Craig Ferguson (left), host of the Late Late Show on CBS, has a great monologue on the GTA IV controversy.
Kotaku has the video…
GP: Thanks to GamePolitics correspondent Andrew Eisen for the heads-up.
A Conservative Member of Parliament has pointed to mature-themed video games as contributing to a surge in juvenile crime in the UK, particularly among girls.
As reported by the Daily Mail, MP David Ruffley (left) said:
Selling 18+ rated violent computer games such as Grand Theft Auto IV to underage children is more likely when many retailers have no fear of being caught, as my figures demonstrate.
This poor enforcement of the law is damaging to children. But I’m not surprised when officers are overwhelmed by a colossal amount of red tape.
The figures Ruffley referred to indicated that, nationwide, only eight fines had been imposed for selling mature-themed games to minors in 2006, the last year for which data is available.
Via: Next Generation
As expected, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into a law a bill providing financial incentives to movies, TV shows, commercials, music videos and game developers.
As reported by the Duluth Weekly, Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner of the Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office, said:
The 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act… will return Georgia to its rightful place of prominence in all major entertainment industry segments.
We expect a significant increase in film and television projects, and Georgia will be the most competitive state in the country for video game productions. Georgia is one of the few states whose entertainment incentives support the video game industry.
GP: Cool GTA parody graphic, no? We found this several years ago accompanying a political commentary slamming Gov. Perdue, who is depicted on the right side of the box. Since we can’t take any credit for creating this neat-o graphic in the first place, we won’t be taking the heat for misspelling “Georgia” either….
Since the April 29th launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, fans have been scouring the game for Easter Eggs, those secret items tucked away by game designers and prized by fans.
One persistent claim is that GTA IV’s Statue of Happiness, the game’s take on the real-life Statue of Liberty, bears the face of Hillary Clinton. Senator Clinton, of course, was the leading political critic of the Hot Coffee scandal which surrounded the last major release in the series, GTA San Andreas. You can compare the images and decide for yourself.
We’ve also heard that the tablet held by the statue makes reference to Hillary, but we’ve not seen proof of this yet. Perhaps we should grab a chopper in-game and check this out…
We are currently in the process of moving to a completely redesigned GamePolitics site as well as to a different host, RackSpace.
To go with our new look, we’ll have more capacity to handle the increased reader traffic and a better, cleaner interface. We’ve tried to incorporate feedback from GP readers into the new design. So, yes, you will be able to edit your comments!
This could happen tonight, possibly tomorrow. So if we experience a little downtime, please bear with us…
Last week GamePolitics reported on HR5990, a new piece of video game legislation proposed in Congress by Reps. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Jim Matheson (D-UT).
Also known as the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act, the bill would require retailers to check ID for buyers of M-rated games.
The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) has issued an action alert on this bill. ECA members and non-members alike can click here to voice their thoughts about HR5990 to their congressional representative. From the action alert:
HR 5990, the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act, is another Congressional attempt to unconstitutionally regulate the sale of video games. If it’s passed, the federal courts will find it unconstitutional – and at great expense to taxpayers.
By raising our voices now, we can let Congress know that we, as taxpayers and constituents, would rather they use their time and our money to discuss more pressing issues such as the war in Iraq, universal healthcare and the national economy.
GP: Readers may find it worth noting that Rep. Terry alleged that in some games players earn points by committing rape. However in an exclusive interview with GamePolitics, the Congressman admitted that he could not name a single game which featured rape.
Rep. Terry was also unaware of last week’s Federal Trade Commission report which showed that game retailers were successful 80% of the time in turning away underage buyers. Rep. Terry instead was relying on 2003 data in which retailers had only a 31% turn-away rate.
Full Disclosure Dept: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics…
Recently GamePolitics reported that Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) had called upon the Federal Trade Commission to issue a parental alert regarding online game Second Life.
