commented out

No posts in around a month and now you get a tired rant. Enjoy!
Relevant link: Jack Thompson’s Open Letter to Bono

Wonderboy lawyer Jack Thompson, best-known for his crusade against the gaming industry, reaches out to U2’s Bono in an apparent attempt to save his soul. The basic gist is this: Bono is one of six primary investors who run an investment team called Elevation Partners. Their goal is to help media companies create and distribute content. Apparently, they’re looking to acquire Take Two Interactive, a well-known video game publisher responsible for marketing the infamous Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Let me take a moment to state my own stance on the issue of violent video games. I think it’s really just the next big media target. Dungeons & Dragons was once a major cause of homicidal teens. Rock music and action movies also apparently cause kids to kill. I’m not at all surprised that gaming causes it, too. It’s an interactive experience which, according to experts like Mr. Thompson, helps delude the addled teenage mind, driving an average kid to homicidal rage. Wait, I’ve played Dungeons & Dragons, watched plenty of action movies, and I’m listening to some pretty heavy guitar riffs right now. I’ve also played every entry in the GTA franchise (except the new PSP release). Pray for me; how long before I succumb to evil? Maybe I should enclose this paragraph in sarcasm tags.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not saying that the GTA series hasn’t gone to lengths to outdo its mature content with each release. Violent games don’t make kids kill, but I’m sure they can lend some colorful ideas to kids who aren’t too stable as it is. This is what the ESRB was formed for, to slap ratings on this stuff to help parents do their job. That’s what it comes down to, good parenting. If little Johnny is feeling particularly stabby this month, a diet of immersive violence might be a bad idea and his mother should take the Mature rating into consideration. Long story short, games can be fun (no matter the content) when enjoyed responsibly. But I digress.

What gets me is the way crusaders like Jack Thompson will twist things, like his description of the Playstation 2 Dual Shock controller:

Sony and Take-Two designed the GTA: Vice City game to utilize the PS2’s Dual Shock controller, which sends a visceral jolt back into the hands of the player each time he kills. Thus, the entire system is a biofeedback, operant conditioning system which desensitizes the user to the act of killing.

Are you serious? A visceral jolt? Electric fences deliver a visceral jolt. Tazers may deliver a visceral jolt. The Dual Shock vibrates a little. Does that mean my cell phone delivers a visceral jolt when I get a phone call? Cingular and Motorola designed my phone to desensitize me to social contact. Those fiends!

Quoting Bill Gates:

Here is what he said recently on 60 Minutes: “These action games transport you to a world you think is real.” Exactly. That is why they are dangerous.

Yeah, I can see how someone lacking a clear definition of reality and fantasy could be affected. This just brings us back to the parenting thing. It’s a parental responsibility to instill a strong sense of reality in their children and realize if they may be missing it.

All right, I’m done ranting. I suppose the major point I’d like to convey (so you don’t feel like you just lost moments of your life) is that it would be nice if people in prominent media positions, like Thompson, could put their energy to more constructive use. Time and money would be better spent educating people on content and ratings. Mature rating? Buy it for your college-graduate son, not your elementary school nephew. At the very least, give parents a resource where they can get help explaining these things to their kids.