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November 24, 2009
Virtual war crimes
The video game industry offers a product largely untainted by the PC concerns dominating Hollywood product and offers an opportunity for ruthlessly quantifiable and demonstrable individual accomplishment (not to mention training up the next generation of war fighters). The left cannot allow this to stand. But how to oppose the industry on grounds that do not ally the do gooders of the left with the do gooders of the right who have long opposed video game content on moral grounds?
The answer, inevitably, is yet another variation on lawfare. A Swiss "human rights" group accuses the industry of producing games depicting war crimes and failing to educate players of the "real world limits on their actions."
The real world, indeed. I am reminded of Jean Claude Van Damme's immortal reply to Erica Ehm on the subject of violence in his movies: "The trouble is your mother never taught you the difference between movies and the real world." (I paraphrase from memory.)
Twenty games were scrutinised to see if the conflicts they portrayed and what players can do in the virtual theatres of war were subject to the same limits as in the real world.
"The practically complete absence of rules or sanctions is... astonishing," said the study.
Utter toss. Next they will tell us video games damage the environment. This guy probably wonders why he does not have to pay real estate tax on his Monopoly holdings.
I too would be fascinated to learn what our real world would look like had the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns been carried out by a ruthlessly efficient 14 year old; I expect we would be done by now (though I would not put much stock in Meccan real estate for the next 10,000 years or so).
Posted by Ghost of a flea at November 24, 2009 07:13 AM
Comments
If video games have to mimic reality in every detail, then there's not much point in playing them.
For Halo: Combat Evolved, your console should evaluate your age, physical attributes and fitness, plus mental aptitude, and immediate reject any player that is a minor, can't run a mile in 6 minutes or less, has astigmatism, etc. 90% of the players should be flying a desk, filling in the vast virtual logistics chain required to keep a sim-starship and instellar fleet operational and supplied. Only a dozen or so should have the skill set and raw talent be Spartans, after 18-24 months of training whereby the herd is culled and unfit wash out and end up playing its less glamourous cousin Halo: Combat Deferred.
I hope these Swiss idiots are also planning to petition EA's Sims franchise for inclusion of venereal diseases when Sims make out, developmental disabilities and genetic disorders in sim-offspring, random layoffs and business closures, vermin, progressive taxation, municipal building codes and permits when renovating the sim-residence, etc.
Posted by: Chris Taylor ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.ghostofaflea.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 24, 2009 09:52 AM
Don't know if you saw this, but I found it amusing.
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/ultra_realistic_modern_warfare
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Posted by: OregonGuy at November 24, 2009 12:19 PM
Ender's Game?
I have been playing Left4Dead 2 the past few nights. Do Zombies have human rights? I leave it to the Europeans to discover some. I am mostly concerned at the inaccurate depiction of the undead sprinting, as well as being put down with other than a head shot. Everyone knows that both are pure balderdash. What will our youth do to survive when faced with the real zombie pocky-clypse? They will be caught completely unprepared, having been lied to by their elders when the sun still shone brightly.
I admit to having been uncomfortable at the airport scene in Modern Warfare 2 (I shot at the ground), but I am a role-player from way back.
Posted by: Solomon at November 24, 2009 02:58 PM
