Yesterday, I stumbled upon a blog entry written by ABC news correspondent Jake Tapper. It’s a bit of background to the now widely covered Liebermann/NIMF press conference, and a rather interesting bit of information:
After what seemed the 15th story we’d done about the industry, ABC News actually purchased a Sony PlayStation so we could know a little bit about the industry we were covering. (It resides in a technical office; not attached to my TV at work.)
That would explain why many news reports about games sound a bit uninformed to people who actually play games.
To give credit to Jake: Once ABC actually had that thing - and his fiancee was out of town 
- he borrowed it to take a look at the game. Since he is in broadcast news, “The game” is a sufficient description. It must be Grand Theft Auto. (That changed with Stubbs being out, but the “Games teach people cannibalism” headline isn’t completely mainstream yet)
I wonder though which part of the game he played.
The point of the game is to run around a fictitious city, loosely based on Miami, beating up prostitutes and killing cops, succeeding in various missions.
Now, I have played GTA:VC, and that is not the point of the game. The fact that he repeats a misconception that has been created and perpetuated by the mainstream media makes me really doubt he spent much time on the game.
You can choose to do these things, but the missions usually center around opposing gangs. Cops usually just get drawn in if you commit crimes in their view. Since I assume he’s not just making things up, I would posit that mainstream coverage of games actually shapes how people will play the game. All the “Oh my god, you kill prostitutes and cops!” obviously seems to have pushed him to try exactly that.
I still applaud that somebody involved with a major news outlet at least spends some time with the things they are reporting about. It’s a step forward. It also gives me hope that sooner or later somebody will discover that games are not restricted to violence and mayhem.
There are wonderful children’s games. There are games that make you think. There are even games that manage to convey deep emotions. (OK. Those are rare. Video Games are a “fresh” medium - compare it to the movies after their first 30 years.)
As a little side note, one of the commenters suggested to equip game consoles with a V-chip - more indication that the people complaining about games are not exactly well-informed. Sony plans parental controls for the PS3. The XBox already has parental controls. The XBox360 has ‘em, too. Nintendo will put them in the Revolution. Heck, even the PS2 has at least parental controls for DVDs.
And this is the core of our problem - the people complaining in public seem to have a disconnect from reality. We have a ratings system, which failed in one instance. (And somebody still has to explain to me why it’s OK to kill people by the dozen when you’re seventeen, but you have to wait one more year to see a simulated blowjob). We have parental controls.
Jake - how about ABC covers that?
[Edit] Just got e-mail from Jake Tapper, and he covered the V-chip stuff on Tuesdays’ “Good Morning America”. Here’s the video. A big thank you for reading my ramblings and providing additional info, Jake! Or, since you’re “street” now, “Mad Pr0pz!”
Technorati tags:Clinton, Liebermann, videogames, media
[Edit - fixed links, added Technorati tags]
I think if you read my full comments on Tapper’s blog, you would see that I didn’t advocate for a v-chip. But it is interesting that you acknowledge that most systems available now have no parental controls (you mention new ones will). And I am a gamer, but I don’t play rpgs, so I admit I don’t know all the ins and outs.
I saw that you didn’t advocate a V-Chip. But this is a topic that obviously interests you (why comment, otherwise), you seem to be following the media (why else would you be on the blog), and yet you don’t have the information that there already is the equivalent of a V-chip. It’s clearly a failure of the media to inform about the issue.
For the record: I don’t think parental controls on a game console are a bad thing. I think government-mandated rules on what can and cannot be said in games are a bad thing. That also includes a mandated V-chip.
There’s nothing wrong with voluntary information, and the ability to flag that information, on the basis of a personal decision. The government has no place in child-raising.
As an interesting aside, a friend of mine has a PS2. He and his wife went to put in a movie (I guess “R” rated) and the parental controls kicked in and wouldn’t let them watch it. They didn’t know the PIN or whatever and just gave up (being lazy and it beeing a weekend evening when customer support was presumably closed).
They popped in some porn DVDs and watched those instead. Not a Hollywood production = not coded for parental control.