If you’re a newscaster who makes a living on declaring the latest threat to civilized society, you might point out that my friends are sober about the violence in video games because they have seen the real cost of violence, like I have. You would be wrong. Many of my friends are folks from the middle class, who grew up in nice homes, on nice streets in nice towns and who have never seen a bloodied nose, let alone a dead body. They are attracted to these games because it is a part of our culture.
Stories of battles waged between the forces of good and evil can be found in the very oldest traces of our society. Most people are drawn to these games because, like news programs understand, violent drama is compelling. The human spirit is attracted to the thought of it, like people are to the thought of danger on a rollercoaster. Theme park thrill rides are rarely accused of desensitizing or encouraging people to actually jump off high buildings or roll downhill uncontrollably. Video games are an easy target because most of the people who shape opinions on television news are not familiar or comfortable with the medium. It is easy to point fingers at a thing you do not understand.
I enjoy games, and sometimes I even understand them, but I do not enjoy real violence, though I understand it all too well. Games, like books, are just the latest technological advancement in mankind’s effort to tell each other stories. Sometimes, with the works of the best authors and the best game developers, you will be deeply immersed in the stories. Sometimes the stories are mythic, or magical, or funny, other times they are sexual, or dramatic, or violent.
Ask anyone who lived under Josef Stalin’s murderous regime whether or not the restriction of storytelling leads to a less violent life. 20 million people died under Stalin, without even a color T.V. or Xbox in sight. For at least 50,000 years, mankind has managed to play sports, and mate, and commit violent crimes, without the help of video games. If you try to limit the kinds of stories video games tell, the stories themselves, and the acts they look to simulate, will find their way to the surface anyway. Us peace-loving nerds just won’t be able to earn achievement points for it.
If the pundits and game-haters are right, and succeed in bullying the game industry, maybe I’ll start playing only dog-ownership simulators and move back into my old neighborhood. I’m sure violent-game laws will make it a great place to live.
