Summary: This measure is put forth in order to make it easier for minority video game characters to find their way into games. The hope is to get these minority characters out of the shadows and into leading roles, ultimately making the video game landscape more diverse and appealing to everybody.

Reason to Vote: The great thing about playing video games is that you can be anybody you want ... assuming it's a white guy. It doesn't matter what genre you pick, chances are you're going to play a skinny white guy. The Japanese role-playing games are the worst offenders, I can't think of a single Final Fantasy lead that has been anything other than a spikey-haired white guy. This prejudice has got to stop, there's no reason why we can't experience these games from other points of view. I say it's about time we get some fresh faces in the mix, show us stories from completely different points of view.

That's not to say that you won't find any minorities in video games, but they usually play the sidekick or, worse, some sort of drug dealer/criminal. Thankfully there are some exceptions to this trend, including Nico from Grand Theft Auto IV, Tommy from Prey and two of the three characters in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. However, even coming up with that list was something of a challenge. While searching for examples I had to discard games like BioShock, Alone in the Dark, Dead Space, Kane & Lynch, Dead Rising, Half-Life 2, Midnight Club: Los Angeles and many, many more. There's no doubt about it, there's a whole lot of one kind of skin color in video games.

I suppose the compromise is the ever-so-popular custom character creator that we see in every game these days. While this does allow you to make whatever character you want, it also limits the kind of story you can tell. There's nothing better than playing a game where the character has a real story arc, and you just can't do that when you can make whatever character you want (see: Saints Row 2). The best thing to do is to take the risk and give us interesting characters that just so happen to be another nationality, race or sex. There's really no down side here, we're getting new stories told from an interesting point of view. If Grand Theft Auto IV has taught us anything it's that you can have an unusual lead character and still sell millions of units.

Then Again: The idea of having a more diverse cast of video game characters is bad because ... well, hmm; let me find a different way of saying this. We should only have white protagonists because ... you know what, I can't actually defend the other side on this one. There's no reason why we shouldn't have a more diverse cast of game characters, it would only improve the types of stories that could be told. Bring on all of the other races and backgrounds, I'm ready for each and every one of them.

Summary: This measure is an attempt to ban the word "War" from all new video game titles for a two year period. The measure offers an exception for franchises that have been around for more than a decade, including (but not limited to) WarCraft, Warhammer and Guerilla War. Anybody who uses the word "War" in the title will be required to pay a fine and rename the product.

Reason to Vote: War, huh, what is it good for? Apparently it's a good word to use in your game title. Judging by how many different games are using the word you would think that the only thing left to do in video games is shoot and kill. Don't believe me? Just this year alone there are going to be more than ten games with the word "War" used somewhere in the title. They include Gears of War 2, War World, Geometry Wars 2, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Great War Nations: The Spartans, Universe at War: Earth Assault, Frontlines: Fuel of War, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and Advance Wars: Day of Ruin. And let's not forget Tom Clancy's EndWar and those Star Wars games. Sometimes it feels like this three letter word is the most used noun in video games.

It's not that we need to stop playing war games, I think we can all agree that there's a place for these war-based games. But can't these companies come up with something more original? I'm not just saying they should replace "war" with "conflict," but can't we give that word a rest for at least a year or two? This proposition forces these companies to think outside of the box, come up with titles that don't sound like they were written by fifth graders. Need a few ideas? How about Peace Killers? Or maybe White Men With Guns. How to Get Shot 100 Times and Live to Talk About It. Rock Band: Desert Strike. Okay, that last one was just for me, but I still say that it's a good idea to bar these companies from using such a cliche term in their title.

Then Again: If the idea here is to stop wars and live peacefully, then chances are you're going to be disappointed by the outcome of this proposition. I suppose that isn't the point, and who am I to say what word you can and cannot use. I'm sure we can come up with all sorts of other words that are just as annoyingly overused as "war". Then again, it does seem like game developers are just using it out of hand at this point. I don't know, sometimes I feel like we should just ban every other letter in the alphabet ... and "Y," I really hate the letter "Y."