Leland Yee, The Man Behind California's Violent Games Crusade, Responds to Supreme Court Decision

childhood goes by so fast anyway so what's the point in having it?

I have to say, this sort of thing really does get me annoyed. It's very clear this guy has no idea what he's talking about and has most likely never even played a game himself. Even in games like Grand Theft Auto the main character has motives and feelings and usually portrays the kind of life they're living as a bad and one that you shouldn't want to follow yourself. But even when they don't, they're nothing more than entertainment. I don't see how you can condemn M rated games, but not movies, cartoons, or comic books, etc. At the very most, I can agree that the age ratings should be better enforced and parents shouldn't simply ignore them..

But comparing games to drugs, alcohol or porn? How does that even begin to make sense? This is nothing more than a very transparent attempt to advance his political career. People like this shouldn't be allowed to hold any position of power.

You hear that noise, Mr. Yee? Shhhh.... Do you hear that?

That's the sound of people sighing.

@Icicle7x3 said:

"Unlike Saturday morning cartoons, these video games expose kids to behavior that is not acceptable in reality."

What?

Well, to be honest... I don't know about all of you, but I cannot COUNT the number of times friends of mine have dropped anvils on my head and I had to go lie down for 4 seconds before shooting them in the chest with a shotgun in retaliation while avoiding the TNT sticks they were casually lighting and throwing at me. Oh wait, no, that was a Daffy Duck cartoon...

"Unlike Saturday morning cartoons, these video games expose kids to behavior that is not acceptable in reality."

Yee... Was Charlie Brown all you ever saw of cartoons?

Deal with it...

But comparing games to drugs, alcohol or porn? How does that even begin to make sense? This is nothing more than a very transparent attempt to advance his political career. People like this shouldn't be allowed to hold any position of power.

Didn't really read this story I was too busy ripping out my teacher's spine with my bare hands.

Last time I checked video games would not give kids lung cancer an addiction  like   alcohol, cigarettes .. 
 
Or kill your liver cells like  alcohol and it's general health hazards and killing people in various ways.
 
Hell I think they should be worrying  how many potato chips and crap they eat at school than this, I remeber in school I ate tons of crap junk food in our schools and then they made Us go to P.E to work off the crap we ate. 
 
 
Oh jusus that Kid has a copy of duke nukem forever  saints row  2 and porn he is scared for life and will kil us all then shoot him self in the head because has crap video games. 
 
If I was forced to play the crap video games some kids get like saints row and call of duty 4 /black ops // any mortal kombat game/ what evaer  crap  violent video games  I know I would want to shoot my self and take some people out with me like the people who made those crap games when i go postal.
 
 
Duke nukem forever sucks But it sucks so bad It gives me Lulz and it hs for 15 years it has been giving me lulz.

I have to wonder whether he read the decision or not. Accumulating all the evidence in the world that violence affects cognitive development won't win the case. He'd have to show how video game related violence is somehow distinct and more nefarious than violence in other forms of media. This cannot be substantiated.

Did Jack Thompson buy an asian skin suit or something?

It took 92 pages to say the law is unconstitutional. 92. He should just stop and focus on other, more important, topics.

" Unlike Saturday morning cartoons, these video games expose kids to behavior that is not acceptable in reality."
 
Have you watched Saturday morning cartoons recently?  They may not make kids violent and expose them to "unacceptable" behavior, but they will drop your IQ like a rock.  I'll take violent but smart over stupid any day.

@Loose said:

This Christ, anytime someone wants something this is what they spout off.

@Stealthmaster86: Really... I mean the argument would be "OUR CHILDREN ARE IMPORTANT!" but what about things that would effect them more then video games? There are more important things. Isn't California in huge debt? Maybe you should sell some more video games to generate tax and fix that.

What has happened today is that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided it's going to side with corporate America and Wal-Mart against our children

@TheHT: Yeah, that's basically all politicians and their BS spin.

Isn't California like seriously broke? Isn't he not getting paid due to the lack of a budget? Does he truly have nothing else to bother with? Heck, why not go after movies next! I bet that will work well...and you'll have the same busybodies dolts on your side you have now...

he is making ME violent i can tell him that

Is no one mad that he used up a fucton of taxpayer money just so he could say that he "tried to protect your children from violent video games" as a campaign slogan later? Everyone knew it would fail, it's all a sham so he can get some easy political gain with the baby boomers, and Christian fundies.

California is insolvent and instead of fixing the state's financial woes -which will benefit businesses and citizens alike- Leland Yee and glory-seeking politicians like himself opt to attack the games industry. An industry, I must say, which finds itself entrenched within the state of California, an industry which has earned record profits (and paid the accompanying taxes) even in the midst of a now three-year-long global recession. 
 
So tell me, Mr. Yee, what sense is there in attacking and unlawfully regulating what could possibly be the richest source of tax dollars that California has? Stop wasting your constituents' tax money on these unconstitutional pet projects, Mr. Yee, and work on bringing California back to financial solvency instead of scheming for more ways to drive away billions of dollars of potential state revenue. 
 
