Video Game Saga *

Exciting news for the video game industry! Please read below and share with us what this tremendous victory means to you as a gamer.

On Monday, June 27, the United States Supreme Court announced its decision in the case of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA)/Entertainment Software Association (ESA), ruling in favor of the ESA. The Court found that a 2005 California statute regulating the sale and rental of computer and video games is unconstitutional. This is a tremendous victory for the entertainment software industry and the right of free expression.

Free speech is one of our nation's most cherished rights, and the Supreme Court has historically held content-based restrictions to the highest standards of scrutiny. This ruling is no exception. The Court has upheld the First Amendment and preserved American expression regardless of communication medium.

The Supreme Court's decision also underscores the vitality, innovation and ingenuity of video game creation. Twelve lower federal courts had already struck down this and similar statutes, ruling consistently that those free speech protections apply every bit as much to video games as they do to books, movies and music. The Supreme Court has now concurred.

In addition, the ruling deals a decisive blow to any similar attempts to restrict content, particularly given the highly effective tools that already exist, including the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings and parental controls available on game consoles.

I am glad that the courts have upheld first amendment rights and that video games are becoming as accepted as books & movies as far as an expression through art is concerned.  That being said there are a few things that video game companies are going to have to keep in mind going forward.

First thing is games still have ratings E-M attached to them.  I am all for the ratings system to help parents make more informed decisions about the games they purchase for their kids.

The second thing is game companies also need to keep in mind that video game retailers still get to choose who they do business with and are not forced to carry every video game made.  So companies still are somewhat restricted by the content they put into games to maximize their profits.

Keeping in mind that this may not completely change the game makers landscape it is nice to see video games being seen as an expression of art.

I am indeed glad as a historian, and linguist, and a constitutionalist, to see that the first ammendment of American citizens has once again been shielded by our supreme court. For the history of gaming and our nation, this is another major decision of the supreme court, that puts a lot of controlling beaurocrats in their places.

I am 100% supportive of our ESRB, and am in favor of parental guidance over ratings on software. I am not in favor of an entity restricting our expression.

Victory as a gamer, victory as an American, and victory as art lover.

Thank you for sharing!