Ready for another serving of QJ.NET's PSP Weekend Warrior? This week's top news items include a wrap-up of the recent PSP-3000 speculation, and news of Sony's Q1 2008 sales for the PSP and PS3. Don't take our word for it though - the rest of the details are available in the full article.

A couple of days back, we wrote a post detailing a piece of videogame legislation proposed by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) known as S.3315. Well, the full bill is now available after the jump for you to read. Don't worry, it's only three and a quarter pages long. Learn more about it after the jump!

Download: S.3315: The Video Game Rating Enforcement Act of 2008

It's the week after E3 2008 and just when you thought that gaming news would be slow, the case was not so. Lots of updates on upcoming games continued to drop in and we couldn't be happier to have them. We also highlight some of the most controversial stuff that went down this week as we go along. More to come in the full article up ahead.

With all the flak that video games have gotten from politicians, we're tempted to think that two will probably never mix.

The latest one involves U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama and his comment about video games. You can read an excerpt of his statement n the full article after the jump.

These days, technology has made the costs of game development higher than ever, and gamers are beginning to feel the weight. Don't look now but things just might get a bit more expensive as a Wisconsin State Senator introduces a proposal to add more taxes to gaming. It's for a good cause, but are you with the legislator on this one? Read the full story in the detailed version.

Looks like the controversy isn't over yet. In fact, the manhunt has just started. Leland Yee, California senator who made the 2005 Video Game Law, is demanding an explanation for ESRB's decision to give Take-Two Interactive's Manhunt 2 (for the Wii and PSP) an M rating, joining the protests raised by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

Yee is suspicious of the correspondence between ESRB and Rockstar, claiming that their rating system can't be trustworthy for as long as the decision to make it so was held behind closed doors.

Not only is Yee demanding the ESRB to reveal what had led them to change the rating, but also to reveal all the correspondence that was held between them and Rockstar. He stated in a press release that:

Parents can’t trust a rating system that doesn’t even disclose how they come to a particular rating. The ESRB and Rockstar should end this game of secrecy by immediately unveiling what content has been changed to grant the new rating and what correspondence occurred between the ESRB and Rockstar to come to this conclusion. Unfortunately, history shows that we must be quite skeptical of these two entities. [...] Clearly the ESRB has a conflict of interest in rating these games. It is time to bring transparency to this rating system and for the industry to be held accountable.

The big buzz just a few days ago loomed over the societal-political sector, when a video game violence bill beset by a preliminary injunction was held back permanently after courts found the law was unconstitutional. The bill, proposed by senator Leland Yee and former California Assemblyman, was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 2005.

But before the law could come into effect on January 1, 2006, the collective alliances of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) countered the law with a suit. The result rendered the law useless when courts decided to place a preliminary injunction on the law.

Like many other video game laws, the California video game violence law wanted to restrict the sale of violent video games (as classified by the law) to anyone under the age of 18. It only went as far as punishing violators with a US$ 1,000 fine, but back in Monday, the law was proven unconstitutional and was rendered ineffectual - permanently.

The game industry, instead, had provided invitations to the political sector to aid in the much-needed re-education of purchasing decisions and rating systems for media and to encourage parents to partake in the game selection process for their inappropriately aged children. But it appears the politicians will not sway so easily.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has suggested that he will appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte and stand by the bill "the Governator" signed into law two years ago. In defense, he commented:

I signed this important measure to ensure that parents are involved in determining which video games are appropriate for their children. The bill I signed would require that violent video games be clearly labeled and not be sold to children under 18 years old. Many of these games are made for adults and choosing games that are appropriate for kids should be a decision made by their parents. I will vigorously defend this law and appeal it to the next level.

As GamePolitics put it, "It’s not over until it’s over in California," and we couldn't help but nod in agreement.