If Leland Yee and other California legislators do not stop seeking to muzzle the First Amendment rights of games developers and publishers, then it will not be long until we see an exodus out of California, to states with a more progressive attitude towards the newest entertainment medium. 
 
Where would California be if those tremendously profitable videogame companies relocate to Washington State, Texas, Utah, New York, Rhode Island, and Georgia? What good would your pandering be then, Mr. Yee?

He's running for mayor of MY city? Oh hell no, where's my voting pants...

wow he doesnt seem like an over-protective parent...

Oh, you mean he's not giving up?  Color me not surprised.  He really just sounds crazy though. 

DIRTY POLITICIANS STAY OUT OF MY GAMES.

I can't wait for all the people like him to just die off.

I think retail stores already do too much to restrict access to M-rated games. I couldn't buy a copy of Vanquish last month without presenting my driver's license to the cashier. It pissed me off. Like as if Vanquish wasn't having a hard enough time selling, they were going to refuse my purchase unless I could prove I was over 18 (any half intelligent person looking at me could tell I'm older than 18).

I love it when people bitch about something they know nothing about. I'm going to turn up to a motor spot event and try to get it banned for encouraging dangerous driving.

He's an idiot. Kids can still get cigarettes and plenty of underage kids drink and get drunk. Also there is porn all over the damn internet. How was video-games the worst offender?

California is insolvent and instead of fixing the state's financial woes -which will benefit businesses and citizens alike- Leland Yee and glory-seeking politicians like himself opt to attack the games industry. An industry, I must say, which finds itself entrenched within the state of California, an industry which has earned record profits (and paid the accompanying taxes) even in the midst of a now three-year-long global recession.  So tell me, Mr. Yee, what sense is there in attacking and unlawfully regulating what could possibly be the richest source of tax dollars that California has? Stop wasting your constituents' tax money on these unconstitutional pet projects, Mr. Yee, and work on bringing California back to financial solvency instead of scheming for more ways to drive away billions of dollars of potential state revenue.  If Leland Yee and other California legislators do not stop seeking to muzzle the First Amendment rights of games developers and publishers, then it will not be long until we see an exodus out of California, to states with a more progressive attitude towards the newest entertainment medium.  Where would California be if those tremendously profitable videogame companies relocate to Washington State, Texas, Utah, New York, Rhode Island, and Georgia? What good would your pandering be then, Mr. Yee?

He's an idiot. Kids can still get cigarettes and plenty of underage kids drink and get drunk. Also there is porn all over the damn internet. How was video-games the worst offender?

If he really wants to do something productive to help keep kids away from violent video games he should start a campaign encouraging parents to pay attention to the ratings already in place on video games. The less parents who blindly buy little kids games like Grand Theft Auto because little Billy really really wants it the better. 
 
Oh wait, I forgot most of those kinds of parents would rather just blame the gaming industry instead of admitting their own incompetence.

This dude...is a prick. I mean come on, aren't there more important things for people to worry about, or do they just want their pet project because, without it, they may realize that their entire existence boils down to pointlessness and control issues. he lost, game...ironically....over, maybe if he played an actual videogame, he'd learn when to fucking quit. 
 
@Floppypants said:

I think retail stores already do too much to restrict access to M-rated games. I couldn't buy a copy of Vanquish last month without presenting my driver's license to the cashier. It pissed me off. Like as if Vanquish wasn't having a hard enough time selling, they were going to refuse my purchase unless I could prove I was over 18 (any half intelligent person looking at me could tell I'm older than 18).

I see this as parents taking the lazy way out. Instead of being and acting like parents like they're supposed to, they pass the ball to someone else to do their fighting for them.

@Rolyatkcinmai said:

affect, not effect

I saw this as well.

GTFO!

I miss Jack Thompson. His delightfully wacky antics never got old.

He might need a compelling argument before trying again.

I have an amazing example of protected speech  

This man would do well to shut the fuck up and go away. Also, he would also benefit from taking a look at what happens to crazy-ass zealots like him in the form of one Mr. Jack Thompson.

Can somebody dig up some raunchy gay sex pics of this guy so he can leave office?

Coming from the Bay Area, Leeland Yee is kind of a known D-Bag around here. He also cried racism on Chinese culture against petitioners for trying to restrict the fishing of sharks and then ate shark fin soup in front of a bunch of cameras. It's pretty hard to politically dislodge the extra douchy liberals in San Francisco; some of these guys make me embarrassed to be a Democrat.

What would the law have done that we aren't already doing? Most Gamestops card kids for M rated games, and in those cases the parent who either (a)has judged that their kid is ready or (b)has no clue what is in the game buys it for them. If this law had gone through, then the exact same thing would keep happening. Kids would still get their games, bad parents would still bitch, and everything would be as it was. Only with a new law weighing down our already bloated legal system as well as acting as a deterrent to developers' creativity (such as it is).

Thank fuck for that! :D

@Leeland Yee
u mad bro?

 
"STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE."