In a commentary for WorldNetDaily, singer Pat Boone frets that video games are part of a social upheaval which will cost America its very soul:

[While the presidential race takes place], there's another campaign in full swing, one perhaps even more crucial, one that will certainly determine the future of our country. One that will determine the direction and morality of our young. One that quite possibly will cost America its soul.

 

It's the campaign, in the world of entertainment to absolutely throw off every restraint, abandon every moral guideline, exploit every taboo and be free to portray and present anything human beings are capable of. In prime time and full color and without any regard for the sensibilities of parents or ministers or censors, or anybody else. On TV, in movies, in music even and especially in video games.

 

Target? Our young, virtually every age from grade school through college. The next generation – our future.

It seems that Boone serves on the board of watchdog group the Parents Television Council, a frequent critic of video game content. And while he singles out video games as especially worrisome, he mentions nary a one in his column, focusing instead on TV shows like Gossip Girl, Nip/Tuck and Sex and the City.

The good news is that Boone has a suggestion. If modern media content troubles you, just wind the clock back, oh, 70 years or so and listen to old radio shows:

Many adults, fed up completely... are doing the logical thing: tuning out and turning off. My friends Ed and Jean Lubin, whose three kids are mostly grown and on their own now, just told me they're spending their evenings out on their patio listening to old radio shows! Classic shows like "The Green Hornet," "The Lone Ranger," "Fibber McGee and Molly," "Abbot and Costello," "Jack Benny," dramatic and comedic and music shows from a time when entertainment was just that – entertainment...

GP: Gosh, he hardly sounds out of touch at all.

What's really ironic is that on the album pictured here, Boone sings lounge lizard arrangements of tunes like Alice Cooper's No More Mr. Nice Guy. Now, when Boone still actually had something of a career in the mid-70's, Alice Cooper was regarded by the mainstream much as Marilyn Manson is today.

Today's Washington Post reports that a wave of user-created video game art is taking over office windows in the nation's capital.

Princess Zelda, Ms. Pac-Man and Mario are just some of the game characters decorating windows along Vermont Avenue.

What's it all about? From the WaPo:

Amy Crosby and some co-workers were charmed by [Laura] Elliott's Pac-Man... Crosby put up some Pac-Man fruit with Post-its. It was a fun workday break, said Crosby..."Suddenly, it started to have a domino effect, floor to floor, building to building," Smith said. "Now it's made its way down the street."

 

Crosby speculates that more than 40 windows along that block of Vermont are now festooned with Pac-Man references, Marios, Space Invaders, Froggers, many putting Elliott's original design to shame. Some extend floor to ceiling and incorporate several colors.

 

It might be a symptom of raging urban ennui on Vermont Avenue, but there's nothing that deep about it. In fact, just the opposite: "Every now and then, even in D.C., you've got to lighten up and enjoy life a little bit," Smith says. "Maybe it'll even make it to the White House window."

Do turban-wearers provoke subconscious prejudice against Muslims?

As reported by the Victoria Times-Colonist, a study conducted at the University of New South Wales in Australia suggests that Muslim-style turban are perceived as menacing. Researchers there are calling this the "turban effect". The results of the study will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. From the Times-Colonist article:

Research volunteers played a computer game that showed apartment balconies on which different figures appeared, some wearing Muslim-style turbans or hijabs and others bare-headed. They were told to shoot at the targets carrying guns and spare those who were unarmed, with points awarded accordingly.

 

People were much more likely to shoot Muslim-looking characters - men or women - even if they were carrying an innocent item instead of a weapon, the researchers found

At this point, it's unknown what game software was used for the study. Mohamed Elmasry, head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, commented on the results:

I'm hoping that Canadian Muslims one day become invisible. As such, Canadians will treat them like any others... [The research] does confirm our biggest fear that there is discrimination and prejudice within our society, and unfortunately people don't recognize it or don't admit it. Sometimes they really don't know that it does exist.

Via: Discrimination and National Security Initiative Blog

In addition to heaps of criticism, the recently released Grand Theft Auto IV has received its fair share of kudos. Game critics across the board have lauded the controversial title for everything from its impressive graphics and entertaining gameplay to the dramatic depth of its large cast and its cinema-quality story. 

With such high accolades, not to mention record-breaking sales, a movie based on the game seems like a forgone conclusion, no?

Well, no.

You see, back in ’77, Roger Corman produced a little flick called Grand Theft Auto.  The film (written, directed by, and starring Ron Howard) involves a rich girl stealing her dad’s car and running off to Vegas with her boyfriend to get married.  A $25,000 reward is offered for her safe return and suddenly everyone from the cops to the daughter's ex-boyfriend is after them.

