What can we do about the scourge of violent video games? Historically, that’s been nothing but a rhetorical question, but an interesting new piece of legislation from Rhode Island offers up a novel approach.

Now, as we all know, the gaming industry has been a controversial one for its entire lifespan. Critics, detractors and the media have hammered the same old gripes into the ground, time and again. They’re a waste of time. You should be playing outdoors. They make you antisocial. They’re a distraction. That new-fangled glasses-free 3D of the 3DS will melt your eyeballs. We’ve heard it all, but the one we’ve probably heard the most is they make children violent.

It was all of the snafu around the Mortal Kombat series (with its trademark spine-rippy Fatalities) that led to the formation of the ESRB. This rating board’s sworn duty is to ensure that Little Jimmy doesn’t get traumatised for life by violent games.

In the past, the press has always delighted in linking the perpetrators of ghastly crimes to a history of playing violent games. This problem has only gotten worse, as the industry has gravitated towards the FPS and TPS genres.

As the Providence Journal reports, states cannot ban the sale of violent titles to minors, but they can work to make something positive of the situation. Over in Rhode Island, Rep. Robert Nardolillo III is introducing new legislation, aimed at increasing schools’ budgets for mental health services and counselling. How? By introducing a tax on video games rated Mature and above.

Rhode Island Bill Would Tax Violent Games To Pay For Mental Health Services
Via: Game Rant

"There is evidence that children exposed to violent video games at a young age tend to act more aggressively than those who are not,” Nardolillo said. “This bill would give schools the additional resources needed to help students deal with that aggression in a positive way.”

This system, which would see an additional 10% sales tax added to M-rated (and higher) titles, is indicative of a certain way of thinking that has dominated video game discussion of late. The whole hullabaloo about loot boxes, for instance, is one that it’s difficult to find an answer to. For the moment, at any rate.

In early February, the Swedish authorities were lamenting that they cannot clamp down any further on loot boxes, until they are officially determined ‘gambling.’ What they’re looking for, essentially, is a loophole, while the publishers of games hit back. Loot boxes are guaranteed to result in some kind of payout, they claim, so who’s gambling?

As in the case of these microtransactions, though, we are at least seeing some positive steps being taken. In Hawaii, for instance, a Bill has been brought forward that would obligate publishers to break down the exact odds of loot box payouts. Just this week, Riot Games made changes to their microtransactions to reflect this.

One thing’s for sure. The discourse around violent games has dogged the industry for decades. It’s about time we found a ‘solution’ we can all somewhat agree to live with (as far as that’s possible).