Video games, a case of mistaken identity?

It seems that not a day goes by that I don’t read about the gruesome horrors associated with modern life. As with movies and television in the past, it seems that the humble video game has become the great terror influencing the youth of today’s modern British society.

20 years ago, if you said the words videogame to anyone, they’d conjure up images of Italian-named plumbers sporting fat mustaches fighting their way through a magical two-tone side-scrolling land set to an infuriatingly repetitive 8-bit soundtrack. However, if you utter the same two words in 2009, you’re likely to be greeted with gasps and sighs of disgust like the image of a hooded teenager in a dark room with a year’s supply of energy drinks and chips stacked beside him.

It seems that video games have become the enemy of the 21st century. However, given the contradictory nature of video game critics, it’s hard to take this point of view seriously. However, that hasn’t stopped passionate defenders of modern video games from going to great lengths to protest this new medium of violence. Perhaps none has done more for the cause than Florida attorney Jack Thompson. Thompson has made it his mission for the past decade to rid the world of violent video games and make sure that those who sneak into new ones don’t fall into the hands of minors. Mr. Thompson has a particular bee in his hood regarding an Edinburgh-based publisher, Rockstar Games. Since the release of Grand Theft Auto and the creation of Rockstar games in 1997, the world of video game critics has rejoiced at this new ‘scapegoat’, the combination of on-screen violence and hands-on gameplay raising concerns that video games could be conditioning young people when it comes to extreme violence. The game’s questionable graphics and soundtrack led to many claims being dismissed, as it was not believed that a title with such graphics could have a serious influence on the mind of a minor.

This changed with the release of the PlayStation 2 in 2000 and Grand Theft Auto 3 the following year, which for the first time bought true 3D gaming for users. It was with the release of GTA 3 that Jack Thompson’s ears were pricked up to great attention and it wasn’t long before he was at it again. In 2003, Dustin Lynch pleaded insane after being charged with murder alleging that he was “obsessed” with the game and that he had been influenced by the game’s depiction of graphic violence. He retracted the allegation and his mother stated that he had nothing to do with Video Games. As video games have improved both graphically and in terms of gameplay, they have taken on new roles in society and in recent years have seen a return to the family-oriented entertainment hub of yore, but can video game developers really claim their complete innocence? The Call of Duty series is one of the most popular and successful franchises in video game history and has even been adopted by the US military as a way to train US Army soldiers in strategic combat. Doesn’t this reinforce the argument that video games can actually ‘train’ players in violent situations? Well, not exactly, yes, the advances made in video games have made the level of realism undeniably detailed, but can it be argued that today’s youth are ignorant enough to have a hard time differentiating between real life and various colored pixels on a television screen? The contradictory nature that I referred to earlier plays into this theme. Obesity in recent years has become a really hot topic in the US and indeed Britain, and what is to blame? Yes, that’s what small screen time is like playing video games, which is why I personally find it very hard to imagine these obese gamers seemingly spending nothing less than ‘all’ their TV time causing chaos and dysfunction on the streets of this nation.

The video game rating system ensures that titles intended for adults are not sold to minors; however, it does not guarantee that such minors will not play them at any time. A similar rating system exists in the US, however it is not as strict as the UK one and adult titles have been sold to underage American children. Grand Theft Auto, while a favorite for prosecution, is not the only franchise to be blamed, the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre which saw the worst shootings of its kind in modern history, Jack Thompson was quick to place the blame firmly at the door of this thrilling form of entertainment after declaring, killer Seung-Hui Cho was a fan of first-person shooter counterattack, however Cho’s roommates revealed later than ever they had seen him play. However, the claim had a huge resonance here in the UK, leading to many retailers refusing to stock certain titles, one of which is another of Rockstar’s ‘Canis Canem Edit’ titles, originally known as bully, which underwent a name change for the UK market due to pressure on the publisher, despite the game fully advocating bullying. The massacre also contributed to the ban of the successor to the controversial Manhunt from the UK market.

As with cell phones and their apparent links to cancer, there has been a lot of research into the link between violence and video games, and it’s not just violence that has been investigated, oh no, it’s also video games that seem to glorify sex, drugs and maybe even rock and roll. And what is the conclusion? Well, unsurprisingly, the research did not show a significant link between video games and violent crime, sexual assault, or drug use. However, alcohol, on the other hand, can be directly related to the above. However, has this led to a global condemnation of alcohol? No. So what about our friend Mr. Thompson? What did you do with this research? Well, not as much as it happens, however, in a sign that video games are ‘fighting back’ in a totally non-violent way, of course, the state of Florida has since barred you from filing new cases due to misconduct and abuse of the system.

So big news games are out of the woods, well, if only it were that simple. Critics will continue to look for a facile excuse to justify a young man’s behavior and when the white-coated coroners spring into action, they may continue to walk past the sawed-off shotgun and the latest beginner’s shooting edition and march straight to the arcade and the latest 18-certified video game. But I ask these critics to consider this, the gangs or the games, which came first? Meanwhile, we await the latest media that will distort and destroy the minds of the world’s children by abandoning logic, reason in favor of blaming the glamorous and ever-changing world of modern entertainment.