Video Game Voters Network

A lot of you are on your way to the San Diego Convention Center for the second largest pop-culture gathering in the known universe — Comic-Con. For four straight days, starting tomorrow, over 120,000 people will participate in Comic-Con and attend workshops, screenings and panels with some of the industry's leading talents and figures.

Since its founding in 1970, the convention gained such mass appeal that its focus has expanded and now includes everything from comic books to anime, animation, video games, toys and webcomics.

The success of Comic-Con and the comic book industry was not a sure thing. It wasn't long ago that comic books, like video games now, were the favorite scapegoat of opportunistic politicians and ill-informed legislatures.

During the post-WW2 comic book boom, the United States Senate convened a subcomittee on the matter of "Juvenile Delinquency". The main subject of the committee was the impact of "crime and horror" comic books on juvenile delinquency. The committee resulted in bad publicity, declining sales, self-censorship and even the cancellation of popular comic book titles.

Sound familiar? Fast forward sixty years and this time the government has its sights set on the video gaming industry. In a case that could have a profound impact on the future of video games, the Supreme Court is about to review the constitutionality of a California law that would put restrictions on the sale of violent video games.

So if you're headed to Comic-Con, have a fantastic time and think about how comic books overcame the same prejudice that video games now face — but only with the help advocates like you. Tweet your thoughts @VideoGameVoters, tag your images with “VGVN,” and spread the word about how VGVN is protecting your rights as a gamer!