For the week of 3.20.06  

"You are a one man army up against a city rife with gangs. You chase the bad guys down, you jack their cars, and you put holes in them with bullets. It also makes you feel like you're driving insanely fast -- which is definitely a plus!" – review of new videogame Pursuit Force (CBS.com, March 14 2006)

Sexual videogame content was put under the microscope last year when it was discovered that pornographic material was encoded in Grand Theft Auto: San Andrea. While the media responded to the public furor and focused on San Andreas and its explicit sex, little attention was paid to the violence contained in the game. Indeed, in terms of violent imagery, GTA is merely a typical, run of the mill game. Far more horrific game plotlines, reinforced with images portraying disturbing violence against women, children and police exist – and are popular among youth.  

The game Resident Evil 4, in which the player is a Special Forces agent sent to rescue the President's kidnapped daughter, features graphically violent imagery including that of a young woman pinned to a wall by a pitchfork thrust through her face.  (London Times, January 9, 2006)

In the game God of War, the player assumes the role of a warrior who hunts demonic beings who have tricked him into murdering his own family. The player's victims can be burnt alive, dismembered and literally torn in half. (London Times, January 9, 2006)

A game supposedly acceptable for 13-year-olds, Nintendo's T-rated Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, allows the player to view rotting corpses dangling from trees, chase a giant eyeball with tentacles or split a zombie in half with a sword. (Washington Times, October 27, 2005)

In October, Midway Games released a new M-rated game titled The Suffering: Ties That Bind. In it, the player inhabits the role of a serial killer named Torque. Described as "a survival horror epic loaded with violence," the game follows the protagonist breaking out of prison and stalking a slum to exact revenge against society. It features huge amounts of blood and splattering entrails as the player maneuvers Torque in a first-person perspective. During combat with multi-headed, sword-limbed rotting corpses, Torque (the player) becomes progressively more covered in gore and experiences fits of rage which turn Torque into a psychotic monster who "dishes out a maelstrom of murder." (Washington Times, October 27, 2005)

"Most sane players may feel the need for a shower just to wash away the virtual grime…Nothing quite makes a throat constrict like looking at rotting corpses complete with buzzing flies. Parents may go into cardiac arrest if they see their teenager anywhere near this game."  – videogame reviewer Joseph Szadkowski, describing Midway's The Suffering: Ties That Bind (Washington Times, October 27, 2005)

Some games do not employ a fantasy setting in which the player revels in sadistic violence. There are many games other than Grand Theft Auto which allow the player to vicariously experience the "thrills" of murdering others in a modern urban setting, encouraged in their violence by top teen idols. Rap star 50 Cent was offered the opportunity to narrate Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas but refused, opting instead to produce his own shamelessly self-promoting, ultra-violent video game. 50 Cent: Bulletproof allows the player to assume the role of a "gangsta" emulating 50 Cent himself. The player murders bystanders and loots his victims' corpses to get money -- which is then used to buy 50 Cent CD's and music videos. The game also features several 50 Cent rap songs, including "Hit Your Ass Up," "Hole in Yo' Back," and, appropriately, "I Warned You." (MTV.com, March 1, 2005; London Times, January 9, 2006)

A new "gritty urban" game from manufacturer Eidos Interactive, maker of the popular Tomb Raider game series, was released in the United States just last month. 25 to Life allows players to become machinegun-wielding gangsters who massacre police on city streets. The game's plot also features thugs and drug dealers battling each other.

"Witness the gritty lifestyles of an iced-out gangster! Survive the local neighborhood thugs while fighting your way up the ranks!" – Eidos website promotion for the videogame 25 to Life (Newsday.com, February 6, 2006)
 

25 to Life has drawn the ire of police and government officials in New York, who argue that the game ultimately endangers the law enforcement community by glorifying crime, promoting violence, and presenting caricatures of police and gang members that smack of prejudice. Queens Councilman Eric Gioia called on stores not to sell the game. Three police fraternity groups also spoke out against 25 to Life, arguing that it grossly distorts reality; some police officers might go through their entire careers without brandishing a weapon. "To suggest that cops go into these situations with guns blazing is to misrepresent the dangerous profession of law enforcement," said Bruce Mendelsohn, spokesman for The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit organization that represents 15 of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies. The organization urged parents to boycott the new game. (Charleston Post and Courier, January 27, 2006; Newsday.com, February 6, 2006)

"[25 to Life] smacks of greed and poison. It is another form of terrorism...This game sends the wrong message and is misleading the youth of America into thinking that this behavior is acceptable." -- Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association (Newsday.com, February 6, 2006)

Nationally, between 1995 and 2004, 54 police officers were killed by people younger than 18, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The FBI reports that in 2005 three police officers were killed by people younger than 18. (Charleston Post and Courier, January 27, 2006) While game manufacturers claim there is no correlation between the violence committed by teens and the violence which they vicariously experience by playing videogames, common sense and plentiful scientific research says otherwise. As awareness of the ultra-violent content of videogames continues to grow, it is probable that parents and society will move to limit the extreme violence to which our children are exposed. But how many real people will die in the meantime?

"Carjackers. Gangbangers. Bullies. Teen thugs. Which came first, Columbine or the video game Doom?  Is this an imitation of life…or life imitating art?" – columnist Deborah Simmons (Washington Times July 15, 2005)

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