Ok, then...
Well, first for the politacl stuff.
Socialism is the Labourclass predominance (or power) over ALL major (and minor) classes, inclduing the bourgeousie. In Socialism, the state plays a very helpfull role in shaping the communities of the nation, indoctrinating them basically with the state's truth about how things are run and such things. It also means that the state is responsible for the kids' upbringing, not the parents. This leads to the state also being responsible for how people behave, meaning that the state has the power to tell people not to touch other people, because some other people might be offended by it.
The state also has the final say over which cultural products it will allow, only allowing such products which serve the benefit of the working class - and the socialist revolution, thus banning all porno games, and all games that ate too dark and violent since these could be labeled as propaganda made by the bourgeosie. Because in the socialist area all people are supposed to be happy all day
Communism is the end goal of socialism. It is a form of civil society in which the state is withered away and IS no more. True communism is about people that self-govern themselves in small enclaves in the land and such things. It has nothing to do with the monstrosities that once were called (or are) called Communist countries in which a small minority, called the Bureacracy, has risen to power, and now oppresses the people. (hey, I'm at NMA, I can say these things here...). The rightwing libertarians and the leftwing anarchits do have thing in common, the abolishments of the state, or the idea that less state = a very good idea.
The tragic
thing right now seems to be that the bureacracy in the (once free) western countries has risen to power, on the back of the fear of terror so prevalent during these years. And that this has led to state intervention in a much larger scale than before in the western countries - just to keep us safe from terror. (and no, I don't support terror - in any shape, way or form...)
Subesequently, it seems that people have now accepted the state's intervention in their life in a way nobody would have thought possible 20 years ago. Millions of surveying cameras are looking down on us, giving us a false sense of security, since we think these cameras can provide shelter from our fears of being robbed, beaten or being victims of of a a terrorattack. They really can't, though, since people will do these things anyway, because most people act hurridly and improvised, and not in a calm, planned way....
The worst thing about these state interventions in our lives is that we are told that they are for our own good or for our protection or for our protection of our children, also when they clearly are not so.
The worst case of this was when Germany's General Attorney (or minister of the justice or was it in the interior? ) said that she wanted Manhunt 2 banned 'because that our children shouldn't be playing such a game'. That may be, Frau Minister, but Manhunt 2 never was intended to be a kids' game, it was always intended to be a game for (responsible) adults over the age of 18. That's why PEGI did give Manhunt 2 a rating of 18+ --- please remember this.
And please try to remember that the average PC gamer now is about 27-29 years of age, and that computergames are not just for kids anymore
I agree with all (or most of) the other posters here, that state shouldn't decide (or ought not to decide) whether or no adult men and women ought to play Manhunt 2 or not. And thus, I agree that the no rating=banning of Manhunt 2 in the UK isn't a good sign.
I'm more baffled with the AO rating in the United States, but from what I can gather this had more to with some tv-screens showing porn in one of the levels in the game, and some other places?, more than with the actual violence in the game itself. My guess is that if Rockstar Games just changes the tv-screen images and some other few things, then the game will be released with an M rating - in the US.
As for the killing of children and essential NPCs that can't be killed, well, I'm really indifferent to whether or not I can kill children in a game. I can certainly see why people would want that choice, if they are prepared to take the consequenses for it, of course. Some NPCs needs to be marked as essential, I think, especially in today's more complex games where every NPC is moving about in the gameworld. If you, as a game developer, don't do that, you'd better provide the player with a backup plan to get the info he needs - from other npcs.
The game which infuriated the Anglican Church was 'Resistance: Fall of Man.' And the shooting was done outside the building, not inside. (remember Highlander: No weapons on hallowed ground, i.e. inside the church). Even the Anglican Church has no say over what's going on outside the Manchester Cathedral, since this is viewed as a public place. They don't have IP rights to the Cathedral itself, though, since it was built for the glory of God way back in the - eh --- a very very long time ago, several hundreds of years ago, actually. And the Master Builder at that time didn't do ti for himselg, he did it because he wanted people to know the glory of God. (just saying
).
The problem with giving in to these sorts of thing is this: If & when you give in to these sorts of thing, game developers can't make games anymore, filmmakers can't make films anymore. How do you think the Metro in Washington D.C. will feel when they learn that Bethesda has filled their subwaytunnels with supermutants and encourages you to shoot at the supermutants?? Not well, I should think. Several movies about WW2 show fighting in front of Notre Dame, in Paris, I believe? This just to show you that you easily can offend someone's feelings by making a game, writing a book or making a film. But that's one of the prices we have to pay for living in a (yet) somewhat free country - to risk that our feelings, religious or otherwise, can be offended.
And I for one think that this is an issue well worth (still) fighting for - the freedom of speech shall always prevail