According to LA Weekly blogger Nikki Finke, Fox Atomic currently owns the rights to the movie title Grand Theft Auto. By agreement between the parties, Take-Two can’t make a film called Grand Theft Auto and Fox can’t make a game called Grand Theft Auto.

For now, the best we can hope for is a remake or sequel to the 30-year-old, PG-rated chase film but even that’s looking unlikely.  As an insider revealed to Finke:

Yes, Fox owns the Corman movie. Yes, it has been one of 400 development projects for several years. But they are nowhere on the script. It has certainly not been a front-burner project.

Via: GameDaily

-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen is still waiting for a film version of Chibi Robo

The British government has released a six-point action plan which endorses the recommendations concerning the Internet and video games made by Dr. Tanya Byron (left) earlier this year.

Referring to Byron's work as "groundbreaking", the document says that the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown has accepted all of the child psychiatrist's recommendations. While the first four chapters of the action plan address how children relate to the Internet, the final two sections discuss how Byron's recommendations regarding video games are to be implemented.

Chapter 5, Reforming the video games classification system, notes that Byron called for a hybrid content rating system involving both the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) ratings. Byron's recommendation has generated some controversy in the UK, where the game industry strongly favors PEGI. It was the BBFC, GamePolitics readers may recall, which banned Manhunt 2 in 2007 before being overruled by England's High Court.

As it turns out, the government is delaying its decision in this regard. Instead, it will "launch a four month public consultation" beginning in July. Following this review, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will publish its plan for reforming game ratings by early next year. DMCS will also work with game rating organizations to "agree to a way forward for classifying online gaming."

Chapter 6 outlines a number of steps, including:

• raising parental awareness about video game ratings
• setting standards for providing ratings information at point-of-sale
• setting standards for parental controls by November
• setting advertising guidelines for games

GP: Overall, the action plan generates no shockwaves. The key question involving who will rate games for the UK market - PEGI, BBFC, or both - remains unresolved for now.

Get your own copy of the UK government's action plan here.

Parents and Vietnamese government officials are concerned about addiction to online games, according to a story in the Thanhnien News.

Describing an Internet cafe in Ho Chi Minh City, the report features interviews with players who are hanging out and neglecting their schoolwork:

They play online games day and night, and many ignore their studies. The phenomenon is also growing among college students, who can access the Internet in the dorms... without the supervision of their families.

A Michigan State professor has designed an online game to teach Chinese culture and language to players.

As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Yong Zhao, MSU distinguished professor of educational psychology and technology, is the creator of Zon. In the role-playing game, players try to enhance their character's social and economic status. Said Zhao:

Games are supposed to be fun and educational. This game offers a vicarious, virtual experience of China. We are here to serve the public and, in this case, to bridge the gap between China and the United States. That's the ambassador role we want to play.
 

Zon is currently free, although a subscription model is being considered.

This must be the day for apparel items which mash up Nintendo themes with November's presidential election.

Earlier today we mentioned the Mario-Luigi '08 T-shirt.

A few moments ago we stumbled upon this Obama 1up for America hat. It's offered at Leftique, which describes itself as "The boutique for Democrats."

GP: FYI, we have no affiliate relationship with either of these products.

The Fairfax County Times reports that Beer Pong, a soon-to-be-released Wii Ware title, is sparking protests by local advocacy groups.

The game's T (13+) rating has been called into question by Lisa Lombardozzi, chairman of the Greater Herndon Community Coalition. Lombardozzi, who has circulated a petition demanding a re-rating by the ESRB, told the Times:

The game encourages younger kids to emulate the patterns of college-age kids.

Gen. Arthur T. Dean, who heads the Washington, D.C.-based Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, was also critical of Beer Pong. Of the game, Dean said:

Beer pong is an activity that normalizes and encourages heavy binge drinking, shows blatant disregard for the dangers of alcohol poisoning, and can cost lives and result in injury.

 

Furthermore, promoting the video game Beer Pong in the Frat Party Games series under a Teen rating ignores the fact that many youth involved in fraternities on college campuses are not of legal drinking age and that youth as young as 13 can purchase the game under this rating.

The Northern Virginia Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving are also said to be looking into the sitiuation. Readers may recall that MADD came out strongly against the simulated drunk driving in Grand Theft Auto IV.

(GP: although, in my mind the performance hit Nico Bellic takes when drunk is a strong motivator NOT to drink & drive).

