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[theclaw135]

Looking at Steam's statements about softening their stance of what they'll allow... that I can remember at the moment, no video game ever produced is specifically known to be against the law for US citizens.
All but the shiftiest underground circles (who as it is take extreme measures to ensure people DON'T find them) tend to have some kinds of standards in how far they'll take underage content.

What other material or situation has a chance of rendering a game effectively banned nationwide from private possession, use, or trade, by an average person?
To clarify, that's 'banned' in the legislation sense. Since digital storefronts are run by companies who can choose what to sell.

 

[Gormless Noodle]

Nothing that I particularly know or can think of. Although I do vaguely recall something with a rape game from Japan, but I'm not sure if that was specifically banned or anything.

 

[Aintitcool]

Illigal is meant as in pirated, or stolen. Not everything is about underage girl drawings. Valve cant have nintendo games on their storefront uploaded by people for example.

 

[theclaw135]

Oh I forgot about that.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I think the only real reasons for a game to be banned are legal reasons, like showing genitals in Japan or swastikas in Germany (if the developers refuse to censor it and want it officially distributed, otherwise they can just upload it directly to the internet and it will naturally spread from there).
Does the US has any law limiting content on video games?

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

As long as it sells and it is not a weeb game its ok - Rating board on GTA5 and South Park.

 

[theclaw135]

What about if a game contains an intentional, specific, threat of harm against an actual living person?

Especially were it shown that somebody was purposefully hurt as a result of the game's production, like for FMVs or to motion capture injuries.

 

[LucidFeuer]

Looking at Steam's statements about softening their stance of what they'll allow... that I can remember at the moment, no video game ever produced is specifically known to be against the law for US citizens.
All but the shiftiest underground circles (who as it is take extreme measures to ensure people DON'T find them) tend to have some kinds of standards in how far they'll take underage content.

What other material or situation has a chance of rendering a game effectively banned nationwide from private possession, use, or trade, by an average person?
To clarify, that's 'banned' in the legislation sense. Since digital storefronts are run by companies who can choose what to sell.

Are people so disconnected and uneducated (thanks to constantly levelling down school programs) from basic republican or legal principles that they're up to a point that they question the basics. And because the SJWs have crossed the lines multiple time in censoring legal opinions, the question has been pushed back against it's initial common sense?

All games, movies, medias in general are submitted to the same basic regulation of a functioning society everywhere in the world: depending of it's scope (if nobody heard about it, nobody cares, but as soon as it is, it'll get scrutinised under the same regulation), everything that is illegal per the law as stated in Steam's guidelines:

Illegal content include (not exhaustive)

• Hate speech, i.e. speech that promotes hatred, violence or discrimination against groups of people based on ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation
• Pornography
• Adult content that isn't appropriately labeled and age-gated
• Libelous or defamatory statements
• Content you don't own or have adequate rights to
• Content that violates the laws of any jurisdiction in which it will be available
• Content that is patently offensive or intended to shock or disgust viewers
• Content that exploits children in any way
• Applications that modify customer's computers in unexpected or harmful ways, such as malware or viruses
• Applications that fraudulently attempts to gather sensitive information, such as Steam credentials or financial data (e.g. credit card information)

This is not just Steam guidelines, or anyone's, this is the actual laws. The only question regards:

• Content that is patently offensive or intended to shock or disgust viewers

This is such a loose definition, that it opened the door for both illegal content and uncalled censorship. For exemple, there is a strict difference between -depiction- of violence which is legal when labels/age-gating applies, and -promotion- of violence which is illegal. How do you distinct the two? That's the tricky part: unless Steam has a battery of legal and social experts that can accurately differentiate the two, it'll create a whole lot of mess if they start allowing content that is illegal and do nothing about it, because nobody likes to be targeted as an individual, a family or a group, and should they be sued, if Steam hosts content that is illegal they'll loose cases after cases...

 

[theclaw135]

Thanks. Although I'm not trying to figure out what Steam won't allow.

I'm trying to figure what would make a video game against the law in the US for a person to own.

 

[Link1110]

Other than child porn, IS there even anything? Maybe if am npc blurted out inside stock trading information or real life military secrets but it's not easy thinking of things.

 

[llien]

• Pornography

What's wrong with pornography? How come making porn movies is ok, but porn games are not?

 

[Morinaga]

I'm trying to figure what would make a video game against the law in the US for a person to own.

I think L LucidFeuer did a pretty good job explaining it.

To add to the list:

Instructions on building bombs or weapons
Anything that can be considered "terrorist" related
Espionage related
Anything that facilitates money laundering
Blackmail
Gambling
Anything that facilitates any illegal activity.

I doubt you could make a game illegal through just offensive content. It would have to do something in the real world somehow, just like gambling has far reaching real world effects.

 

[MultiCore]

What's wrong with pornography? How come making porn movies is ok, but porn games are not?

I'd guess the issue is that there's plenty of people under the age of 18 with access to Steam, and they'd have to change how they handle account creation and age verification.

I do agree with you though, if someone wants to make a game in that category, consenting adults should have access to it.

 

[bufkus]

If we are talking published games, then there is no such thing as an illegal game because no one would even get far enough in the publishing process to be censored by the government. Being denied/rejected by a private platform like Steam does not make your game illegal.

Indie content is another matter, but AFAIK no one has gone to prison over posting a game with illegal speech (the kind that's already been mentioned in this thread).

 

[The Sane Psycho]

Nah, America isn't cucked like Europe or Australia.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Nah, America isn't cucked like Europe or Australia.

Europe is not a country, and European countries are in general MUCH more open to nudity and sex than America.
Only Germany has a law banning swastika and nazi imagery from video games and it made perfect sense when it was created, and still makes sense in many cases today.
Very very few videogames can approach the subject with the sensitivity required. It's much easier for a movie to achieve this than a videogame.

 

[FStubbs]

Any game depicting real actual sex with real people where all parties did not consent to being in the game would be illegal