Hate Games
This is a few days old, but I think still newsworthy. Since the gaming industry is left to regulate itself using a very broad ratings system, the content of these games unfortunately does not directly correlate to the grading on the box. Often enough, the game makers turn to good old-fashioned violence to win the hearts and minds of our teens. Heck, in that regard, I'm not sure it's possible for them to design in "too much" carnage.
So it seems the makers of good old GTA (Grand Theft Auto for those not in the know) -- Rockstar Games -- decided to rely on some pretty racy comments to drive the game's objective.
Just came across this article about a law suit filed against Rockstar Games Inc, makers of Grand Theft Auto. Here's what the suit is about:
Haitian civil rights groups filed the lawsuit because the game instructs players to "kill the Haitians" and awards points for each kill.
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The lawsuit takes on heavyweights in the video game industry, including Rockstar Games, its parent company Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment, the Microsoft Corp., and retailers Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy.
I'm especially interested in this as it clearly is a form of the beloved Social Virus I'll discuss shortly. For so long, there has been the ongoing debate of whether exposure to "fake" violence, as served by Hollywood and the Entertainment industries, really encourages youths to behave and harbor more violent tendencies. Nature vs. nurture, just not the biological kind.
So if something is a persistently evidenced fact in an area, not that I am agreeing or disagreeing with the statements in the game AND we're able to make our own decisions regardless of those ideas put before us (I mean how many people REALLY are paying attention to the content instead of just beating each other up and shooting one another), how damaging is this in reality?