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Monday, April 25th, 2005
The latest edition of Time Asia reports on a burgeoning youth violence problem in South Korea. If you've been following recent coverage on GamePolitics concerning video game legislation, you have probably noticed a preponderance of Democrats either sponsoring such bills or slamming video game violence in public statements. Among the first wave of console games to strike online gold, tactical shoot 'em ups SOCOM and SOCOM II were huge hits on Sony's</a> PlayStation 2 system. The games, developed by Zipper Interactive, cast players in the role of Navy SEALS, battling terrorism at squad level in authentic global settings with realistic weapons and equipment.
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5:57a
Talk about bad timing! GamePolitics returns from a few days in Jamaica (where Internet access was definitely a problem, Mon), only to find it's - horrors! - TV-Turnoff Week, which of course includes video games.
The TV Turnoff Network cites figures indicating that the average American child spends 1,000 hours per year in front of a television set. Actually, that figure sounds low to GamePolitics, representing less than three hours per day. There also seems to be an assumption that all programming watched by children is either mindless or excessively violent.
The fact is, there is a lot of good stuff on T.V., and a lot of good video games to be played, both on a television screen, and on a PC monitor. There are also a lot of good books to read, good ways to exercise, and good times to be had with friends and family. For a good counterpoint on the topic, see Watching TV Makes You Smarter, a terrific feature by Stephen Johnson in Sunday's New York Times magazine section (reg req).
The TV-Turnoff is a well-intentioned idea that seems to be based on an unfortunate paradigm: that TV and video games are bad. The organization doesn't consider the realities that modern families deal with. Kids - and adults - often multitask these days. TV on in the background, they may be reading, surfing the 'Net or even doing homework. Parents in poverty-stricken neighborhoods where crime and drugs are constant threats may prefer to keep their kids safely at home, even if it means letting them watch some extra TV or play video games. And there are plenty of shows and games that are educational, carry positive messages, or portray real-life choices. Would a kid be better off watching The West Wing or playing Civilization than hanging on the mean streets of urban America?7:10a
Stirring concerns is a report issued by a South Korean teacher claiming that as many as 5% of the country's school-age children belong to loosely affiliated gangs call iljin, which translates to "top rankers," and sounds suspiciously like a video game term. The South Korean Education Ministry disputes the report, but nonetheless recently convened a task force to address youth violence, which it says could take up to five years to eradicate.
Video games, naturally, are blamed in part for the problem, along with poor supervision by parents, competitive school pressures, and Internet porn. Not mentioned is the daily stress of living under constant threat of nuclear annihilation from neighboring North Korea. (EDITOR'S NOTE: be sure to check out North Korea's bizarre official website.
The Time Asia article quotes Kim Yang Young Hee, a counselor at the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, as saying that "Kids think sexual violence is a game." Video games are extremely popular in South Korea, thanks in large part to the high degree of broadband penetration in the country. The screen shot at left is from Lineage, an online game that is hugely popular in South Korea.
Meanwhile, a program set up by the South Korean police grants amnesty to iljin who turn themselves in by April 30th and confess to thefts of less than $1,00 or - get this - beatings from which the victim recovered in less than three weeks.11:51a
That's no coincidence.
An op-ed piece written for the Arizona Republic by a strategist for a Washington D.C. think tank points to a concerted Democratic strategy targeting the so-called evils of modern culture, including video game sex and violence. The author, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, a Senior Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, counsels Democrats to reach out to married parents on the issue of cultural influences upon children. Dafoe Whitehead points to research showing that Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 were soundly beaten by George W. Bush among married voters with children. Kerry, in fact, trailed Bush by 19% in the married parent demographic.
On the national level then, it's not surprising that a likely 2008 presidential contender such as Hillary Clinton has taken early steps to seize the moral high ground on the issue. Around the country, much of the high profile video game legislation is also being pushed by Democrats.
In North Carolina, State Senator Julia Boseman is sponsoring SB2, which limits sales of violent or obscene games to minors. In Illinois and Michigan, Democratic Governors Rod Blagojevich and Jennifer Granholm, respectively, have been stumping for similar legislation. In California, the driving force has been Assembly Speaker Leland Yee, while in Washington State, Representative Mary Lou Dickerson has sponsored a pair of bills to restrict video game sales to minors EDITOR'S NOTE: Dickerson's bills are very poorly constructed. Democrats have also been behind video game bills in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
What does all of this mean?
Democrats, still reeling from a poorly run 2004 presidential campaign, are trying to pick themselves up off the mat and reconnect with the electorate. Not that Republicans are any better. The party that cynically used the gay marriage issue to get a right wing ideologue reelected President in 2004 is starting to catch on to the idea that there are votes to be had in the video game issue. In Michigan, for example, Republicans have jumped on the legislative bandwagon, lest their Democratic rivals gain the upper hand. In the end, it's politics as usual, the cynical manipulation of an issue in pursuit of power.
Steel yourself gamers. Your favorite hobby is about to become a political football.7:08p
For the government of Bangladesh, however, the SOCOM series is a little too realistic. An article posted on News From Bangladesh reveals how the government in Dhaka objected to the impoverished nation's inclusion as a setting for missions in the upcoming SOCOM III. An unnamed spokesman for the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs threatened to sue Sony Computer Entertainment America if Bangladesh was not removed from SOCOM III. The official is quoted as saying:
"Sony has no doubt intended to malign Bangladesh. We expect that the company will drop the name of Bangladesh before the launch of the game."
The president of the Internet Service Providers' Association of Bangladesh, Akteruzzaman Manju, further denounced SOCOM III as "tech-terrorism...Sony should seek apology as it will never be able to prove that Bangladesh is, or was, a terrorist country."
In the wake of the dust-up, Sony has caved in to the pressure from Bangladesh. A GameSpot report confirms that all Bangladesh references will be removed from the final version of the game. SOCOM 3, originally scheduled for August release, will apparently be delayed until the Fall in order to make the necessary changes.
Ironically, while SCEA folded like a Wal-Mart tent under modest pressure from a third-world nation, 
the South Asia Terrorism Portal reports that as late as 2003 Bangladesh was a safe haven for Al Qaeda operatives. The SATP also referenced a report in Time Magazine indicating that Islamist extremists in Bangladesh might be attempting to make a radioactive "dirty" bomb. Moreover, a 2004 Time report reads in part:
"Making the violence more toxic is the spread of a brand of intolerant Islamic fundamentalism in a country with a history of religious tolerance..."
Time also reports that Bangladesh has suffered at least 21 major bombings since 1999, claiming 158 lives, and that some in Bangladesh are committed to establishing a Taliban-style government. In fact, the U.S. State Department has issued a safety and security warning that remains current, citing concern over threats to American citizens from "extremists."
The obvious question for SCEA and other game publishers is, where will this all end? What if Morocco and Poland, two other nations depicted in SOCOM 3 decide they don't like being associated with terrorist missions, either? What if the city of New York objected to being the setting for Max Payne because it made the Big Apple look too crime-ridden? Or if Tokyo decided speeding through its streets in Ridge Racer might make people think twice about driving on Japanese highways? Or San Francisco objected to players recreating its famous earthquake in Sim City 4?
SCEA and other publishers need to be sensitive, of course. But in this case, there is certainly enough evidence to make a terrorist setting in Bangladesh plausible. Game companies need to make a stand, support the research and creative vision of their developers, and not cave in to ridiculous bouts of political correctness. Think about it. If the entire nation of Bangladesh boycotted the PlayStation 2, would that have a noticeable impact on Sony's bottom line?
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