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The Supreme Court has ruled, 5(2)-2 (5 majority, 2 concurrent, 2 dissenting opinions), that video games are protected under the 1st Amendment and that the California law that would allow the state to regulate the sale of games deemed "deviant and abhorrent" to minors (but with no clear guidelines on what "deviant and abhorrent" means) is unconstitutional.

The Escapist News Article
The full decision (PDF, 92 pages), including concurrent (agreeing, but for a different reason than the majority) and dissenting (disagreeing with the majority) opinions.

A glorious day is today. Party like it's 1999?

Laws never stopped me before, but now I can at least be legal about it. Hurray!

Ponytails are fine, I guess. If you look good in them. I don't think they look good, but they're still semi-fabulous.

Yay! Old people with sense!

Incorrect, old people who are absolutely retarded. They couldn't rule against it because they are not fully familiar with the issues. They said plainly that the supreme court can not add an exception for a new medium. The only way to ban something is if it is 100% explicit, which 99% of games rated M or over do. Are you saying that selling porn to a kid is really bad, but playing grand theft auto isnt? I call massive BS, and am supremely disappointed in the supreme court.

The only thing this law was going to accomplish was the implementation of a nanny state, giving the rights of the parent over to the state. Experience has taught us that this is a terrible, terrible idea, mostly because it indirectly encourages bad parenting. If you are a responsible parent and are aware of what your child is watching/reading/playing, there's no need for any further regulation in regards to minors' access to media.

Now, I understand that there are bad parents out there. There are people who should never have been allowed to breed and their offspring are suffering for it. Personally, I think it ought to be a law that every male should get a vasectomy at the age of 18¹ since it's a simple, effective procedure and easily reversible. In this day and age, there's really no excuse for an unplanned pregnancy beyond male stubbornness/stupidity.

In addition, the ESRB is far, far more effective a rating system than the movie and television rating systems, and is followed far more stringently than them, too. I've been carded for an M-rated title every time I've gone and gotten one, and I just turned 19 and know most of the game shop employees on a first name basis. I know anecdotal evidence is far from strong in arguments such as these, but it's the best I've got on this point. There's something floating around about the FCC calling the ESRB "among the most robust voluntary regulation systems in existence," but that quote is actually taken out of context, I've found.

In any case: We as a society have fallen into this pit where we want to blame anyone but ourselves for our own failures. It manifests in nanny state legislature like this, the huge amounts of litigation we see (seriously, go watch Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown and tell me we're not overly litigious as a society) and, worse, personal failings like the obesity epidemic².

Now, I'll move on to your point about pr0nz and tie it into the legal failings of the proposed law itself. Of course selling sexually explicit material to a 6 year old is bad. But would you say the same thing about a 14 year old with unlimited Internet access? What about a 17 year old? People who are considered minors under the law can be at vastly different levels of maturity. This law was far too broad. It did not define the terms it used³ and painted all minors, regardless of maturity level, with the same broad brush. There was no infrastructure proposed to uphold the decisions of the committee who would be deciding which titles were "deviant" and "morbid," nor was there any attempt to define how this committee's members would be chosen or held accountable and impartial. In short, this was a terribly written law. If you had bothered to read the concurrent opinion, you would find that Justices Alito and Roberts both said that they would seriously consider changing their vote if a better law were brought before the Court.

I understand your reaction, Ashurei. Believe me, I had the same exact one when I heard the initial proposal. "Hey, that's not a half-bad idea, give the rating system some state-sponsored clout. It might not be needed, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?" But when you think about what doors this opens in regards to censorship of media, it becomes a dark and slippery slope to navigate. Retailers might not stock M-rated titles, fearing financial retribution if they slipped up, even once. As little as we might want to think about it, big-box stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart are the driving economic giants behind the games industry, moving thousands, even millions of titles each day. But if their bottom line is threatened? They would drop games rated for adults like a box of hot rocks, much as they have movies. Seen how many X-rated movies come out anymore? Almost none. Even R-rated movies are on their way out, you see more and more production houses falling back to the "safer" PG-13 rating, hoping to reach a broader audience. This has already happened in gaming, albeit quietly. Not a lot of people are even aware that the ESRB has an AO (Adults Only) rating, and this is because the big-box stores refuse to stock games rated such. They don't get sold, publishers see that and make the developers fall back to the "safer" M-rating.

I'm not saying every game needs an M-rating or an AO-rating. But having that option gives the developers room to do what they want with the title rather than forcing them to tone down the gore or the sexual overtones. As Justice Scalia said, "[r]eading Dante is unquestionably more cultured and intellectually edifying than playing Mortal Kombat. But these cultural and intellectual differences are not constitutional ones. Crudely violent video games, tawdry TV shows and cheap novels and magazines are no less speech than The Divine Comedy, and restrictions upon them must survive strict scrutiny...Even if we can see in them "nothing of any possible value to society..., they are as much entitled to the protection of free speech as the best of literature. (Winters v. New York, 333 U.S. 507, 510 (1948))" (Footnote, p11 of 92 of the Supreme Court's finding in EMA v California, 2010)"
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<sub>1. Hopefully before they become sexually active but after testosterone has done it's work, though I understand if they already are sexually active; either way, we ought to make the public schools teach contraceptive methods beyond abstinence.

