Throughout history, and certainly in my life time, some people have this odd habit of trying to get things that they don't approve of banned for everyone. The easiest way to do that, is to say it's bad for the children. As soon as the children get involved, everyone's ears perk up and the rabble rousers go crazy. As video games have gained more mainstream popularity and attention, they've come under the scrutiny of such crazies as Jack Thompson and Fox News. Violent games make kids violent, sexual content in games make kids sexual deviants, etc. I wonder why the educational games don't make kids geniuses. It boggles my mind at the hypocrisy of people and the media. People are always looking for things to blame other than their own shitty kids or their shitty parenting. The media just wants ratings. I've been a gamer since Intellivision and like many others, find these attacks on games insulting. One of the most outrageous in recent times was Fox's piece on Mass Effect by Bioware. They even went so far as to refer to the Xbox 360 as the "SeXBOX." Now that's some clever journalism. Here's a video for anyone who doesn't know:
http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/fox-news-on-mass-effect-sex/163925
I can go on and on about all the ignorant nonsense being thrown around, but I'll leave it to the reader to do his/her own research on it. The one thing I'll touch on is how the condescending bitch says she has to go with the research. What research? The best study I've heard/read about is in a book called "Grand Theft Childhood" by Larry Kutner and Cheryl Olson. I recommend checking out their website and going through the Myths section and such. It's quite interesting, and if you like it, get the book. It's a great read for parents and gamers who happen to get into such debates.
What I want to get into is about more recent games that aren't in the media. This is part of the hypocrisy of the media. There was no interactive or graphic sex in Mass Effect. Bioware even went so far as to tone down the sexual scenes in Mass Effect 2. They claim it has nothing to do with the media, but many gamers are going to be sceptical. A new game for the PS3 was released called "Heavy Rain". It's a pretty good game for anyone who's a fan of Quantic Dream's previous work (Indigo Prophecy/Farhenheit) or interactive adventures. One of the things that stands out, is that there is nudity and an actual, interactive sex scene in this game. Where's Fox with all their goofy P"Sex"3 headlines? You can move your right analog stick to remove the girl's bra. It's annoying that when it was "cool" to bash on video games, Fox was all over it. They caught a load a backlash from more informed people, and are now nice and quiet on the subject. I'm not complaining about them keeping their ignorant mouths shut and out of my games. I'm annoyed that despite the backing from the gaming community (and any other person educated on the matter), Bioware was still shellshocked enough to essentially PG-13-enize Mass Effect 2. God of War 3 was also released recently for the PS3. It's almost unfathomable how this game can get the same M rating, while games like Madworld and Manhunt have to fight to avoid AO ratings. For anyone who doesn't know about game ratings and the ESRB, AO stands for Adults Only. It the video game equivalent of an NC-17 movie. God of War 3 not only has nudity and interactive sex, but is probably the most brutally, violent game currently on the market. As an example, there's a scene in the game where you forcibly remove Helios' head with your bare hands. The scene is interactive and shown close up in full flesh tearing, spine cracking glory. The punchline there? It's not the most violent scene in the game. It was actually included as part of the playable demo. Either the media hasn't caught wind of it, or they want nothing to do with it. Right now, it seems that people are more interested in Tiger Woods "sexts" with a porn star. I hope more celebrities get caught in scandals. Maybe then the media and ignorant population will stop trying to ban all the things I enjoy doing. I still remember when people tried to get Pokemon banned. A little Penny Arcade for everyone.
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