Tag: Videogames

Pope Slams Violent Videogames

Back in January, Pope Benedict XVI condemned violent/sexualized videogames saying,

Any trend to produce programs and products — including animated films and video games — which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray antisocial behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programs are directed at children and adolescents.

I take it the Pope won’t be rushing out to see 300.

It would be interesting to compare the damage wreaked by violent video games compared to the damage done by the Church’s public campaign against the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (physician Marcela Aslan does an http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=19561“>excellent job of chronicling the very real human suffering caused by the Church’s campaign against condoms in Africa).

Compared to the Church’s anti-condom activism, the sins of the videogame and film industry seems positively venial.

Source:

Pope condemns violent games. News.Com, January 24, 2007.

Jack Thompson Headed for Disciplinary Hearing?

GamePolitics.Com reports that anti-video game idiot Jack Thompson has a disciplinary hearing coming up in Florida on several counts including three related to his ongoing war against videogame violence.

Those ethics counts relate to Thompson’s role in an Alabama lawsuit against the makers of Grand Theft Auto. According to GamePolitics.Com,

In upholding a pair of complaints against Thompson by [Alabama] Judge James Moore, the Florida Bar alleges that the outspoken attorney violated numerous professional standards both before and after his Pro Hac Vice status was revoked in Alabama. Among the misconduct alleged by the Bar is Thompson’s assertion that a local Alabama attorney claimed he could fix cases before Judge Moore.

Apparently not only did Thompson privately allege that Moore was crooked, but he also sent e-mails to the judge to that effect, such as one Thompson allegedly sent to Moore in July 2006 that included this claim,

You’re the guy who wants to give (Grand Theft Auto publisher) Take-Two my scalp. You chose to believe people that you knew were thieves and liars, and now you are their useful SLAPP Bar complainant… These are your corporate criminal buddies, Judge Moore. These are the folks with whom you made your bed, the folks whom your good friend said he could fix the case.

It is bad enough that Thompson was able to make his empty threats and charges, but remember despite it being blatantly obvious how unhinged he was, Thompson was the go-to guy that media outlets such as CNN went to whenever they needed commentary or analysis on video game violence even though he clearly knew nothing about the very games he was commenting on.

Source:

Jack Thompson Faces Florida Supreme Court Disciplinary Hearing. GamePolitics.Com, February 3, 2007.

Henry Jenkins Debunks Video Game Myths

As part of a companion site to a PBS series on videogames, MIT professor Henry Jenkins wrote an essay debunking eight common myths about videogames. He has an especially succinct debunking of the claim that videogames encourage real world aggression and violence,

Claims like this are based on the work of researchers who represent one relatively narrow school of research, “media effects.” This research includes some 300 studies of media violence. But most of those studies are inconclusive and many have been criticized on methodological grounds. In these studies, media images are removed from any narrative context. Subjects are asked to engage with content that they would not normally consume and may not understand. Finally, the laboratory context is radically different from the environments where games would normally be played. Most studies found a correlation, not a causal relationship, which means the research could simply show that aggressive people like aggressive entertainment. That’s why the vague term “links” is used here. If there is a consensus emerging around this research, it is that violent video games may be one risk factor – when coupled with other more immediate, real-world influences — which can contribute to anti-social behavior. But no research has found that video games are a primary factor or that violent video game play could turn an otherwise normal person into a killer.