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This is a tough topic for people to cover, to even think about in daily life because it can and does affect millions of people, either personally or in a through the grapevine kind of way. I personally have never lost anyone on 9/11, and I was just as shocked and terrified as every other American on that day. I wanted us to hurt our attackers, but I digress.
When Konami announced Six Days in Fallujah a few months ago, I was actually excited for the game, because I think we can handle this kind of topic in our games now. I truly believe that if we are to have our preferred choice of entertainment accepted as a valid and respected medium, we need to tackle topics like this. We need to tackle the tough topics like racism, crime, religious views, and terrorism in a respectable way. Grand Theft Auto IV did a good job of covering mature topics like greed, lust, and how your interpersonal relationships not only define you but guide your life path. I personally hated the end message that nothing will ever matter because once you’ve done something you’ve done it and life will always be bad if you make bad choices. I personally believe that you can make mistakes and then be able to redeem yourself later, but that does not justifying criminal behavior and just plan douchebaggery in real life.
I have to say that I was vocal in my pride that Infinity Ward made to include the level, and the option to skip it, no matter how integral to the story it is. By the fact that you can skip playing it means that they understood that some people would be affected and turned off by doing so… They were being mature. I was checking some of the forums when the story broke and a lot of people were shouting to either boycott, burn and destroy, or hate Infinity Ward for the choice of doing this. People can decide what they want to do, and if they avoid the game when it comes out, so be it. With people who were affected on a personal level whom have lost loved ones to 9/11, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan in our recent war on terrorism, I can understand how they think this is unfair and wrong. I truly do. But if you played the first Modern Warfare, you remember experiencing being executed in the beginning of the game, you remember the shock of it happening. Now, Infinity Ward crafted one of the best first person shooters ever with MW, and they need to top themselves while telling a tight story and outdoing the first game in the current story arc. The way they chose was to show you how just gruesome and horrible terrorism is by having you be an unwilling participant. The fact that the story is about an undercover Ranger who is infiltrating a group of terrorists to take them down seems to have been overlooked by a lot of people. The fact that you can participate or not should be a ringer that they know that people can be offended.
Whether or not it’s a bad choice, the choice is made, and I believe that we won’t all start breaking apart emotionally because someone dared to challenge us, asking us to connect emotionally to a game. The fact that someone was able to take a chance, take a break from the norm to include this should be noted as a triumph because we’re able to hopefully take the level for what it is, a visual aid to how terrorism can and will affect people.
To put it into better perspective, take a moment to think of a movie that depicts terrorism realistically, like Munich, Boondock Saints, and other movies and novels. How many of them were challenged because the director, script writer or author decided to write about this topic and it came off as successful, no matter how graphic the violence was portrayed. The first part of Heat was a visually impressive scene, and the bank scene was probably one of the best sequences I’ve ever seen in a movie, and I remember people being upset about this movie because of the realistic portrayal of these scenes… But it’s considered one of the best crime epics ever.
What people don’t understand is that there have been many, many games that have and have tried to cover terrorism in a light that is respectable and have pulled it off on one level or another. Gears of War 2 was a good attempt at showing the results of a prolonged war upon a population, especially with the events of the first game affecting the world (rust lung, the Hammer of Dawn attack upon their own cities) that the characters live in. Bioshock showed the results of trying to have a Utopian society in a disturbing and correct manner. Bioshock is a perfect example of how people can use books, movies, and the real world to craft a living breathing world, tell a story and give their thoughts on topics discussed on a daily basis around the world.
I understand how the gaming public reacted to Heavy Rains’ strip scene during E3 this year, they were within reason to feel disgust and sickened… It’s what David Cage wants gamers to feel with the sequence, and if I ever get a PS3 and get around to playing it (which I do want to), I know that it will be a tough period in the game to get through.
Terrorism is horrible, making people do things that are immoral and wrong for the pleasure of it, every bad thing that you’re able to think about happening to someone in real life shouldn’t be ignored or swept under the rug… We need to bring these things into the light to be examined and treated to fix or prevent it from happening if we can, and our medium is growing more and more every year, and we’re going to come across things that bother us, that disturb our psyche but we need this sort of interaction from every art medium.
I’m not saying we need a game that is all about killing, raping and just plain wrongness, I just feel that we need more studios to take a chance and step outside of our comfortable zone for interesting and engaging stories that make an impact.
Something that a friend mentioned the other day when I was discussing this with him was that he made a good point. He believes that the level should not be included because kids will play this and think that terrorism is cool… My reply was that the game is rated Mature for a reason. Kids and teens will get their hands on things that are not appropriate for their ages, they have for years, and in some cases you will not be able to stop them, no matter how many laws and regulations you slap on any industry that has questionable content for younger consumers. Parents who just don’t know about the maturity of modern games are not entirely at fault either. The stores whom sell the products have safeguards in place that can and do prevent this content from reaching the wrong audiences but there are ways around it. I remember talking to a Game Crazy employee whom refused to sell a M rated game to a preteen who was clearly immature for the title, and the parent screamed at him for not selling the item to the child, and the opposite happened the next day. The second event was strange because he knew the gamer and figured he’d be mature enough to play the game because of previous discussions of other M rated games that he had played and sold it. A few hours later the parent was in the store, screaming at the employee for selling the title to the gamer. So it happens both ways, either the parents will purchase the title if they believe they are mature enough to handle it, and store employee’s either don’t care or pay enough attention sometimes… But it’s not ultimately a stores responsibility to be a parent to customers.
I remember being a teen and wanting Metal Gear Solid bad, because the demo had been the most played thing on my Playstation. I begged and begged my mother to let me get it, I had to cash to buy it, she wouldn’t have to, and I liked the game play. My mother looked at the cover and saw the big black M, the thing I was dreading. My mother was in the know about the rating system and she checked the list on the back… “Do you know it has Mature Sexual Themes? I really don’t want you to buy it Todd, but it’s your choice.”
I froze. I was 15, and my mom had just given me the keys to what ever I wanted to buy from then on, because she let me chose if I was mature enough to get it. I actually stood there and debated if I should get it or not, if I was able to handle the content. In the end, I purchased it, and I actually explained to my mother what made the game have the sexual content, and I truly surprised her by being mature about it.
I explained that in the demo the camera zooms in on the rear end of a female that Snake was attracted to, not for sexual reasons entirely, but to give away the fact that she was female, because she was dressed as a guard. I also went on to tell my mom that I’d stop playing if there was anything worse than that if I felt wrong or uncomfortable about it. She respected my decision and let me decide, which I have always respected her for. Now, my mother would ask me if I knew what the mature content was before she let me buy an M rated title most of the time to see if I could handle it and I could usually.
This is the kind of things parents of gamers should do, but unfortunately it doesn’t happen often from what I’ve seen. I’ve seen parents pick up a GTA title for their 6 or 7 year olds and I’ve warned them about it. I’ve gotten thanked and I’ve gotten screamed at for telling them how to raise their kid when I was only being helpful, so the parent wouldn’t be shocked when their child was having sex with a hooker or running around and blasting everyone in the street. The ratings exist for a reason, and COD:MW 2 is a good example.
For the people who read this article I would like to ask you a question that has been on my mind recently about games: What’s worse, a level full of shooting innocent people (where you can do this in almost any open world sandbox title out, albeit in a third person perspective) or a boss who spits out dead babies from her nipples at you?
Article from Gamersyndrome.com
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If you have any comments, feel free to send them either on here or on XBOX Live. My gamertag is Deathzmeasure. 
I agree, Very touchy subject and I commend Infinity Ward for including the option to skip the level.
I’ve seen instances in England where a parent bought a kid under 10 a GTA game, it sickened me. I quite liked it that you addressed the issue and approached the parents.
I think this is a very important issue, I too have seen many a kid I felt was to young playing some questionable games. It is hard for the young to understand the difference between reality and pretend, especially when the games involve humans as opposed to monsters or something of that sort. The glorification of terrorism is no joke, as long as people keep buying developers will stick with that content. Thats what sells
I’m going to make a point very clear that I feel that I didn’t address in the article: I don’t think Infinity Ward is glorifying or reveling in a terrorist act in MW 2. I think what I said about them trying to show how wrong it is was the goal. As for parents who buy games for kids who are not old enough to play them, it is the parents final decision, but there are times when a game should not be sold to a parent who is going to give it to a younger child to play.
@Todd, I couldn’t disagree more. It’s up to the parents what their kids play, not anyone else.
hmm Jay and Todd, thats a really touchy subject, on one hand its up to the parents to give their kids whatever games they want but as a society I think we should be putting a stop to these types of ultra violent games given to pre-teens and early teens regardless if the parents allow it or not. Trust me when I say not all parents are looking at the best interest of their kids or are not well informed about the violence some of these games have.. and some simply want to shut their kids up.
