Finally Got my Key to the City (GTA IV)

I finally received my Key to Liberty City, a nice little piece of gamer swag to show I completed Grand Theft Auto IV 100% in the first three weeks or so it was out. All that pigeon hunting was finally almost worth it. It is nice, though, really.

The Simpsons Negatively Mentions Video Games

I don't really want to be the Entertainment Police, but I should go ahead and mention that the latest episode of The Simpsons did present video games in a negative light, as I'm sure GamePolitics will point out in a day or two.

Bart was sitting in the back of the family car playing a Game Boy, the game being displayed as "Cereal Killer". It appears to be a first-person shooter where the player shoots several cereal mascots, like Cap'n Crunch and Toucan Sam. Homer later comments "Video games... Why this American generation will be the greatest ever..."

Just a bit insulting, I guess. Not a huge deal.

The Skeptic's Guide to Violent Video Game Studies

On BlogCritics, I published My "Skeptic's Guide to Violent Video Game Studies" today. Follow the link for my largest article in a long time.

Studying Studies: Violent Video Games Linked to Hostility Again

Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a story with the headline "Study Links Violent Video Games, Hostility", with the subtitle "Research in U.S., Japan Shows Aggression Increased for Months After Play". The only problem is, the news story is really weak on the details of how the study came to that finding. They mention in the body of the text that it was a group of three longitudinal studies over time, using kids from Japan and the United States. The study showed "an increased likelihood of getting into a fight at school or being identified by a teacher or peer as being physically agressive five to six months later in the same school year". The American children were from 9 to 12 and they lived in Minnesota.

First of all, 9 to 12 seems a bit young for what we should be looking for. Most of the concern about violent video games centers on real world violent crime, not little fights at school. Also, Mature-rated games aren't entirely prevalent at that age range, though they are likely more prevalent than we think.

Secondly, did all kinds of video games increase chances of aggressive behavior? Or just "violent" ones, which are defined by the study as "when one character harmed of killed another". This definition of violent obviously includes things considered very tame, like Kirby and Madden. Anyway, the rest of the article just says "we have conclusive evidence..." then goes on to say that certain important people now consider media violence a public health concern. They just pulled out their list of public health concerns, crossed out comic books and rock 'n' roll, then wrote video games right under there with no sense of irony at all.

So, we need more details. From what I've heard, that isn't conclusive evidence. Even if their study factored in previous aggression, kids who are more aggressive are more likely to play "violent" games. Also, violent crime in the United States has consistently gone down ever since video games became readily available for children. I'm not suggesting that video games cause less violence, but rather that there is little to no effect.

Don't Forget to Vote

LittleBigPlanet Has Instrumentalized the Controversial Song

I just picked up my copy of LittleBigPlanet, and I can confirm that the controversial song is still in there, but it would appear with the words cut out. I thought this might happen, because the singing is actually a rather short part of the song anyway, which has some really great instrumental bits in there.

Fallout 3 May be Banned in India Due to Post-Apocalyptic Cows

It was previously reported that Fallout 3 would not release in India (at least on the Xbox 360) due to cultural issues, but this may be the reason why. There are two-headed cows in the game (remember, it's post-nuclear) called "brahmin", which I believe approximates the name of one of the old Indian castes. I should be more clear, this isn't actually yet a ban, but so far Microsoft just said they weren't going to sell the game there. It may become a ban in the future.

Anyway, this sounds a lot like an April Fool's post I would make, seriously. People are so sensitive about media...