Lion And Lamb Project Lambasts Videogames

Thanks to Gamasutra for pointing to the Lion And Lamb Project's new listing of their 'Dirty Dozen for 2004', as the organization, which "works to reduce the marketing of violent toys, games and entertainment to children", singles out Rockstar's Manhunt for its 'Pushing The Envelope' pick, despite the Mature rating, mentioning that "69 percent of underage teenagers were able to buy M-rated games at retail stores." Interestingly, Sony's Teen-rated Jak II is also criticized under the heading 'Deceptive Branding: The Sequel That Isn't', with the comments: "The original game in this series - Jak and Daxter - was rated E for Everyone... parents who feel comfortable with this 'brand' are in for a rude surprise if they purchase the sequel for their young children." However, the project's Top 20 non-violent toys also include videogames, including Dance Dance Revolution and Zoo Tycoon.

Comments

Printing that out as my Christmas list!

[heldlikesound]

Thanks for the tips!

Re:Of course, the responsibility is shared.

[prockcore]

Having said that, video games today are a virtual "pornography of violence"; characters are maimed or killed without thought to consequences in most titles,

you know, I just got Namco Museum for my GCN.. and just finished playing the hell out of DigDug. Now here's a game where you stick monsters with a bicycle pump, and inflate them until they explode.

I don't remember anyone in the 80's complaining about how this was influencing our kids.

Re:Address the problem

[tiled_rainbows]

Hey, that's yet another little cultural difference between the US and the UK (I'm making a list).
In my local branch of Blockbusters (in London), all the (softcore) porn is all mixed up with the normal-type films. So you'll get "The erotic witch project" under horror, "The seX Files" under Sci-fi, and so on.
My wife, who isn't so good at spotting the genre of a film from the video box, sometimes says stuff like, "hey, what's "Lesbian Prison Riot' about? Have you seen it? Is it good?"

The other thing that annoys me is the way they don't put all the Hollywood stuff under "World Cinema". I said to the guy in the shop, "hey, 90% of your stock is foreign films! All these American films should really be over there with the arty French stuff.

And then the rest of the shop would be kept free for Four Weddings and a Funeral, and, er, that other film.

wow

[Frizzle Fry]

Ninja turtles. Professional wrestling. Transformers. These are the same toys I had when I was a kid. I thought that I would never have heard of whatever kids were playing with now, but I know those. That's so cool.