Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA), who proposed bills in 2009 and 2011 that would have required video games to carry warning labels stating that they're linked to violent behavior, is back with a 2012 version of the warning label bill.
Although his rhetoric is the same -- Kotaku points out that he recycled a statement on the supposed link between games and violence verbatim from 2009 -- the bill does have a few important changes.
The text of the label itself has changed from "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior," to "WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior."
And it's not just violent games that would have to carry the label. Previously, Baca wanted to slap his warning on every game rated "T" and up. The latest version of the bill covers all games, down to ratings of "E" and "E 10+."
Judging by the lackluster response to Baca's bill in 2009 and 2011, though, it doesn't seem like this even harsher version is going to cause the game industry too much worry.
[kotaku]
