Codell Rodriguez
Daily Egyptian
Something that's been bugging me for a long time is where the blame goes whenever some stupid kid decides to shoot up his school or commits some other random act of violence. It seems the blame quickly goes to movies or video games. It especially pisses me off when the blame goes to video games.
When Columbine happened, fingers seemed to be drawn magnetically to games like "Doom," which puts the gamer in the eyes of the protagonist as he blasts through legions of imps and demons using chain guns, shotguns and other pleasant weapons.
The question that comes up from these games is whether they have a negative influence on children. I think the answer is that they can. The deciding factor is how the parents handle their children. One of my favorite games is "Grand Theft Auto III" for Playstation 2. The game puts you in the role of an escaped convict as he goes around a fictional city doing odd jobs for different mafia organizations. Most of these jobs include car jacking.
But video game violence is in no way a new issue. As far as I know, it has existed since the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. But maybe video games do encourage children to commit horrible acts against humanity. So join me now as I take a look at video games through history and how they have influenced children to maim and kill, sometimes while under the influence.
The Early Days
In some ways, "Pac-Man" was one of the worst influences on children. The guy eats little dots to get by, but when he gets a hold of the "power pellets," he goes on a psychotic rampage, killing all these people he thinks are ghosts.
Then, there was "Galaga." This game taught children to shoot first, ask questions later. If you think about it, those aliens were not even shooting at your ship. Maybe they just wanted some tasty peanut butter cups because they are the one delicacy their planet doesn't have. This is a horrible poster boy for foreign policy. But perhaps President Bush would like to see a resurrection of this game.
The Italian Plumber Era
This may be hard to believe, but I actually saw a news program back in the day that asked children if "Super Mario Bros." influenced them to commit acts of violence.
After snacking on shrooms, Mario, who is a fat plumber, can suddenly leap 12 to 15 feet and jump on strange fiends with derogatory Italian epithets, like Goombas. His brother, Luigi, did the same. This kind of fun just isn't right.
However, games like "N.A.R.C." taught kids to stay off drugs. In this game, the player assumes the role of a bad-ass narcotics officer who must venture out on the mean streets, unloading submachine guns and rocket launchers on drug dealers. But on some levels, you could just run over them with a really nice car. The lesson is: use whatever means necessary to rid the streets of drugs, even if it means killing everyone who uses them.
The bloody mid '90s
At first, it seemed the wholesome Super Nintendo would put an end to video game violence. Then "Mortal Kombat" invaded arcades. The one-on-one fighting game let digitized characters fight two rounds of bloody goodness. At the end, the winner got the opportunity to finish off their opponents in a brutal and over-the-top manner such as ripping off someone's head with his spine still attached.
This game made politicians and concerned parents all across the nation crap their pants in fear that America's youth would start ripping off their friends' heads with sheer physical strength.
This also brought about the rating system that told parents what age group the game was appropriate for and why.
Up to Present Day
Companies seem to be trying to tone down video games because of outcries coming from Columbine. But Rockstar Games doesn't want to pull any punches with games such "Grand Theft Auto III" and "State of Emergency," which pits the gamer in the middle of a riot where they must loot and kill. Don't worry, the latter of the games sucked.
With video games becoming more and more realistic, the threat of blame is becoming more and more imminent. How can the blame be taken off video games? Simple. Don't let any kids under 18 buy "Mature" games. Some stores are already doing this. If this is enforced, nobody can be blamed but the stores and the parents.
But, realistically, video games can't be the root of all youth corruption.
I grew up with games like "Mortal Kombat," and I turned out just fine. I mean, whenever I ripped my friends' heads off, the spine never even came out.
Codell Rodriguez can be reached at crodriguez@dailyegyptian.com.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
