Video Game Regulation: New Jersey May be Next
Today, we get word that an entire state may soon have arcade games regulated. Assemblyman Leroy Jones from Essex, a democrat, has introduced a bill that, if passed by the NJ Assembly and signed by Republican governor Christie Whitman, would force arcades to label so-called ‘violent’ video games, in addition to games with major adult themes, and prohibit gamers seventeen and under to play them without a parent present. Partitions would also have to be installed between the labeled games and the games deemed suitable for all ages.
Sound familiar? That’s because it is–it’s essentially the same law that Indianapolis passed earlier in the year, but the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a suspension of that law while the video game industry, specifically, the AAMA and the AMOA, prepare to present to the court opposing arguments in December. What’s different between Indianapolis and this situation is that Jones’s bill would cover an entire state…a potentially frightening problem that the video game industry would have to overcome.
Jones says that the bill is necessary to protect children from violence and sex in current, and potentially future arcade games. The Courier-Post, a southern New Jersey newspaper, quoted Jones saying:
We can’t continue as a society promoting the notion of violence as fun and expect to develop and encourage humane children.
Perhaps the most inappropriate thing to come out of this is that Jones will be using the Columbine tragedy, in which two Colorado teenagers went on a shooting rampage at their school before committing suicide, most likely as a means to get the bill through the Assembly. When the Courier-Post asked Jones what he thinks of critics opposing the bill, he said:
Go talk to the parents at Columbine and see what they have to say.
I’ll let you know how things are going on this bill immediately when I get it, because as you may know, I live in the state of New Jersey, and this bill will directly affect me. Stay with us for the latest coverage.
