Editorial Roundup: One Vote Against Bully, One Vote For Games
Not to sound like a parent here, but, "Wake up! Get out of bed. I'm not telling you again. If you don't get up now, you'll have to make your own breakfast... even worse, you'll miss the GamePolitics Sunday Editorial Roundup..."
We'll start on GP's home turf this morning, where Philadelphia Daily News columnist Jenice Armstrong writes that Rockstar's upcoming Bully is a bad idea. As Armstrong correctly points out, there has been an epidemic of gun violence in the City of Brotherly Love recently:
"We're nearing the end of a bloody summer... Come fall, once school is back in session, the last thing this country will need is yet another violence-promoting video game aimed at young men. I'm referring to 'Bully.'"
"I haven't seen it yet. The new game has been shrouded in secrecy... Although I'd prefer to learn more about the game before knocking it, I understand (Miami School Board) and other critics' negative reactions...
"Rockstar... co-founder Terry Donovan was recently quoted as saying, 'I think if the entertainment industry had always chosen the path of least resistance, I think we would have missed out on some incredible films, a load of life-altering records and a host of books that changed literature forever.'"
"Whatever, dude. That's the kind of argument violent video game manufacturers always seem to fall back on to support their products. And yes, it's true that they are within their rights to produce whatever type of video game that they think will reap huge profits, regardless of the potential impact on the user."
"Meanwhile, word about "Bully" has been quietly spreading. Maybe if there's enough uproar about the game, Rockstar can be bullied itself - into keeping the game off store shelves."
Readers should brace themselves for an onslaught of editorials regarding Bully in upcoming Sunday re-caps as we get closer to the game's October release. By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, we should mention that the parent company of the Daily News also owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, for which GP writes a video game column.
Meanwhile a Denver Post column (sorry, couldn't find the author's name), opines that games won't turn kids evil:
"People like to ask questions... 'Will video games turn my kids into murderous monsters?'
"'No,' I assure fretting parents and grandparents. 'They won't.' It's a simple answer and one based on common sense... crime figures show that youth violence in the U.S. has actually declined as game sales have increased."
"We might not know what video games are doing to us. But they don't seem to make us violent. Crazy, multitasking, fantasy-addicted, Pavlovian button-mashers, maybe. Just not violent..."
"Crusaders against video-game violence - and video games in general - are right when they suggest that games can get under our skin... Where they go wrong is in assuming that game players take away only the bad messages from games, that kids mindlessly absorb the negative and never bask in the positive."