A Look N-Side: Rage Against the Machine

Disclaimer: The proceeding article is editorial content. The views expressed are those of the author and do not neccessarily reflect the official position of the Advanced Media Network.

Video games are violent. Video games have always been violent, they will always be violent. It is the nature of the medium. The very first video game was called Space War. The goal? Fly across the black screen in your little spaceship and kill the other guy. Now, how about Pac-Man? How could we make that sound violent? Keep your the poor yellow guy from being devoured by the carnivorous ghosts. Simple, but violent in premise. Then there is Super Mario Bros. How could that possibly be violent? “A heroic underdog from the unlikeliest of professions comes to stop an oppressive tyrant from the Dark World who has come to the one peaceful Mushroom Kingdom to enslave the people, kidnap the Princess to do heaven-only-knows-what, and turn all resisting forces to lifeless stone.” It’s all in the phrasing. Let’s try F-Zero. “In the 26th century, the media has seen that the only thing that still entertains people is watching other people die. To that end, the premiere form of entertainment is a race where pilots enter with dreams of glory, and leave as charred mounds of flesh and bone when their hopes and dreams of riches and success go up in flames with their vehicle when another pilot pushes them off the food chain of life…F-Zero, the race of death.” Suddenly F-Zero sounds a bit horiffic don’t you think? Let’s try one more. How about…Pokémon? “In this world, there is only one way to achieve glory, and that is to take your choice from a vast selection of animals and battle them against each other in a life or death confrontation that will determine your stature in society.” Imagine if you are an uninformed parent shopping for games for your children and you hear talk such as that? What would you think of those games?

The only two video games I can’t possibly find a way to twist into something violent are Pong and Tetris. If someone wanted to, they could accuse the Mario Kart series of promoting littering with all those banana peelings being tossed around. As you can see, just about any premise for any video game can be misconstrued as violent or impure. It’s all about perception. Video games have been violent since their inception, but only since 1993 has the government used it as a source of political legislative fodder.

“If you wanted to, you could accuse the Mario Kart series of promoting littering with all those banana peelings being tossed around.”

When Mortal Kombat was released, there was a huge controversy in the media and on Capitol Hill that video games were poisoning the minds of children. Not quite. Mortal Kombat was violent in nature, yes. There’s no denying that fact, but the thing that made the politicians and activists go up in flames was that people found the violence humorous. Look at Mortal Kombat. Yeah, the game was considered “violent” at the time, but the fatalities are ridiculous in retrospect. Jax slices Kano into a gazillion chunks live a giant pair of scissors. Sindel screams the flesh off Kung Lao. A giant wench comes out of Sektor’s chest and smashes Sonya into meat chunks. Shocking? Yes. Realistic? Not a chance. The game shocked people initially, but eventually it became hilarious for its sheer value as camp. Some of the Friendships were sadistically funny. This is what scared the folks on Capitol Hill, rather than the bitmapped actors turning into generic smashed pumpkins on screen. The public was afraid that by laughing at the ridiculously overdone fatalities in Mortal Kombat, the entire population of the world was suddenly going to convert into closet necro-fetish freaks.

Nowadays, video games have forced their way into society and the public’s awareness forever, but back in the early 90’s, video games still scared most people who didn’t understand them. Videogame was still a dirty word outside of the gamer populace. It all started back in the late 1970’s when a parental activist and high level PTA member by the name of Ronnie Lamm managed to get herself featured on an episode of Donahue where she turned the entire nation against video arcade games in general. The focus of her anti-gaming crusade was a simplistic game titled Death Race. Death Race was a game based off of the movie of the same name starring David Carradine. Gameplay involved you driving a car and running over stick figures that were supposed to represent gremlins, but looked more like deformed letter T’s. The public mindset was that the objects you were running over were people rather than gremlins.

“The public was afraid that by laughing at the ridiculously overdone fatalities in Mortal Kombat, the entire population of the world was suddenly going to convert into closet necro-fetish freaks.”

Truthfully, the visuals were so poor; you could have imagined those “stick figures” to be anything. Donahue managed to stir up enough media controversy to get the CBS News’s program 60 Minutes to devote an hour to the psychological impact of video games on children. All of their research was, or course, negative because that is what the public wanted to hear at the time. The non-gamer public managed to start mass protests and boycotts. Some states even tried to introduce legislation to have the game (and any other similar titles) banned. The Nation Enquirer picked up on it, followed by NBC News. It was an easy target.

Death Race was the Mortal Kombat of the day. The visuals were cheesy in comparison to real life, and the game wasn’t even specifically trying to portray what people claimed it was, but there was more than enough for activists to latch their jaws into. Death Race could be perceived as though it was a blood bath since the graphics were too simplistic to say otherwise, and thus the activists had a field day.

