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Journalism of Courage
As the video game industry gears up to release a new generation of consoles that allow even sharper graphics and more realistic action, US lawmakers are mulling bans on the sale or rental of violent titles to minors. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has until midnight Thursday to act on a bill that bans the sale to minors of games that 8216;8216;depict serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel8221;.
That worries the 25 billion global games industry, which fears that its wares would be the only form of entertainment other than pornography subject to such heavy regulation. But it8217;s welcome news to Mary Gilbertson, who yanked Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from her 16-year-old son once she realised the game was about more than fast cars.
In the weeks since publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. acknowledged that some versions of San Andreas also included a hidden sex scene, the game has renewed longtime concerns over excessive sex and violence in games.
There8217;s disagreement over whether virtual violence breeds real violence, but the games industry has for years churned out increasingly graphic titles that rile its critics. In addition to the California bill, Michigan last month passed a similar law, set to take effect December 1 to ban the sale of 8216;8216;ultra-violent explicit video games8217;8217; to minors under 17.
And an Illinois law, set to take effect on January 1, prohibits the sale or rental of violent or sexually explicit games to minors. The Entertainment Software Association has filed suit in Michigan and Illinois seeking to block the laws, arguing that they amount to censorship. 8216;8216;These games are very intense8230;You have children scoping targets8230;blowing people8217;s heads off and burning people to a crisp,8221; said Leland Yee, child psychologist and Democrat who sponsored the bill now before Schwarzenegger.
Social scientists say the criticisms parallel the scrutiny on comic books in the 1950s and television in the 1960s. 8216;8216;With just about any new medium, there has been concern about the negative effects it might have on young people,8217;8217; said Karen Sternheimer, a lecturer in sociology at the University of Southern California. 8216;8216;Society tends to project its fears onto newer forms of pop culture. There8217;s a generational divide that makes people on the other side nervous.8217;8217; LATWP
