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Computer games and video games have been the subject of frequent controversy and censorship, due to the presence of graphic violence, sexual themes, or profanity in some games. Critics of video games include parents' groups, politicians, organized religion groups, and
some other special interest groups. Criticism is often voiced by
those who rarely or never play video games. Within the video game community, such controversy is known as the common video
game controversy, and video game player criticism is frowned upon by hardcore video game players.
The divide in video games, or the video game censorship spectrum, is sometimes divided into right and left wing camps, with
those on the right described as favouring censorship (hence video game censors), while those on the left oppose it
(hence video game proponents). This spectrum is
not necessarily related to the left or right of the political spectrum; for instance, some left-wing parties such as women's groups have criticized
games, while some right-wing groups such as gun enthusiasts have little problem with them. Video game controversy is generally a
controversial subject and a topic of debate.
History
The video game Death Race in 1976 was one of the first controversial video games. As the video gaming industry has grown it has faced increasing
pressure from concerned groups. In 1993 Mortal Kombat, an arcade and console game, was controversial; U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman spoke out against the game during a Senate investigation into video game violence. The following year,
the Entertainment Software
Ratings Board was established, the controversy over Night Trap
acting as a catylyst.
Video games received scrutiny in 1999, following the Columbine massacre, as some commentators accused violent games such as DOOM and Quake as playing a causative role in that
massacre and others. In September 2002,
Grand Theft Auto III, a console and PC game,
revived ongoing video game controversy, and was banned in Australia for its
violent and anarchic nature. In August 2003 the
Entertainment Software Association reacted against these accusations and began to battle against governmental regulation of video
games.
Criticism of violence and crime in video games
Video and computer games are periodically criticized in the media by some parents' groups, psychologists, religious
organizations, or politicians for the level of violence, cruelty, and crime that some games allow players to act out. Examples are trivial to find, including Mortal Kombat and its sequels, a series of fighting games by Midway Games which since 1992 has
rewarded players for beating up an opponent with martial arts moves, and
then for executing a "Fatality" move, a particularly gruesome killing of the defeated character, in which, for example, the head
and spine of the victim may be ripped out of his body, the victim may be beheaded with blood gouting out of his neck stump, and
so forth. Another frequently-cited violent game is the extremely popular Grand Theft Auto 3 ("GTA 3") by Rockstar
Games, in which the principal game activity is carjacking, and once a car
is stolen, the player is rewarded for running over pedestrians and shooting rival gang members to death as he runs missions for
crime bosses. It is sometimes claimed in the media that in GTA 3, players have to steal a car, pick up a prostitute, have
(implied) sex with the prostitute, then kill her and steal her money. All of this is indeed possible in the game, but the player
is not actually required to do so.
Critics of video game violence generally agree that violent video games are at least as bad an influence on children as are
television shows with the same level of violence and cruelty, and most seem to
believe that video games are more threatening to a child's well-being, because the video game player uses the controller to make
his on-screen persona act out the violence personally. It was widely reported that the killers in the Columbine High School massacre were fans of
first-person shooter games, and had recorded a videotape
before the massacre in which they said they looked forward to using their shotguns just as in the game DOOM. One former West Point psychology professor, seen to be
interviewed several times after school shootings in the United States, has repeatedly used the term "murder simulator" to
describe first-person shooter games. He argues that video
game publishers unethically train children in the use of weapons and, more importantly, harden them emotionally to the task of
murder by simulating the killing of hundreds or thousands of opponents in a single
typical video game.
Defenders of video games in this respect, and video game publishers, state that video games are harmless entertainment,
similar to the previous generation's childhood "violent" play of "Cops and Robbers", and that playing video games does not cause
acts of violence, but indeed may be a cathartic way of expressing frustration or
anger without harming any people. They say that video games are sometimes singled out unfairly from other forms of entertainment
that show violence, such as movies, television shows, and even the news, which suffuse the culture, and that even if exposure to violence in the
media were proven to cause more violent behavior, then video games should be subject to no more restriction or scrutiny than
movies, television shows, or the news. They note that millions of children and adults enjoy video games every day, and the vast
majority of them do not become criminals; and that no correlation has ever been shown between the rise of video game popularity
and crime statistics. They also note that using a video game controller's or a mouse's buttons to shoot an opponent on a screen
is a far different experience than shooting a man with a gun in the real world, and that it seems far fetched to believe that
this would harden one to killing, or qualify as a "murder simulator".
