Rockstar (Wikipedia). Cohen, obviously unaware of the game’s M rating right on the box, sued Rockstar Games and Take Two Interactive for alleged deception, false advertising, fraud, and abuse (Wikipedia).

Things like this wouldn’t have happened if she was forced to sign a waiver before purchasing the then M rated (now changed to Adult Only, or AO, due to this lawsuit) Grand Theft Auto game. Because since the waiver would state that X is aware of the game’s mature content, people like Florence Cohen would have no right to sue companies because they are unaware of a game’s content.

Most importantly, the signatures would be digital, so as not to take up space. The signatures would be saved into the store computer’s hard-drive as evidence if such a case like class action lawsuit should come up. That way, not only do we not have to waste tons of paper to sign each waiver, but the store will have proof of signature should a lawsuit be filed for the same type of thing.

You can help by starting a by signing this online petition , created by yours truly. If we can get this to happen, less companies will be sued for unethical reasons.