The Rating Game

It's an old chestnut, for sure, but I must have my say. Especially after seeing the cover art on the latest EDGE magazine, which regular readers will know that I swear by for all things video game related.

This month's issue came in a plastic bag, covering the artwork, which depicted a brutal scene involving a chainsaw, two people, one with a bag over their head, and much blood.

No wonder they put it in a plastic bag. It should have been on the top shelf too, out of reach of children. I'm not exaggerating.

As should games like Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt, not to mention Siren, Soldier of Fortune and Far Cry.

If you think I'm going too far, then imagine how you would feel if your 12 year old son (or daughter, in this enlightened age) came home with a copy of 'Soldier of Fortune' magazine.

Games teach violence as much, if not more than other media. When confronted by this argument, both video game publishers and parents shrug, and point to the fact that violent movies are a fact of life, and there is nothing in video games which cannot be seen on a million television screens across the world.

Except there's one slight difference, movies are not (yet) interactive.

The power of the video game to teach and to enthrall lies in the fact that they are all interactive. They help abstract reasoning, problem solving, build quick reflexes, and teach the player how to hold, and use a gun.

Wouldn't that be a worthwhile experiment? Take a gamer, who has grown up on first person shooters, and then hand them a real gun, and see how long it would take before they could hit a beer can at, say, 50 feet.

Or 100. Or 1000 yards with a sniper rifle. I suggest that the results would put the fear of all that is sacred into most parents and politicians.

The point is not that all violence in video games is bad, but more that it needs to be treated with the same respect as violence in the movies. Publishers already do, there being a voluntary age rating system for video games which mimics that in the movie industry.

However, at the end of the day, there is no law preventing sale of a mature video game to a child. It is up to the retail sector of the industry to police the scheme. And they clearly don't.

By the way, not all non-violent video games are good, either. I can clearly remember, at the age of 18, having spent an inordinate amount of time playing a driving game, getting into my car and experiencing what I now call a 'reality separation issue'.

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