Scientific data on the effect of video game violence is scant. Some studies have indicated a correlation between increased
aggression on the school playground and children's exposure to violent video games and television shows, but studies have not
focused on video games alone.
United States
In the United States, the ESRB ratings system was established in 1994 as the video game
equivalent to the MPAA film rating system. The ESRB
was created as an industry response to criticism from politicians, notably Senator Joe Lieberman, over the easy availability of violent video games such as Mortal Kombat to children, and over the resulting alleged corruption of public morality. At the time, some
politicians who lent their voice to this cause threatened legislation relating to video game violence. Nearly all video games are
now rated with ESRB ratings, which are primarily intended to inform parents about the content of the games that their children
have purchased (or want to purchase). Some important retail chains, such as Wal-Mart, have a policy to check the identification of young purchasers of games rated "Mature" to ensure that the
purchaser is at least 17 years old, as recommended by the "Mature" rating. Senator Lieberman stated in 2002 that in his opinion,
the video game industry's rating system had become the best rating system of any medium, including the film industry. However,
many video game players have criticized him for his stance on video games. Some of them believe that Lieberman's stance on video
games and the entertainment industry at large cost him votes in the 2004 Democratic Party Primary leading him to drop out of the
Presidential race.
Interestingly, video game violence was not an issue of public concern until the technology improved and characters started to
appear more photographic in quality. There were video games before Mortal
Kombat that had high levels of violence -- for example, The Bilestoad for the Apple II
computer featured a top-down view of two knights in combat with battle axes, with pools of blood forming on the ground and limbs
regularly amputated -- but the game looked like an animated cartoon and not at all photorealistic. This may imply that most
people are not actually concerned about children acting out violence as long as it looks fake.
From time to time, local officials attempt to restrict the playing or selling of violent video games. Predictably, video game
publishers always oppose this, and retailers usually do as well. For example, the city of Indianapolis, Indiana in 2000 passed an ordinance barring minors from playing arcade games with graphic violence unless parental consent was given. It was
generally thought that this law was intended to target the game House
of the Dead, in which players use plastic guns to shoot at the game screen in order to mow down hundreds or thousands of
zombies that have returned from the dead and try to kill the player. The ordinance was struck down at the appellate Federal court
level, on the grounds that in the United States, video games enjoy some measure of First Amendment free speech protection because they contain real expression of ideas, and children have
constitutional rights before the age of 18, and given this, the city did not demonstrate an overriding public interest in passing
the ban.
Germany
In Germany, video games, as with other media, are subject to censorship, or "decency standards", that are strict by the standards of other European
nations. For video games there is the index, also known as the "banned" list, which is a list of video games
considered immoral. Games showing the killing of humans with blood or severed body parts involved, or in general showing cruelty
to humans, are placed on the index, at which point it becomes illegal to advertise the games, display them on store shelves, or sell them to anyone under 18. This of course
dramatically impacts sales, so most video game companies selling games into Germany elect to create a special German version that
narrowly avoids the index by changing the graphics. Instead of red blood coming out of a wound, green blood is shown,
implying that aliens are being killed and not humans; or gears and springs are shown coming out of the wound, implying that the
victims are robots.
It is not clear how many German video game players skirt the intention of the index by purchasing their games from
other countries, by mail order or by taking a shopping trip.
Elsewhere around the world
Video game violence is similarly controversial in South Korea, and similar
"no blood" regulations apply.
In July 2002, the Greek Parliament passed Greek Law Number 3037, entirely outlawing electronic gaming. This
controversial law has been frowned upon, not only in Greece, but elsewhere in Europe and in the United States, and petitions were
made against it. In December 2003 it was
restricted to only affect Internet cafes in accordance with a letter from
the European Union.
