State law seeks to restrict violent video games

ALBANY- Gov. David Paterson signed a law Tuesday that he said will lead to restrictions on video game violence and help families better monitor grisly games.

The law will create an advisory council to study the effects of violent games on the children. It will also require parental controls on game consoles by 2010 and prominent displays of age ratings on game packages.

But critics say the bill is too vague and too watered down to accomplish its goal. And critics including the group Americans for Tax Reform contend that curbing video violence wasn't really the point in New York or nearly a dozen other states that enacted similar laws, only to see them struck down by courts as unconstitutional.