Pandering to the masses, Oklahoma bans violent video games...and nudity

GTA Hot Coffee by kioshi.

Gamesutra reports that the Oklahoma governor has signed House Bill 3004, which according to Gamesutra will require that violent video games will have to be kept in a closed room much the way adult movies are currently treated.

Poking around on the Oklahoma legislature website, I found the bill which claims:

"Harmful to minors" means:...that quality of any description, exhibition, presentation or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse... or any description, exhibition, presentation or representation, in whatever form, of inappropriate violence...|Link|

Ah, how I miss the Bible belt. This is another worthless law that will never get enforced because its too vague to enforce.

Of course, the Dem's want to get in on this anti-video game action too as illustrated by Hilary Rodham Clinton's recent media guide.

Without a bright line rule, it's going to be very difficult for video game makers to meet these standards. Oklahoma's rejection of the ESRB rating system without providing any concrete guidance will make this law a nightmare to enforce. Some prosecutors might try for publicity purposes, but they'll waste a lot of taxpayers' money trying to define social standards and show that these vague standards were violated.

It's just a soundbite of a law without any real thought behind it.

Video games are very powerful and can have negative and positive effects on children (and adults), as I've written elsewhere. Legislators are right to be interested in that, but these sorts of laws are worthless.