Insomniac founder and CEO Ted Price has spoken out on the issue of video game legislation, saying that it "has no place in America". More in the full article.

A couple of days back, we wrote a post detailing a piece of videogame legislation proposed by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) known as S.3315. Well, the full bill is now available after the jump for you to read. Don't worry, it's only three and a quarter pages long. Learn more about it after the jump!

Download: S.3315: The Video Game Rating Enforcement Act of 2008

With all the flak that video games have gotten from politicians, we're tempted to think that two will probably never mix.

The latest one involves U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama and his comment about video games. You can read an excerpt of his statement n the full article after the jump.

These days, technology has made the costs of game development higher than ever, and gamers are beginning to feel the weight. Don't look now but things just might get a bit more expensive as a Wisconsin State Senator introduces a proposal to add more taxes to gaming. It's for a good cause, but are you with the legislator on this one? Read the full story in the detailed version.

According to a report by GamePolitics, a new bill has been proposed by the Democratic side of New York's legislature. This report comes after the fact that another bill was passed earlier by the legislature of the same state, spearheaded by the Republicans of the Senate, specifically Senator Andrew Lanza.

But probably the most significant issue that this news has raised is that if a retailer happens to sell or rent any game to inappropriately aged minors, that same retailer would be committing a felony - a class E felony. An excerpt of the proposal goes:

1.) selling or renting to a minor a game which includes “depraved violence and indecent images” would be a class E felony under the state penal code

The bill refers to "depraved" as depictions of "rape, dismemberment, physical torture, mutilation or evisceration of a human being." The proposed bill, called A08696, goes further to iterate that each new game console should integrate a parental control mechanism. It defines this mechanism as:

…a mechanism, device or control system that allows an owner, through the use of a personal identification number, password or similar technology, to prevent the display of video games, or portions thereof containing certain content…

And that's not all. According to a section of the proposal, the state attorney general will be granted the authority to petition the court for an injunction blocking further sales of any console not meeting this requirement. And yes, it's specifically targeted at consoles, not PCs or handhelds.

The proposal also suggests the formation of a council, dubbed "Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence," to monitor and evaluate research on interactive media, "violent behavior among children," and review the ESRB system. Furthermore, it says:

4.) The measure contains a severability clause, which states that if any portion of the proposed law is found to be unconstitutional, such a ruling would not invalidate the other sections.

This new bill was proposed by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and co-sponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer. There are even talks that the new proposal is currently favored by Governor Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat. And if he does pass and sign the law in the state, it will go into effect in 120 days.

While we can understand his sentiment, Senator Barack Obama's choice of rhetoric was a bit stale. Game Politics notes an Associated Press report that mentions his use of gaming as an equivalent to slacking.

According to the Associated Press, Obama was heard saying this at a a recent promotional rally in Austin, Texas:

Obama told the Austin crowd that they should try to recruit their friends to support his campaign. "I want you to tell them, 'It's time for you to turn off the TV and stop playing Game Boy,'" Obama said. "We've got work to do."

It obviously wasn't meant as a literal term, as the senator's been somewhat vocal in getting newer voters to go out and rock the vote (for him, presumably). He previously criticized youth culture as "watching TV, playing video games, and avoiding tough classes in school." Whether or not he wins the elections, we just want to tell him one thing though: "The new handhelds are the DS Lite and PSP. Take your pick for your next performance."

Back in September, one of our MyQJ contributors talked about Kansas Senator Sam Bronwback (R) and his introduction of a bill called the Truth in Video Game Ratings Act. The gist of the bill is that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's (ESRB) game ratings should be based on the game's entire content and not just on viewing a game's most offensive content.

Fast forward to today. Doug Lowenstein has relinquished his ESRB presidency and Senator Brownback is gunning to be the next top inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (that's the White House for those who don't know). He is also re-introducing the said bill. This is what he said in a statement about it:

Video game reviewers should be required to review the entire content of a game to ensure the accuracy of the rating. The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate. The Truth in Video Game Rating Act would also commission a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to determine the efficacy of the... ESRB ratings system.

Former ESRB head Doug Lowenstein said in September that this bill will not succeed and that people would not be represented by the average American parents. With him out of the picture, what happens next?

For those of you who aren't already aware, in June, the US House of Representatives Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee came together to discuss the issue of violent video games. During this conversation, many politicians seemed to have a negative opinion about the way the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rates video games. Cliff Sterns (R-FL) had then proposed that they correct that system, and initiated the "Truth in Video Game Rating Act" (H.R. 5912). What does this act mean to us? Simply that the Federal Trade Commission would determine the future ratings of the video games we know and love.

Currently, ESRB determines game ratings by viewing a video tape of each game's most offensive content, which is created by the publisher of the game. Sterns believes that the ratings need to incorporate the game's entire content, and there should be rules set up that forbid the publisher from disclosing any information (about the game) from the rating system. His bill would also require the US General Accounting Office and the General Comptroller to research the effectiveness of the bill, and develop alternatives to the current ESRB rating system. One of these alternatives includes a general rating system for all music, movies, and games, and TV.

Now jump ahead to present day...

Yesterday, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) followed up on Stern's bill and sent a similar bill to the Senate. Seems like this is a pretty serious topic. Anyways, the exact text of the bill hasn't been released just yet, but Brownback seems to have the same concepts in mind that Sterns brought up. He said that watching a video tape of edits simply isn't enough, and that his bill would "direct the Federal Trade Commission to require that reviewers consider the full content of a video game before issuing a rating." His thoughts are also shared with Sterns, with the ideas of a possible general rating system.

Don't think this is all going down without a fight though, the Entertainment Software Association has responded with President Douglas Lowenstein telling Sterns that his bill would not succeed, and that people would not be represented by the average American parents.

Since we are the gamers, we should have some input on what the ratings are, or how they work. What do you think? Should we incorporate more than just the basic "Everyone", "Teen", and "Mature" (besides some others)? Perhaps a "Pre-teen", "Mature Teen", or "Adult Only"? Are we ok with the current ratings, but just need to include more detailed research on games before the ratings go up? Tell us what you think!

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The article above was created by a user on MyQJ and received enough Jumps to be automatically posted to PSP Updates. As such, it may not be accurate and does not reflect the opinions of QJ.NET or its staff.