@Gamer Syndrome and Jay:
I have to say this, I’m a father of a 4 year old and there are games that I would not let him play at all like Gears of War, GTA, and a few others that are just plain violent that shouldn’t be in the hands of kids. They just shouldn’t. But for a mature gamer who has the legal right and is responsible enough to handle the content they are good to go. Yes, parents will buy ultra-violent games for kids the reasons you listed Gamer, and I can see how you would think that it is up to the parents Jay, but there are so many clueless or just don’t give a care parents out there that someone should stand up and say NO.
I don’t like the idea of a store or politician saying that I can’t let my kid play something that I think they are mature enough to handle. There are a few games that are rated T that I let my son play with no problem, like Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Marvel Alliance, Mercenaries, and a few others. He doesn’t get that your supposed to beat the daylights out of people or what not. He usually plays Webs and just goes around the city and might beat up a few people, but he likes just exploring, same with Mercs, With MA, We both play it together so if anything he’s unsure of, I’ll explain in the best way I can for him. I know I am able to make decisions for my kid on what he plays, and I know that the government wants to take these rights of ours away because the ESRB rating system isn’t being used well enough in their eyes, but they also say the same of the MPAA and music labels and the parental advisory sticker.
It ultimately comes down to this: If a younger gamer is mature enough to handle the content (whether it’s an E, T, or M rated title), and the parent makes an informed decision to purchase the game for said child, pre-teen or teen it’s their choice.
I didn’t do this article to start a possible fight about the rights of parents, I wrote it about the fact that if our choice of entertainment was to be accepted as a true art and medium of expression that we’d need to take the chance and cover topics and themes that are hard to face sometimes. I know that the parent issue stuck out a bit with quite a few of you, but I believe that if parents don’t do the job, someone in the store should be able to have the right to refuse to sell it to an under age kid. Most places do stop underage kids from buying games that are not for their age groups. The rating system is there for guidance yes, but it’s also there to prevent people who are not mature enough to see something before they are “legally” able to view it. These safeguards are in place, but games do get into hands that they shouldn’t, but so do movies, pron, and music and most of the time kids don’t get all whacked out… Most of the time, and when they do it does paint all gamers in a bad light, wrong as that might be.
Ultra-violent games will always exist until a government stops them from being sold or produced in said country (Australia, Japan, and Germany are already very strict on what gets put on shelves and that scares me, for it should be freedom of speech to make the game you want to), and until then this is going to be a huge fight between everybody in the gaming community. We may need to re-evaluate how we rate games, or how we regulate how they are sold to possible under age people whom want to purchase the title.
My final comment is this: I do not believe that kids should be able to play any game they want, no matter what the rating is if the parents don’t think they should. I do not think that it’s wrong for a store employee to refuse to sell a title that is rated M to someone who is not clearly 17+, it’s the store and employee’s right to refuse.
But like Gamer said it’s a touchy subject and I’m not trying to upset anyone here, it’s just my personal views.
Todd wins with the longest comment and 4 year old kid.
http://gamersyndrome.com/the-gamer-syndrome/
I agree its to the sole discretion of the parent but like I said not all parents like yourself are aware of the types of violence they are giving their kids with these types of games, the saying that young minds are moldable are 100% true. When I think about when I was a teenager and listening to NWA, Snoop Dogg and Warren-G I wanted to be a gangster living in Compton rolling up in my Impala and shooting sh*t.. but alas I was a small town boy that could at most shoot his dads Rifle and wear baggy pants…. I had an Impala but it was a 79 Impala… far from the classic Impala they rap about
So yea, I see where your coming from!
Terrorism has been around for decades, if not centuries. Just because it’s unpleasant or something we’d rather hide our heads in the sand about is no reason to not include it in video games; I doubt very much that Islamic jihadists give a horse’s patoot if their kids play the Arab/Iranian versions of computer/video games that depict US as the bad guys.
Art, and I think game design is as much art as it is tech/entertainment, is a reflection of our times. If terrorism is a central theme in games, it’s simply a sign of the turbulent times we now live in.
I agree with fardreamer very much, that any art form that depicts a theme repeated manner is probably what is a sign of what is going on in the time period the art piece no matter what form it takes. Did movies and television shows shy away from showing terrorists depicted on film after 9/11? Did we stop reading books that had terrorist in them? No, if anything people read and watched more about them in my opinion.
Also, I agree that foriegn nations that are against us that have video games as a form of entertainment don’t shy away from the US military as bad guys, especially if they hate us.