University of Queensland lecture: are shooters to blame?

Video game enthusiasts - particularly in the general vicinity of St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia - may want to take note of an interesting public lecture from the University of Queensland’s School of Political Science and International Studies on first-person shooter games. The lecture will ask, and one would assume, attempt to answer the question: do these kinds of games by their very nature desensitize young adult males and teens to violence, conflict and war and ignore conflict resolution?

On Oct. 5. Academic Peter Mantello will head deliver the lecture (Are violent computer games to blame?), which aims to discern if FPS games teach youngsters that military warfare is the most effective foreign policy tool. By the way this public lecture is being framed at QU, one would think that Mantello (a self professed gamer) thinks it is a foregone conclusion, but it is an interesting topic that deserves more attention and thoughtful discussion.

It’s an interesting question but the answer will probably get lost on gamers who will find the way the question has been framed as slightly offensive. Does a person that plays a first-person shooter like Call of Duty or Counter-Strike truly believe that military action in tense global and political situations is always the first option, or better still, for the youth of the world - do they even care - are they even paying attention to the things going on in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Dufar, etc.?

First-Person Shooters are by their very nature about conflict, obviously - if they were not they’d be called Flower; but it is probably fair to say that they seldom offer any option but to kill, blow up and destroy. But to say they teach a certain behavior is a bit of an insult to the intelligence of most players who can separate game from reality.

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Playlogic Entertainment’s Fairytale Fights in late October

Playlogic Entertainment’s Fairytale Fights will be available in retail stores nationwide Oct. 27 for Xbox 360 and PS3. The Unreal 3 engine powered mature themed action adventure puts players in charge of a not-so-friendly fairy tale character on a rampage for justice and personal honor.

Inspired by twisted cartoons like Happy Tree Friends and Itchy and Scratchy, and featuring a wildly colorful art style, players can cooperatively complete quests in the single-player storyline or compete in chaotic multiplayer battle with up to 4 players.

Features worth noting include cooperative play for up to four players, over 100 weapons to choose from, the promise of new downloadable content after the game’s release, a volumetric liquid system that makes use of various fluids (blood, vomit, goo) as stimuli for physics based actions and accidents allows players to cut anything off of any enemy anywhere in real time.

Sounds gratuitously violent and cute. The game will be released on Oct. 23 in Europe. More info can be found at www.fairytalefights.com.

German Retail Chain Pulls 18+ Rated Titles

Germany’s largest retailer, Galeria Kaufhof, reacting to a horrific school shooting last week, has decided to not to stock films or games that carry an 18+ rating. Beginning in April, these mature rated products will be pulled from shelves as the country comes to grips with one of the worst school shootings in recent memory.

The move was no doubt spurred on by media reports and local politicians looking for a reason for the shooting: One reason according to those cricles was the shooter’s fascination with Counter Strike.

Last week 17 year old Tim Kretschmer, gunned down opened fire in three classrooms at the school, killing eight girls and a boy, and three female teachers. Seven students were wounded by the shooter. The ordeal at the Albertville secondary school in Winnenden was only the beginning as Kretschmer went on a three hour shooting spree killing a total of 15 people.

Stephan Reichart, managing director at German video game developers association G.A.M.E. told Reuters that this move by the retailer is an overreaction and that it would do better to make sure that its cashiers don’t sell mature rated products to people under the age of 18.

ECA Takes on Baca Bill

A bill currently being pushed by Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA) proposing health warning-style labels like those found on cigarettes and alcohol is now being opposed by the Entertainment Consumers Association. The bill, which is based on a non-existent link between violent behavior and video games (a link that has yet to be established by any studies that I know of) proposes that the federal government label games with health warnings. What these labels would say is anyone’s guess.

This is certainly not the first time such warning labels have been proposed: in the 90’s in the wake of the Columbine school shootings, many politicians, disturbed by the brutality of the crime and the alleged link to video games like Doom, called for a similar labeling of games and movies. That bill went nowhere, and this one most certainly will go about as far.

Why the lack of concern? Because politicians not keeping their eyes on the prize will look pretty foolish.. While Baca “plays games” with oddball bills others know that there are serious matters before this country like unemployment, record foreclosures and a mortgage crisis that continues to spiral out of control.

For its part, the ECA is doing what it usually does in these matters: mobilizing its members and encouraging others to join in and contact their representatives to voice their disdain. If you’d like to get involved, visit the ECA web site.

Kym Worthy and the Evils of Video Games

I touched upon this yesterday in The Rundown, but today let’s analyze the particulars. This week Wayne County, Michigan Prosecutor Kym Worthy released her list of Top 10 Violent Video Games Played By Teens. The list, which is actually a rehash of the Mature rated section of games from the National Institute on Media and the Family Video Game Report Card for 2008, feature’s a who’s who of the most popular “M” rated games in North America. The link between “teens wanting to play these particular games” is tenuous at best, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

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Commentary: The Timothy Plan Video Game Report

The Timothy Plan, an investment group that offers a family of funds that are morally upright, has released a report called “An Inside Look Into: Video Games”, sure to whip the faithful into a frenzy. We assume that this report is for members that ascribe to the questionable notion that any investment firm is capable of claiming moral high ground or finding companies that don’t engage in some questionable practices.

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Fallout 3: Why You Can’t Kill Children

Killing children is a big no-no in video games. Developers often gently cross the line with violence and sexuality, but it is generally a rule of thumb that giving players the ability to kill children in a video game goes beyond the pal of decency and good taste - and will inevitably open the door to mainstream media criticism, angry political diatribe from the government and possibly censorship.

Sure, some of the best games (like the original Fallout and Ultima VII) allowed you to kill children, but Fallout 3 developer Bethesda Softworks never even considered including such a dark option in their game. There were certainly conversations about it, according to lead developer Emil Pagliarulo, but not one bit of code was included in the game. In other words, the option was never entertained.

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