Back in 2005, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into California law that would make the selling of certain video games to minors a crime punishable by law and would require compulsory warnings for select games. The bill was passed, but a temporary injunction was issued to keep it from going into effect. In 2007, the law was found unconstitutional, but it didn't stop Schwarzenegger from trying again and just recently it was struck down yet again.

It is likely that the bill has been killed, but it seems Schwarzenegger and other law makers may try to appeal this decision in the Supreme Court. You can read up on it here.

According to a recent report of the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, games are beneficial in many aspects and there is no proved link between this and violent behavior. Games are "in most cases, not dangerous and can even contribute to the development of important skills" said Toine Manders, the Dutch liberal member of the parliament responsible for the report. Strategic thinking, creativity, cooperation and innovation are some of these.

One of the reason for the report was a research from Microsoft stating that half of the children use computers unsupervised in Europe. Due to this, the report insists on the PEGI as a useful system and remind the parents to follow it. In addition, a sort of "red button" is suggested in order for the parents to stop a game or the computer when improper content is observed.

The report also suggests schools to pay attention to the possible educational use of video games and to work with the parents to show them their advantages and disadvantages.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4.

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Nintendo's Game Boy ! Launched in Japan in 1988, and 1989 everywhere else at $179 dollars, it quickly managed to overtake Atari (Lynx.), Sega (Game Gear, Nomad.), and NEC (Turbo Express.) dominating the handheld market until 1998. It gave gamers better, longer games on the go, with more battery life than any of the competition. Throughout the years Game Boy got color casings, a bigger screen, and more portable. It was finally succeeded by Game Boy Color in 1998. The Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advanced kept the original Game Boy legacy alive with backwards compatibility. Although the Game Boy's future is in question, it will always be remembered for kick starting the handheld market as we know it today. Happy anniversary Game Boy !

The Game Developers Conference will bestow the award to Kojima during the event. The Metal Gear creator will also deliver a keynote address on game design.

The GDC Awards will be held on March 25, along with the with the Independent Games Festival. On the same occasion, the Harmonix founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy will receive the Pionner Award. Veteran videogame composer Tommy Tallarico will receive the Ambassador Award.

Last year the winner was Sid Meier. Previous recipients include Shigeru Miyamoto, Richard Garriott, Eugene Jarvis, Mark Cerny, Gunpei Yokoi, Yuji Naka and Will Wright.