A local political blog has more, written from a decidely pro-Kirk perspective:
As usual, Congressman Kirk was extremely impressive… He began the interview by talking about his concern over the Internet alternate universe of “Second Life,” which Kirk views as an uncontrolled and fertile ground for Internet predators due to insufficient age controls and restrictions.
A lot of people are paying attention to this important issue, and this week I have read numerous pieces, mostly on the blogs, that seem to be either strongly supportive of Kirk’s efforts, or strongly against Kirk’s stand. Among those who support Kirk are parents…
The ones who are critical of Kirk fall mainly into two camps: first, people who are either big fans of Second Life or similar games, or are somehow involved in the Internet gaming industry (and thus seem to be very defensive against what they perceive as government over-regulation); and, second, the usual anti-Kirk crowd who dismiss this as a political stunt.
Kirk spoke about Second Life on a local TV news program:
Parents should be worried about one of the fastest growing websites on the planet called Second Life. It’s the next level up from MySpace, a fully interactive 3-D experience… I’m worried that they don’t properly screen for children…
I contacted Second Life to say maybe we should have some minimum standards here but they responded by sending their $60,000 a year K Street lobbyist to tell me everything was okay…
GP: Who can argue with with protecting children from predators? On the other hand, we have to wonder how much of a problem this really is on Second Life. It’s certainly not the most action-oriented game going and would seemingly have little attraction for younger players. Perhaps some of our SL-savvy readers will weigh with their thoughts on this issue.
As GamePolitics has previously reported, Take Two Interactive sued the Chicago Transit Authority in U.S. District Court over the CTA’s recent decision to pull advertisements for Grand Theft Auto IV from its vehicles and facilities.
GP has obtained a copy of the lawsuit and you can grab it here (43-page pdf). From the complaint:
Take-Two’s GTA IV advertisments promote an entirely lawful, mainstream entertainment product enjoyed by millions of Americans…
Defendants [CTA and ad company Titan Outdoor] are state actors. The advertising space that CTA maintains on Chicago’s mass transit system is a public forum. CTA and its agents… for years have displayed a wide variety of political and issue-oriented… messages…
The removal of the [GTA IV] advertisments… followed a report by the local Fox News affiliate questioning why CTA allowed advertising for an “M” rated video game in light of a recent wave of violent crimes in Chicago… The Governor of Illinois has previously criticized other games in the Grand Theft Auto series… Neither the recent crimes nor the Governor’s personal views on video games permitted CTA or Titan to violate Take-Two’s constitutional and contractual rights…
An 11-year-old Kentucky boy sold his bicycle and his video game collection in order to raise money for Senator Hillary Clinton’s flagging presidential campaign, according to the Associated Press.
Dalton Hatfield presented a check for $440 to former president Bill Clinton on Friday following a campaign rally in West Virginia:
“You sold your bike to get this?” [President] Clinton asked the McAndrews, Ky. native…
Hatfield feels so strongly that Hillary Clinton should be the next president he not only sold his bicycle, but video games and anything else he could find that “I could make money with” to donate to the former first lady’s bid for the Democratic nomination.
In the latest media whinge about GTA IV, syndicated columnist Susan Estrich (left), who ran Michael Dukakis’ ill-fated 1988 presidential campaign, criticizes some of the game’s non-interactive plot elements:
From what I’ve heard about the ending… In one version, so I’m told, your cousin and his bride die in a drive-by shooting at their wedding. In another, your girlfriend gets killed…
GP: In the celebrated film The Godfather, Sonny Corleone is gunned down at a toll booth. Michael Corleone’s first wife Appollonia, is blown up by a car bomb. The Godfather himself is badly wounded in an assassination attempt. And yet Michael carries on.
These are dramatic devices which advance the story. Why shouldn’t a game feature such plot turns? Does Ms. Estrich understand that the player doesn’t control these non-interactive cut scenes? Or would Estrich chastise the video game medium for employing the same dramatic license extended to cinema?