 

With the recent anti-gaming legislation that's been thrown left and right lately, it's easy to forget that senators are people too. And just like the rest of us, they've got their own interests and leisurely activities...including playing MMORPGs. The guy we're talking about at the moment is Guam's Senator Ray Tenorio, who turned out to be a level-70 Dwarven Priest over at Blizzard's World of Warcraft's Silverhand server.

Senator Tenorio (in-game name Paleray) explained that he started playing WoW at the request of his brother Charlie back in 2005, when their guild badly needed a healer. Before being introduced to the game, Tenorio states he was an avid player of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. He further notes that he enjoys WoW because of it's good way to meet other people, and that there no shortage to the variety of players who go online.

"What makes World of Warcraft so alluring is that it's always reinventing and adding new content. There's always something new to come back to," he said.

He currently runs with the Knights of the Marianas, a family-oriented (read: casual) guild open for just about anyone in Silverhand.

And in case you're wondering, no - the Knights have yet to venture into Black Temple, although they state they've already bloodied their noses over at Gruul's Lair and Eye of the Storm.  Now that this news is out, let's just hope them political agitators (ergo: griefers) don't try anything too drastic...

Here's a lesson in keeping your passwords safe and secure. Last Saturday, Second Life residents found a new Kirby store defaced with swastikas, a portrait of Hitler, and large text saying "Kirby hates our troops."

You'd think this was a simple case of petty vandalism, but what made this a potential political nightmare was because the defacing was done by the avatar of an intern for a US senator. Apparently the intern left his login information on a "sticky note" on his computer.

He was on his way to the Senator's office and left a "house guest" who logged in using the intern's information and took advantage of poor Kirby. When Second Life authorities found out about the incident, they quickly took down the Hitler portrait.

The intern built a political consulting office for the unnamed senator presence in the world of Second Life. It wasn't clear from reports whether the vandal was smearing the campaign or just didn't like Kirby. The senator is confident this incident won't affect his campaign. The campaign manager explained:

As the staffer was not in charge of his avatar whilst the intolerant acts were committed, I see little reason for him to start anew with a new avatar. However, the password has been changed, as has the e-mail the staffer used to create the account.

The Kirby store, which has yet to open, is located in the Bastiat area and was designed to supply "all of your cell-shaded Kirby needs." Spencer Mougin, one of the shop's suppliers, wasn't distraught. In fact he found it funny and put a positive spin on it saying, "All publicity is good publicity."

According to a report by GamePolitics, a new bill has been proposed by the Democratic side of New York's legislature. This report comes after the fact that another bill was passed earlier by the legislature of the same state, spearheaded by the Republicans of the Senate, specifically Senator Andrew Lanza.

But probably the most significant issue that this news has raised is that if a retailer happens to sell or rent any game to inappropriately aged minors, that same retailer would be committing a felony - a class E felony. An excerpt of the proposal goes:

1.) selling or renting to a minor a game which includes “depraved violence and indecent images” would be a class E felony under the state penal code

The bill refers to "depraved" as depictions of "rape, dismemberment, physical torture, mutilation or evisceration of a human being." The proposed bill, called A08696, goes further to iterate that each new game console should integrate a parental control mechanism. It defines this mechanism as:

…a mechanism, device or control system that allows an owner, through the use of a personal identification number, password or similar technology, to prevent the display of video games, or portions thereof containing certain content…

And that's not all. According to a section of the proposal, the state attorney general will be granted the authority to petition the court for an injunction blocking further sales of any console not meeting this requirement. And yes, it's specifically targeted at consoles, not PCs or handhelds.

The proposal also suggests the formation of a council, dubbed "Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence," to monitor and evaluate research on interactive media, "violent behavior among children," and review the ESRB system. Furthermore, it says:

4.) The measure contains a severability clause, which states that if any portion of the proposed law is found to be unconstitutional, such a ruling would not invalidate the other sections.

This new bill was proposed by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and co-sponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer. There are even talks that the new proposal is currently favored by Governor Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat. And if he does pass and sign the law in the state, it will go into effect in 120 days.