Back in September, one of our MyQJ contributors talked about Kansas Senator Sam Bronwback (R) and his introduction of a bill called the Truth in Video Game Ratings Act. The gist of the bill is that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's (ESRB) game ratings should be based on the game's entire content and not just on viewing a game's most offensive content.

Fast forward to today. Doug Lowenstein has relinquished his ESRB presidency and Senator Brownback is gunning to be the next top inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (that's the White House for those who don't know). He is also re-introducing the said bill. This is what he said in a statement about it:

Video game reviewers should be required to review the entire content of a game to ensure the accuracy of the rating. The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate. The Truth in Video Game Rating Act would also commission a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to determine the efficacy of the... ESRB ratings system.

Former ESRB head Doug Lowenstein said in September that this bill will not succeed and that people would not be represented by the average American parents. With him out of the picture, what happens next?

Here's a happy bit of news for you, and just in time for Christmas, too! Casey Winners, a boy from Florida who was robbed of a newly-bought PSP system in November, got himself an early Christmas gift in the form of a replacement PSP.

An unnamed stranger took action after hearing about it from the news, and the stranger from Kansas worked with the media outlets and sent Casey a brand new Sony handheld, a new game, and a game jacket, valued at US$ 250.

According to the report, the stranger "wanted to reward the 13-year-old for getting straight A's in school." He was also impressed that Casey seemed to place his grandma above the PSP, a trait the robber probably didn't seem to have at the time of the snatching.

Still, the robber is yet to be found, but at least the victims in this little fiasco just happened to be the Winners. Grats to Casey on the good grades, too!