Video Games Win at the Supreme Court

You may remember that WAY back on November 2, 2010 the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the state of California could ban the sale of violent video games to minors (if you don't you can read about it here).  Well they finally made a decision today.  The call was 7-2 in favor of the Entertainment Merchants Association. Which means that they have found the video games are protected by the First Amendment as free speech.  If you would like you can read the whole release at the Supreme Courts site using this convenient link. From what I hear Justice Scalia has some real gems in there.  One of them being "disgust is not a valid basis for restricting expression."

Both sides had things to say about his.  Speaking on the side of gamers I would have to say f*** you California.  On the other side Leland Yee (he wrote this waste of our time) had this to say:

“Unfortunately, the majority of the Supreme Court once again put the interests of corporate America before the interests of our children,” said Senator Leland Yee in a statement. “As a result of their decision, Wal-Mart and the video game industry will continue to make billions of dollars at the expense of our kids’ mental health and the safety of our community. It is simply wrong that the video game industry can be allowed to put their profit margins over the rights of parents and the well-being of children.”

“While we did not win today, I am certain that this eight year legislative and legal battle has raised the consciousness of this issue for many parents and grandparents, and has forced the video game industry to do a better job at appropriately rating these games,"

Now given I am a little biased on all this if you really want to hear a fair and balanced talk about this you will need to head elsewhere.

Supreme Court Hears Games Case

So today was the big day.  The Supreme Court heard the arguments between The State of California (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA which the ESA is a part of).  For those that are not paying attention this is the final court case to decide if the State of California has the right to control "ultra violent"  (a term which is never really clearly defined) game sales to minors.  Now at first this may not seem like a big thing.  Gamestop and Wal-mart already will not sell to a minor unless their parents are present.   But where the law goes too far is it seems too much like government censorship.

What is to stop this law from leading to censorship in other forms of media?  What would stop the jump from video games to comic, then comics to TV, and so on?  And even if there is no jump to other media for violent censorship and if the worst thing that happens is that it stays in the realm of video games, there is a possibility that the threat of fines or low sales would cause game producers to censor themselves in the US.

What do you think of all this though?  Sound off in the comments on your opinions and if you want you can read the court briefing below.

And when can we expect to hear the verdict on this case?  Some time between tomorrow and June 2011.  So don't hold your breath.

Schwarzenegger v. EMA