Repercussions of Legislation on the Gaming Industry

1up.com has a look at the ways in which anti-violence legislation may affect the gaming industry. From the article: "Although Gamepolitics.com Editor Dennis McCauley says that the Strickland case will be thrown out due to lack of merit because 'no compelling evidence indicates that playing a violent videogame can turn someone into a triple murderer,' the Strickland v. Sony case is detrimental to the industry. It is challenging freedom of speech and expression in videogames -- in contradiction to the 2003 Court of Appeals ruling that videogames are protected by the First Amendment. If Strickland et al were to win, it could force the industry to censor itself out of fear of future lawsuits. And it might result in future federal regulation of videogame content."

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Addendum:

[Lendrick]

Interestingly enough, it appears as if Cheapass Games sells a few computer games of their own. I wouldn't be surprised if a few hobby and game stores sold their computer games alongside their board and card games.

Re:movies

[Detritus]

The movie industry has had similar problems. Watch some old movies from the 1920s and 1930s. You'll notice a huge change around 1930, when the Hays Code was introduced in response to pressure from many groups to "clean up" the film industry. Some of the early talking movies were quite racy for their day.