JV Games spokesman Vince Valenti responded to the criticism:

I think it's kind of funny. The game promotes the sport of beer pong. We are not advocating drinking any more than watching cartoons or watching the TV show 'Cheers,' or even going bowling or to a baseball game... if anything, you're going to be drinking less. Because you are too busy playing the game, trying to beat your opponent, to be constantly picking up a beer and drinking it.

We noticed this T-shirt at Think Geek and, well, since it's Election Year and this is GamePolitics, we just had to mention it.

All I can say is that my choice in November just got a lot more complicated...

Author Salman Rushdie, who has been dodging a fatwa ever since outraging the Islamic community with his 1988 book The Satanic Verses, mentioned video games during a recent appearance on The Colbert Report.

RUSHDIE: ...I think the only good sign is that a lot of the younger generation in Muslim countries really wants that change. So maybe they will bring it.

 

COLBERT: What can we do to help? Can we send them video games?

 

RUSHDIE: I think video games, YouTube, you know, these are the things that will change the world. Because when people see what garbage everybody else is consuming, they want it too.

A bit of a backhanded compliment, no? But still...

Via: Kotaku

While there is no indication that video games played any role in Sunday's murderous rampage in Tokyo's high-tech Akihabara district, UK newspaper The Times reports that Tomohiro Kato, the 25-year-old killer (incongruously flashing the peace sign in photo at left), was into Japan's otaku scene:

Mr Kato appears to have led the average life of a young Japanese man from a small, provincial town... Perhaps most strikingly, he appears to have shared with tens of thousands of young Japanese men a passion for Akihabara and its maze of shops and boutiques that helped create Japan’s otaku stereotype.

 

Originally, the word otaku referred to a sub-class of youth culture which focused on the minutiae of various hobbies – everything from manga comics and video games to model robots and animated pornography. More recently, however, the otaku phenomenon has gone mainstream...

Meanwhile the Guardian reports:

In his middle school graduation yearbook, he describes his personality as "crooked" and his favourite word as "destiny". The entry, written entirely in English, is accompanied by a sketch of a character from the role-playing videogame Tales of Destiny.

 

Like many of the people who witnessed his attack, he was obsessed with manga comics and video games.

Tales of Destiny, the only game thus far associated with Kato, is a T-rated RPG, hardly the stuff of which sensationalist appearances on Fox News are made. Moreover, the killer's final series of text messages don't contain any video game references.

GP: Also, let's not forget that this clearly demented person, is 25 - not an impressionable adolescent. Then again, as I've written before, the "blame the games" mentality typically kicks in on any high-profile rampage committed by a person under 30.

UPDATE: The Sydney Morning Herald quotes Japanese criminal psychiatrist Akira Sakuta:

One of the biggest problems in Japan is young people like Kato don't know how to communicate with each other or express their feelings. Stress and lack of parental affection cause them to retreat and, sometimes, to explode. This case seems to me to have been an example of 'indirect suicide' – by killing so many other people I imagine Kato is looking for the death penalty himself.

This video uses the music from Bright Eyes' When The President Talks to God to parody anti-game activist Jack Thompson.

The new lyrics were penned by Super Columbine Massacre RPG creator Danny Ledonne and singer/guitarist Cory Antiel, who performs the song.

Here's a great video from Super Deluxe for frustrated WoW widows...

Via: Los Angeles Times

While libraries and church groups are increasingly turning to video game events in order to attract teens, such get-togethers may have copyright implications, according to the School Library Journal.

Check out this Q&A posted yesteday:

Q. Lots of school and public libraries are hosting gaming tournaments, featuring popular video games like Guitar Hero and Madden Football. Since these games are intended for home use, isn’t that similar to purchasing a movie and showing it to a large audience?

A. Everyone seems to be asking that question! Video games come with licensing agreements, and before purchasers can play the games, they must agree to their terms. The video-game licenses that I’ve seen are strictly for “personal, noncommercial” uses—not public ones. So when libraries host gaming programs, they’re violating these agreements. Yet, lots of libraries are doing just that—and they’re getting away with it. And some are even charging an admission fee to attend these events. What gives?

 

My guess is that video-game distributors never anticipated their games would be used publicly. So when their lawyers drafted the licenses, they simply used language commonly found in software contracts...

 

Librarians can: (1) continue to offer video-game competitions and let the chips fall where they may; (2) contact the rights holders and ask if their licenses can be modified to accommodate your programs; or (3) email the rights holders and tell them you’re opting out of the portion of the contract that allows only home use—and unless they tell you not to, you’re planning to offer gaming tournaments.

