GAME ON

Indiana minors will still be able to steal cars, shoot cops and assault passers-by via video games like "Grand Theft Auto" on their Playstations and Xboxes -- at least for one more year.\nBoth of the video game restriction bills intended for the 2006 session of the Indiana General Assembly were cut down in committee hearings last week, according to Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville.\nSen. Simpson authored SB287, which prohibits the sale or rental of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors, and introduced it to the Committee on Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters Jan. 9.\nAlso before the Committee was SB135, an almost identical bill to Sen. Simpson's, authored by State Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn.\n"I'm hoping we'll have an opportunity to re-introduce the bills in November, and generate some additional interest in them," Simpson said.\nUnder Simpson's proposal, the state would enforce the ratings system already in place and would require retailers to place a warning label on violent or sexually explicit games.\nAccording to the bill, a violent or sexually explicit video game contains a depiction of a character that appears to kill, dismember, maim, decapitate, disfigure, mutilate, rape or torture another character or a depiction of sexual conduct or nudity.\n"I have seen some of these games, and they're startling, in terms of their content," Simpson said. "Studies show that because of the interactivity involved in playing those games, that there is a direct relationship in playing them and acting out violent behavior in school or in the streets."\nSimilarly, Kruse's legislation would require video game retailers to place 2 inch black and white square labels on violent or sexual video games, with the labels reading "18." \n"I filed Senate Bill 135 ... that we create legislation to better regulate the sale of these types of adult video games to children and teenagers," Kruse said. "The sale of adult video games must be regulated if we want any hope of preventing another potential Columbine-type tragedy."\nElena Herrera, a 34-year-old Bloomington resident and mother of two minors, said she would appreciate the legislation. \n"A lot of parents don't pay attention to the games their children play," Herrera said. "I know I don't, so I would like to see that legislation pass. I wouldn't want my 8-year-old playing a game meant for a 17-year-old."\nChristopher Collins, a 25-year-old IU student and ardent gamer, agrees.\n"I'm an adult," Collins said. "I should be able to play whatever I want, but I don't have a problem with a law prohibiting 8-year-olds from buying Grand Theft Auto. Children don't need to be seeing some of that stuff."\nDennis McCauley, editor of www.GamePolitics.com, represents an opposing viewpoint to the recent spate of video game legislation. \n"Comments by both Senator Kruse and Senator Simpson indicate they are both very poorly informed on the topic of video games," McCauley said. "Federal courts have uniformly dismissed these laws on constitutional grounds, though that doesn't seem to bother the politicians much. They're able to say that they did their job while blaming activist judges. Meanwhile, the taxpayers lose, since they pay the freight for the inevitable lawsuit by the video game industry." \nVideo game legislation has become a hot topic for politicians. U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has talked about proposing another similar bill at the federal level, which would prohibit anyone under 17 from purchasing "mature" or M-rated games, according to an Associated Press article. His legislation might also include fines of up to $1,000 against retailers in violation of the law. \nBayh has also joined with Senate colleagues Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., in their proposal for federal video game legislation, the Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA), according to the article.\nTo date, it appears that California, Maryland, Washington, Illinois, Missouri and Michigan have either tried to or are currently trying to place some sort of restriction or ban on games with violent or sexually explicit material.\nThis is not the first time Indiana has become entangled in video game legislation - or the inevitable constitutional challenges that follow. In 2001 a federal court judge struck down an Indianapolis city ordinance restricting violent arcade games as an encroachment on the First Amendment. \nThe current debate will continue at the November session of the Indiana General Assembly when Simpson plans to re-introduce her bill.