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State Senator who penned law at center of high court case says he hopes “guidance” will emerge from justices’ decision.

Last week, Entertainment Consumers Association general counsel Jennifer Mercurio explained how the case of Schwarzenegger v. EMA will play out in the US Supreme Court on November 2. Being part of a pro-consumer organization, she also explained why she thinks the California law at the center of the case–which criminalizes sales of “ultraviolent” video games to minors–will be declared unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

California state Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco)

This week, GameSpot caught up with the author of the law, California state Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), to ask him what he thought about the looming hearing. He also shared his thoughts on why he believes the Entertainment Software Rating Board is a fundamentally flawed organization and why games require more content oversight than films.

GameSpot: So the US Supreme Court is going to hear the case of Schwarzenegger v. EMA next week, which will determine the constitutionality of the law you wrote. What do you hope their overall ruling is?

Leland Yee: Well I hope the US Supreme Court will sustain the bill, the law that would ban the sale of these ultraviolent video games to children. At the very least, I believe that the Supreme Court is going to provide some direction to legislators who are interested in limiting the sale of violent video games to children. That’s because this law has been struck down twice already–there was an injunction on it which we appealed and lost. Then we went to the federal appeals court and we lost again. So I am hoping the Supreme Court will look at this issue and at least provide some guidance as to what might be possible within the framework of the law.

GS: Now I know you’re aware of the ESRB, the ratings system the games use. What is your issue with that? Do you think the system just doesn’t have enough teeth, that it just doesn’t promote enough what ratings mean to parents, that it doesn’t give enough information to let parents make decisions on what games to buy for their children? Or is it that children already have access to violent games and it doesn’t matter what their parents do or say?

LY: No, I think the problem with the ESRB rating is that the ratings system itself is rather biased. The ESRB is funded by the industry, so it’s like the fox guarding the henhouse. Clearly, they’re not going to legitimately and appropriately place any markings on any video games, because it’s in the interest of the video [game] industry to sell as many video games as possible. You never heard of an AO rating whatsoever, because that would limit your market share.

The other problem is, as you remember, a while back, when they had the Grand Theft Auto “Hot Coffee” [content] stuck in there, and the ratings system, the ratings board never found out about that. So I think you need to look at a different way of rating and [use] a different technology to figure out the content of these ultraviolent video games.

GS: Now the movie industry has a similar ratings system and almost never issues an NC-17 rating to a film. How come video games warrant the extra scrutiny–backed up by a law criminalizing sales to minors–and movies don’t? Is there something in the film model that could be adopted to rating games?

LY: It’s a different technology. You go to a movie and you just sit there for two hours and see everything. Within video games, content is so embedded that you are unable to look at all the content in one sitting. For parents, it’s hard to really know what the content is as opposed to a movie. Parents can sit and watch a movie. Within a game, you have to be pretty sophisticated to get to a level to see some of the more atrocious [in-game] behavior.

Look, I’m a strong First Amendment person. This bill is drafted narrowly. It’s not against all video games; it’s not against all violent video games. It’s only against this small section of ultraviolent video games. This bill will sustain anybody who wants to make more atrocious kinds of violent games–they can still do that, they can still sell that, they can still make them available to adults. Interestingly, kids can have access to these ultraviolent video games even under my bill. All you have to do is go to your parents, talk to your parents, and if your parents want to get it for you, they can go to the store and get it for you.

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Monday Night Combat, one of the highlights of Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade, is set for a free batch of DLC, developer Uber Entertainment has revealed.

The questionably-titled Spunky Cola Special pack adds a new Crossfire Arena, a new Blitz Arena and a new Blitz Mode. No word on what that entails other than that it will see you facing “the deadly, the intense, the incredibly frantic Super Sudden Death Blitz!”

The DLC, fully detailed on the developer’s blog, also includes a number of new customisation options for private games.

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Ninja Theory’s postapocalyptic action adventure receiving side-story update, stereoscopic depth-of-field support for $10 later this year.

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The PSP2 will have no UMD drive and will feature processing power roughly equivalent to an Xbox 360, according to sources close to Sony.

Kotaku has reported that trusted sources confirmed that the PSP successor will ditch the UMD format and follow the PSPgo’s digital-only delivery model. Sony is apparently still deciding on whether the content will be stored on internal memory or on a USB or SD device.

Sources also told the site that Sony’s new handheld will boast 1GB of RAM – nearly twice that of the Xbox 360.

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Sales of console up 38 percent year-over-year, cited as a factor in company’s record first fiscal quarter performance; Entertainment and Devices Division sales tally $1.8 billion.

Microsoft has been banking on the motion-sensing Kinect peripheral to boost sales of the Xbox 360 this holiday season, but it turns out the system has had no trouble selling in advance of the camera system’s November 4 launch. The company today announced a record performance for its first fiscal quarter (the three months ended September 30), with Xbox 360 sales up 38 percent year-over-year.

