It's a morass.
12 Sept 05

Tomorrow we're going to announce the winners from the contest. If you entered, look for an email tomorrow. I'll be contacting all the winners. If you don't hear from me tomorrow before the update, well, there's always the next contest.

It seems that some states are using the Hot Coffee controversy to try to force legislation restricting the sales of games. Of course, it's all being done to protect the children. Never mind that no one has proven that children need protection from games. Anyway, one of the merchants associations has issued a response to California's effort:

"The IEMA (Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association) remains opposed to AB 1179 for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is impractical - in essence creating a California-only class of products requiring retailers to buy, warehouse and distribute California video games separately from other inventory - it is unnecessary, in that our member companies have already voluntarily committed to carding policies to inhibit the sale of Mature-rated games to minors, and it is clearly unconstitutional. Time and again courts have uniformly held that video games, just like books, movies, and music, are expression that is fully protected by the First Amendment."

"We hope that Governor Schwarzenegger understands and appreciates the lengths to which our members who conduct business in the State of California have gone to fulfill their social obligations on a voluntary basis. It was disheartening to see the bill pass the house and senate, but we refuse to believe that the Governor will allow this matter to become further politicized and divisive - leading only to a course which would inevitably cost the taxpayers valuable resources, and an unceremonious fate that has been played out in the court system. We instead hope that he will veto AB 1179 and ask that the State work more closely with the games industry in much the same way that it does the music and movie businesses."

Hal Halpin
President of IEMA

I don't know how long it took to craft that statement, but I find it beautiful in its simplicity and clarity. I was going to try to explain what was wrong with the legislative effort until I read that. Sometimes you just have to admit that someone did it better than you and move on. Moving on.

There are only a couple of top games coming out this month that I've been asked about, and two of them are expansions. This week's game is one of them. It' Rome: Total War -- Barbarian Invasion (official site) from The Creative Assembly. As you might have guessed from the title, this expansion takes you to the fall of the Roman Empire. The empire is split in two and while they are officially allies, barbarians threaten the stability of the empire and the alliance. The Persians and the Huns are rising threats. The Vandals, Saxons and Franks care only for themselves without respect for the past. Can you guide the empire through this time or lead a new faction to power to conquer the faded remnants. The barbarians invade later this month.

Jason