It’s also interesting to note that, while Estrich’s son (age unspecified) apparently enjoys GTA IV, she’s worried about everyone else’s kid:
There’s no question that our reviews of the latest in this infamous series are not in sync. [My son] thinks it’s a great new game…
It’s not my son I’m really worried about. He does well in school, follows the important rules and generally gets bored with most video games before they get in the way of life. It’s his generation, the generation that he is going to grow up in and live with, full of kids who take this stuff for granted and spend more time with it than with real life, that worries me.
GP: Estrich comes off as both out of touch and two-faced here. And, while we had previously noted Estrich’s column, our old pal Jack Thompson informed us that she was once Dukasis’ campaign manager.
Writing for Slate, Sudhir Venkatesh, a professor of sociology and African-American studies at Columbia University and the author of Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets, discusses the portrayal of underworld relationships in Grand Theft Auto IV:
I found that Grand Theft Auto actually offered a less sensational portrait of gangland and ghetto streets than the one put out by most cops, politicians, policymakers, and even academics. There is nuance in the game that exceeds most of the conventional portraits of American cities…
Not that I’m suggesting that we turn to GTA IV to solve the gang problem… The game is a carnival of violence, deceit, and cruelty that makes you slightly nauseated after playing for only a few hours… But I have to admit that I was surprised a video game had such a well-developed, fine-grained understanding of human nature.
The game’s success can be traced to a simple principle: Niko Bellic, the protagonist who roams around Liberty City, making his way in the world by building relationships… the point is that a lone wolf can’t survive. Niko has to take a risk and trust somebody…
The New Yorker serves up a video which details how THQ’s hit strategy game Full Spectrum Warrior was modified to help Iraq War veterans deal with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
The video accompanies an six-page article by Sue Halpern in the May 19th issue. Halpern also narrates the video. From the article:
Most P.T.S.D. therapies that we’ve seen don’t seem to be working, so what’s the harm in dedicating some money to R. & D. that might prove valuable?” Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said last November.
In January, his group issued a lengthy report called “Mental Health Injuries: The Invisible Wounds of War,” which cited research suggesting that “multiple tours and inadequate time at home between deployments increase rates of combat stress by 50%.”
Rieckhoff went on, “I’m not someone who responds to sitting with some guy, talking about my whole life. I’m going to go in and talk to some dude who doesn’t understand my shit and talk about my mom? I’m the worst of that kind of guy. So V.R. therapy, maybe it will work. We’re a video-game generation. It’s what we grew up on. So maybe we’ll respond to it.”
Last week GamePolitics reported on a controversial copyright protection scheme which Electronic Arts was planning to institute on the upcoming PC version of Mass Effect as well as on Will Wright’s long-awaited Spore.
The proposed SecuROM scheme would require periodic re-validations following initial activation. PC gamers were not happy, to say the least. Apparently that consumer discontent got some attention, at least at BioWare. In a message posted on a BioWare forum, community manager Jay Watamaniuk announced the good news:
There has been a lot of discussion in the past few days on how the security requirements for Mass Effect for PC will work. BioWare, a division of EA, wants to let fans know that Mass Effect will not require 10-day periodic re-authentication.
BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.
The solution being implemented for Mass Effect for the PC changes copy protection from being key disc based, which requires authentication every time you play the game by requiring a disc in the drive, to a one time online authentication. This system has an added benefit of allowing players to seamlessly play the game without needing the DVD in the drive.
UPDATE: Mike Doolittle of GameCritics wonders why PC gamers hate DRM.
Via: GameDaily
GP: Thanks to longtime GamePolitics reader Black Manta for the heads-up!
With the ESA facing defections from both its membership and the upcoming E3 Expo, Gamecock CEO Mike Wilson (left) has tossed his hat into the ring as a potential replacement for embattled ESA boss Michael Gallagher.
It’s all tongue-in-cheek, of course. Wilson is known for his over-the-top P.R. tactics. Game Informer reports on Wilson’s remarks:
I read last week that some… are not happy with the current administration of the ESA, and many of them apparently feel that I am the right man to right the ship, before it sinks entirely, due to my intimate experience with, or at least near, the E3 Expos in the past.