GP: It's a fascinating question. Game publishers would look like big meanies if they tried to enforce this, of course. On the other hand, I believe that Internet cafes pay for some type of multi-user license for some online games.

UPDATE: A well-informed video game industry source dropped GP a line, offering some insight on this story:

For motion pictures, schools, libraries, and other institutions get licenses to exhibit the movies. It's pretty straightforward and no-one seems to have a major problem with it. See http://www.movlic.com/ and http://www.mplc.org/aboutMplc.php.  I'm not aware of similar services for video gaming. Probably should be.

How huge is the cultural impact of the Grand Theft Auto IV launch? 

So huge that even a bastion of old-school literacy like The New Yorker paid heed to the GTA IV release with this cartoon from the May 19th issue.

Given the widespread criticism of Grand Theft Auto IV following the game's April 29th release, reporter Gary Stern (left), who pens Blogging Religiously for news site LoHud.com, wonders why church groups haven't weighed in:

Religious groups, of course, protest just about anything... So it surprises me that there has been little—any?—religious outrage over Grand Theft Auto. Lot of groups have protested against the incredibly violent video game—police, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and prostitutes among them (the game allows interaction between prostitutes and clients and alludes to the rape of prostitutes).

 

To be clear, I’ve never played the game (or seen it). But based on what I’ve read about its contents, I’m simply surprised that the religion world hasn’t taken notice. Religious groups complain about a lot less. And GTA, you would think, would be a target that liberals and conservatives could agree upon.

Newsday reports that the New York Racing Association, a private, non-profit entity which operates the famed Belmont, Saratoga and Aqueduct racetracks, is launching Stakes, an online horse racing sim. The game was developed by Horse Racing Simulation LLC, and appears to be a version of their PC title Horse Racing Fantasy.

Company president Michael Calderone commented:

NYRA understands the importance of providing not only new educational, but also entertaining tools to help horse racing fans of all levels become more engaged in the great sport of horse racing.

In addition to racing mechanics, the game also provides players with information on how to bet the races.

GP: Interest in horse racing has declined in recent years, so the NYRA's use of game tech to attract and hold fans is to be expected. On the other hand, teaching the betting process to online players, including potential underage users, could be controversial. We were unable to locate the game on the NYRA site, so it's unclear whether there is an age gate in place (not that they really work, anyway).

The Richard Gaywood saga has gathered some press in recent days, as Microsoft's Xbox Live service followed up its recent ban of user name TheGayerGamer by zapping the Gaywood monicker as well.

Aside from the obvious question of discrimination, it turns out that "Richard Gaywood" is actually the XBL user's name, and not some type of sophomoric screen name (gamertag in Xbox Live parlance).

Lesbian Gamers had some harsh words for Xbox Live:

I’ve taken a few deep breathes, run this story over in my mind again and again and yet still return to the same annoying factor: Why does ‘gay’ automatically equate to sex or “of a sexual nature” and carry with it such negative and deviant overtones...

 

I can understand Microsoft are trying to protect users, but perhaps there needs to be some tabled debate as to what they’re protecting whom from and what they’re perpetuating in the process. Linking ‘gay’ to some negative or sexually explicit content merely fans the fires of homophobia.

Meanwhile, GayGamer offers this take:

I'm somewhat on the fence with the issue, having played many MMORPGs and seeing the many annoying and disturbing names that can come from idle minds on the internets, and it seems as if Microsoft is putting up the normal "we can't make exceptions" defense...

 

All of this, however, is greatly outweighed by the fact that it is his given name, and despite the connotations it may carry with it, he lives with that name everyday...

Among the many criticisms leveled against the Grand Theft Auto series are complaints that it is misogynistic. This judgment typically stems from the oft-heard  "have sex with a hooker and then kill her to get your money back" complaint.

But a video review on lesbian site AfterEllen looks at GTA IV from the gay woman's perspective and finds it not so bad. Or, at least, an equal opportunity insult to both sexes since all of the guy characters portrayed in the game are lowlifes.

As one of the reviewers, Tracy, explained it to GamePolitics in an e-mail:

The review looks at the political satire in GTA IV and came as a shock to many readers since it didn't simply jump on the GTA = evil bandwagon. We run a lesbian video gaming site and received many emails and comments about how well-rounded our review was and how it made people rethink the GTA IV political debate.
 

Catch the video here.... (fast forward to 19:00 for the GTA IV review)

UPDATE: While the video appeared on AfterEllen, the reviewers call Lesbian Gamers their home base.