You Have a Kid, I'll Tax his Name, You like Xbox, I'll Tax Your Game

The Sierra Club is proposing a 1% sales tax on televisions and video games similar to the Wisconsin tax proposed a while ago. This law would be in effect in New Mexico if passed, but a similar proposal in that same state has apparently been shot down before, though I can't find that specific instance. The tax would be set out to "tax part of the problem to fund the solution", with the funds of approximately 4 million dollars going to get children outside and families out to state parks.

As was the situation with the Wisconsin proposal, where the tax was going to fund reform to the youth judiciary system, the cause is fine with me. Still, the idea of a sales tax on video games is spreading, and it's a dangerous idea. The Wisconsin proposal seemed to link video games with youth crime, even if it wasn't meant to. This proposal is more justifiable in its link, that being video games to children not getting enough outside activity, but the tax doesn't need to suddenly spread to every state. Chances are the proposal won't gain any ground, but the idea will likely spread to other states now.

small update: The Electronics Consumer Association has now responded to the couch potato tax idea, and unsurprisingly, they're against it. They say "it's unconstitutional to target video games with a special tax that would unduly burden gamers, leaving out other forms of entertainment media like movies, music and books. This proposed tax would also stifle trade and disproportionately impact generations X and Y, who are increasingly becoming more politically aware and vocal." There you have it.

'Cause I'm the Taxman

Webgamania: Controversial Webgames

Webgamania- When people who don't play online games actually care what's in webgames, due to something controversial they include. Do not confuse with Webgaymania, which is entirely different and need not be discussed here.

The most famous instance of Webgamania is V-Tech Rampage, apparently the 4th most evil game ever, according to GamesRadar. Basically, you control the killer in the Virginia Tech Massacre. As a joke, the creator claimed that he would only remove the game after he had received $2,000 in donations, with an extra $1,000 necessary for an apology. According to him, he didn't receive any money. Anyway, the game was clearly controversial, and got a lot more attention because of that, and still is, because I'm writing about it. I'm not linking to it, but I'm going to play it to see what the big deal is about. Until I'm done, content yourself with this much less significant controversy:

Presidential Paintball is the newest in a series of controversial election mini-games. Why? Jesus, I don't know. I mean, you're theoretically shooting other candidates in the White House, but if you play the game you'll realize it's just a stupid, easy game. It's really tame and it's a game about paintball. That's two steps of reality away from actually shooting a candidate. If it were a game where you really killed or even hurt the candidates, then that'd be bad I guess, but you're just hitting them with paintballs. Get over yourselves, Smoking Gun. At least it's not in controversy just because it doesn't include Ron Paul. Seriously, Ron Paul supporters need to stop sending hate mail, it ruined his image for me.

Okay, I'm done playing V-Tech Rampage. (I actually wrote that horrible paragraph on the other game a while ago and never used it, but I really did play V-Tech Rampage after copying it and pasting it here.) Jesus, that's pretty screwed up. Though completely irrelevant, the game is pretty mediocre. It's very short and not that interesting as a pure game, which I consider very necessary to defend a controversial one. The game really goes over the top in the third level, the actual massacre. The stuff they say while you're shooting the people is, uh, let's just say really bad. I don't think I can really defend that game, though it's definitely exercising free speech to an insane degree. I wouldn't suggest they take the game down from newgrounds, but rather just let everyone direct all complaints to the game's author himself. To continue to use simple language, the game's pretty screwed up.


I feel somewhat dirty now after that