Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright (D-Manhattan) has proposed a bill that seeks to restrict the sale of games with questionable content to minors. Specifically, it would prohibit "the sale to minors of certain rated video games containing a rating that reflects content of various degrees of profanity, racist stereotypes or derogatory language, and/or actions toward a specific group of persons."
A similar law was proposed in 2007 by the same assemblyman, but failed to pass.
This will probably fail just the same, but continues to represent an unfounded war on video games for political purposes.
This law is redundant because any game with the content Assemblyman Wright speaks of would undoubtedly be M-rated, which is already restricted from being sold to minors without parental consent by the games industry.
The other problem is deciding who gets to determine what content is racist or derogatory. What about satire? This is why the law will fail. It's a freedom of speech issue and people that do not agree with the content don't have to buy the game. No one is forcing people to buy these games. It's probably a good idea for parents to actually pay attention to what their kids are playing and watching.
Personally, I grew up on violent video games and hardcore gangster rap, yet I'm a perfectly well-adjusted individual. Nice try, Assemblyman Wright. Game hating is so old news anyway.
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