In December of 2003, Manhunt, a
PS2 game, was banned in New Zealand. While in Australia Grand Theft Auto 3 was also banned for a period, but a version
without the action of assaulting the prostitute was released.
Criticism of sexuality in video games
Video game publishers have not explored sexuality in
video games to nearly the degree seen in movies, books, or even television shows. Almost no video games display nudity. Sexual
themes are seen sometimes in role-playing games, but are rare
elsewhere. This lack of history, and perhaps a perception that video games are a children's pastime, are probably the reasons why
any graphic sexual content in video games is shocking to some people.
Custer's Revenge was a game for the Atari 2600 released under the brand "Swedish Erotica" that featured a naked General Custer advancing
across the screen, dodging arrows, until he could mount a naked Native American woman who was apparently tied to a pole or
cactus. The game was controversial for its racism as well as its sexuality, and in television coverage in the United States, when
game animation was shown, parts of the screen were concealed with black rectangles in order to avoid showing nudity. This seems
unnecessary from today's standpoint, because the graphics on the Atari 2600 were very crude and blocky, and one video game critic
has described the naked woman as resembling "a hot dog made of Legos".
Sierra's Leisure Suit
Larry computer games were popular tongue-in-cheek adventure games for adults in which the protagonist constantly attempted,
usually without success, to convince women to have sex with him. The games did not excite much controversy despite showing
partial nudity with increasing graphical quality over the years.
Eidos's Tomb Raider series of
games were action-adventure games which featured a woman protagonist named Lara
Croft with improbably large breasts. The game series did not explore sexual themes at all, but Lara Croft was featured in
video game magazines as a sex symbol of sorts, and it is generally believed that the success of the game series over the years
was due to the prominence of her breasts in the game's advertising and packaging.
Acclaim released a bicycle motocross game
called BMX XXX in 2002 which included a topless woman as the game character riding a
bicycle, and rewarded players with video footage of topless strippers. It is generally believed in the industry that the game was
of low quality -- its average review was about 55% in an industry where a 70% score is considered poor -- and that Acclaim
decided late in the game's development to attempt to stir a controversy and hopefully prop up sales by including some nudity. The
attempt at publicity was rather successful, with television reports that Wal-Mart,
Toys R Us, and a few other major retail chains in the United States declined to
carry the game in their stores due to the nudity. Consequently, sales were poor: under 100,000 copies were sold. The game was not
greeted with controversy or with much sales interest in Europe.
Industry response to controversies over sexuality is generally in the form of indignation that video games are singled out
where movies, books, and television shows are not. Retailers have sold "R"-rated movies showing nudity for the past several
decades without any moral problem in doing so, and the moral problem they claim to have over video games with nudity is therefore
hypocritical.
Criticism related to children's social development
Some psychologists and parents' groups have criticized video games
because they believe they cause children to sit alone in the television room for many hours in a row, interacting with a machine
rather than running and playing outside as they exercise and improve their social skills by playing with other children. This
sounds like the same effect that television shows have on many children, but some claim that video games are more addictive to children and therefore more likely to isolate them socially in this way.
Some studies have claimed that there is a correlation between depression and playing computer games.
A typical industry response is that video games can enhance children's social interaction because many video games are
multiplayer games, where two or four players can have fun competing on the same television screen, and that if a child is
isolated and antisocial, this is not the fault of video games, but perhaps of the child's inborn disposition, or perhaps of the
parents' lack of attention to making sure their child has enough opportunities for social interaction with other children.
Presumably, parents who allow their children to play video games too much would also allow them to watch too much television for
their own good.
