The Guardian is fast becoming the most pro-gaming newspaper on the planet. Today, Catherine Bennett writes I'm game for Grand Theft Auto. You should be too. She makes the excellent point that Grand Theft Auto is probably the most difficult way for someone to experience violent media:
"With a violent and nasty movie, or corrupting literature, the thing is simple. You merely have to buy a ticket for, say, No Country for Old Men, or There Will be Blood, and watch it, with a keen eye for anything that might be violent or nasty. With books, you simply open, then read a copy of The Catcher in the Rye or, to go back a bit, Lady Chatterley's Lover or a bit further, one of those 18th-century courtship novels whose potential to enervate young virgins was discernible, apparently, within just a few minutes of scholarly inspection.
How different for the mature student of Grand Theft Auto IV, who discovers that acquisition of the game, an Xbox 360 and a working television will not be nearly enough to expose the sickening extent of its moral bankruptcy. For that, you need time, skill, dedication and, I suspect, youth. In fact, it would probably be cheaper, and easier, for any averagely underqualified adult who craves the excitement of casual violence in a context of social indifference to make your way to somewhere like Borough Market and snarl: 'Out of the way, bitch' at every double buggy."
It feels like the tide is slowly turning. Non-gamers are starting to "get it" whilst those who don't, or simply refuse to, fall by the wayside. It has only been a week since the release of GTA4 so it is perhaps too early to tell, but the moral outrage seems to have been contained. People are ignoring politicians like Keith Vaz, with his uninformed knee-jerk reactions, and finally waking up to the fact that gaming is here to stay.
I don't think other newspapers/tabloids will stop with the game hate just yet simply because that'll sell copies. Everyone loves to read about how things are destroying the world because it's more entertaining and hence the over sensationalism. Then again those are the papers that you don't read for news.... unless you're an idiot...
but maybe the huge defeat Labor had in the local elections show that the public are fed up with these old out of touch geezers opinions....
Indeed this is sound sense. And if anything, people should always question any news and do some investigations of their own.
Have we learned nothing from the whole Iraq/WMD stuff, to know that the media and the powers that be, can and often do lie to us? And if we act like sheep, we deserve to be treated as such.
In our modern 21st century society, I think people aren't as trusting in these do gooder naysayers, who are all speculation and accusation, than pure hard truth. Power to the people.
The shift from scare tactics to sound reasoning is a welcome one. I'd stake a bet that within the next few years video games will draw no more outrage than equally gory films, as it should be.
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This is great to hear. Hopefully more people will stop being sheep and realise that they should make their own decisions.
This is why I only read the guardian now :-)
I don't think other newspapers/tabloids will stop with the game hate just yet simply because that'll sell copies. Everyone loves to read about how things are destroying the world because it's more entertaining and hence the over sensationalism. Then again those are the papers that you don't read for news.... unless you're an idiot...
but maybe the huge defeat Labor had in the local elections show that the public are fed up with these old out of touch geezers opinions....
Indeed this is sound sense. And if anything, people should always question any news and do some investigations of their own.
Have we learned nothing from the whole Iraq/WMD stuff, to know that the media and the powers that be, can and often do lie to us? And if we act like sheep, we deserve to be treated as such.
In our modern 21st century society, I think people aren't as trusting in these do gooder naysayers, who are all speculation and accusation, than pure hard truth. Power to the people.
God bless you Auntie Gaurdian
The shift from scare tactics to sound reasoning is a welcome one. I'd stake a bet that within the next few years video games will draw no more outrage than equally gory films, as it should be.
So is there some kind of unwritten rule of thumb that everyone whose last name is "Bennett" is cool now?
That's so cool! I'm so glad people are starting to 'get it'
Any relation to Colette?
And once again the Guardian shows us why its the only paper worth reading.
w000t that's pretty good, looks like the EU is heading the charge in media-acceptance of games :-)
Good to hear :)
<3 The Guardian