Violent video games and the Supreme Court

     Shocking news (to me) from DC. Certiorari was granted in the case regarding a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. This is by far the biggest thing to happen to video game law. Period. This is the first time any video game law has gone to the US Supreme Court. Considering that this marks the combination of two of my favorite topics (video games and the law). This may be the most interesting thing to happened in the year so far. Certainly more important things have happened (Haiti, Chile, Iceland, Poland) but nothing that affects me more. Will the Supreme Court declare this law (and by extension, other laws like it) unconstitutional?

     This would be a big boost to the video game industry. The ESRB is the video game industry's self regulation process and in my opinion a very good one. Unfortunately, unlike the MPAA ratings (G, PG, PG-13, R, etc.) the ESRB's ratings have been misunderstood. Hence, games like Bully (a T-rated game) get lumped in with more violent fare like Grand Theft Auto (an M-rated game). To make this more clear, imagine if people thought that E.T. and Saving Private Ryan were equally violent because they were directed by the same person (Steven Spielberg).

   More News upcoming when I finish reading the writ of certiorari (filed by the State of California) and in the fall when this case is presented and decided.

Post-Draft

There are only a few teams that I felt made their team better in a meaningful way this off-season.
1. Ravens
The knocks on the Ravens last year. No Wide recievers, and an aging defense. Well, now they have Boldin and Stallworth. I believe Boldin will improve the team immensely. Plus, they got "Mount" Cody. He's big, athletic and someone who I saw and liked in the games I watched.
2. The Jets
while I believe that their running game was completely gutted thanks to the absence of Jones (KC) and Washinton (Seattle) , the addition of a future hall of famer in LT may be enough to make their running game acceptable.
But back to the important stuff. They obtained wide recievers, they stole Cromartie, But They aren't number one because in all honesty they rearranged the team moreso than they made it better. They adjusted it from a gritty run first team to an athletic pass happy team. Now to hope that Sanchez can convert to a decent QB
3. The Panthers
(See Jets, 2009) Lame QB? Mediocre Back-up? Get a new one. They were already a pretty good team, Clausen can't be worse than Delhomme. And he's probably better than Moore. Now he leaves Notre Dame for a baptism by fire in Oakland.
4. The Rai...
I can't. The (team from California that wears Silver and Black) always make me regret singing their praises.But don;t be surprised if I get suckered into mentioning that the Raiders will be better than average this year, the Wrs have more experience, the RBs have more experience. The QB is not named JaMarcus Russell. And they managed not to lose Nnamdi. And if all else fails they have the two best special teams kickers in the league
5. The Redskins
Upgrade from Campbell to McNabb means everything. The additions of Willie Parker and Larry Johnson don't make them a worse team.
And Orakpo is still there .

Thank You, Andy Reid.

As a Cowboys fan, this picture bothers me more than anything else. When the trade talk concerning Donovan McNabb came out, I was a bit excited. McNabb would be out of the division (on some team like the Rams or Raiders) and away from the Cowboys. Now not only has Eagles management messed up his team, but they've also messed up the division.

Donovan McNabb is either the best QB in the division or the 2nd best in the division, depending on how you feel about Tony Romo. Unquestionably the Redskins had the worst QB. Now you send Mcnabb there, while the Redskins have the 4th pick, and suddenly the NFC east is back to the point of parity. The Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins aren't that far from each other in talent. The Redskins may still have the worst WR core in the division, but they have the best defense. They also might have the best head coach. This may be another year where the worst team in the NFC East has an 8-8 record.

In short, thank you, Andy Reid. In doing Mcnabb a favor you may have screwed us all.

Sports Games

I tend to try not to write too much about sports except during the NBA Playoffs and during the NFL season. Mostly because my opinions don't matter. I couldn't tell you the name of a player in the Final Four (or the Frozen Four for that matter). Nor do I care about who the players are on the non-playoff teams in the NBA. I can't watch non-playoff baseball at all (except Yankee-Red Sox and Yankee/Mets games). So the only thing to talk about is gaming.

2k10 has owned my xbox over the last few months. Mostly because I haven't bought any new games recently, but moreso because I'm addicted to the My player mode. I like my RPG's to be subtle. This is why I can't get into a game like Blue Dragon, but I love games with RPG elements like Borderlands and NBA 2k10. I'd strongly consider getting any game that does stats as well as 2k10. There's something satisfying in real life about seeing a team like the Lakers finally come together and prove they were worth the hype. Meanwhile NBA 2k10 was more like last years Houston Rockets team. On the surface it seems like its a world beater of a game, but it's fragile where it matters.

2k10, almost 6 months after the game was released should be completely patched up and ready to go. (i.e. like playoff bound playoff teams) The game has a great set of features. The game feels like basketball. It's not too arcade like in its features. Generally the game gets the characters right. Some things feel awkward ( Yao Ming is a bit too dominant in the paint, and Garnett's video game presence is better than his real life version) but overall the players play as you'd expect.

The My player feature is great as you progress from training camp, to the draft, to the D-league, to benchwarming, then to starting in the NBA. On that end it works fine. The other (much-advertised) purpose of the my player option is.