After a long conversation with my wife, Melissa, who was the E3 funeral director in Santa Monica last year, we have decided to step forward and bear the slings and arrows of public life this election season. Coincidentally, my campaign HQ will be housed at the lovely Hotel Figueroa this year, during the [E3] days of July 15-18…
God Bless America. We’re Just Sayin.
Be sure to check out the video which accompanies the Game Informer story.
Electronic Arts issued a press release late yesterday announcing that it had secured a line of credit of up to a billion dollars to fund its hostile takeover bid for Take-Two Interactive.
The money will come from Morgan Stanley, the Bank of Nova Scotia and several other financial institutions.
With GP challenged by balancing his checkbook, we turned to Wedbush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter (left), who explained what EA is up to:
It is something that should be expected. After [the acquisition of] Pandemic/BioWare, EA has only around $1.7 billion in available cash… The Take-Two deal is around $2.1 billion… so they’re short. They also probably need around $400 million in available cash for working capital needs, so they need to raise around $800 million to complete the deal. The extra $200 million is just a cushion, although I suppose it could be construed as how much higher they’re willing to go [for Take-Two]…
The timing isn’t particularly unusual, a bit later than I would have thought, as they should have started the process on March 13 (when they went hostile). However, I have no experience in credit markets like we’re experiencing now, so maybe it’s normal to take 8 weeks to get something like this done. It’s also possible that they waited for their new CFO [Eric Brown] to start in order to allow him to negotiate terms…
I would not read any significance into the filing, other than to say that if they want to raise their offer price [for Take Two], they will likely need a higher credit line…
An exclusive GamePolitics interview with Rep. Lee Terry (R) demonstrates that the Nebraska Congressman, co-sponsor of a new video game ratings enforcement bill, has a grasp on some video game rating issues, yet a flawed understanding of others.
As reported earlier this week by GamePolitics, Terry and Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) introduced the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act. If approved, the bill would mandate that game retailers check IDs of mature-rated game buyers. The measure would also require that information detailing the rating system be posted in view of customers. Terry spoke to GP about the proposal:
This is a rather simple bill in that it focuses on making sure that retailers ID young folks when they try to buy an M or A[O] rated game. And this is kind of my approach instead of trying to micromanage by legislation the standards or content…
What we’d rather do is just make sure that parents are empowered with information, what the standards really mean and then what’s specifically in that game and then to make sure that retailers don’t subvert the parent’s decision… If they don’t want their child to have an M-rated game, the retailers don’t sell it to them…
Based on the timing of the new legislation, we asked Terry whether it was planned to coincide with the intense publicity surrounding the April 29th release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Terry, however, maintained that the timing was purely coincidental:
As a matter of fact, I almost thought about waiting another week or two. I will have to take some responsibility. Mr. Matheson brought this to me several months ago and… it kind of got pushed to the back burner. So it was more coincidental… but [the GTA IV hype] probably did heighten the scrutiny of the bill within the press, which is a positive thing. But we did not wait until Grand Theft Auto IV came out to drop the bill. That was coincidental.
Oddly enough, the Terry-Matheson bill, which addresses video game rating enforcement, was introduced on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the Federal Trade Commission’s latest report gave glowing marks to the video game industry for its retail ratings enforcement. Terry, however, was clearly not acquainted with the results of the FTC report, citing 69% as the rate at which FTC secret shoppers were able to purchase M-rated games. That figure, however, is from the FTC’s 2003 survey. In 2006 the number dropped to 42%. Yesterday’s figure was an impressive 20%. We asked Terry about the FTC report: Read the rest of this entry »
Next Generation is reporting GTA IV glitches on the PlayStation 3 version.
Joystiq notes that, despite Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick’s assertion that the game has no glitches, a PS3 patch has been released.
Today’s Mirror reports:
Internet forums dedicated to the game have been flooded with complaints from buyers.
