when the hobby gets serious

There's been a flurry of general news relating to the videogame industry in the past week. Some stupid prick decided to pull a gun on one of the organizers of a Counter Strike tournament in Los Angeles over an inter-clan dispute. This story could be damaging on a whole new level if mainstream news media descends on it in their typical knee-jerk fashion. Just in time for Xmas, the organization known as "MediaFamily" posted a list of games that are considered unacceptable for underage human consumption. And Take Two submits like a bitch to the demands of New York's Mayor Bloomberg and pledges to remove all offending content relating to "killing Haitians" out of future copies of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (even though it was taken way out of context to begin with, but we won't hold it against them – he's got a reputation to fabricate).

It's difficult to view this information objectively when you have a view from the inside. And by that I mean that I am a huge fan of games and take this hobby very seriously. As a subculture, we are quickly moving into uncharted territory. Videogaming in general has taken a huge leap in the past five or six years in mainstream acceptance. It has become a viable medium and billion dollar industry that is consumed on the same level as movies, television and music. Naturally, Big Media and government agencies alike love to pin the blame for youth violence on video games lately because of the products of a few developers (Rockstar and Running With Scissors come to mind). It's a fairly new form of entertainment by mainstream standards, and because of that it makes an easy target for interest groups to spread uncertainty among the clueless public. As another recent example, Project Gotham Racing 2 was victimized by Australian government, as it apparently “sends the wrong message to young people...It is actually glorifying speed and power." Last I checked this game was rated E, and includes no graphic depictions of violence (discussion at Clickable Culture). As one person in the industry has pointed out, these types of actions against our games concerns everyone not just the purveyors of "murder simulators".

On the weekend I was in an Electronics Boutique. The mall was packed, but I didn't expect to be met with a lineup a mile long inside that tiny store. It became clear to me that this hobby is big business. Production values will go up along with levels of expectations. Money will be pumped into the hardware vendors just like the computer industry. The best technology will not necessarily be the top earner, but that's even true now. Before the Playstation, consoles were considered to be just another toy. Now, they are an entertainment unit, just like your TV or DVD player (and some are DVD players). Pretty soon we'll start seeing awards shows broadcasted in Prime Time, along with numerous typically mainstream news magazines covering the “Game of the Year”. Will this dilute the industry? Probably, all you have you do is look at Hollywood and the absurdly antiquated movie business. Does Big Media want a piece of the games industry? You bet. Just like your movie of the week tries to sell you morals and the beliefs of the government in power, you'll start seeing that crap in games where the art is lost and the not-so subversive message is brought to the forefront. All I have to do is refer back to Take Two's completely shortsighted move to compromise their year-old product to satisfy the political aspirations of New York's shitwheel of a Mayor.

The Wife told me an interesting story about another EB (she went alone, presumably buying my Xmas present) where she waited in line behind a mother and her 9 year old son. On the counter ready to be purchased was a copy of the Xbox Grand Theft Auto Double Pack. Seeing the young lad and obviously clueless parent, the salesperson said, “Ma'am this game is rated Mature. Do you know what subject matter it contains?”. The woman stared blankly. “The main purpose of the game is to run around stealing cars, killing people, picking up prostitutes, selling drugs and otherwise causing havoc within a city for bonus points [I think he meant to say 'money'].” Before anyone gets all upset at the obvious simplification of the game, the point had already been made. The woman was clearly shocked, and refused to purchase the games. The kid's reaction was “But you don't see anything!”, no doubt in response the the bit about the prostitute. The concerned mother did not budge. The ESRB Video game ratings have been around since 1994, and to the best of my knowledge they should more or less work as seen here. I remember when Mortal Kombat came out, many groups were concerned that it was the pinnacle of violence and that kids should have nothing to do with it. By today's standards, though, it's nothing. In fact looking at the stiff FMV quality of the animations the violence is almost laughable.

Video game ratings were developed for a purpose, and although it's taken an ultraviolent game like GTA to make that point, both vendors and parents are starting to take notice. In fact, a nationwide campaign was announced this week for all American software retailers to begin asking for ID before a Mature-rated game can be purchased. This was technically supposed to be going on all along, but this campaign puts a system in place to educate consumers, and give retailers an incentive to enforce the ratings. A good start, but like television and movies it doesn't replace an informed parent.