video games

In the recent fervor over Madden '05, video games came once again to the fore. The Economist (8/6/05) ran a cover piece on the impact of video games on society. It was somewhat interesting, but barely scratched the surface of all it could have covered.

One thing I think is absurd is the amount of craziness surrounding the sex crack for GTA: San Andreas. Everyone is up in arms over this thing. Here's a quote referenced in the Economist article: video games are "a silent epidemic of media desensitization" and are "stealing the innocence of our children." You would think that these quotes come from some conservative media watchdog or FOX talking head, but they are actually from Hillary Clinton. It seems that even Democrats are jumping on the moral highground bandwagon to grab a piece of the centrist pie.

What I can't seem to figure out is what is so much worse about GTA after the patch than before? I mean, here's a game where, as the title suggests, the player commits a string of violent crimes. It's a game where you can (and are often encouraged to) shoot police officers, run over pedestrians, blow up cars, beat up prostitutes, frequent strip clubs, work with various gangs, not to mention stealing all manner of vehicles. What is so much worse about seeing a clip of cgi sex than all that? I mean, I've accidentally come across more porn in pop-ups, misspelled websites, and google searches.

Also, what's the deal with the ratings system and why is it such a big deal? This game had its rating go from "M for mature" (17+) to "AO for adult only" (18+). All that trouble for a single year?! What's the difference between a kid the day before his 18th and the day after? In all this hype and hysteria over the game, people are always refering to "the children." This game was already classified as being only for kids over 17. I'm not speaking about everyone, but at 17, the vast majority of kids have access to much more explicit and harmful images and interactions.

I guess my problem would be mostly with two parties. The first would be parents. Many parents have no idea what their kids are doing let alone what ratings on video games mean. They need to be more involved and aware. Video games these days are no longer like pong or tetris; today's are culture immersion games. They're places where someone takes on a personality and character to deal with tons of situations in an alternative environment. I think we need to be very careful with this kind of thing when kids are still forming their view of themselves, morality, and the world. My other gripe would be with politicians and pundits. What use is it to pile on a video game maker now? The only reason is to get your name in the news and to put on an air of moral superiority. Why not talk about the vast stores of junk that is available to our kids online? or, like Shaq, warn people of the danger to kids that chat rooms and friendfinder services can pose?

Whew. I'm tired out.
now, back to the game...

I'm only sort of here

So I started a blogger account mostly to keep track of my friends who are already here. I've done and probably will do most of my posts on myspace.com/opihi