Hundreds of posts claim the £44.99 game does not work properly on the Sony PlayStation 3 console or on Microsoft’s Xbox 360. And a HMV stores spokesman said: “We have had people come back to us saying that their game has been freezing.”
Others say they cannot play it on the net because online servers are jammed.
Personally, I’ve gotten to 16.05% through the game (GTA IV tracks this) and have had no problems in either single or multiplayer using the Xbox 360 version. But you can’t discount so many glitch reports. As a consumer, it makes me wonder about some of those perfect review scores…
As GamePolitics reported last month, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson (left) appealed a decision by the US 8th Circuit Court which held that a lower court was correct in ruling the state’s 2006 “fine the buyer” video game law unconstitutional.
In her appeal, Swanson was seeking what is known as an en banc review of the case, in which all of the 8th Circuit’s judges would review the decision made by a three-judge panel in March.
GamePolitics has now learned that the 8th Circuit has declined to hold the en banc review. This means that the only legal recourse available to Minnesota is an appeal to the US Supreme Court.
If that happens, it will be the first time that the Supreme Court has considered a case involving video game legislation. Making this possibility especially intriguing are comments made by Justice Antonin Scalia to Law of Play’s Anthony Prestia in February of this year:
Justice Scalia replied that he did believe such legislation was constitutional. He began by explaining his belief that sound constitutional precedent holds that minors may be subjected to prohibitions that adults are not – he instantly drew the parallel to regulation of pornography sales…
Justice Scalia did not suggest that violent and/or sexual content in games rises to the level of unprotected speech. In fact, he did not even suggest that video games themselves are not protected by the First Amendment…
We’ve got a call in to A.G. Swanson’s office to see whether an appeal to the Supreme Court is planned. In the meantime, you can view the 8th Circuit’s denial of Minnesota’s en banc request.
Taking the Parents Television Council up on an interview offer, Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star spoke with Dan Isett (left), PTC Director of Public Policy about Grand Theft Auto IV.
Along with a number of other watchdog groups, the PTC has been highly critical of GTA IV in recent days. Villarreal, however, reports that Isett’s knowledge of what is actually in the game is a bit lacking:
Isett: I’ve actually played ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’ and it’s right in keeping with previous versions. The series continues to lower the bar and this is the first game that has an alcohol content warning. You get points for driving drunk in this game.
Villarreal: You know that’s not true, right? The game doesn’t have points.
Isett: If nothing else, it’s a rewarded activity. Necessary for advancement.
Villarreal: I don’t think so.
Isett: But there’s an alcohol content warning and a scene of drunk driving, correct?
Villarreal: Yes. Did you play that part?
Isett: No, no. I didn’t get that far…
Politicians just can’t seem to get it right, so attorney and avid gamer Mark Methenitis, who pens the excellent Law of the Game blog, has written a guide for elected officials with a yen to legislate games.
Why? Methenitis explains:
I’m not opposed to keeping things out of the hands of kids that their parents don’t want them to have. On the other hand, I’m also not opposed to letting the parents make the choices. About the only thing I am opposed to is letting the government decide what I or my eventual kids can play. I am an adult, and I can make those decisions for myself and for my children when I become a parent.
Methenitis pens a nine-point plan. Hit the Law of the Game for the details, we’ll just summarize:
1. Forget the idea that you’re only regulating games.
2. Use the industry’s rating systems.
3. Forget ‘banning’ anything.
4. Forget basing this on obscenity or harm to children. Use commerce.
5. Forget the ‘AO’ rating for games.
6. Enforce it only on products that have to be sold to those over 17.
7. Enforce it only on sales to those who can’t present ID or present fake ID.
8. This should be a fine only offense, and only a fine against the store.
9. Once it’s done, leave it alone.
GP: While we don’t agree with everything Methenitis has to say here, it’s definitely a worthwhile read.
Thanks to: GP correspondent Andrew Eisen for the heads-up!
