California game-restriction bills lose crucial votes

Like a pedestrian getting run over in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, two California game-restriction bills were struck a serious blow today. Sponsored by San Francisco Assemblyman Leland Yee, the two bills were voted down by the State Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media.

The first bill, which lost 4-to-3, would have made it illegal for stores to display M-rated games where younger children could easily access them. Its sibling, which would have classified violent M-rated games as "harmful matter to children," actually won its vote 5-to-4. Unfortunately for Yee, both bills needed 7 votes from the 13-member committee--whose members are apparently fond of abstaining--to pass.

However, the bills aren't dead yet. Yee representatives told Reuters that they plan on reintroducing the bills to the committee again in a few weeks. And even if the bills lose then, they can be reintroduced next year.