The next major legislative battle for the Entertainment Software Association and the video game industry could take place in New York. According to GamePolitics, it took just four days from introduction to passage (on a 56-5 vote) in the State Senate for Rep. Andrew Lanza's S05888. The bill is now headed to the New York State Assembly.

S05888 seeks to establish an Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence to review the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating system and its effectiveness, as well as recommend further steps that can be taken "to curb children's access and exposure to 'adult-only' material." A press release from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno indicates that the advisory council would consist of nine members and six ex-officio members.

In addition, the bill would require retailers in the state of New York to place ratings labels on all video games (something that is already done by the ESRB), and "establish a Parent-Teacher Anti-Violence Awareness Program to work with students and children on issues related to violence in video games and seek to increase awareness of the ratings system on games."

Similar to how politicians in the past pointed to JFK Reloaded (a controversial web-based game that does not fall under jurisdiction of the ESRB and is not endorsed by the game industry), Senator Lanza cited the amateur game V-Tech Rampage (which he mislabels). "The recent release of V-Tech Massacre, a sick game which exploits the Virginia Tech University tragedy, is a painful reminder of the culture of violence which has severe consequences on our youth and society," said Senator Lanza, Chairman of the Senate Task Force on Youth Violence and the Entertainment Industry. "The emotions and behaviors of our children are far too often shaped by the virtual reality of violent movies and video games. It is imperative that we find a way to prevent these virtual realities from continuing to fuel and teach the violent behavior which is corrupting our youth. My bill will provide parents with important information about violent video games so they are better able to make informed decisions."

"Everywhere we look, violence surrounds us and it is unfortunate that our children are exposed to this explicit material, whether found in video games, movies or on television," added Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. "Our children our spending too much time watching television and playing video games without any adult supervision, and we cannot sit back and allow them to be exposed to this senseless violence anymore. I applaud Senator Lanza for his leadership and we will continue to push the Assembly to take action against these issues."

The bill has a good chance of becoming law since it has bi-partisan support and is backed by Governor Eliot Spitzer, but as GamePolitics points out, it may very well be shot down as soon as it's signed into law because it contains content-based retail restrictions, and those restrictions have always failed to hold water under First Amendment rights.