In the wake of a mass shooting or terrorist attack the question of video game violence is raised. Games are often portrayed as little more than drug-addiction meets murder-simulator, and we game makers apologise endlessly. But we are not really being true to ourselves by adopting these apologist positions. In a sense all games are inherently violent. And this is a good thing. → Read More
How many of you have played “violent video games” since you were a wee pup? I certainly have, and you don’t see me stealing cars or robbing banks, do you? Exactly. The most violent I get is when I boo the TV when stupid Manchester United improbably comes back against the most entertaining team in England, Blackpool. I bring this up because a congressman from California has proposed a new… → Read More
There was another “are violent video games evil?” debate yesterday, this time on BBC Radio in the UK. (We sure do cover a lot of UK-centric news here, don’t we?) A group called Mothers Against Violence, whose goal is the complete eradication of violence (OK…), debated games journalists, the radio show hosts, and the video game industry in general. The debate wasn’t as silly as you may… → Read More
Sandbox games are nothing new, but in general, most players try to play the game in the way the designers intended: be good, complete quests, and reach the eventual end of the game in an orderly fashion. Sometimes though, you just have that urge to be bad.
Gamer and writer Alexander Gambotto-Burke has written about his descent into madness, and how purely visceral and difficult it is to play a… → Read More
Bad news for German gamers. (As I understand it, we’re huge in Baden-Baden.) A bill is about to be introduced to parliament, after having been rubber-stamped by all sixteen of the country’s interior ministers, that would ban the sale of all violent video games. What’s a violent video game? Any game “where the main part is to realistically play the killing of people or other cruel or unhuman acts… → Read More
Have any of you guys been following this anti-video game/movie bill that’s currently bouncing around Utah’s legislature? It’s gotten attention for a few reasons, one of which is because the original version of the bill—it has since been amended—was either written by or conceived by (depending on to whom you talk) famous video game hater (and disbarred lawyer) Jack Thomson. → Read More
The notoriously liberal, as if that’s a bad thing in and of itself, Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that that California law restricting the sale of so-called violent video games to minors violates “free speech guarantees.” The ruling upholds a lower courts finding and, naturally, has upset those who have made a career out of trumping up the video game violence debate. → Read More
House of the Dead: Overkill comes out for the Wii next month, and it promises to be a violent, superfun adventure for all of five minutes. (Kidding!) That said, the experience will benefit from this Sega gun-shell, which is currently penned for release only in Europe and Australia. What, America is too immature to handle fantasy gun violence now? → Read More
WWE Superstar Randy Orton wants to see more violence in video games, arguing that movie violence is far more detrimental to young kids than something like Grand Theft Auto. Yup, the pro wrestler recently defended our favorite pastime in an interview with Eurogamer, saying: Violence sells. I want to see more violence in games – the more blood the better…. The violence [in Goodfellas] is… → Read More
Oh dear, it seems certain Members of Parliament in the UK are completely outraged that The Dark Knight has only been rated 12A. Apparently the gentlemen think the movie is violent enough to warrant a 15 rating. Says Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader (and who now works part-time at Carphone Warehouse): Unlike past Batman films, where the villains were somewhat surreal and… → Read More
Details are scarce right now, but New York’s Governor David Patterson just signed a bill into law that could lead to restrictions in video game violence. Good to see that with the worldwide economy collapsing around us New York’s governor is fighting for what New Yorkers are really concerned about. The law would create some sort of video game violence board, and would require content… → Read More
Do you own a man-stopping Taser? According to today’s New York Times magazine—where’d I put my elitist latte and copy of Harper’s Bazaar?—more and more consumers are buying Tasers, especially the recently released C2 model. Available in a variety of colors, including a leopard skin print (tacky?), the consumer-level Taser does just enough to knock out any would-be… → Read More
An 18-year-old kid in the UK was walking home after purchasing a copy of GTA IV when he was mugged and beaten by two ruffians who stole his game and broke his jaw. They were caught, likely for racking up a two-star wanted level. They should have hidden down with the bike in that alley. OK, this is getting way too real. You guys take care of each other out there, alright? The story here isn’t… → Read More
Welcome to the Unreasonable Stance, where our own John Biggs takes the minority opinion on a tech matter and defends it with convenient data, spun numbers, fanboyism, and insults until he proves, without a doubt, that those that disagree with him are filthy mouth-breathers. Like all men of a certain age, I love violence, drugs, and fast cars. But I definitely don’t love Grand Theft Auto IV. → Read More
