Congressional bill would require health warning label on video games

What's good enough for cigarettes is good enough for games, at least according to Congressman Joe Baca. As reported by Gamepolitics, the California Democrat has introduced a new bill that would add warning labels to any game rated Teen or higher by the ESRB.

Titled "The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009," the bill would apply to games distributed both at retail and over digital services like Xbox Live. The label itself sounds eerily similar to the kind that graces tobacco products: "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior."

Baca believes the game industry hasn't done its job informing consumers about certain kinds of content.

"The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers -- to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products," he said in a press release. "They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products."

Unfortunately, that truth is more elusive than Baca might have you think. Unlike the undisputed connection between smoking and an increased risk of developing lung cancer, no court in the country has formally acknowledged the definitive link between violent video games and violent behavior. Prior bills attempting to legislate based on this connection have been dismissed.

[link to videogames.yahoo.com]