Though he has been relatively inactive in this field for a number of years, for the moment, the most influential anti-video game political figure of the past is still Joseph Lieberman. Through threats, scare tactics and congressional hearings, the Connecticut Senator was the original hangman of the video game industry. When his chief of staff’s son got hold of Mortal Kombat in 1993 on his Sega Genesis, Lieberman saw video games as a viable political tool to sell himself to the public and media as a crusader against violence on behalf of the young and innocent. The hearings dragged on for months and drew negative national attention once again to the so-called “nasty little hobby of children with no active social lives”, and video games were forced to adopt a standardized rating system under the threat that if they didn’t, a federal system would be introduced. His role as activist on behalf of children helped to almost propel him to a seat on Albert Gore’s presidential ticket in 2000. I’d say that it was quite an effective tool.

Then we move to Daphne White. Ever heard of her? She’s the person who created The Lion & Lamb Project, which is, in her own words, “a grassroots parent’s initiative to stop the marketing of violence to children”. Basically, she’s a modern Ronnie Lamm in many respects, but has thus far had less impact on society. She made a trip last year to the Game Developer’s Conference to “learn more about the industry”, while gaining nasty stares from the development community. Apparently she has been preaching negativity against gaming for over a decade, and just recently decided that it might be a good idea to start doing some more in-depth analytical research about what it is she’s attacking. Now, I could write an entire book on our good friend Mr. Jack Thompson, but that horse has been beaten to death and he doesn’t deserve the attention, so I will be brief. He is the prime example of how people can use sheer shock tactics to propel themselves into the spotlight, even if it is a ridiculously negative light. There is no such thing as bad press. It should be noted that these are only a select few of the many anti-gaming activists and legislators in the United States, but these are the ones I have chosen to list for this article due to the public exposure they managed to achieve. There are countless others all across the globe.

It’s 2006, and the national crime rate is down on average. Gamers don’t mix video games and real life. Sure, there is your occasional freakazoid who plays GTA and then decides to shoot up his school, but I guarantee you that person’s mind was already completely deranged before he ever laid his thumb on an analog stick. If anyone ever claimed that a video game inspired them to commit those horrendous acts, they used it as a scapegoat when the psychiatrists and mental health experts were trying to find what was wrong with them, or they laid it off on video games to possibly pass some of the heat off of themselves.

However you look at it, it’s working. In Oklahoma, a bill introduced by Republican State Representative Fred Morgan (currently running for the US Congress) recently passed state legislatures has now recieved gubernatorial approval to go into law in November. This bill classifies almost any M and possibly some T-rated titles in the same category as pornography. What this means is nobody, not even a minors’ parent or guardian would be allowed to give, or even show them an “inappropriately” violent game. Inapproiate software would be classified by state guidelines. Retailers would be forced to place these games on the top rack of their store shelves, out of reach and out of mind, or to place them inside “binder racks” which are used to hide pornography from children in video stores. The point of the law is to make people associate violent games with the same distain that they associate with porn. Expect the Electronic Software Association to take this law to court. All of this seems a “tad” biased when movies such as Basic Instinct are sitting in the clearance bin at Wal-Mart, and there are no laws saying that a child could walk in and buy the movie for $4.99. The ESRB was introduced in 1994 as a means to inform parents about the content of games, and also to avoid legislation such as this. Though the system has been with us over a decade, the government still isn’t satisfied with its level of control over video games. A similar bill is currently awaiting approval in Louisiana right now. Though ritten by Representative Roy Burrell, it should be noted that this is called the “Thompson Bill” (Bill HB1381) as it was pushed into legislation due to the influance of Jack Thompson. This bill makes it illegal to sell, rent, or lease a game to a gamer who the ESRB says is too young to play the game.

“All of this seems a “tad” biased when movies such as Basic Instinct are sitting in the clearance bin at Wal-Mart, and there are no laws saying that a child could walk in and buy the movie for $4.99.”

Why do politicians slam video games so often? The most common answer is that video games are an easy and controversial tool to use as a source or political advancement. Movies are just as guilty of their violent and often graphic presentation, sometimes to a higher extent than video games, but why should a politician take up arms against a hobby that their voters are more likely to be a supporter or fan of? Movies are an established medium that has been a part of the culture for over a century. Gamers are walked all over because they are young (on average) and a large percentage of them don’t vote (again, on average). If you don’t vote, then you don’t have the power to stop these people. If a congressman (or woman) in your state is taking the easy road and using video games as his means of riding the political rollercoaster of success, then vote against him/her at the first opportunity. Don’t let them stay around long enough to get a foothold in people’s minds. If you don’t have the time to campaign, then put signs up in your yard encouraging people to vote for the person who doesn’t have a gaming “vendetta” to make your case. The point is, do something. Venting on the internet probably won’t get you very far as the people in office (or on their way to office) are likely not very open minded to the average user’s opinion being posted on an internet forum in the first place. To get attention, people have to take their views into the real world. That’s the only way that gamers will get anywhere in their cause of slowly “de-programming” the media. The only reason the news media attacks gaming is because the majority of the mass media’s viewer base still see gaming as something hostile, and the media has to cater to their leading demographic. They won’t stop spreading the lies until their demographic changes to people who are “Pro-Gaming”.

