Oklahoma Game Bill Signed into Law; No Word (Yet) From ESA

In our first report about the Oklahoma Violent Video Games Bill, Oklahoman gamers still had some room to hope that this one would get junked since during that time the bill was still at the Senate level. But in this recent development, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry has beaten the deadline to sign bills passed in this year’s regular session.

Among the many bills that were signed into law was House Bill 3004, a.k.a. the Violent Video Games Bill. This law, as we’ve told you, will prohibit the sale of video games that feature inappropriate and gratuitous violence to minors. Violence in this case is defined as “any depiction in a game that, when taken as a whole, would be found offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community (with respect to minors) by the average person 18 or older, and which lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic or political value for minors. “ The governor also said in a statement that “the violence in video games has grown to epic proportions.”

As the saying goes, dura lex sed lex– the law is harsh but it is the law. Oklahomans could only hope that their game law would suffer the same fate as that of the Illinois Video Game Law that was deemed unconstitutional citing the violation of the First Amendment.

Oklahoma is just one of the many U.S. states to pass such a bill. Recently, Minnesota signed their Game Bill into law; this states that underage gamers who will be caught buying “M” rated games will be punished with a $25 fine. Other states such as Florida are pushing for the same law while California already passed a violent games law.

There has been no statement from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) with regards to this development in Oklahoma. But it won’t be surprising if they would fight this law the same way that they are contesting the Minnesota law. Check back with us for updates.

Thanks for the heads up, enterman!

Via The Oklahoman

In our first report about the Oklahoma Violent Video Games Bill, Oklahoman gamers still had some room to hope that this one would get junked since during that time the bill was still at the Senate level. But in this recent development, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry has beaten the deadline to sign bills passed in this year’s regular session.

Among the many bills that were signed into law was House Bill 3004, a.k.a. the Violent Video Games Bill. This law, as we’ve told you, will prohibit the sale of video games that feature inappropriate and gratuitous violence to minors. Violence in this case is defined as “any depiction in a game that, when taken as a whole, would be found offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community (with respect to minors) by the average person 18 or older, and which lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic or political value for minors. “ The governor also said in a statement that “the violence in video games has grown to epic proportions.”

As the saying goes, dura lex sed lex– the law is harsh but it is the law. Oklahomans could only hope that their game law would suffer the same fate as that of the Illinois Video Game Law that was deemed unconstitutional citing the violation of the First Amendment.

Oklahoma is just one of the many U.S. states to pass such a bill. Recently, Minnesota signed their Game Bill into law; this states that underage gamers who will be caught buying “M” rated games will be punished with a $25 fine. Other states such as Florida are pushing for the same law while California already passed a violent games law.

There has been no statement from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) with regards to this development in Oklahoma. But it won’t be surprising if they would fight this law the same way that they are contesting the Minnesota law. Check back with us for updates.

Thanks for the heads up, enterman!

Via The Oklahoman