Would you pay an extra ten percent for your favorite video game?
“10 percent tax? And they’re like 60 bucks already. I’m a nerd, I would, but I would not like that,” said one York resident..
It’s a question gamers may soon be faced with when purchasing a game rated “mature” or “adults only.”
“I don’t think it’s fair. We have enough taxes now. How much more are they gonna tax?” said a resident from Red Lion.
It’s a new bill aiming to curb violence amongst students…
Violence, Representative Chris Quinn suggests can be learned by playing video games.
He could not be reached for comment, but did reference research done by the National Center for Health Research in his memo to the state House of Representatives.
The research states, "Studies have shown that playing violent video games can increase aggressive thoughts, behaviors, and feelings in both the short-term and long-term."
It goes on to say video games can desensitize people to aggressive behavior, adding the longer a person is exposed to violent video games, the more likely they are to be aggressive.
So how do we stop it?
According to Quinn, it’s by making gamers pay a little extra for those violent video games, and the extra money would go towards enhancing school safety.
But not everyone agrees that is the answer.
“I don’t know if it will necessarily achieve what it’s intended to do.”
Nick Kratz, executive director of the Pennsylvania E-Sports Coalition, says adding this tax is redundant.
There are already game ratings that indicate what audience the game is intended for, he says, and adding an increased tax is not fair.
“If someone is prone to violence, I don’t think a tax will necessarily deter someone from purchasing the game in the first place,” said Kratz.
John Subecz, an employee at Just Press Play in York, agrees this tax would be unfair.
And, he says, this would just be the beginning of a slippery slope.
“Are you going to start taxing violent movies at that point? Are you going to start taxing violent television? If you want to run a story on a homicide, then can you do that or will you be taxed additionally for that? It opens up a big, big pandoras box of a lot of additional issues,” said Subecz.
The bill has been sent to the House Finance Committee and is awaiting further action.