Violence In Video Games

Last Tuesday I wrote an essay for English class. The stated problem was "How can video game companies react to the outcries against video game violence", or some gibberish like that. It really wasn't a good paper, so I'm not gonna bother putting it up there, but there were a few thoughts that I wanted to add, which weren't really in the scope of my paper's topic.

First, I want to say that I am a fan of violent video games. Not completely excessively, superfluously violent games, but I've been known to go through Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Goldeneye, Metroid, and the Grand Theft Auto games. All violent in their own right. You'll note that despite this violent history, I haven't gone out and shot someone yet. In fact, I'm so much a pacifist, I declared myself as one to a group of gun-toting NRA members in a dream I had last night. But I'm a casual gamer. I play games when it suits me, not so much as a hobby, more of a diversion, like watching a movie or a TV show. When I go out to buy games, I'm generally looking for a few needs to be satisfied. For instance, take my Game Boy games. One, I want something with a story I have to put a lot of hours into, like, say, FFTA. Not violent, but more of an intellectual challenge. Then I want something I can go through and mindlessly kill things, like, say, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Metroid Zero Mission or something along those lines. Something where I can bring misery to those who would thwart me. Oh, and I've always gotta have my Tetris with me. ^_^

I wrote in the essay a little bit about the time I felt an overwhelming urge to play Goldeneye. I didn't really want to kill any person, I just wanted to charge through one of the earlier levels, gun blazing, and bring death to the pologonal Russians. It's sort of scary to think about what was going through my head. I would never want to do something like that in real life, but I really wanted to simulate the mass murder of 100 Dr. Doak skins. I will go on claiming that video gaming is cathartic, but that little bit is still a little creepy.

I've got not much time left, so in closing I'd like to reiterate my stance on the current issues of video game legislation. Everyone and their dog seems to think that video games need special notice, but I feel that they should be treated the same way books and movies are. Movies are industry regulated and controlled in the same way that video games are. They have an independant ratings system, and cannot be sold, rented, or given tickets to anyone under the listed ages.

And above all, I REALLY wish parents would take some time to watch the games their kids are playing. It really is important. What's good enough for the 10 year old down the street may not be good enough for your son, so please use your own best judgement, and don't rely on the government. We've all seen how many times those bozo's have screwed up.

I just found this. How frigging sweet is that? (BTW, I found the source file, so W00T!!!)

And what do you guys think? If I put a paypal donate button, would I get anything out of it? Or would it just be rude since I don't contribute anything as is? I'm so hungry!!!

Okay, off to class.