Senator Leland Yee on Violence in Video Games

California State Senator has been a long time opponent of the video game industry and the amount of violent games there are. Every year he writes about games for parents NOT to buy their children at Christmas, has written several bills to bring government regulations against the industry, etc.

He may be best known for being the man behind AB1179, better known as Schwarzenegger v. EMA which was the biggest push that he made for government regulation. It passed the California legislature and the governor's office but was struck down by the Supreme Court as a violation of the 1st Amendment.

The bill would have made it a crime to sell a game of a certain rating to minors and would have brought a fine and possible prison time for repeat offenses. No other entertainment industry, other than pornography, has such restrictions which was hypocritical and frankly, wrong.

However, this time the Senator has really pissed me off. He states,

Gamers have got to just quiet down. Gamers have no credibility in this argument. This is all about their lust for violence and the industry's lust for money. This is a billion-dollar industry. This is about their self-interest.

Where to start with this quote?

• Let's start with the fact that this is an absolute strawman's argument of the highest order. Gamers are apparently only protecting their rights to play these games, not because of a wealth of reasons whether fun gameplay, enjoyable stories, etc. No, they do it simply because they love violence and can't get enough.This is not the way to get people to listen to you Mr. Yee. You are not strengthening your argument but trying to denigrate those who are against you. People play games for multiple and it is very rarely just because of the violence. A game needs much more than violence in order to succeed which already debunks this idiotic statement.

• The game industry only cares about money. You could that argument about almost ANY industry. "This is about their self-interest." Well of course it is. But it's also about getting the same protection of any other entertainment industry. I could argue that the entire reason that you are going after video games is to only build up your political career and influence. You can say no but so can the gaming industry which means that entire argument has no basis here.

• And finally, the most insulting point of all, that us gamers need to be quiet and let you do what you want. We need to shut up and "let the grown-ups talk" so to speak. The average gamer Mr. Yee is between around 25-35 years old. I myself am 21 and will be 22 in March. We have a voice and we deserve to be heard as that is what being a part of a democracy is all about. You don't think we have credibility and don't want us in the argument? Well either you need to deal with that Mr. Holier-Than-Thou or get the hell out of this country.

The saddest thing is I would be willing to listen to Senator Yee if he would be fair and reasonable. People have different views on how the world works and I want to know them so we can work out a compromise of some kind. But Mr. Yee is not being fair or reasonable. He creates strawman arguments and belittles those who he disagrees with.

And worst of all, especially from a senator who should know better, he feels that gamers should not have a voice in this argument. KISS! MY! ASS! I will not shut up on this and you can not do a thing about it. This country is not about making YOUR ideal world but making one that works as best as it can for all. As long as you keep speaking on it, so will we.