Monday, December 05, 2005

God of Illinois

In a 53-page ruling, Judge Kennelly defended games as a protected form of free speech and dismissed the state's scientific evidence suggesting causal links between violent games and violent behavior. He called the wording of the laws unconstitutionally vague. [...] He specifically brought up the recently released action game God of War and mentioned the game's minigame in which main character Kratos has implied sexual relations with two women.

"Because of this one scene, a game such as God of War, which essentially parallels a classic book like The Odyssey, likely would be prohibited for minors under the SEVGL, because the statute allows a game to be regulated based on one scene without regard to the value of the game as a whole. Such a sweeping regulation on speech--even sexually explicit speech--is unconstitutional even if aimed at protecting minors." Gamespot

So is it also unconstitutional to limit the sale of sexually explicit books, magazines and movies to minors? I don't understand the difference.

And what are the game companies thinking? God of War is rated "M", as in 18 and above. Why would they be against a law that prohibits the sale of rated M games to minors? Are they serious about game ratings and willing to target games to appropriate ages or not?

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