Gaming Industry-- Free Speech Vs Consumer Protection

You must have heard that the US Supreme Court has recently struck down a California law that would have banned selling "violent" video games to children. The state law that was expected to have lots of repercussions was hailed by the parents as a ‘definite right move’. But it would have impacted the gaming industry as the games were increasingly becoming violent and gory, and would have definitely cut into their profits. 

Like many of you, I am extremely opposed to the children being exposed to the violent games. Various medical reports and child psychiatrists have indicated that these games impact the child’s mind in a bad way.

As a result of this verdict, I see the following trends happening and turning into reality:

• To attract the kids, the games will definitely become more violent and gory.
• The companies will not think much before creating more violent content.
• As the law was turned down, the industry profits will not be impacted and the sales of the video games will definitely keep increasing.

There are a number of negative effects of violent games but instead of simply talking about them, but I would like to propose some steps which will help the industry, allow freedom of expression and also keep the parents/state happy:

• The gaming industry is venturing everywhere, from the CD to the mobile, and is making tons of money. It will be of their interest to keep the violence and gore at an acceptable level. If the consumer goes against the industry, their sales will definitely dip.
• Creating of a content controlling authority will help the industry as well as the consumers.
• Instead of protesting against the content, the parents should keep a tab on the games their children are accessing and should deny the access to adult content.

The gaming industry is on a boom and content creation for the industry is highly lucrative. There are games which not only improve your knowledge but also your reflexes and the games are definitely a great way to pass time. But the industry, consumers and the controlling authority should work together to create a strong ground for the proliferation of the gaming industry with the appropriate content.   

Please do share your thoughts.