Microsoft’s revenues Reach-ed for the stars.

The Entertainment and Devices division, which handles Microsoft’s gaming business, as well as projects like the Zune and ill-fated Kin phone, posted nearly $1.8 billion in sales. Microsoft claims that number is up 27 percent year-over-year, but only since it has “recast” previous results “to conform to the way [Microsoft] internally managed and monitored segment performance during the current fiscal year.” In last year’s first fiscal quarter results, Microsoft reported Entertainment and Devices division revenues of nearly $1.9 billion, essentially flat from the prior year.

The Xbox division’s operating profits were also affected by the aforementioned recasting. For the recently concluded quarter, Microsoft posted a divisional operating profit of $382 million, claiming that was up from the previous year’s $260 million operating profit. The original number Microsoft reported for its first quarter last year was $312 million.

Companywide, Microsoft touted its all-time best first fiscal quarter performance. Every business unit in the company showed sales growth, and revenues for the three months ended September 30 totaled $16.2 billion, up 25 percent from the prior year. Net income surged even more, jumping 51 percent to $5.41 billion.

Microsoft cited strong consumer demand for the Xbox 360 and its games, as well as Office 2010 and Windows 7, as contributing factors to the growth. While Microsoft didn’t break down the numbers, it bears noting that the quarter saw the debut of Halo: Reach, which was credited with bringing in $200 million in sales in its first day on sale. According to the industry-tracking NPD Group, Halo: Reach was also the top game for the month of September, selling 3.3 million units at US retailers.

[UPDATE]: In a post-earnings conference call, Microsoft revealed that Halo: Reach had totaled approximately $350 million in revenues to date and helped drive strong growth in the Xbox Live service.

The company expects to retain its momentum with the help of Kinect. Microsoft is projecting roughly 30 percent year-over-year revenue growth for the current quarter, with a jump of about 20 percent for the full year ending June 30, 2011.

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Unconfirmed reports have the dual thumbstick-enabled, touchpad-equipped portable losing its optical drive in favor of memory stick-based games.

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Next installment in popular action-adventure series set to debut on Xbox 360, PS3 on November 16.

Last year, Assassin’s Creed II brought Ubisoft’s signature action-adventure series to Renaissance-era Italy with the introduction of protagonist Ezio. This year, the storyline will continue with the follow-up Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, which went gold today.

The game is slated to premiere on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 16 as scheduled, with a PC version to arrive on February 22. The former two versions will also be available in $100 collector’s editions (pictured), which will include two exclusive single-player maps, a physical map of the game’s Rome, an art book, a making-of video, a soundtrack, a jack-in-the-box figure, and a first look at the upcoming Assassin’s Creed comic book.

Jack-in-the-box just earned a new meaning.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s single-player component sees Ezio assuming control of an assassin network, commanding the combined effort to rid Rome of its corruption and the Templar order. In the multiplayer mode, players will apparently be able to align themselves with the pharmaceutical company Abstergo–which kidnapped the series’ contemporary protagonist Desmond–and aid the Templar order. Players will have a range of characters to choose from in multiplayer, each of which has signature weapons and assassination techniques. Brotherhood’s online component will also include a variety of different competitive modes.

Thus far, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has sold more than 19 million units worldwide, with Assassin’s Creed II shipping 9 million units by itself. For more on Brotherhood, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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Capcom bringing Ace Attorney creator’s latest detective-style handheld effort to North America early next year.

It has been more than a year since Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi first began talking about his latest zetetic handheld effort, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. And while the game didn’t exactly light up the Japanese sales charts upon its release for the DS in June, North American audiences can soon begin peeling back the game’s mysteries, as Capcom today announced a January 11, 2011, release for the title.

Ghost Trick’s box art in its corporeal form.

A blend of the adventure and puzzle genres, Ghost Trick tells the story of an amnesiac ghost who attempts to solve the mystery behind his own death while saving the lives of others. As the deceased Sissel, players can take control of objects in the world to accomplish various challenges, with puzzle examples including making a bike float through the air to scare the living or possessing a light switch to zap an assassin.

Takumi fans have more than just Ghost Trick to look forward to in the near future. Earlier this month, Capcom and Level-5 announced it would be creating a crossover for its Ace Attorney and Professor Layton franchises. Tentatively titled Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, the game will be penned by Takumi and released on the 3DS, though a date has yet to be announced.

For more on Ghost Trick, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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Armor Games is proud to announce that Hedgehog Launch is now available for the iPhone. Click here to get the game from the app store now!

Armor Games is proud to announce that Hedgehog Launch is now available for the iPhone. Click here to get the game from the app store now!