Is Hitman's Next Target Assassin's Creed? 
Why Kotaku Australia Should Never Work With Children... Or Robots 
Three Words I Said To The Man I Defeated In Gears Of War That I'll Never Say Again 
New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better 18-year-old Jean Pierre Orlewicz is currently on trial for first-degree premeditated murder, after he and a friend ambushed 26-year-old Daniel Sorenson last November, stabbing him multiple times in the back before sawing off his head and burning his body. After the prosecution spent the better part of yesterday describing a young man fixated on committing a crime, the defence revealed the real reason behind the teen’s murderous drive. Hitman:
Several of you have pointed us to an amazing opinion piece by Naomi Alderman at The Guardian titled “If we deny children access to all computer games, we deprive them of a rich and magical experience”, a beautifully written response to recent events in the UK like the Byron Review and the banning of shocking Kane & Lynch advertisements. She praises Byron’s report for touching on the many opportunities for fun and learning that computer games allow, and how we need to move away from the notion that computer games cause harm, and then points out how the print and television media reacted by warning parents about violent games and monitoring their children at all times. In short, they completely ignored the positive points and focused on the negative. Alderman paints a much brighter picture, though the quote that struck me as the most poignant was this: The world of Grand Theft Auto does contain violence and misogyny; but then, so does The Godfather, or Goodfellas. So, for that matter, does The Iliad.
We have to nip this story in the bud before the mainstream media get a hold of it, though it may already be too late! There is absolutely no connection between Sonic the Hedgehog and the New Zealand man who allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old boy with a flying erinaceus europaeus. “It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks,” said Senior Sgt Bruce Jenkins, in the North Island town of Whakatane.
Sigh. Refuting opinions against the R18+ classification is really starting to tire me, especially when a little research on the author’s part would save me a lot of time. But hey, that’s what I’m here for.
Take this rant today by Ross Fitzgerald over at The Australian, regarding the SCAG’s decision to consult the public on the R18+ rating.
Best-selling author Stephen King points up and rips down the double-standard of what’s tolerable in violent films, compared with video games, in a brilliant op-ed for Entertainment Weekly. You should take a look at this, because as a creator of worthy stories filled with violence and suspense, he speaks with real authority. Plus, it’s great to see this kind of defence in a mainstream medium.
King’s been writing horror novels for nearly four decades, many of them reaching the big screen, some of them even winning Oscars. And he rightly points out that to a politician, a 17-year-old can see gruesome flicks like Hostel or Saw, but would be a danger to society playing the less graphic Grand Theft Auto or Hitman series.
Then he loses it on a bill before the Massachusetts state legislature, and it gets good.
Victorian deputy premier and attorney general Rob Hulls believes that Australia is behind the times when it comes to video game ratings, and I’m inclined to agree. Currently the top rating a game can receive is MA15+, as opposed to movies which can be rated R18+. While games like the Grand Theft Auto series have squeaked by with an MA15+, games like Dark Sector and Soldier of Fortune: Payback have encountered trouble limboing under the bar. Hulls thinks it is time to raise the bar. “It seems inconsistent that in Australia, adults are allowed to view ‘adult only’ films which have been classified R18+ by the Classification Board, but not computer games with an equivalent high level content,” he said in a statement. “With the increasing convergence between films and games, the different approach to classification principles is difficult to sustain. At the moment, Australia is out of step with the rest of the developed world on this issue.”
All of us have our stories about game-related interactions with non-gamers, some of them undoubtedly on the negative side of things (‘I hate video games,’ someone rather snottily told me at a party a few weeks ago, and that’s certainly on the mild end of the negative spectrum). But is it something non-gamers even give much thought to unless they’re pressed on the issue? Can people even explain why they dismiss games and gaming out of hand? Brenda Brathwaite muses on why this may be in an article over at the Escapist and talked to lots of people in the industry (our own Ashcraft even makes an appearance). Shall the gamer and non-gamer ever meet on equal ground?:
And yet another state takes a stab at the consistently failing “Games As Porn” bill, which would classify violent video games in the same category as pornography, making it illegal to sell them to minors. This time around it is Massachusetts, whose legislature will consider House Bill 1423 tomorrow. Among the bill’s supporters is Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino “Children aged 17 and under should not be sold this stuff, so they are not getting into the hands of 9- and 10-year-olds”, said Larry Mayes, Menino’s chief of human services.
After reading almost daily accounts of video games being blamed for some sort of horrific violence or another, it’s lovely to see a lighter take on the same sort of story I often find myself writing, courtesy of satire news organisation The Onion. In an article published today entitled “Wii Video Games Blamed For Rise In Effeminate Violence”, The Onion takes a look at the growing trend of wuss on wuss violence inspired by Nintendo’s console. “The Wii’s fluffy flowers and bright peach-coloured sunlight glorify chasing precious talking rabbits with plungers,” Greer said. “What kind of message is that sending to our children? That it’s ‘cool’ to act like some kind of electrical elf or banana fairy?”
Having personally witnessed a child being severely thwapped across the back of the head (by me), I have to agree with the members of Parents Against Wii…the madness has to end. In the words of PAW’s founder Linda Roberts, “One of these days, the red marks on our children’s arms might not just go away after five minutes”.
Wii Video Games Blamed For Rise In Effeminate Violence [The Onion - Thanks Kenneth!]
You have to love how vague this stuff is; to me, leaving off the ‘And they were playing a video game‘ part wouldn’t diminish the story at all.
A 15-year-old boy from Marble Falls is at Austin’s Brackenridge Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the head. [...]The boy was playing a video game with a friend when that friend loaded a gun and shot him in the head.
Police said the 13-year-old shooter is being held at the juvenile detention centre in Belton and is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The newspaper said the boys were playing a video game called “God of War”.
Hopefully this won’t lead to a media frenzy – news is sparse right now, but we’ll see how it continues to develop.
13-year-old shoots friend in the head [News 8 Austin]
