California's Govenator was DE-NIED on Monday as a federal judge ruled his laws concerning the limiting of the sale of violent video games to be unconstitutional. The law, passed in California in 2005, was deemed nescessary by legislators who argued that violent video games could "could bring psychological harm and spark aggressive behavior in minors." Various associations promptly sued to overturn the law saying that the games were protected under First Amendment laws. The judge, who had previously placed an injunction against the law, handed down a permanent order that effectively killed the law. The whole idea behind the law was that video games, by their interactive nature, could cause harm to younger players. To date, there has been no conclusive proof that violent video games are any more harmful than violent television, movies or internet sites.

The video game industry is one of the few entertainment specific groups that chose early on to self-regulate as a proactive method to avoid such government regulation. By creating the ESRB in the mid 90s, the industry showed it could take care of itself. In the mean time, let's all go watch re-runs of 'Commando', 'Eraser' and 'The Running Man.' They all have lots of violence that is much more realistic than what's in any video game. 'Terminator', anybody?