California Senator Leland Yee is pushing to have the US Supreme Court review a case involving the restriction of the sale of violent video game to minors. The bill, sponsored by Yee and signed into law by Govenor Schwarzenegger in 2005, required another warning label be put on violent video games and retailers to be fined $1000 if they sold a violent video game to minors. In a court case filed by the ESA law was later deemed unconstitutional. California appealed the decision but the initial ruling was upheld. Convincing the US Supreme Court to review the case is California's last option to reinstate the law.
Source: GamePolitics [ more info ]

In my mind Smackywhack is sitting in a dark room somewhere, wringing his hands, hoping Senator Yee puts enough of a target on himself that it'll draw some attention away from Smack's own anti-gaming legal gesticulations. He needs it. He's been disbarred and his non-attorney attempts are failing miserably. **coughs** I'm trying not to laugh openly.

Unfortunately for us, Yee, is inifinitely more adept at not looking like a complete nut job.

i assume the postmark was from Florida so I don't have to name names

I guess that's Jacks way of passing the torch.

After the desciption (and before reading the comic) I envisioned Jack sitting there in the hooded cover of the Dark lord of the Sith...with only the evil grin showing thru the darkness.

nice.

I haven't figured out why they don't just lump all video games into the "stupid junk you have to card for". the grocery store cards young people who are buying canned whipped topping, spray paint or shaving cream... but not the gel kind... They also card for lighters. If they don't they face a fine and lialability for whatever the kids use the items for.

Honestly, I think M rated games SHOULD be treated like tobacco and alchohol, and this is coming from a life-long gamer. The stores NEED to card and be fined for not carding on M rated games. Too many people accuse the games and companies for putting filth out there for kids. If the games that are M rated require proof of age then that will add SOME accountibility to the parents. I would think most parents wouldnot let their 10 year old play things like Manhunt, GTA, or even Halo if they knew what the content was and why they were rated M. A bit of accountibility may just HELP the gamer community and not hinder it.

There is a difference between the ban that Smackywhack wants and carding for M rated games. Make T rated ones carded based on the store's policy/cashier's conscience as some are borderline M rated anyway.

If a store won't sell a R rated movie to a kid, why should it sell a M rated game to one?

I've long been an advocate of the idea that games, movies, TV shows, etc all be treated the same in this regard. And I'm much more likely to accept the suggestions of a child psychologist (Yee) than Smackywhack.



Note: This post has been edited to remove the descriptor "raving lunatic" from it's reference to Smackywhack. Gu has no proof that Smackywhack has any mental illnesses and we apologize for the implication.

Look at the regulations in Germany. Some politicians over here even want to ban games that are too violent.

I've always agreed with that opinion. I think we need one standardized ratings system for TV, Music, Movies, and Video Games (rather than the hodgepodge of different ones we have now. Like everything adopts the Movie ratings system or something. Not to substitute for good parenting, but because having 4 different ratings systems out there can get confusing. For example, the parents of one of my friends apparently live in a cave, they couldn't give the appropriate age group for any of the video game ratings when he asked them (mostly to prove a point). They were how able to name the age groups for the Movie ratings system (as that one is the far more familiar of the two that doesn't surprise me).

see there...thats proof that video games corrupt your mind...no way Jack would have ever used "LOL" before being exposed to the endless sewer that is videogaming 8p



id say the videogames corrupted his mind....but did ol smackey ever have one?