violent games
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UK schools threaten to report parents who let their kids play 18+ games
If your child is playing 18-rated games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, you could be reported to the police and social services. That's the message being sent to parents by a group of primary and secondary schools in Cheshire. In a letter, the Nantwich Education Partnership has warned parents about the levels of violence and sexual content that are prevalent in mature games. It says regular exposure could lead to "early sexualised behaviour" and leave children "vulnerable to sexual exploitation or extreme violence." Some parents have already voiced their disapproval, but headteachers say they're merely following the guidance set by their local authority: "If your child is allowed to have inappropriate access to any game or associated product that is designated 18+, we are advised to contact the police and children's social care as this is deemed neglectful."
Mass. removes violent games from turnpike rest stops
In response to a complaint and the events in Newtown, Connecticut, the state of Massachusetts has removed nine violent games from rest plazas controlled by the state. The service plazas affected were in Charlton, Ludlow, Lee and Beverly.If you're curious, the Mass. towns of Charlton, Ludlow, Lee and Beverly are 100 miles, 83 miles, 80 miles and 170 miles away from Newtown, respectively."Bottom line is I think there isn't a person who doesn't believe that there isn't too much violence in our society, and games can glorify that," Mass. Transportation Secretary Richard Davey told The Boston Globe. "A video game in a public space could be used by anybody of any age."Meanwhile, Mayor Robert Dolan of Melrose, Mass. (158 miles), is starting an initiative to persuade families to dispose of their violent video games, movies and toys by offering deals at local businesses and maybe even "get out of homework free" coupons.Representatives from the games industry met with Vice President Joe Biden today to discuss the role of violent video games in regards to gun violence.
Utah rep won't continue pursuing game legislation after SCOTUS decision
Following the Supreme Court's decision to dismiss a California law rendering the sale of violent video games to minors illegal, a Utah politician has pledged not to continue pushing for a similar law in his own state. Since 2007, Representative Michael Morley has been in support of a law drafted by Jack Thompson, passed in Utah's legislature in 2008, that would allow parents to sue retailers for false advertising if they sold mature-rated games to children. Morley is still in support of that bill, but recognized that continued efforts to make it law would likely be fruitless. "It's not on my radar to fight that fight," he told the Deseret News. In the bill's defense, though, he told the paper that his bill was designed to facilitate parental lawsuits, and not impose a fine as the proposed California law would have. [Image: NMA]
The Soapbox: A violent scene
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. When Star Trek Online was first released, it had more than its fair share of critics, and one of the chief complaints was the fact that the game seemed to focus largely upon combat. Sure, Star Trek had always featured combat, but it had also featured negotiation and diplomacy and unknowable phenomena alongside human drama. The idea that the entire universe could be pared down to ships and ground teams firing disruptor beams at one another didn't sit well with a sizable portion of the fanbase. Of course, Star Trek Online is hardly the only culprit. MMOs have always had a heavy focus on combat as far back as Ultima Online -- the PvP that people look back on with fond memories wasn't a game of cards, after all. Sometimes it can seem as if we have a sea of games with nothing to them except fighting and killing things, without any other meaningful interactions with the world. In a genre that offers us such a wonderful tool for social interaction, why are our games so violent? As it turns out, for a lot of very good reasons.
How Bulletstorm became 'the worst video game in the world'
Much like seasonal allergies and taxes, the gaming populace is periodically subjected to mainstream news coverage of its favorite entertainment medium. And while said coverage is often laced with inaccurate statements and fear-laden non sequiturs, it doesn't usually ask questions in the headline like Fox News' latest treatment: "Is Bulletstorm the Worst Video Game in the World?" Our brief time with the game's demo -- not to mention the time we spent playing Superman 64 so many years ago -- certainly gives us the impression that Bulletstorm isn't "the worst video game in the world," but we get the feeling that Fox's John Brandon is asking something else.
German states mull violent game ban
The Financial Times reports that the German states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony have drafted legislation the would lead to fines and jail time for developers, distributors and even players of games that involve "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters." The proposed laws, which would affect nearly 19 million Germans, come in response to a recent school shooting by a masked, 18-year-old German Counter-Strike fan that has turned public sentiment in the country against violent games. Bavarian Interior Minister Gunther Beckstein is leading the effort to pass the legislation, arguing "it is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise [sic] unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect." Despite complaints by German gamers, 59 percent of Germans at large support such a ban, according to a poll cited by the Financial Times. Germany has a long history of tough restrictions on violent games from Doom to Gears of War, and an outright ban would likely affect high-profile PS3 launch games like Resistance: Fall of Man and Call of Duty 3.
Study: Violent videogames affect kids' brains
Reuters describes a recent study of violent videogames' affect on teens; the study reports that a violent game made kids more emotionally aroused, with less control and concentration, than kids playing a non-violent game.The Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis study compared Need for Speed: Underground and Medal of Honor: Frontline. Kids played the games, then, using a fancy MRI machine, blood-flow was measured to parts of their brains while they performed simple tasks. The study tested only 44 subjects, so it may point to significant results, but it also needs to be repeated with bigger groups.While we might have picked a different non-violent game -- we always crash our NFS cars, and that seems pretty violent -- we hope that this sort of research is also applied to other media before drawing conclusions. If violent games cause kids to go into fight-or-flight mode as the study suggests, can this be linked to real-world reactions or long-term changes? How do kids' responses to movies compare to games?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
