Video Games are bad!
Witnessed the most blatant attack on video games this morning perpetrated by John Stapleton of GMTV.
First off we get a report talking about the Manhunt 'copycat' killing in 2004 and the GTA 'copycat' killing in 2007. Oh wow they can only find two semi-linked cases in four years - we've obviously an epidemic on our hands here.
They mentioned Metal Gear Solid (16+) and Grand Theft Auto (18) without, you know, mentioning the age certification.
Then we get good old John haranguing an ELSPA representative-
"My son plays GTA..."
That would be your 20+ year old son would it John? Wow fancy him playing an 18 certificate game
"would you allow an 11/12 year-old play GTA?"
That would be the 18 certificate game, the one with a film-style 18 on the front, back and spine?
"You have a game where you shoot police officers, that glamourises shooting police officers; should such games even exist?"
Oo I can sum this up in one question - Should a 11/12 year old be allowed to watch "Reservoir Dogs"? Oh but wait that would be opening up the whole violence on screen can o' worms and some might ask questions about depictions of sex and violence on such television channels as um this very one broadcasting GMTV.
Here's the deal, as has been pointed out many a time, somebody of the age shown on the video game has to purchase it in order to give it to someone who is under that age. If you as a parent pick up a blatantly labelled 18-certificate game and let your 12 year-old play it then you should be as shocked and surprised by its content as if you'd done the same thing with a similar film. Why doesn't the media seem to get that?
Because games are for kiddy-winks. Despite the fact that the average gamer age is mid-20's,
[Update - as per Dan's comment this might be a misleading statistic. As I hope I've made clear in previous entries if such 'facts' are given without a source, even by myself, they should be taken with a large pinch of salt]
despite the fact that the younger reporters are all playing these games; mention video-games and the media instantly revert to "Won't someone think of the children" mode.
It's yet another absolving of responsibility with the tautology that 'anything I buy that I think is suitable for my children, should be suitable for my children' From the media point of view it is not the responsibility of adults to examine the things they buy for their children, it is up to the producers to ensure that everything is suitable for them.
Amazingly for once the government's got this right and are concentrating on a unified classification system, it's the media who are running around hysterically.
4 comments:
Average gamer for which game? Every time I play CSS or TF2, where are people playing who sound like they're about 12 years old. (No, I have no idea what the certification for either of those games is.)
There does seem to be a sector of society that regards all things related to computers or technology as inherantly “evil” and hence a worthy target for eradication. This doesn't appear to be rational in any way. They just dislike this stuff and want a reason to have it banned.
Computer gaming reputedly does things like improving hand-eye coordination and increasing concentration levels. It can also completely destroy social development, so you need some kinda balance here. I imagine too many people find it easier to just plonk a kid in front of a computer screen to get them to shut the **** up. (But then, these people probably have no social skills themselves…)
Anyway, what it boils down to is that computer games are really no worse than some of the films on TV.
Average gamer age got plucked from some poll survey thing which I didn't totally distrust. As CSS and TF2 are what 12,15 you'd expect the bias to run older; but as you say...
As for computers being [scary voice]evil, those who decry the horrors of the XBox/PS/PC seem to love the Wii and the DS for those very reasons you pick up on - hand-eye plus sociability.
I agree plonking a kid in front of a computer is easy, done it myself (with monitoring), it may even be competing with the plonking kid in front of television. Done to often is hardly the sign of a responsible adult who monitors the clearly marked age-certification so you have to wonder who this is all aimed at.
Yep it's the CHAV's because of course little Rupert and Gemma are so mature they can play these games, or not play these games; but we have to protect the plebs from themselves, well the plebs children.
It doesn't explain the pop-up bursts of hate that emanate from the media, sigh actually it does it's silly season so they need something to write about. Watch this story die until this time next year.
Overheard conversation in Game on Saturday
Store clerk "Are you okay to purchase this? It is an 18"
The mother with the 11ish year old child whom she was obviously buying it for just laughed.
For more on the "average age of gamers" thing, and why it is a red herring, please see this article on misleading statistics on my blog. See also this follow-up about reporting.
I think on films just as much as on games, no one takes ratings seriously any more. The BBFC seems to have taken on something of a puritanical streak over the last decade or so, with even mild bad language bumping a PG film up to 12A, and something as simple as a bar brawl, even a not-very-violent one, sending you up to 15. The recertification of GTA after the Hot Coffee hack is sillier still. After so many calls for clear labelling, that's exactly what we have on both games and films, but we still have to rely on the judgement of the BBFC and ESRB to decide exactly what each rating really means.
Dan you're quite right on the average age thing. I can't find the original source, but it did show distributions and the conclusion was that a large number of those at the 'beginning' of the video game age were still playing and thus spreading the normal curve wider. However without a source I'll amend the entry.
On ratings, well the end of my previous comment seems to show how seriously some take it. At least ELSPA add pictograms to illustrate content except even those aren't perfect...
I was puzzling how Overlord got a drug reference, when it struck me that your minions will come across beer that when drunk makes them temporarily stronger.
But yes the ratings by the BBFC sometimes defy rational thought and are contradictory. So just use them as rough guidelines and we should decide for ourselves if it's suitable for whatever age.
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