Gamertell

Gamers and gamer-advocacy groups have consistently pointed out to concerned parents and government officials that controlling the buying decisions of children under 17 is a personal responsibility, not one that should include government entanglements.

However, the voices of these individuals have sadly fallen on deaf ears, as politicians and parental groups have consistently succeeded in demonizing the gaming industry as a group that cares little for the welfare of children. This has led to state after state, most notably California, drafting and proposing legislation against gaming with the goal of “protecting the children.”

While gamers and their advocates (and the courts) have long since denounced California’s action as pointless, they gained a powerful ally in the LA Times. In and editorial titled “Violent video games: Who controls the joystick?,” the newspaper has taken the state of California to task for its efforts to legislate an action that should really be left up to parental units.

Citing the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ declaration of the latest round of legislation forbidding the sale of violent games to minors as unconstitutional, the LA Times editorial advises Democratic Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown (who defended the California law in the latest case) to stop now and avoid wasting any more taxpayers’ money or embarassment: “Brown shouldn’t risk another embarrassment by taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

This is an editorial that any gamer can get behind and it would behoove the state of California to listen considering it is currently $42 billion in the red. One would think that California would dedicate more of its efforts in trying to save its state from financial ruin rather than try to take action against problems that, in retrospect, are really futile and unnecessary.

Then again, one thinks that it will take a well-placed hit from Nyko’s Perfect Shot before any member of our government has the sense to leave video games alone. Until then, pointless legislation like this may probably become the norm.

Read [LA Times] Via [Joystiq]