Games Industry Applauds Supreme Court Decision Over Violent Games

The whole gaming industry, from developers to publishers or organizations like the ESA, EMA or ESRB, have saluted yesterday's Supreme Court decision against a proposed law project that would've made selling violent games a crime.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the proposition of the state of California to legally punish those who sell violent video games to children, saying that putting such a ban on video games is against the First Amendment of the Constitution, and that games need to be on the same level as movies or books.

The whole gaming industry has now saluted the ruling, emphasizing that the current system, with the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) passing rulings on video games, and then the video game stores enforcing the age ratings by denying service to children, is working smoothly, so lawmakers should refrain from trying to force their own ideas.

Defending video games against the proposed law project from California were the Entertainment Software Association, the Entertainment Merchants Association, and the Entertainment Consumers Association, which have made the following statements, via Industry Gamers.

"This is a historic and complete win for the First Amendment and the creative freedom of artists and storytellers everywhere," declared Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA.

"Today, the Supreme Court affirmed what we have always known – that free speech protections apply every bit as much to video games as they do to other forms of creative expression like books, movies and music. The Court declared forcefully that content-based restrictions on games are unconstitutional; and that parents, not government bureaucrats, have the right to decide what is appropriate for their children."

Both the EMA and the ESRB saluted the fact that the Supreme Court appreciates the current ratings and enforcing systems to be sufficient in protecting minors from violent video games.

"EMA welcomes today’s Supreme Court ruling that let stand the Court of Appeals’ decision finding the California video game restriction law to be unconstitutional," said Bo Andersen, CEO of the EMA.

"We are gratified that our position that the law violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression has been vindicated and there now can be no argument whether video games are entitled to the same protection as books, movies, music, and other expressive entertainment."

"ESRB welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision in this case, especially given its validation of the ESRB rating system as an effective and reliable tool that parents use to decide which video games are appropriate for their children and family," stated Patricia Vance, president of the ESRB.