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Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
...Jack Thompson seems to think so. And he is trying to convince a Florida court that he is right.
Time
Event
8:15a
And all this time we thought it was Miami...
An article in the Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal reports that the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) and some cooperative businesses have made Minneapolis the "national headquarters for a campaign to expose the negative effects videogames can have on children."
The Minneapolis-based NIMF, of course, was deeply involved in the dust-up surrounding the recent Hot Coffee Scandal. NIMF issued a "national parental alert" when Hot Coffee first went mainstream in early July. The organization's director, Dr. David Walsh (at left), appeared with Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) when she called for an FTC investigation of GTA: San Andreas and promised to introduce legislation clamping down on video game sales to minors.
In the near future NIMF plans to launch a research project that will study the amount of time kids spend watching TV, playing video games, or using computers. NIMF's says the organization's mission is to use research, education and advocacy to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm that media can have on children and families.
Corporate sponsors include Cargill, which contributed $300,000 to the study. Other business allies include Target, Jim Pagliarini, president and CEO of Twin Cities Public Television; and David Page, CEO of Fairview Health Services. The institute is technically a division of Fairview, which helped found NIMF a decade ago.
"I think [people] know we're leading the charge, but I don't think the general public knows that it's the synergy between a public-health nonprofit and responsible businesses that is having an impact," Walsh told The Business Journal.
In addition to its hefty donation, Cargill plans to involve employees in its Cedar Rapids, Iowa facility in part of the NIMF research project. At the beginning of the school year, NIMF will begin evaluating screen time and food intake of kids in Cedar Rapids and Lakeville, MN. The Lakeville portion of the research will be sponsored by Medica and Fairview
"The idea is to present positive activities and alternatives...and promote physical fitness," said Blois Olson, president of Minneapolis-based New School Communications, NIMF's P.R. firm. "If the needle moves at all, it will be the first [research] of its kind in the world."9:32a
Can a video game constitute a public nuisance in the same way that a brothel or a rowdy bar might? Miami attorney Jack Thompson, the self-described "anti-game crusader" thinks so, and has petitioned a Florida court to block sales of Rockstar's upcoming Bully on that basis.
In a document filed with the court, Thompson argues that Bully "will be used by school-age children to rehearse varying levels of retributive violence in their schools, and that there will be a heightened likelihood that such retributive violence will occur in the Miami-Dade schools as a result...Plaintiff has, in writing, asked the defendants not to sell Bully...The defendants refuse to respond to this plea. Once the game Bully is released to the public, 'the horse will be out of the barn' and it will be too late to close the door...Sales...of Bully will constitute a public nuisance, because the sale of this game will..."tend to annoy the community or injure the health of the community, or become manifestly injurious to the morals or manners of the people."
The "defendants" mentioned in Thompson's brief include retailers Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, GameStop, Circuit City and Toys'R'Us. GamePolitics e-mailed Thompson requesting additional information. The attorney indicated that the petition was filed with the 11th Circuit Court (Miami-Dade County) this morning, but declined further comment.1:14p
The game is Bully, Rockstar's next controverial product. Thompson's petition to the court frames it as a "public nuisance," a term that might describe a brothel, or a rowdy bar.
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If you're reading this via RSS, you might not be able to access the poll since it is on a portion of the site that is not syndicated. Simply hop over to www.GamePolitics.com. The poll is on the right side.7:19p
A press release issued earlier today by the American Psychological Association took a shot at violent video games.
The APA explained that it had adopted a resolution recommending a reduction in the level of violence in games marketed to children and youth. The policy decision was adopted at the recommendation of a special committee empaneled to study violence in games and interactive media.
"Showing violent acts without consequences teach youth that violence is an effective means of resolving conflict. Whereas, seeing pain and suffering as a consequence can inhibit aggressive behavior," said, psychologist Elizabeth Carll, PhD, (at left) co-chair of the committee responsible for the APA report.
"Violence in video games appear to have similar negative effects as viewing violence on TV, but may be more harmful because of the interactive nature of video games, Carll added. "Playing video games involves practice, repetition, and being rewarded for numerous acts of violence, which may intensify the learning. This may also result in more realistic experiences which may potentially increase aggressive behavior."
The video game industry was quick to respond. ESA President Doug Lowenstein issued a statement saying, in part, "...the APA has made it clear over a long period of time that it believes violent video games are harmful and thus justify enactment of unconstitutional restrictions on First Amendment freedoms. The APA continues to disregard a body of other credible research and analysis...which challenge claims that video games cause aggression or crime...In fact, just this week, a researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign released the first long-term study on the effects of playing violent online video games and found that they do not cause any substantial real-world aggression. Nary a word of it is mentioned by the APA..."
EDITOR'S NOTE: The confusing, swirling morass of research continues to swirl...and confuse. It seems that whatever your position in this debate, there is a study - or studies - to support it. Where is the definitive research? Perhaps Senator Clinton's proposed $90 million study will be the answer.8:49p
As reported on GameSpot and elsewhere, Atari is taking heat over Mark Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. The issue is graffiti, and there's plenty of it in Getting Up, as the game's tagger seeks to become the best graffiti artist in the game's fictional city, New Radius.
Some are concerned that young players will be influenced to create graffiti of their own.
"The idea that the main character in this game is some sort of hero is simply Atari's ridiculous way to try to put a positive spin on a game that is about destroying property," said Timothy Kephart, described by GameSpot as "a self-professed graffiti expert."
Ray Empson, president of Keep America Beautiful criticizes Atari for promoting Getting Up as a game that glorifies a "graffiti artist with the street smarts, athletic prowess and vision to become an 'All City King' -- the most reputable of all graffiti artists."
Keep America Beautiful, and the National Council to Prevent Delinquency are warning about increased vandalism when the PS2 version launches next month. The groups would like the ESRB to rate the game with "the most restrictive rating possible," and have requested that the ESRB's Advertising Review Council "sanction Atari...on the grounds that the game violates the ARC principle that 'all advertisements should be created with a sense of responsibility toward the public.'"
GameSpot issued an update from Atari which read, in part, "Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure provides fun, innovative, and challenging game-play...the focus of the game is on expression through art; the hero is typically equipped with only paint, and never guns...Just as popular films and television shows present fictionalized entertainment...that may be exaggerated versions of 'real-life' people or events, video games such as Getting Up provide amusement and escape in a fantasy world where players can vicariously experience different lifestyles and mock activities."
This is not the first criticism Getting Up has taken. GamePolitics reported on a similar situation on May 12th. At that time it was San Francisco's Graffiti Advisory Board doing the complaining. A few years back a graffiti-themed Dreamcast game, Jet Grind Radio, took similar heat. No video game-inspired wave of graffiti developed, however.
And besides, what GamePolitics saw of Getting Up at E3 was pretty unimpressive.
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