2. Please note, I understand that there are glandular and inherited traits that can cause severe obesity and that it isn't always the obese person's fault they're overweight. My mother is sadly overweight through no fault of her own (she had a stroke shortly after I was born and has never been able to lose the birth weight, not to mention her inherited diabetes). That said, most morbidly obese people are just fat and don't care enough to change their diet and exercise regimen to compensate. And that's their right as a human being, just as it is my right to look down on them for not taking care of their bodies.

3. What is "deviant" sexual behavior? What is a "morbid" level of violence? Are there then "normal" sexual behaviors and "acceptable" levels of violence? None of these questions were addressed, even in open court when Justice Scalia asked them of the representative for the State of California.</sub>

i guess as an old guy i'm not really passionate about stuff like this anymore. i was in high school, but that's for obvious reasons. def not one for carding a 17 year old for mortal combat when that's the target demographic. the world is getting more sophisticated so if a parent doesn't know from the commercials and box art that a game isn't good for their 12 year old, i dun think that's something that should effect the rest of the more savvy population. but the way things are going, microsoft and nintendo want to both be family oriented. i think it was bladez that got the original box art rejected and had to cover up the fem charrie on it a bit more making it diff from the PS3 box. if that's the case then it's not really that big of a deal since the industry will limit itself based on what target audience they want. i dun see an industry spamming stuff that'd traumatize a 6th grader. it might turn out to be if you want a game w/sex and violence (i.e. god of war / bayonetta) then you have to go to sony. world seems to be functioning just fine w/GTA and other titles that push the boundaries. dun really see why govt intervention is needed in private business at this point in time. if there was a rampant problem, then ya, but why waste money that we need other places on somethin like this?

Here is what I am getting at.

a Rated M game is rated M for a reason. It is rated this way for the same reason that movies are rated R. Are we allowed to sell movies that are rated R to kids under 17? No. Why can we sell games to them, which are far more interactive and do more damage to our society than these movies..

my primary quam is personal. I feel like an 8 year old on XBL playing Call of Duty with his little immature screaming friends absolutely ruins the games.

hey! some of those kids are dangerous... i.e. halo >.>

Wait. You're saying that you'd rather the artistic quality of the medium be degraded because of economic pressures just so you don't have to hear some annoying little snot call you a faggot on XBL?

....all due respect, I think you need to re-evaluate your priorities, ma'am.

Ashurei wrote:

Are you saying that selling porn to a kid is really bad, but playing grand theft auto isnt?

No, that's not what I'm saying. It should be illegal to sell anything at all to kids in my humble opinion, including, but not limited to: Grand Theft Auto, porn, bicycles, toys, fruit, vegetables, livestock, pets, computers, computer equipment, game consoles, headsets, keyboards, books, movies, vacation packages, music, furniture, swingsets, real estate, drugs, security contracts, pinwheels, candy, sugar, lunches, fish, anything that can be described as an "account", prostitutes, timekeeping devices, glowsticks, wooden sticks, sticky pads, menstrual products, fur coats, leather coats, coats in general, office supplies, plumbing services, cable, hamburgers, french fries, ice cream, construction equipment, water, electricity, solar panels, cosmetics, replicas of ancient coins, plants, monitors, pencils, air conditioning units, security consultations, other private military services, turntables, jewelry, plastic rings, bricks, kitchen sinks, soups, goats, hair dye, plastic surgery, standardized tests, anime, cell phones, smart phones, clothes with RFID chips, clothes without RFID chips, credit card services, bank services, lawnmowers, go-karts, scooters, Justin Beiber, Rebecca Black, any of those other ones Disney is whoring out these days, cartoons, live-action shows, dinosaurs, World of Warcraft, any game adults generally play, any game adults generally don't play, eggs, stocks, bulletproof vests, the song "Bulletproof" by La Roux, and texting plans.

Why? Because screw kids. If they have a net worth greater than $5 ($30 around holidays) apart from their parents, then there's a problem there. They haven't yet developed nearly the brain power to use money constructively for themselves and others, but I'm not about to get carded like I'm buying booze when I get God of War 4. The world doesn't need to be childproofed for lazy people. If they want to mess their offspring up, then let them. The judges need to keep out of my business and focus on making life miserable for rapists, thieves, and murderers. I'm glad that they made some small acknowledgment of that for once.

Also, I disagree with the vasectomy solution for various reasons.

Cooler topic:

inb4 "Your mom's vagina tastes like cotton candy"

H-uh. Edifying. I was not aware of the complications regarding vasectomies. I know several people who have had them, some of them good friends, and none have ever complained. I may have to rethink that particular plan...

