Just because GDC is hot right now, doesn't mean that that's all we'll inform you folks about. Let's talk legislation. If you're a follower of gaming related politics, you may recall that in 2006, the state of Oklahoma was one of the three (Louisiana, Minnesota, and Oklahoma) that saw video game legislation signed into law.

That law of course was eventually blocked from taking effect, but what's this? Even more video game laws?

Gamespolitics reports that a new video game bill is under consideration. The said bill, HB2031, introduced by Rep. Mike Shelton, requires game retailers to provide game buyers written notice that the product they are buying may contain violence which may be harmful to minors. Here's an excerpt:

Every retailer engaged in the business of selling or renting video games to the general public shall distribute to any customer who is purchasing or renting a video game, a written notification that the video game may contain violent content and that said content may be harmful to minors.

This means that Oklahoma's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services will have to prepare written warnings for games. What's difficult with this bill though is that - it doesn't differentiate between violent bloodfests and addictive detrimental-to-study-time yet kid friendly DS games.

Well this isn't as harsh and certainly more interesting than outright bans. If this does push through, Oklahoma may need to advertise it or something. A lot of folks just tend to throw away written stuff that comes with the products they purchased.

Honestly, how many of you have read the f-in manual? The effectiveness/sensibility of this bill may be debatable (don't the ratings warnings cover this already?), however, judging from the way it's made, it does seem to have good intentions, and it looks like it's trying to not step on the gamer community's toes.

1UP reports that while an official announcement has yet to be made later today, according to the Idaho Statesman newspaper, graduating Boise State Broncos quarterback Jared Zabranksy will be gracing the cover of Electronic Arts' NCAA Football 08.

"It's extremely big for us as an athletic department," Brad Larrondo told the Statesman. Larrondo is the Broncos' senior assistant athletic director for promotions and marketing. "It crosses generations by touching kids and adults ... It's an incredible marketing opportunity." Zabransky is the first-ever non-BCS conference player to appear on the cover for NCAA Football.

Zabransky is coming off of a fairy-tale 13-0 season for the Broncos. He was also instrumental in Boise State's historical win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl, where he passed for three touchdowns and garnered MVP honors.

NCAA Football 08 is slated for a July release.

There's a lot brewing over at Xbox Live. For one, there's the NCAA March Madness 07 Content. Then, there's the College Hoops 2K7 and Battlestations: Midway Themes. Let's go over them one by one, so you'd know exactly what kind of deals you're getting.

For the NCAA content, there are actually three trailers for you to choose from, and they're all for free. The Floor General Overview Trailer shows how gamers are allowed to call specific offensive and defensive sets with unprecedented control. Then, the Lockdown Stick Overview trailer provides for unique college basketball-specific defensive control. Here, you can be at your best with aggressive, in-your-face, up-tempo defense. Nothing less for those with high expectations.

The third content is actually a Dick Vitale on Momentum trailer. See ESPN broadcaster Vitale discuss the important role that the "6th Man" in college basketball plays. And according to the dash detail, it's "portrayed more accurately than ever with revolutionary new momentum-based features in NCAA March Madness 07.

Moving on to the available themes, there's the College Hoops 2K7 - Pitt Theme and the Oklahoma St. Theme. For 150 points each, customize your Xbox 360 interface with your preferred theme.

Everything mentioned above are available in Canada and the U.S. Now, this one is available in all territories except Japan: The Pin-up Girls (batch 2) Theme from Battlestations: Midway. But otherwise, you're free to put a classic pretty face on your dashboard, for a change. And for 150 points.

So there. That sure is a lot. Take your pick and enjoy your stash!

If you want to get the Entertainment Software Association's (ESA) blood pressure to rise at an incredible rate, simply say Video Game Laws. ESA has been busy battling one version of the Video Game Law after another, which generally enforces game-restrictions to minors, in various states.

Already it chalked up victories against the The Safe Games Illinois Act and the state of Minnesota but their court battles continue. ESA is facing game-restriction laws being passed in Oklahoma and Louisiana.

In Oklahoma, the state filed their objections to the ESA's motion for a preliminary injunction. The presiding judge gave each side until August 30 to file their motions for summary judgment.

In Louisiana, ESA is set to present its case in court with the state being given two days after that to respond. The judge in charge said he would favor ESA's request for a preliminary injunction preventing the law from being enforced "as soon as the briefs are received." Although the judge has already issued a restraining order that stops authorities from upholding the game-restriction law, ESA is gunning for its permanent junking.

ESA claims the laws are unconstitutional. In Illinois, the judge ruled that it is the role of parents and families, not the state, to decide which games they're kids will play.

For you College Football fans out there EA has released NCAA Football 07 picture packs and themes for your favorite teams. Each of the themes cost the usual amount of 150 Microsoft Points and the picture packs each cost 60 Microsoft Points. The teams that have the picture packs and themes are: Georgia, GTech, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Texas, TexasTech, UCLA, USC, VirginiaTech, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, AZState, BostonCollege, Cal, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, FloridaState, Michigan, Nebraska, NotreDame, Oklahoma, OklahomaState, Oregon, PennState, Purdue, TCU, Tennessee, WestVirginia, OhioState and Washington. So if were waiting for any of the team picture packs or themes go ahead and give them a download over at the Marketplace.

In our first report about the Oklahoma Violent Video Games Bill, Oklahoman gamers still had some room to hope that this one would get junked since during that time the bill was still at the Senate level. But in this recent development, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry has beaten the deadline to sign bills passed in this year's regular session.

Among the many bills that were signed into law was House Bill 3004, a.k.a. the Violent Video Games Bill. This law, as we've told you, will prohibit the sale of video games that feature inappropriate and gratuitous violence to minors. Violence in this case is defined as "any depiction in a game that, when taken as a whole, would be found offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community (with respect to minors) by the average person 18 or older, and which lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic or political value for minors. " The governor also said in a statement that "the violence in video games has grown to epic proportions."

As the saying goes, dura lex sed lex-- the law is harsh but it is the law. Oklahomans could only hope that their game law would suffer the same fate as that of the Illinois Video Game Law that was deemed unconstitutional citing the violation of the First Amendment.

Oklahoma is just one of the many U.S. states to pass such a bill. Recently, Minnesota signed their Game Bill into law; this states that underage gamers who will be caught buying "M" rated games will be punished with a $25 fine. Other states such as Florida are pushing for the same law while California already passed a violent games law.

There has been no statement from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) with regards to this development in Oklahoma. But it won't be surprising if they would fight this law the same way that they are contesting the Minnesota law. Check back with us for updates.

Thanks for the heads up, enterman!