Criticism from religious organizations
Much of the criticism of video games from outside the video game community originates from religious sources. Some Christian denominations, usually denominations that are accused
of using totalitarian religious structure,
such as Jehovah's Witnesses (with December 22, 2002, issue of Awake!),
based on the teachings of religious artist Jack Chick and preacher Al Menconi , impose lifelong restriction and scrutiny on video games, especially
through the belief that parents should impose or inculcate their religious beliefs onto their children. Some video game proponents consider these organized religious
denominations mind controlling and enslaving cults and enemies of the video game community, and they consider video game criticism from religious organizations an
offense to the video game community. They usually oppose religious criticism and restriction on video games. The criticisms
originating from whatever religious organizations are accused of totalitarian religious structure are aimed at violence, crime,
sexuality, nudity, human castration, rebelliousness, materialism, occultism, and references to
Christianity. Many of those who criticise Grand Theft Auto: Vice City are religious figures. Enforcing a recall on a
video game from the store shelves on religious grounds is unconstitutional and a violation of the separation of church and state.
References to religion found in games are often criticized by religious groups. Games such as Xenogears, Final Fantasy
Tactics and Grandia II contain references and even outright
criticism to Christianity and organized religion in general. Often, role playing games in particular make use of a corrupt and powerful church as the game’s antagonist. It is commonly thought that
Xenogears was almost not released in the U.S. because of its religious themes.
In response to potential criticism, religious content has been censored in
some U.S. releases of Japanese-origin video games. Nintendo in particular would censor many of its U.S. releases back in the NES
and SNES era. Castlevania,
Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and other games containing such references as crosses, the words "holy", "monk", and names
of Biblical figures were censored for their U.S. release.
Typical criticism within the industry
Within the video game industry, there is not much self-criticism about excessive sexuality or violence, as it is known that
video games are not exclusively for the consumption of children, and hence it is generally believed that video game publishers have as much right to explore adult-oriented,
mature themes as do movie studios or book publishers. Some developers and
publishers find some of this type of content distasteful and do not produce it, but in general there is not much agitation to set
limits on adult content for the industry as a whole, beyond the presence of the ESRB rating
system, which has come to be viewed by most people as a good move for the industry. There is some criticism over the use of
violence in games as a crutch for creativity; it is alleged that if a developer cannot invent an original, fun activity for the
player, he'll end up giving the player the time-honored task of shooting a monster.
Most criticism of video games from within the video game community usually has to do with game quality: linear story structure
without much plot, lack of originality, lack of character development, unrealistic aspects of graphics or game play, or simply
not being fun to play.
Other criticisms include an apparent lack of games that appeal to women and girls, and a strong and increasing tendency of
video game publishers to avoid risks, and only fund games
which are practically guaranteed success prior to the expenditure of any development dollars. In particular, there has been an
increase in:
- Sequels to, prequels to, and enhanced remakes of previously
successful games
- Games which use a licensed intellectual property from some other medium, often movies, comic books, television shows, or
books
- Games whose game play is more or less copied directly from previously published games that were successful. It is generally
agreed that in the early days of video games there seemed to be an explosion of creativity with genuinely new types of game play
appearing in some new game every month, and now a new type of game play is seen only a couple of times per year.
Controversial Videogames
- BMX XXX (for nudity in the game and in video clips) (banned in Australia)
- Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball (DOA:XBV) (for ogling bikini-clad
women and sexual themes)
- DOOM series (for graphic violence and spattering of Satanic imagery)
- Duke Nukem 3D (for violence, sexuality and nudity)
- Ethnic Cleansing
(for neo-Nazi propaganda, racism and crimes
against humanity)
- Grand Theft Auto III (for violence, crime, and
sexual themes) (banned in Australia, although later re-released when the sexual themes were slightly cut out)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (for
violence, crime, and sexual themes)
- House of the Dead (for graphic violence)
- Manhunt (for graphic violence) (banned in New Zealand)
- Mortal Kombat series (for graphic violence)
- Night Trap (for violence depicted by filmed scenes)
- Postal (for violence, banned in many countries)
- Resident Evil series (for graphic violence)
- Thrill Kill (for graphic violence and BDSM references) (banned in Australia)
- Tomb Raider series (for violence and large body parts)
See also
External Links
Right-Wing Side of the Video Game Controversy
(Viewpoints that favor the common video game controversy or its supporting politicians or religious groups).
Left-Wing Side of the Video Game Controversy
(Viewpoints that oppose the common video game controversy or its supporting politicians and religious groups.)
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