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How Videogames Became the Bogeyman
Tom Leupold, writing for the Inside Bay Area site, explores why videogames have become an American bogeyman. Talking with prof. Dmitri Williams, he discusses the rise, fall, and resurrection of games as a part of mainstream society. From the article: "Today, as games have once again infiltrated the mainstream, a growing number of adults are again enjoying gaming and understand there are games that are appropriate for different age groups. But that hasn't stopped crusaders from trying to censor them in the name of 'saving' the children. Williams, 34, said those under 38 have a different view of games than their elders. Most have grown up with games and, like television for the previous generation, games are embedded in their culture. "
First it was radio... then it was television, rock and roll and comic books. After that it was video games, rap, heavy metal, and goth music. Now it's the internet and more realistic games.
Message to parents! If your child screws up, it is probably your fault! Sucks, doesn't it?
Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
I'm willing to be it's because television, music a movie industry interests are lobbying our representatives to place restrictions on the games industry, which they see as a threat. The games industry just isn't ponying up enough money to counterract the rest of the entertainment industry's lobbying dollars and stay off the regulation radar, and now they're paying the price. It's a terrible way to run a country, but people in power are making too much money to change it...
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
Back in my time it was Dungeons and Dragons. You'd watch the news and see these "exposes" on the kids who are LEARNING TO LOVE SATAN because of the EVIL D&D game. Oh yeah, and Satanism was also a dire threat to our kids. Oh and Styx and Kiss too. Then 2 Live Crew. My neighbor tells me that in his day it was Bob Dylan that was symptomatic of evil.
Sometimes I find myself wondering: 10-15 years from now, am I going to be the old fogey freaking out about something new that I don't trust, but all the kids are into?
Then I think of MySpace.
Yes, games are a terrible waste of our time and money, and a contributor to drinking, institutionalized violence, and selling sex!
... ooops!
It sucks billions and billions out of foolish peoples' pockets...
More riots, beatings, and other assorted violence take place because of games!
During games, people are exposed to repeated messages selling them alcohol and sex as well!
Did I mention that hundreds of pro and amateurs are permanently injured or killed playing these "harmless" games?
In fact, there are numerous studies proving that these games suck money away from vital education programs and game-players often score lower on standardized tests!
Yes, they are evil.
Wait a sec, we *are* talking about sports aren't we???
crappy triceratops
Rock and roll used to evoke similar hostility. But that's changed, as rock moved from rebellion to senility and lost its political connection.
It's suprising how little hostility hip-hop and rap evoked, considering that much of '90s rap was about killing people. ("Devil, to gangbanging there's a positive side and the positive side is this--sooner than later the brothers will come to Islam, and they will be the soldiers for the war; what war, you ask; Armageddon; ha, ha, ha, ha, ha" -- "Armageddon"; RBX, The RBX Files, 1995, Premeditated Records, © Warner Brother Records, Time Warner, USA.) But hip-hop and rap switched from guns to "bling", thereby encouraging shopping. "According to American Brandstand, a Web site that tracks brand names on the Billboard top singles chart, of the 111 songs that made the Billboard Top 20 in 2003, 43 mentioned a product; 84 different brands were named."
So we can expect that as in-game advertising becomes more pervasive, media criticism of games will become muted.