Gaming News: "A Couple of Restrictions"
Posted: Tuesday June 12th, 2007
by
Lone Star State Governor Rick Perry last week signed into a law a bill offering incentives to film producers and game companies operating out of Texas. The bill offers up to $250,00 in grants but levies content restrictions on the applicants giving the state authority to choose which projects will be eligible, eliminating any that harbor "inappropriate content" or are deemed "obscene". Neither term is clearly defined. The bill also lays out an edict that the project can not "portray Texas or Texans in a negative fashion".
Source: Game Politics [ more info ]
Where I love seeing states embracing game developers by offering them incentives to work there, I don't exactly support the precedent of slapping companies with dictates that basically props up the current political anti-gaming environment. But hey, a game company has to do what a game company has to do right? With the cost of game production and publication skyrocketing, $250,000 in grants might be worth giving up some of the project's direction and tossing a blanket over their free speech.
The bill does not mean that Texas based game companies can't produce video games that are "obscene" or have "inappropriate content". It just means such games won't be eligible for the grants.
As a side note (and partial explanation of the writeup title), Governor Perry has a face like a used leather handbag. I actually had to remove wrinkles so the comic didn't look like the game dev was talking to a raisin in a hat. Please also note, I didn't see any pictures of the governor in a cowboy hat nor did I find any instances where he threatened to shoot anyone. But, I'm sure Texas is used to the stereotypes by now. My sincerest apologies... please don't shoot me.
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Source: Game Politics [ more info ]
Where I love seeing states embracing game developers by offering them incentives to work there, I don't exactly support the precedent of slapping companies with dictates that basically props up the current political anti-gaming environment. But hey, a game company has to do what a game company has to do right? With the cost of game production and publication skyrocketing, $250,000 in grants might be worth giving up some of the project's direction and tossing a blanket over their free speech.
The bill does not mean that Texas based game companies can't produce video games that are "obscene" or have "inappropriate content". It just means such games won't be eligible for the grants.
As a side note (and partial explanation of the writeup title), Governor Perry has a face like a used leather handbag. I actually had to remove wrinkles so the comic didn't look like the game dev was talking to a raisin in a hat. Please also note, I didn't see any pictures of the governor in a cowboy hat nor did I find any instances where he threatened to shoot anyone. But, I'm sure Texas is used to the stereotypes by now. My sincerest apologies... please don't shoot me.
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