[Gaming] California Video Game Ban Rejected By Supreme Court

Image via WikipediaNews broke out today that the US Supreme Court struck down a California state law that would have banned the sale of violent video games to children. While I could go into the arguments that the true "proof" of the connection between violent video games for kids and violent behavior as adults has not been made, the true arguments against this law remain its fundamental violations of free speech. The games have every right to be made just like any movie can be released to video and the only constraint against kids getting direct access on their own are the rating notices as published.

Quoting the CNN report:

The 7-2 ruling Monday is a victory for video game makers and sellers, who said the ban -- which had yet to go into effect -- would extend too far. They say the existing nationwide, industry-imposed, voluntary rating system is an adequate screen for parents to judge the appropriateness of computer game content.

The state says it has a legal obligation to protect children from graphic interactive images when the industry has failed to do so.

"As a means of assisting concerned parents it (the law) is seriously overinclusive because it abridges the First Amendment rights of young people whose parents (and aunts and uncles) think violent video games are a harmless pastime," wrote Justice Antonin Scalia for the majority.

And let's leave it to the parents to determine what games kids can get. I mean seriously, if you need the government to prevent kids from getting content (movies, games etc) that their parents would deem objectionable, then blame the parents for letting them buy them! Heck, more often than not the parents buy the games themselves.