A History of Violence

The industry of gaming has evolved over the past 20 or so years from a small cult of basement dwellers tinkering with early PCs to a multi-billion dollar industry rivaling most forms of entertainment. Billions of people around the world play video games, and rightly so, as it provides an ideal escape from real world pressures into an alternate reality in which you can have fun, communicate with others, and envelop yourself in immerse worlds. While all that seems a bit much to take in for a non-gamer, especially the escapism part, people have been doing this before video games were even invented without realizing it. Movies and television are other forms of entertainment we use to get away from the real world.

Around 1994 the gaming industry took a major hit from politicians and lawyers, claiming that video games were taking a turn for the worse with the increase of violent content. Under pressure that the industry might fall into another depression of sorts, the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) was created. With the creation of this board, games would Carry a label on the front and back of the games with the game ratings, and a ratings description to raise awareness for the consumers looking to keep violent content out of the hands of children. The politicians and lawyers were pleased, and praised the industry for taking action in a positive and informative way. Fast Forward to 2008. The industry has blown up, making companies like Namco, Capcom, Konami and Square-Enix (to name a few) household names. And as the industry has blown up into the media juggernaut that it is, so has the content. Violence is once again the major issue, and the politicians and lawyers are on the offensive once again.

I am a gamer of 20 years, living in a small town in Virginia and have been playing video games as long as I can remember. I've grown up on happier titles such as Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog and the like, eventually moving to M rated titles a few years ago. My first M rated game was the smash PlayStation hit Metal Gear Solid, I played it when I was about eleven. I have since played many Mature rated titles, including all three Playstation2 versions of Grand Theft Auto. I asked my parents to buy me these games because they sounded like fun, and indeed they were, but they only bought them for me after having a lengthy discussion about blurring the line between fantasy and violence, and eventually coming to the conclusion that I was a mature, responsible young man.

I recently read a quote from a certain media hound that said that Grand Theft Auto is training kids to kill, a 'murder simulator' if you will. While I can see why this person would say that, the inevitable question remains : Have they ever played a Grand Theft Auto game? While you can pick up a gun/baseball bat/whatever else and just kill whoever you want at any time, there are so many other aspects about Grand Theft Auto that get overlooked in the media hype. For instance: In all 3 PS2 versions of Grand Theft Auto (GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas) you can hop in an ambulance and save people by returning them to the emergency room, hop in a police car and help the police stop crime, hop in a taxi and collect fares by taking customers to their desired destination, hop in a fire truck and put out fires, race cars (you could race boats, planes and bicycles also, but only as the technology has evolved in Vice City and San Andreas), and many other activities that are only in later versions of the series like hiking, swimming, playing basketball, mountain biking, flying stunt planes, go to boat/car/plane school etc...None of those activities requires weapons or killing to accomplish. The game is an open world where weapons are accessible just like in the real world, but it's up to the player to determine how the game is played, killing isn't particularly the main focus (at least to me, seeing as I do most of the other activities, riding the bicycles and doing stunts being my personal favorite). Of course, most of the story advancement comes in the form of mafia-esque parodies of violent films, but it isn't necessary to enjoy the game by doing those things and is there at the player's discretion. To call all of us gamers as a whole Manchurian children based on the fact that we buy and play games like Grand Theft Auto is absurd, and isn't exactly fair to those of us who can play games responsibly.

Naturally, Grand Theft Auto isn't the only game in the media spotlight, games like 25 to Life were bludgeoned and labeled as 'cop killer simulators', when the media clearly didn't tell viewers that you can also play the game as a police officer? Did anyone happen to mention that the game really, really sucked and no one bought it? I think not. The media paints a pretty ridiculous picture of the games industry and focuses on garnering attention by bringing guests on their show who don't play the games, they just have an agenda or book to hustle. Just look at Mass Effect. At least EA stood up and made Fox News clarify their mistake.

The reason for the explanation is because the positive seems to outweigh the negative in a way, mostly because, just like my parents did, the line between fantasy and reality must be explained to America's children. We live in an age where parents leave their children in front of PBS kids or Nick Jr and expect Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer to teach them to count, read, and speak Spanish, and then walk away and hope they learn something. The children eventually grow up and learn to change the channel and if the parents are walking away how will they know what kinds of television their children are exposed to (especially with all the sex and violence being displayed on network television these days)? The same thing happens with video games. Parents aren't paying attention to the ratings system and are buying content for their children and hope the game is good.

Since 1994, the gaming industry has matured significantly to include games with style, art, orchestrated soundtracks and a myriad of other wonderful things. However, while all of those things are great, violence seems to be the main issue as it was before when the ESRB was created. While the ESRB has changed a few things, mainly to include better and more varied ratings descriptions, they still remain largely unchanged. While the ratings system is a good tool to use to determine the appropriateness of games, it's not being used properly. If the gaming industry has grown so much in the past 14 years, why are they still using policies and methods 14 years old?

I'm ready for change, and I believe children shouldn't have access to this kind of content just like many of the politicians and lawyers on the other side of the metaphorical fence. Fighting and bickering with the industry that creates this type of content (even verbally) is the pot calling the kettle black. They fight against violence in the media, yet gain attention with legal threats and extreme suggestions against those who oppose them? Exactly How can those who criticize substantiate their claims by reading reviews and not actually playing the games? How does that make their crusade relevant? The fight needs to be moved slightly to a different focus. Instead of fighting Against the ESRB, why not work with them? They were created when the industry was in need of guidance, and the industry is in need of guidance once more. It's time for them to step up to the plate once again and evolve with the industry they were created to protect. Old policies from the 90's need to be looked at again and changed in most cases as the industry has evolved into a mainstream medium in a major way. One suggestion I have is to move the "M" rating from 17 suggested years of age, to 18 years of age because some states have laws that automatically restrict the sale of violent content, R rated movies, tobacco and pornography to minors and would naturally work itself out.

Working together is always the best way to get things done. Having played more than my share of violent content, I wrote this to be informative, helpful and mainly to show that not all of us gamers are raving lunatics. There was nary a death threat, and wasn't any intentional slander or mudslinging, because death threats and legal actions against individuals is going to get us nowhere fast. Working together is the only way we can ever hope to accomplish anything.