Argument preview: Kids and video games

The Supreme Court returns on November 2 to the question of whether to create a new exception to the First Amendment -- this time, to give state legislatures and Congress more authority to regulate the kinds of video games that can be sold or rented for playing by those under age 18.

A clash of perceptions about video games dominates the briefs. Like much else in the Digital Age, video games have changed enormously over the past three decades — from simple batting of a virtual tennis ball across a virtual net to highly sophisticated narratives and images that can be creatively manipulated for different outcomes. Now, for the first time, the Supreme Court is poised to clarify just what forms of expression in that medium are entitled to protection as free speech under the First Amendment, and how far such protection might extend.