California Assembly Bill on Video Game Violence

Update: Governor Schwarzenegger has signed this bill into law. However, 2 major trade associations: The Video Software Dealers Association and Entertainment Software Association have filed suit, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.

September 12, 2005 Last week, the California State Assembly passed a bill (AB1179) that would prohibit video game retailers from selling violent video games to minors. Governor Schwarzenegger has until the 9th of October to sign or veto the controversial bill. If he does approve it, it would kick in on January 1st, 2006.

The bill calls for retailers to be assessed fines of $1000 any time they are found selling violent games to minors. The bill, which has been approved by both the California Senate and the State Assembly was sponsored by Assemblyman Leland Yee.

This is not the first such bill sponsored by Assemblyman Yee; a prior bill was approved, but had been diluted. Yee is using the recent discovery of the Hot Chocolate scene in Grand Theft Auto to bring this issue up again. The bill would require violent games to be labeled with a 2-inch square sticker on the front of the package – a sticker that would take up nearly half of a Game Boy Advance label.

The bill has many gray areas, since it seeks to create its own definition of violence in video games, eschewing the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating system that is followed in a self-policing fashion by all video game publishers. Instead, AB1179 calls for limited sales on any "video game in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." Of course, since it exempts games that use those things for artistic merit, it will be nearly impossible to enforce. Who among us can say that the most violent scenes in Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas are not truly art?

The bill, which defines terms like "heinous", "cruel", and "depraved" does not define a specific governing body to control the sales and guide retailers. Previous attempts to enact similar legislation have been struck down in the courts as unconstitutional and this bill is likely to be no different. At best, it will lead to confused retailers and gamers; at worst, it will limit the accessibility of popular video game titles.

A similar law in Illinois is currently under dispute and other state legislators are watching with interest. Some Senators have called for federal legislation, but that is unlikely to pass in the near future with all of the debate in the courts.

Ironically, the type of explicit, yet consensual sex shown in the Hot Chocolate scene would even not be addressed by AB1179 since it only legislates games that include violence.

Live in California? Email the governor and let him know what you think of this legislation!