The vote in the case, which argued over the constitutional rights of a law which would have have governed the sale of videogames to minors, came in at a 7-2 ruling against California. 7-2 that is a surprising landslide number!
Now a lot of you who have been on ThePauseMenu for months now have heard this battle as Schwarzenegger Vs EMA. It was written by California senator Leland Yee and was passed into law by then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 2005. Schwarzenegger’s name was removed from the case name after Jerry Brown took over as governor.
Ken Levine, the man behind Bioshock, points out that all of our freedoms derive from the right to express ourselves.
"Today, the Court brought the medium we love fully into that circle of freedom," he said. "And we move forward empowered, but also with a sense of responsibility that words have meaning. So we as creators will choose our words with respect, understanding their power. But no law will have the authority to choose them for us."
Now what can this mean for the future of gaming? Will we continue to see the same ratings and content or will publishers and developers try and push the envelope that has given them their freedom back? All I know is the Video Game Industry has won a major victory today!
[VG247]
[Kotaku]