Yesterday was a frustrating day for me. Work was not going as planned and once things got straightened out enough for me to take my lunch break, I was disappointed further during my downtime. It began when I watched this last weeks Extra Credit on the Escapist and realized how right he is. And how spineless everyone in our the gaming industry is when it comes to facing adversity and worse, controversy.
Since I have difficulty just letting things go when they bother me, I did some more research on the topic. Around 7pm last night I was well into searching for videos on how the media deals with video games and the surrounding issues with violence, sexuality, mature situations and the desensitization of all these. Now, you've likely all played Mass Effect and remember the sideboob, ass, ok it's over sex scene from it. This video is pretty much how the media handles video games. Watch it first then read on.
Let's set the stage. You're a video game reporter named Jeff Keely. You're sitting there waiting to be introduced and you realize that not only have they chosen the ditzy blonde anchor to do the interview but they've also brought in a female psychologist. Then the intros start. The blonde introduces the psychologist first, names her full formal title, her accomplishments and her new book (with 'Perfection' in the title). She then introduces you second as a game expert on Spike TV. You say to yourself "at least she said expert". (pause the video at 1:22 and you can see he knows he's about to lose face).
Now you wish you could see the title of the story below your face as you say hello. Because the title reading " Se-Xbox - New Video Game Shows Full Digital Nudity and Sex" would never be there if you had been consulted before being brought on the show. And it only gets worse from there. The anchor and psychologist start tearing things apart instantly. You immediately think to yourself "well, these two never bothered to play the game or even watch the sex scene at all. You just sensationalized the story and are now ACTUALLY PICKING SIDES." And you still haven't spoken yet.
The psychologist ignores the fact that the games are rated by a board completely separate from the video game creators. Her primary arguments are that the games rated for 18+ will still be played by younger ones as if parents aren't responsible for their own kids. She quotes from research papers and studies that say generic things about desensitization and objectification.
And you're so unfocused about everything that's said that you lose composure for an instant. But you say it. "Well, that's completely incorrect". You say it again. You explain using facts and reason and most importantly experience Actually Playing The Game. And as this occurs to you, you decide to ask the psychologist if she's ever played the game. She laughs. That fucking bitch laughs as if you're a retarded monkey and you actually watch as your credibility with non-gamers is thrown off a building by a tiny pink shirted demon. "Right well, ...." and you continue to point out facts.
After cutting you off, the anchor tries to recover some professional credibility lost by her other guest while laughing in your face by stating how much research she put into this story by looking at videos, on the website. And her big point she hits on is that there is nothing graphic online and that the site is easy to access..... "WTF? Is there a question in there I have to answer.... No. Ok, back to my original line of thought. Thanks for the useless interruption bimbo" More facts and reasoning... Openly mocked by the pink demon. Factual arguments. "She called me darlin' ". Shut down by the anchor. Go to panel of useless twats.
"Luke Skywalker meets Debbie Does Dallas"
Fuck you!
"Play my Dad's Video Game!!!"
Fuck you, that's the parents fault. Hide your mature games or better, play them WITH your kid
"Bad stuff coming through the internet and video games. Can't be censored by the government. So it's up to the parents to deal with this."
Only intelligent thing said in the entire interview.
Jeff mentions many times during the interview that for those who have "played the game" the experience is not so dramatic or incredible. I respect the Jeff Keely. He is one to honor and to follow. Stand up for our favorite pastime and better yet, stand up for the factual representation of our media. Anyways, I could write about this one for hours so I hope this was enough therapy for now.
Will I travel space, yes. Will I meet new and interesting life, yes. Will I kill them, yes. Will I see sideboob and ass one more time, probably. So suck it blonde Fox News anchor and pink psycho demon. Objectification is up to the objectifier.
In honor of this video I started Mass Effect again and am currently 100%ing it on INSANE!
Opinion vs Fact - Opinion wins!
On
2010-11-09
4
comments
4 comments:
Games as Art is really threatening to those who consider themselves experts in art, and don't know pong from Alan Wake.
Imagine, some fucking upstart media shows up, in what? The last 10 years? Less maybe even? And tries to rival the film industry, the music industry, 'high' art? It's no wonder they are threatened - they are the old guard.
You are right though - if we believe that this art form has merit (and I do) we have to take unequivocal stand against safety nazis and mind police who think that responsibility should abdicated to the nanny state.
We are free to choose, that choice comes with a little something called responsibility, and I for one welcome it.
I guess the biggest point I was trying to make and never got to because of my anger was that video games don't offer any content that isn't just as easy to get at in movies. Period.
Where's the outcry of censorship on movies with actual nudity in them. I guess it only takes 2 hours to watch a movies though so... hell most disney shows the women are "hot bodies" and have much less personality than in games. Aw well. I'm obviously not over it.
Sidenote: I re-read my post and I come off as suggesting that womenz know nothing of gamez. That is not my intent. Those two women clearly knew nothing and weren't interested in finding out.
Ok, so.... no one has mentioned this yet, but I would like to point out that all of this was happening on Fox News. **insert your own conclusion here**
Now that we all agree that it is not a credible source we can move on.
Ratings:
There is the rating board that gives the games ratings, however there is no enforcing it which is an issue for me. There is no penalty for a retailer to sell a rated M game to a minor. I think it should be handled much like movies where there is a fine to the retailer if they break the rating schema.
Parenting:
You cannot control what your child is doing at all times, especially when they are at a friends house. However you can control what is going on in your house, so it is up to the parents to be monitoring the activities of the child in regards to the games that they are playing. There are some studies that are showing that games help in many areas, such as critical thinking. However on the same token there are studies that show a direct link to violence in games and aggression in kids. The content of the games that they are playing does have a correlation to the development of the child. That correlation is in all facets of their lives, not just the games that they do or do not play, but the environment in which they are in.
I personally feel that much of this comes to parenting. I am not pointing the finger at parents (though some deserve it). But if you are not giving your children the tools from a young age to live in the media rich world, then you are doing them a disservice from the go.
Ah, that's a topic for another post for later for sure. The enforcement of the rating system for games is exactly the same as movies. And a company has the right to terminate the teller and the manager on duty at the time if a game is sold to someone who is underage and is not IDed.
Parents need to inform the company of the failure to card. And big companies need to take responsibility and uphold the firing procedures for those who would violate the rules set out by the ESRB. The parenting solution is obvious but tough to enforce and requires giving a shit, which sadly some parents don't. The company solution requires that they overlook lost profits from selling to minors and the added irritation and cost of firing people for transgressions. Not likely going to happen. Wish it would but it won't.
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