Did violence, poetically, kill the female gamer? The co-founder of Atari and co-creator of small-time game Pong, Nolan Bushnell, says as much. Violence, along with gaming’s shift from short, fun little romps to long-winded epics—I do not have the time to play a 50+ hour game anymore, either—caused females to pack their bags and quit gaming altogether. Quoth the Raven: I like to… → Read More
Massachusetts HB 1423 is a bill to ban the sale of video games to minors outright. That’s right: under 18, you can’t buy games. Sure, you can watch Skinemax and see Hostel: Part II, but you can’t play Army of Two. Noted author Stephen King — the freakin’ Stephen King — is calling bullshit on this whole endeavor which, incidentally, smacks of the whole comic book scare… → Read More
[photopress:calmdownuk.jpg,full,right] A little present showed up in my iTunes Podcast section a few minutes ago. The Game Theory podcast interviewed Dr. Tanya Byron, who’s recommendation to restrict the sale of violent video games shook the Earth to its core. She made it quite clear that her recommendation shouldn’t preclude adults from enjoying games like “Grand Theft Auto… → Read More
[photopress:healthwarningvgs.jpg,full,center] As we all know, violent video games like “Grand Theft Auto IV” turns children into trained, merciless killers like the guy from “No Country for Old Men.” It’s such a problem that a proposal in the UK will force game makers to put cigarette-style health warnings on packaging. Furthermore, if retailers don’t… → Read More
[photopress:manhunt2aok.jpg,full,center] Manhunt 2 has finally been approved for sale in the UK. Normally I wouldn’t care, but we’ve been following this story since the summer, so this is more cathartic than anything else. Rockstar, the game’s developer, had twice submitted the game to a British rating agency. After the second submission, the game was sent to an appeals board… → Read More
[photopress:mrated.jpg,full,center] Are M-rated games on the way out? That’s what Next-Generation asked and it turns out—sorta—that yes, less M-rated games are being released. The publication took numbers from the ESRB and combined them with independently obtained numbers. The result is that graph up there (and several others in the piece proper). There’s several possible… → Read More
[photopress:japanesecat3603.jpg,full,center] This cute photo is to counteract the horror of the story below. You’re playing your Xbox 360, you’re really into your game, and your 17-month old daughter accidentally knocks the console over. Do you: a) Chuckle to yourself about having a clumsy kid? b) Explain to her that she has to be more careful and give her a “time out” in… → Read More
[photopress:manhunt22222.jpg,full,center] Oh, Manhunt 2. You’re a terrible video game that was banned in the UK some time ago for being too violent and should have been banned here for being so awful. Only a few days ago, however, it looked like the game was headed toward UK store shelves. Note the past tense, as now, today, word is that the British agency responsible for its initial ban… → Read More
In defending Manunt 2 over in the UK, Rockstar presented research showing that there’s no causal link between violent video games and violent behavior. The British Board of Film Classification, the body preventing the game’s release there, agreed to a point: “The research certainly achieves the objective of establishing that research does not demonstrate that there is a causal… → Read More
http://www.gamevideos.com:80/swf/gamevideos11.swf?embedded=1&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&src=http://www.gamevideos.com:80/video/videoListXML%3Fid%3D15918%26ordinal%3D1193925449217%26adPlay%3Dfalse You know that if the controversial Manhunt 2 stayed in its original form, it’d be a damn fun game. But because some people in a church somewhere got their panties in a bundle over some… → Read More
Here come the outrage mongers. As you’re well aware, Manhunt 2 comes out today. Predictably, all sorts of family-oriented “leaders” are up in arms over the game’s release. (Never mind that these “leaders” would be out of a job if they didn’t complain about anything.) The big, scary claim now is that children, my God children, could log onto the Internet… → Read More
How appropriate that Rockstar will be launching Manhunt 2 tomorrow during Halloween. The game has been under fire for months due to its extremely violent content. It was even banned in the UK and received an “Adults Only” rating from the ESRB originally, meaning Rockstar had to take some time to modify the title so it would receive a “Mature” rating instead. Says producer… → Read More
Some crafty photographer managed to snap some shots of preproduction (note the RP rating) copies of Grand Theft Auto: IV for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The box art is in standard Rockstar fashion, showcasing characters from the GTA series. However, there isn’t much “oomph” to the GTA: IV packaging is there? Looks like some people standing around with guns. Big whoop. Where’s the… → Read More
At what point are video gamers, of which I am only nominally these days, going to tell their oh-so-concerned elected officials to stop fiddling with their hobby? Here in New York, our esteemed state legislature had a bill on tap that would make selling a violent video game to minors a Class E felony. (I just bought the Wii edition of Resident Evil 4 on Sunday and was rather bemused to find out… → Read More
We very rarely cover current, non-tech events on this site, simply because they don’t often overlap with our mission to bring tech news to a broad audience. However, I’ve decided to post on the various reactions to the Virginia Tech shooting from pundits who blame violent behavior on video games. → Read More
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