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California violent game law stopped, Schwarzenegger to appeal
The California state law prohibiting the sale or rental of “violent video games” to minors has officially been stopped by the courts. The law, originally proposed by now Senator Leland Yee (then an Assemblyman) would have gone into effect would have gone into effect on January 1, 2006, but was temporarily stopped when Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) sued to stop the law.
According to GameDaily, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed the original law, responded:
“I signed this important measure to ensure that parents are involved in determining which video games are appropriate for their children. The bill I signed would require that violent video games be clearly labeled and not be sold to children under 18 years old. Many of these games are made for adults and choosing games that are appropriate for kids should be a decision made by their parents,” he said. “I will vigorously defend this law and appeal it to the next level.”
It is rather ironic that Schwarzenegger, who has starred in several violent movies that have then been turned into video games, is essentially banning kids from playing (sorry, buying or renting) his games. Those movies may have had “R” ratings - which means kids 17 and under are not permitted without a legal guardian - but the Terminator franchise has certainly been popular with many teenagers. Again, the ESRB’s rating system is intended to provide an informed guideline for parents who purchase games for their kids without the need for legislative intervention.
Read [GameDaily Biz] Also Read [Kotaku]
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There are thousands of psychological studies that demonstrate violent games to increase the level of aggressivitya and also in some cases you can encounter depression and suicide attempts. Video game companies can sue as much as they want, but first they need to prove that their games don’t do what I have said above.
on April 6, 2009 at 06:02 AM - LINKNot quite certain there are thousands of studies and, even if there are, none can show causality. At best, there might be a statistical correlation between game violence and real-world violence but most studies that try to find a correlation between media intake and exhibited violence often cannot find a strong correlation between the two. Most often they find a relationship between media violence and emotional violence, though the emotion violence is often very temporary.
But, that is not the issue here. Violent games are already clearly labeled via ESRB ratings and it is up to parents - and possibly retailers - to take action against minors purchasing games with specific ESRB ratings.
on April 6, 2009 at 01:15 PM - LINK