In any case, politics and such are rarely interesting subjects beyond the initial trade of ideas, so I agree, let us abscond to a different topic. Such as...

...the ever-growing threat of feline insurgency.

I actually agree mariko.

RagnorakTres wrote:

H-uh. Edifying. I was not aware of the complications regarding vasectomies. I know several people who have had them, some of them good friends, and none have ever complained. I may have to rethink that particular plan...

In any case, politics and such are rarely interesting subjects beyond the initial trade of ideas, so I agree, let us abscond to a different topic. Such as...

...the ever-growing threat of feline insurgency.

i see no problem with this. i <3 kitteh.

oh! how about

w...t...f...

one hour till bios lock for the saga peeps. get those updates done.

I regret not trusting my gut. I'm never clicking anything by Shin again.

I just saw the image and knew what it was, which is why I didn't push it lol.

Damn Ki.. stockpiling TEXP for the apocalypse?

Really, we're shortening 4 letter Kiun to Ki now? Tsk tsk while smh

Yes, we are. You have a lot of posting to do lol

I wanted a Affinity Seal. More for Storyline Reasons than anything though...
But yeah when zombies come around you can all knock on my door I'll pass out some T-Candy.

Wow- sorry about that Perception check, Iskra. I must've rolled a one to not notice that you were in hyena form >_>; Feels bad, man

XD Ah, it's perfectly fine. I should've like... posted more specifically and mentioned that I used my shapeshifting tech.

-nods- I suppose it'll make for some humorous posting on my end >_>; Get to play out the fact that Alicia still thought you were a human. WOO

I look forward to reading this one.

w...t...f...?!

*runs to get webcam*

THEY LEFT ME AND LIL TRE OUT?!?!

Deeply disturbing.

I'll have to agree with ascenxion here- unless someone can get me a webcam so I can get on with Petey XD

On the topic of hot guiz and their pets, new month, new avatar+sig quote! Everyone change theirs too or be forever labeled as dull and not-worth-my-time.

Hi all, sry for not being around much for the past two weeks! Been working from 5am to 4pm everyday and will be for the next 4 weeks... that is if i can muster the strenght to complete the job xD But yeah, due to the awkward working hours im like off work and not sleeping for 4 hours which i use to just relax and eat before going back to bed, so unfortunatly i wont be RPing much until maybe the 29th of June, which after i will have like.... 29th of june to 20th of september to RP every single day ^^! So yeah, oh i might also drop by now and then to check up on things and change around some ideas and whatnot for my char

Getting ready for last nights party, all Jack'd up.

Jack wrote:

Getting ready for last nights party, all Jack'd up.

Getting ready for the Jack, all party'd up.

Jack wrote:

Getting ready for last nights party, all Jack'd up.

Go get them, Tiger.

I'd like to bring everyone's attention to the new wiki.

oh snap! can u put pictures on it?

Just beat Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Thought you all should know >_>; Best final boss fight I've done in ages.

Yes! You can put piksures on it.

Also, I never did beat windwaker. I walked into a room full of those harmless enemies and couldn't go on.

-nods- The Forsaken Fortress the second time around is a bitch. The answer is right in your inventory as well- which makes it suck all the more when you're stuck in there >_>;

Also, I'm relatively sure Yuki is dead >_>; Uh... Not sure how to respond to that one...

Iskra, check emails~

Happy Birthday Kimmi! Hurry up and get back to being active!

Happy Birthday, Kaguya.

in Jacks post attacking my character in the Dragon Quest ( https://shintheory.rpg-board.net/t226-shinteractive-quest-the-dragon-quest#4635 ), I'm not sure if he chanted for his spell, I don't think I seen one in his post, and the rules say you have to have at least 1 word chant regardless of rank and I don't believe he has a Free Channeling rank on the tech he used, and if he does he didn't use a free channeling roll.

technically, he said "Oh.. is that so", which is 4 syllabals and can cast it off of that.

I'm not sure that you'd have enough time for a 5 second transformation and a dodge while an attack's moving at you in melee range at 30 feet per second either...

>_>; Hate to say it, Rune- but you kind of asked for it in there. General consensus of most of the characters, at any rate >_>; That and you insulted a Pride demon, of all things. It just so happens that he's one of the strongest characters on site- not that you'd know that in character, I guess...

That, and if you wanted to not die, shouldn't you have used a defensive technique instead of attacking Jack? I mean... do we get dodges in this game? He rolled a Zeta, which, unless I'm mistaken, means you got hit in the face? Or am I forgetting important rules again, like I normally do?

Quote :

Evasion (conflict info)
Controlled by attributes and the situation (distance, orientation, attack type, etc).
Two fighters with the same DEX/MOV have about a 50/50 chance of evading each other.
Lower attributes (by 1 or more levels), reduces the chance of evading/dodging.

You missed something. So like if Rune dies then the site is good to go! b/c we all know he likes to die like once every few months.

Yes Sooth, he did roll a good roll, but if I can transform then I will be able to move faster then the spell can travel, thus having a chance of dodging it.