The New York State Assembly bill reported on by GWN just yesterday has already been passed.  Democrat Joseph Lentol's (pictured) bill A08696, which bans the sale or rental of games featuring "depraved violence or indecent images" to minors, would make violating that law a felony.

After the bill's remarkably swift passage, it will most likely go to a conference between the Assembly and the state Senate to reconcile the Assembly bill with a similar bill passed in the Senate.  The Senate bill, previously reported on by GWN, did not feature the key "depraved violence" phrase and would not make selling or renting violent games to minors a felony.  The Assembly bill also features a requirement for all consoles sold in the state to feature parental control - a feature that is already in all three major consoles. 

The Assembly passed the bill with a vote of 130-10.  Like many other bills of its type that have been declared unconstitutional in legal battles after passage, any compromise law between the Assembly and Senate would likely see a legal challenge from the videogame industry.  Entertainment Merchants Association Bo Anderson, speaking with GamePolitics, said: 

"This bill is impermissibly vague. A8696 seeks to apply real-world standards of violence to the fictional and fanciful world of video games, an environment in which they have no meaning. As a result, retailers and clerks will not and cannot know with certainty which video games could send them to jail under A8696. It was depressing to hear members of the Assembly note the constitutional problems with the bill and then state that they were voting for it."