With 15 years in the field and numerous franchises under his belt, including Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, Insomniac founder and CEO Ted Price does not appreciate the US government's repeated attempts to involve itself in the video game industry.

"I think video game legislation has no place in America," Price told Shacknews in an exclusive interview. "It saddens me to see legislators stomping all over our First Amendment rights for their own specific interests."

Most game-related legislation has focused on keeping violent games out of underage hands, but is traditionally ruled unconstitutional due to vague language. Opponents, such as acclaimed author Stephen King, often question why video games are singled out for perpetuating America's "culture of violence."

"We're going through what every other entertainment industry has gone through, and that's being the temporary scapegoat for society's ills," Price reasoned... Read more

A bill presented to the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday would force retailers to check the ID of anyone buying an M or AO-rated game or face a $5,000 fine.

Proposed by Lee Terry (R-Neb) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah), the effort relies heavily upon the Entertainment Software Rating Board's established ratings, and would ask that retailers have in-store materials explaining the system.

The use of the ESRB's rating system sets the bill apart from the typically unconstitutional game legislation proposals, which often use vague standards to label violent games instead of a set guideline.

"Many young children are walking into stores and are able to buy or rent these games without their parents even knowing about it," Terry told Variety.

In a statement released today, the ESRB said that retailers denied sales of M-rated games to 80% of individuals under 17 in a recent Federal Trade... Read more

A proposal to restrict the sale of violent video games in Massachusetts has caused famed horror author Stephen King (pictured left), who admits he is no fan of video games, to speak out against what he refers to as the government's surrogate parenting.

"According to the proposed bill, violent video games are pornographic and have no redeeming social merit," he wrote in an Entertainment Weekly column. "What makes me crazy is when politicians take it upon themselves to play surrogate parents. The results of that are usually disastrous. Not to mention undemocratic."

Designated HB 1423, the state legislation would limit the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18. "Which means, by the way, that a 17-year-old who can get in to see Hostel: Part II would be forbidden by law from buying (or renting, one supposes) the violent but less graphic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," King pointed out. "If there's violence to be had, the kids are gonna find a way to get it."

Instead of a state-mandated restriction on violent game sales--many of which have been found to be unconstitutional in the past--King suggested that parents make an effort to take a more active role in raising their children as video games are not the only readily available source of violence in America.

"There's a lot more to America's culture of violence than Resident Evil 4," he explained. "Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find objectionable...and then explain why it's being forbidden. They also need to monitor their children's lives in the pop culture--which means a lot more than seeing what games they're renting down the street."

A recently published study suggests that people who play violent games online actually feel more relaxed and less angry after they've played.

The study was conducted by Jane Barnett and her colleagues at Middlesex University, who recruited 292 male and female gamers aged 12 to 83 to play World of Warcraft. The players were asked to complete a questionnaire on anger, aggression and personality before playing the game for two hours, after which they took the test again.

In their results, the psychologists found that participants were more likely to feel calm or tired after playing, though there were differences depending on age, sex and personality.

"There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type," said Barnett. "This will help us to develop a emotion and gaming questionnaire to help distinguish the type of gamer who is likely to transfer their online aggression into everyday life."

The press release published by the British Psychological Society did not disclose which tasks players were made to do in their two hours of play. In addition to PVP and PVE combat, World of Warcraft also features exploratory elements, crafting, and numerous other activities.

Many previous studies on the subject of violent video games have focused on games such as id's Quake II and other arguably more violent titles than World of Warcraft, which is rated rated T for Teen by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

An unnamed national UK newspaper has allegedly filed an advertisement seeking a story about "how computer games turned you to crime," a description that suggests a sensationalist story about the evils of video games.

The listing popped up over at StarNow, which provides job ads for models, actors, musicians, writers, and more to its members. Registered users are able to post listings free of charge, though it must be approved by customer service before it appears.

According to the advertisement, which was filed on March 27, the story could "pay hundreds of pounds" assuming "it's something we like." Interestingly, the listing did not note if the story had to be true.

The role of violence and video games has recently been thrust back into the spotlight following the publication of the Byron Report, a study by clinical psychologist Tanya Bryon that was commissioned by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Byron examined child safety in games and on the internet, including a look at the relationship between violent video games and real-world violence. She suggested that Britain revise its game-classification system to be more movie-like.

"There are some possible negative effects of violent content in games, but these only become 'harmful' when children present other risk factors," Byron noted in the report.

"There is some evidence of short term aggression from playing violent video games but no studies of whether this leads to long term effects," she wrote.

1UP is reprinting an article originally in EGM that had a head-to-head debate between two people on opposite ends of the videogame violence issue: Jack Thompson, a trial lawyer who has become the spokesperson for those seeking restrictions on gaming, and Henry Jenkins, a director at MIT who has testified in the U.S. Senate and helped overturn a decision that stated games were not covered under the First Admendment. This debate covers the ESRB, parental and governmental responsibility, and of course, the idea of games being killing simulators.

EGM: Your attempts to compensate victims of alleged game-related deaths have been unsuccessful so far. Why do you think this is?
JT: Lawyers tend to be to the left of normal people, and judges tend to be the left of the lawyers. Federal judges tend to be the left of them. So you have a bunch of First Amendment absolutists who block these kinds of lawsuits. State courts, however, are far more responsive to parents. I suppose federal judges by and large don't have a problem with mental molestation of children with murder simulators.
...
EGM: You said there is a big difference in shooting a real gun and doing it in a game, but doesn't the military use simulators to train the Army?
HJ: Training is not the same as causing them to do it. This is separate from influence; games can be a resource, a tool that could be used in hundreds of legitimate ways. But we don't get rid of every tool out there. You don't ban flight simulators after 9/11. What about maps? Paper and pencils? Where do we draw the line?

This is a great read and kudos to Marc Saltzman for conducting these excellent interviews; they really flesh out the feelings and thoughts behind this debate.

ABC News online has details of a 20/20 broadcast last night which had interviews with Todd Hollenshead Lt. Col. David Grossman. Because Todd was invited we could of course finally also hear the other side of the story. Todd showed that violence hasnt been so low in years while the gaming industry has exploded in terms of sales, something the host John Stossel agreed with. Also it seems that Grossman's "fact" of the Marines using Doom to desensitizes recruits, is just an opinion as it turns out they use Doom to teach eye and hand coordination and to help develop teamwork . There is also a transcript of an ABC chat with Lt. Col. Grossman available here. To be continued for sure..