An Elegant Solution to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
I discussed the CPSIA earlier this week and was very concerned about its impact on the game/toy community. Later that night, lying in bed I had a revelation. The CPSIA only applies to games, books and toys destined for children under 12 years old. Eureka! Take a look at the new and improved 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual!
Porn shall save the hobby gaming industry! From this point forward every game company inserts a perforated page with a nasty pornographic image. Playboy-like tasteful nudes will not cut it. That kind of thing is on cable every night. No, to guarantee no one under the age of 12 buys this book some real hardcore nastiness is required. After a parent buys the book, they remove the image and give the book to the 12 year old gamer.
The government is satisfied and small companies can afford to product new product without expensive testing.
Look at it this way; my solution is not any dumber than the law itself. They deserve each other.
Trask, The Last Tyromancer
This is in fact exactly the way the European Union deals with the lead paint issue.
Things like toy soldiers for collectors are sold with warnings that they are not toys and contain potentially hazerdous chemicals.
Strangely, it hasn’t led to a mass cull of the hobby sector in Europe.
However, if your government has any sense of finance, they’ll soon back down on the law and replace it with something less reactionary.
Wow. Goatse to the rescue! Who would have thought…