These are but a few of the many Anti-Video Gaming Political Activists in the world. What you see here are some of the more reconizable faces, but there are countless others.

There is another fact to consider, albeit a bit morbid. These narrow-minded people are old and won’t be around forever. As they all leave office due to age, younger and possibly more open minded people may succeed them. These people may be of the technical generation and understand what we’ve been trying to tell them all along…or they may also see video gaming as nothing more than a political “cause” to utilize in marketing themselves to the voting and over protective parents of the country. There is no such thing as a sure thing. People have got to be active in their approach. Gamers merely complaining among themselves is a waste of time. We all know these topics inside and out, but the people outside our group do not. They won’t come to you willingly. You’ve got to go to them, and the places they reside.

The simple fact is: people are dumb. Your standard person who doesn’t understand the minute details of an issue is going to automatically look to someone else in a high position to get an idea as to what he or she should believe. If that person they are looking to is a jaded opportunist who sees the situation as a potential way to bolster themselves to a higher plane of power through scare tactics and public manipulation, they will most certainly seize the opportunity. Jack Thompson did it, and it did wonders for him. He was just a nameless Florida attorney, but now he’s an infamous national celebrity. Everybody in the gaming world hates him, but he got national attention, and still enjoys it to this day. His radical tactics have also gotten him on high profile news programs with national or sometimes even global exposure. Quite effective, don’t you think? Video games are a political tool, just like Rock ‘n Roll was a political tool in the 1950’s. Churches stood up against it, politicians took offense to it, and the Pope tried to ban it. In the 70’s, President Nixon tried to have John Lennon deported because it was feared that his opinion could sway a national election. It just goes to show that political activists will do anything, use anything, or manipulate anyone to advance their position, sometimes even crossing the line of legality. Thus far, all of this anti-gaming legislation has been stricken down by the ESA in various state courts as unconstitutional, but how long will it be before one of these goes to the Supreme Court? Who will win when video game violence inevitably becomes a national issue once again? It’s only a matter of time, and we all know it. The clock is ticking. Many gamers are passive in their approach; believing that the problem will solve itself. This issue will not go away. What if those oppressive people in the old days had been successful in making sure music had to be rated and banned from certain groups of people? What if you had to be eighteen or older to buy a Beatles album in the 50’s? What if you had to be eighteen or older to buy Call of Duty 3 now?

Video games are violent. They always were from day one, but has it ever affected society in a major way? Are you a serial killer because you played Bionic Commando or Contra when you were younger? Were children who read literature by Edgar Allen Poe in the year 1900 condemned to be potential murderers? Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, and games are released over there on a regular basis that would have some American politicians running in fear. Games don’t rot people’s minds, and games don’t make people into violence prone criminals. The same applies to movies, literature, music, art, and any medium of creative artistic expression.

“Don’t let opportunistic legislators and irresponsible parents impose on your rights as gamers by limiting your choices and dictating what is and isn’t appropriate in the artistic medium we call video games.”

Video games are just one of the more recent additions to that list. People are able to distinguish between reality and fantasy on their own, without big brother’s help. If a parent believes their children shouldn’t be playing a specific game, then they should step up and do their parental duty by just saying “no”, rather than waiting for a government body to do it for them. Don’t let opportunistic legislators and irresponsible parents impose on your rights as gamers by limiting your choices and dictating what is and isn’t appropriate in the artistic medium we call video games. Participate in your government and fight for your rights of expression just like people in the past stood up for their own mediums. Promote education about the medium. Promote programs that teach parents about the video game industry, video games, and their ratings. Promote programs that give parents the information they need to make intelligent decisions for their own families, based on facts, rather than letting political scare tactics bully them into handing over the reins of our industry and hobby just because a mom or dad was too misinformed, or afraid to make the decision for themselves. Freedom is only yours until someone else finds a way to take it from you. Don’t let that happen.

To sum it up in one word: Educate. It’s the only way.

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A Note from Editorial Content Director Casey Ayers:

The Electronic Software Association announced at this year’s E3 the creation of a new voters group that caters to the political interests of gamers. The Video Game Voters Network provides information on how your local representatives vote in state and national settings and allows gamers to easily see what politicians are standing up for the Gamer’s First Amendment. To find out more about the VGVN and to join the growing army of politically astute gamers, visit their website at http://www.videogamevoters.org/.

For more information on medical research on the gaming industry, news on how interactive entertainment feeds America’s economy, and the latest updates on impending legal actions taken by the gaming industry at large, please visit the Entertainment Software Association’s website at http://www.theesa.com

Finally, for information on how to prevent government infringement on your rights to use any type of electronics and technology, including fair use cases, net neutrality and more, please visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation at http://www.eff.org

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Lucas DeWoody is Assistant Editorial Content Director for Nintendo related Channels on AMN, as well as one of the most in-depth industry historians in online journalism. Mr. DeWoody regular column A Look N-Side takes a look at the various facets of our always colorful, and often twisted industry through the eyes of a professional journalist with a gamer’s passion. Look for his insights regularly on AMN Wii and AMN DS.