Back in May, the New York State Senate passed a bill that would regulate video game ratings and that bill is on its way to becoming a law. Now, two video game developers based in New York have spoken out in an op-ed column for the Albany Times-Union in an attempt to explain the economic benefits of the game industry and the redundancy of having another system of monitoring video game violence (on top of the ESRB and parental controls) added into the mix. Kathrik Bala, CEO (pictured above), and Guha Bala, president of Vicarious Visions write:

We are deeply troubled by the prospect of New York enacting legislation that would treat video games differently from other protected, creative expression...

In 2005, we became a part of Activision... but we are committed to long-term growth in the Albany area... We have worked hard to keep strong, creative "home grown" talent here in New York, rather than having them leave for places like California and Florida...

At a time when New York is working hard to maintain its competitive edge... we have to avoid stigmatizing video games and game development in our state.

We know many in our state may not like the content of some video games, and, to be frank, we do not like some of it either. However, a better way... would be to... encourage use of video game ratings and parental controls...

More power to them if their voices get heard, because in the long run, it does seem confusing that the powers that be want to create a law for something that is already standard in the industry. Kim Phu

Developer Vicarious Visions Weighs in on New York Game Legislation