The week in video-game news

— PAYBACK: August has been a tough month for video-game censors. First, a judge in Minnesota rejected a state law that would have fined kids under 17 who rented or bought video games rated "M" for mature or "AO" for adults only. Then the state of Illinois, which saw its video-game law shot down last year, was ordered to pay the legal fees of the business groups that fought the law. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered the state to pay more than $510,000 to the Entertainment Software Association, the Video Software Dealers Association and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, who fought a law that would have banned the sale of violent or sexual video games to minors. ESA President Doug Lowenstein said the rulings "send two irrefutable messages — not only are efforts to ban the sale of violent video games clearly unconstitutional, they are a waste of taxpayer dollars." Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich insisted the ban was still the right thing to do, despite the cost.

— JOEBITUARY: Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., has been a thorn in the side of the video-game industry since the early 1990s, when he took up arms against "Mortal Kombat." So when Lieberman lost his Democratic Senate primary race to Ned Lamont, many game bloggers were gleeful. At least one writer suggested it was Lieberman's crusade against game violence that cost him votes, especially from young Connecticut gamers who have grown up with his hectoring. That theory ignores more pressing issues, like the Iraq war, and we still don't know where Lamont stands on "Grand Theft Auto." And we haven't seen the end of Joementum; Lieberman is still running as an independent to retain his Senate seat.

— RAGING BULLY: Such blows against censorship may have made "Grand Theft Auto" publisher Rockstar Games a little cocky. The company has announced that its next controversy magnet, "Bully," will be arriving in October. "Bully," in which a teenager has to defend himself against thugs at a boarding school, drew an outcry from anti-bullying groups when it was announced last year, and Rockstar has since kept quiet about its development. But now that a release date has been set, opponents like anti-game crusader Jack Thompson are gearing up to stop it. "I would prefer it if we could simply make great games and not have to deal with misunderstanding and misperception of what we do," Rockstar co-founder Terry Donovan told the Rocky Mountain News. In post-Columbine America, though, you can't publish a game with an inflammatory title like "Bully" and not expect a little heat.