Would you like to trade that in for a punch in the face and a kick in the crotch?

Ouch. Can't say that I don't side with the ESA here...

GameDaily BIZ: Game Industry Wins Over $500K from Illinois

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has happily announced that the State of Illinois has been ordered by Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, United States District Judge, Northern District of Illinois to pay the video game industry $510,528.64 in attorney's fees "for its unconstitutional effort to enact a law banning the sale of violent video games."

Illinois Governor Blagojevich's Safe Games Illinois Act was overturned in December of last year, and the ESA subsequently requested in March that the video game industry be reimbursed for legal costs. The ESA had asked for more than $644K.

The reimbursement of legal fees will be distributed among the plaintiffs, the ESA, the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

"Judge Kennelly's 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," said ESA president Douglas Lowenstein. "The sad fact is that the State of Illinois knew this law was unconstitutional from the beginning. Taxpayers have a right to know that over half a million of their dollars and countless government hours were thrown away in this fruitless effort."