If you live in Texas, you might just want to read over this article twice. Some details have emerged on Joystiq about a Republican gubernatorial candidate named Star Locke, who would like to impose a 50% tax on “violent games”.
According to the Amarillo (registration required), Locke would propose a 10-percent tax on soft drinks, a $10,000-per-abortion tax, and a 50-percent tax on violent video games. Of course, violent games is a very subjective term – that’s why he proposes a 10-member board that will determine which game is violent enough. “Once it’s reviewed,” Locke says, “the tax would be levied swiftly.”
What a scary thought. You get ten people together that dislike gaming, or know nothing about it, the older the better probably, and you have them put a game in the “violent game” list because of damage effects in a racing game, or the sound of a gun shot, or a cartoon character jumping on another cartoon character…
Don’t let this happen.