• 2Feb 06

  Violence, Sex & Games

  It's a never ending argument. Do videogames advocate violence to children? Is sex appropriate for games? Should minors be able to buy violent videogames or not? What "is" a violent game anyway?
  
  As always, our society, being in the lamentable state which we all know, seeks scapegoats to bear its sins. Violence is promoted, sterilized and sanctified in all its expressions: from full-contact sports to live TV broadcasts of modern warfare, violence reaches the audience through all kinds of means. We still live in a society which solves (?) the majority of its problems by resorting to violence. Crime produces violence and is answered in kind. Wars propagate it in the name of politics and economics. Our ailing society reproduces it in the form of domestic abuse, social and economic inequality and of course psychological disorders.
  
  Children live and breathe in a violent world and learn from an early age that it is a more "normal" or "legitimate" thing than sex is, because our criteria for limiting their exposure to sexual images and concepts are much more strict. On the other hand, bombing of cities is broadcasted live on TV, in the form of pretty green lights dancing over a black background which must contain builldings and human beings. But we never get to see those. How is it then that we blame videogames for trivializing violence when this is a process that goes on every single day by every medium imaginable?
  
  Should we let children just play whatever they get their hands on? No. But it is the sole duty of parents to put everything into perspective. Do not buy GTA for your kid, but also do not let it watch the news or a ganster movie. Or if you do, it is your job to explain everything: that GTA is just a game and lets you do things that are bad and would send you to jail or worse. That war is a bad thing which people do for all the wrong reasons. That a film is make-believe, an exaggerated version or reality meant to entertain and possibly educate us. Age restrictions will not help by themselves, because a restriction placed without proper justification usually brings the opposite results.
  
  And we, as adults, have a right to play whatever pleases us. If we can watch a gansta film we want to be able to play it too. If we watch a visceral WWII movie we want to be able to live it in all its gritty, gory, terrifying atmosphere. Why shouldn't our games contain meaningful sex scenes in the same way that films do? Why should developers be forced to cut their games (think Indigo Prophecy) in the name of some ill-defined rating system which affects distribution? The same scene that would raise a film's rating to Mature would make a game Adults Only, like it is some form of pornography. That is simply not acceptable in the 21st century.
  
  Woe to us if we let people like Jack Thompson define the limits of decency. The man who would convince us that the Flight Simulator series is a tool in the hands of aspiring aircraft hijackers. We do not need a New Inquisition here, just some common sense.
  • Posted Feb 2, 2006 3:58 am GMT
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• 6Dec 05

  On Bushnell and the Revolution

   Recently Nolan Bushnell expressed his approval of the Nintendo Revolution controller. He commented that complex controllers drive gamers away and violence drives women away from gaming. I know  he is an icon of gaming and I respect him greatly, but nevertheless he's got some important things wrong in my opinion. Firstly "simplicity uber alles". Yes, Pong is a classic but how much time can someone spend on it in the 21st century? EyeToy is the next best thing in user friendliness until the Revolution rolls out. How much time can anyone spend playing those games? Can you play alone or online? Not really, it's mostly a series of party games. Social gaming as Bushnell means it is good, but only for casual gamers or the occasional gathering of friends. And casual gamers will not really dish out 300-400 $ for a console unless they have kids. Period.

   It's the older gamers which have trouble with controllers really. This generation is growing up with controllers in their hands, it is almost 100% into gaming, and they are the future. Yes, the Revolution is a nice idea but it probably won't change the market radically, only expand it. But frankly, I don't want a fishing sim. I'll play WoW and wait for Oblivion,  Spore, Half-Life/Halo 3, Mass Effect, Dragon Age (and well Heroes of Might and Magic V). I want games with good stories and a good challenge and if I want something retro and old school I can fire up MAME at any time. I do not mean to "bash" Nintendo in any way. I respect them too and think that the path they are taking will only lead to good things for the industry. But is it the "one, true path"? No. That would be the equivalent of dismissing, say deep, engrossing films in favour of light comedies when in truth there is a need for both. The key word is "diversity" not just "simplicity".

   And about violence and women gamers... well it's an opinion belonging to another century. It has nothing to do with genes really, just with the male and female stereotypes which we have been projecting to children for millennia. But this is changing now, slowly and steadily. My wife only ever liked one FPS in her life and it was Doom. Pure and simple. She finds most games of this type disorienting and that is her main problem with the genre. However when I urged her to try Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 she liked them almost instantly.

   Bushnell also compared the 44 million gamers of 1984 to today's "18 million" in the US. 18 million? By whose count? According to BBC there are 26 million gamers in the UK alone now (5 million at most are iTV users). I find it hard to believe there are less in the US right now. Also Bushnell seems to forget the market in the 80's was flooded with so much cheap "simple" crap that it spelled disaster for consoles. It took Nintendo's very brave and stubborn effort to revive them and in the meantime it was bulky and unfriendly computers (and coin-ops) which kept the industry going. Gaming is no longer a parlour business aimed at an audience which wants to invest the occasional hour in a simple game. It is a multi-billion dollar monster which produces blockbusters for millions around the world. Some of them are good, many are mediocre and the rest is plain bad. Does it sound familiar? Is the movie industry going back to mute, black and white films? Why should we?

  • Posted Dec 6, 2005 3:42 am GMT
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• 27Nov 05

  Beware of naysayers...

  Whenever we read anything in our search for valid information we must always bear in mind who is writing it and in which context it is written. For example there are many sites out there at the moment which are bashing Xbox 360's "underwhelming" array of launch titles. Certainly I cannot say that I am thrilled by the first titles for Microsoft's new console, but the same could be said for most any newly launched system in the past. Actually even the whole first batch of titles for any new system is usually far below said system's hardware capabilities exactly because it is new and developers are still adjusting to it. I think that Kameo and Perfect Dark are decent games and worth one's time. Particularly Kameo. Are these two worth shelling out all that money for a new console? No. But these are just the launch titles. What I really want to see is Oblivion. If Bethesda delivers then the competition will do well to shut up and see how they can beat a true next-gen RPG.
  
  So do not be quick to join those who predict doom for the new Xbox. I am no fanboy of Microsoft (the opposite rather) and I own all three current gen consoles (and a PC of course), but I am not going to take anyone's biased or payed-for "opinions" on the matter at face value. Read as many reviews as possible and try to get some hands-on with the new big toy before dismissing it as a failure (or declaring it the winner of the race). After all, if we miss out on something we would have enjoyed it's our loss in the end.
  • Posted Nov 27, 2005 7:41 am GMT
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