Resistance 2 Developer: 'Video Game Legislation Has No Place in America'

With 15 years in the field and numerous franchises under his belt, including Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, Insomniac founder and CEO Ted Price does not appreciate the US government's repeated attempts to involve itself in the video game industry.

"I think video game legislation has no place in America," Price told Shacknews in an exclusive interview. "It saddens me to see legislators stomping all over our First Amendment rights for their own specific interests."

Most game-related legislation has focused on keeping violent games out of underage hands, but is traditionally ruled unconstitutional due to vague language. Opponents, such as acclaimed author Stephen King, often question why video games are singled out for perpetuating America's "culture of violence."

"We're going through what every other entertainment industry has gone through, and that's being the temporary scapegoat for society's ills," Price reasoned. "I think that we as an industry do a fantastic job of policing ourselves, we have one of the most effective, if not the most effective rating system in any entertainment industry right now."

"It won't be until we have more gamers running for office that this will calm down," he added. "It's something that we'll weather, because we are right. What we do is defensible under the Constitution and shouldn't be regulated by the government."

And until then?

"More people have to join the Video Game Voters Network, just because there's opportunity to get involved as a gamer and make a difference," claimed Price.

"When you write a letter to your Congressman about bills that are happening in your state, it does make a difference," he concluded. "Otherwise, legislators don't know that their constituents care and they're just simply, I think, walking blindly, following what they think is the mainstream opinion."