Gamertell

As reported by San Jose Mercury News, on Wednesday (October 22, 2008), the State of California will try to revive its crusade against violent video games. This will be contesting a law deemed unconstitutional in 2007. This decision will be reviewed by the 9th District U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It is in reaction to the pending release of Mad World for the Nintendo Wii.

The law itself bars sale or rental of violent video games to minors. Other such similar laws have been repealed nationwide in the US, often being cited as attempts to limit both freedom of speech and of expression.

Law-makers seem to be in agreement that games like Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto and other such violent games shouldn’t be sold to kids.San Jose Mercury News has quoted state Sen. Leland Yee as saying “This is the same technology the armed forces use to help soldiers kill the enemy. All we’re saying is, ‘don’t sell it to kids.’”

This is a valid sentiment although it ignores that parents are often responsible for underage gamers getting games rated “Mature.” They don’t look for information most of the time and don’t complain that such media is out to the public until after they bought the game and seen their child playing it.

Legislators are in the same mode that they were in when the Parent Media Resource Center (PMRC) was trying to wage war against music that glorified drug use, had a certain level of violence or/and included a lot of sexuality. There have been complaints like this in all forms of entertainment media throughout the history of America. Time and time again, such attempts to limit or restrict media in ways that go beyond ratings have been shot down by the courts.

With the media becoming more united, if you restrict one form of entertainment, sooner or later it will affect all forms of entertainment. An example is that different games have been adapted to movies and/or books. If you don’t want that kind of material getting out you’ll have to block the movies and/or books as well. Due to the fact that an integral part of film and, in some cases, audio books is the soundtrack, it would also affect the music industry. If you start there, there’s no telling where you’d have to stop. Mercury News reported that the film and music industries have brought up this concern as well.

We already have ratings. Most game stores already card people trying to buy M-rated games and don’t sell the games to minors. Almost everything that can be done has been done. All we need to do now is educate the parents more so that they can make better decisions on the types of games their children play if they are below the age of 18.

Read [San Jose Mercury News] Also Read [Gamertell]