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Friday, April 8th, 2005
NOTE TO ELECTRONIC ARTS: Get the lawyers warmed up.
Time
Event
4:46a
Before the United States did away with the draft in the early 1970's, it was not uncommon for professional athletes who were inducted into the armed forces to spend their time playing for their camp's team instead of toting a rifle. There were exceptions, of course. The late Ted Williams (photo at right) insisted on serving in a combat aviation unit and was a decorated Marine fighter pilot who fought in both World War II and the Korean conflict.
Back then, of course, Al Gore hadn't yet invented the Internet, nor had George W. Bush pluralized it. Today, competitive, and in some cases, professional online gaming is a reality that was never envisioned in Teddy Ballgame's era. But is the Army ready for a gaming battalion?
In South Korea, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young thinks so.
As reported in the JoongAng Daily National yesterday, Chung sparked a controversy yesterday by suggesting the idea of 
forming a computer game squad as part of the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps. His remarks came at the second annual meeting of the Korean e-Sports Association. Chung stated that cyber jocks who were drafted could perform their military service in the Athletic Corps, where they would play online games.
"There are more than 400 players concerned with computer game teams in the athletic corps," said Chung. "As a member of the government, I will support the creation of a team wholeheartedly."
Reaction to Chung's comments was mixed. Many non-gaming members of South Korea's information technology sector reacted negatively, believing that they were equally deserving of such special treatment.6:31a
News reports out of Gainesville, Florida say that 14-year-old boy and his grandmother have been arrested following an incident in which the boy performed wrestling moves on a 2-year old cousin whom he was babysitting. Reportedly the teenager was imitating the fighting style in EA's Def Jam: Fight for New York. The game, which is rated "M" (mature), for players 17 and older, features animated versions of well-known rappers engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat.
As the story unfolds, Ethel Mae Edwards, 47, went to work Sunday afternoon. The 14-year old relative was left in charge of the Ms. Edwards' two grandsons, ages two and four. After playing Def Jam, the 14-year old and the two-year old began acting out scenes from the game. The teen repeatedly threw the toddler onto the floor and hit him in the face with his fist and a wooden stake.
When Ms. Edwards returned home she treated the little boy with ice and witch hazel, but failed to seek medical attention. The two-year old's injuries included scrapes, bruises, cuts and a bruised spleen. Two days later, when the child's mother returned to pick him up, he was finally taken to the hospital
Ms. Edwards is being held in the Alachua County Jail on $50,000 bail. The teenager is being held at the county's Juvenile Detention Center.
While the video game angle will naturally get all the hype, from a distance this smells more like a story about poverty than anything else. Think about it. A grandmother is forced to work, without adequate child care. Apparently she is a single parent. The mother of the toddlers isn't home either. Where is she? Where are the fathers of either the 14-year old or the toddlers? We don't know anything about the teenager, other than this narrow slice of information. What is his history? Is there a positive male role model in his life? It's not that the accused here aren't responsible for their actions, but the whole thing smacks of family dysfunction. That's a really complex issue, however, and video games offer a simple answer, so you already know which way the media and politicians will go.
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