Violent video games under fire in Assembly

Bill banning minors from buying M-rated volumes has its foes

Pick up a gun, shoot several people to death, watch blood spurt out of their heads, and then, for good measure, set the bodies on fire.

Or, take a gun to a police officer, and then beat the officer with a bat. Then set the whole scene on fire with a grenade.

These scenes in two popular video games -- Grand Theft Auto Vice City and Postal 2 -- are examples of what led Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to propose bills restricting what kind of video game can be sold to minors.

But what Yee sees as a clear-cut case of protecting minors from harmful materials, opponents say is a violation of free speech and unconstitutional.

Faced with heavy lobbying by the entertainment and video game industry, Yee is organizing a series of news conferences throughout the state this week to draw attention to the issue.

"Here we have children playing these violent video games for long periods of time -- shooting, burning, maiming -- all of these heinous acts. I thought it was a slam-dunk bill," he said. "But all of a sudden, people are hesitant, wondering what is wrong with the current system."

Yee has introduced two bills on the subject, both of which face their first committee test on April 13. The primary bill would prohibit selling to minors any video game in which the player virtually commits realistic and serious criminal injury to human beings in a "manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."

That includes any violence that would be considered crime in real life, Yee said. The second bill would require retailers to display any game with an "M" rating out of reach of children. Video games are rated under a voluntary system, including age recommendations and content descriptors.

Game designers and manufacturers said the voluntary system should work, especially since retail outlets are now being asked to check identification for those buying "M" rated games.

"We should be given a chance to operate in the same way film does, where it is voluntary and there is no state or government regulation," said Gail Markels, senior vice president and general counsel of the Entertainment Software Association.

But the equally important principal is the constitutional right of free speech, said Jason Della Rocca, director of the San Francisco-based International Game Developers Association.

"Games are an art form -- they are a form of expression," he said. "Any government legislation would be censorship, and would not be giving games the respect they deserve."

Della Rocca said games should be respected like music or literature.

Yee limited his bill to only those games where the violence is first- or third person, and only when humans are involved, in order to avoid possible legal action. Similar laws regulating video games have been struck down in other states.

That would eliminate games such as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which features California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is rated "T" for teen audiences. Schwarzenegger does not have a position on the bill, his office said.

Yee, a former child psychologist, said he thinks the governor would support his legislation.

"He was an actor when he did these violent video games," he said. "Now he is the governor, a leader in the area of healthy development of children."

Each side cites studies to back up its point of view. Yee said that according to the Federal Trade Commission, 40 percent of those who play mature- rated games are under 18, and 69 percent of unaccompanied minors who were age 13 to 16 were able to buy the games.

An American Academy of Pediatrics study also found that playing violent video games accounts for a 13 to 22 percent increase in adolescent violent behavior, according to Yee's office.

In contrast, the Entertainment Software Association points out that the average video game player is 29 years old and that in 2002, only 13.2 percent of games sold were rated "M" compared with 55.7 percent that were rated "E" for everyone.

Markels said that as a parent, it is her responsibility to monitor what her children see and play.

"Content should be restricted for children who may not be ready for it, but that is a judgment that is easier for a parent to make," she said. "I'd rather turn the TV off than have the government do it for me."

For Yee, however, it all comes down to common sense.

"Just imagine a child sitting in front of a computer for hundreds of hours, pushing a button on a joystick, killing, maiming, burning and mutilating an individual, and tell me that in itself isn't enough reason to vote for the bill," he said.