While most people would argue that the race to the presidency is largely over, the US government would still like for those of you over the age of 18 with a clean criminal record to get on your scooters and hobble on down to the voting booth tomorrow. And while video games shouldn’t be the only thing you vote on, they’re clearly something that’s on the list of things that matter to our readers. So what exactly have the candidates had to say about the issue? Here’s the recap;

Back in February, people in the games media jumped all over Obama due to some comments he made about kids spending their time with games instead of school work. Here’s the exact quote lest you think I’m speaking out of context;

“I know how hard it will be to alleviate poverty that has built up over centuries, how hard it will be to fix schools, because changing our schools will require not just money, but a change in attitudes.

We’re going to have to parent better, and turn off the television set, and put the video games away, and instill a sense of excellence in our children, and that’s going to take some time.”

Regardless of what the more sensationalist amongst us may have tried to tell you, that’s not a knock on video games. That’s a knock on bad parents. Obama hasn’t really spoken to the topic of video game legislation per se, but he has spoken to the needs of parents to get more involved in the lives of their kids. Frequently he’s pointed to video games as being a place that kids are spending too much of their time, and in the case of the families he’s referring to, he’s probably right.

He also acknowledges that M-rated games aren’t intended for kids, which is something of a relief to hear from a politician;

On the flipside, Obama has gone on record as saying that he would resort to government involvement in policing the information and ratings systems if self-regulating boards don’t improve their performance. From an interview with Common Sense Media;

I would call upon the video game industry to give parents better information about programs and video games by improving the voluntary rating system we currently have. Broadcasters and video game producers should take it upon themselves to improve this system to include easier to find and easier to understand descriptions of exactly what kind of content is included. But if the industry fails to act, then my administration would.

While the same interview offers some fantastic solutions (many of which are already in place) like family timers and content restrictions on the hardware level, it’s hard to shake the stigma of government involvement in the ratings industry — especially coming from a man who’s trying to put the onus on the parents.

In the same interview Obama also suggests that the government has some responsibility to fund studies into the impact of new media. Mixed feelings abound on this one. These could either be true and worthwhile studies or a forged pre-text for government involvement.

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