Red Dead Gets its Own Small Controversies

Two quick bits of news on Red Dead Redemption:

In a BBC interview, a Rockstar Games writer and voice actor named Lazlow Jones was asked this question:

Question: How do you feel about accusations that games such as yours are responsible for more violence among young people?

His answer: Our games are not designed for young people. If you're a parent and buy one of our games for your child you're a terrible parent. We design games for adults because we're adults. There's a lot of kids games out there that we're not interested in playing. Just like you enjoy watching movies and TV shows with adult themes and language and violence that's the kind of thing we seek to produce.

It's a pretty reasonable answer, but most gamers would have a little bit of trouble with how strongly he put it, especially the "terrible parent" line. A commenter on a Kotaku post about the story said exactly my first thought: "There goes some kid's dream of getting Rockstar Table Tennis."

A few days earlier, Red Dead Redemption was also accused of some rather old-fashioned prejudice for including the character pictured above, a town drunk named "Irish." An Irish Herald article on Red Dead pointed the stereotype out.

The article has several funny moments: The headline is "Irish 'drunk' sours launch of hit game," yet the article has all of three sentences on the actual character. Clearly, there's not a lot to talk about actually on-topic. The rest of the article breathlessly gives us details of how awesome and popular the game is, and why we should all go buy it right now. The game is "groundbreaking," "expected to sell four million copies this summer," "retail[ing] from €49.99 with enthusiastic gamers pre-booking their copies weeks ahead of the Irish launch tomorrow," with the "appeal [lying] in the huge detail." Very excitable for a news article on a controversy surrounding the game.

Red Dead Redemption and Rockstar's Reception

Only a few years ago, Rockstar Games just could not get a break. The "Grand Theft Auto" and "Manhunt" developers were firmly within politicians' radars, and it took serious effort for them to release a game without controversy being found within it.

For instance, in 2006, Rockstar developed four games: "Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix," an expansion to a mostly harmless racing game, even if it is about illegal street racing; "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories," which received little attention because it was developed solely for the Playstation Portable and didn't try anything new; "Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis," which confused everybody; and "Bully," which applied the basic story and gameplay structure of "Grand Theft Auto" to a theoretically less offensive private school setting.


Despite "Bully" being at its heart a toned-down "GTA," it still received as much if not more scrutiny from the press, politicians, and in particular Jack Thompson. Universally, ratings groups considered the game appropriate for 15 or 16 year-olds, but British politicians fought bitterly to label it for 18 year-olds, Jack Thompson sued to have the game's release blocked in Florida because it was a "public nuisance," and Brazil banned the game altogether.

The game was relentlessly taken out of context, and it just kept snowballing. In the end, a game about slingshot-and-cherry-bomb schoolyard hijinks was said to include sexual harassment, homosexual content, an implicit approval of bullying, implicit approval of violence, and it was even called "a Columbine simulator." It was as if politicians just knew something must be wrong with the game's content, because Rockstar made it, but they couldn't figure out what to object to.

Contrast that with what I found in The New York Times this morning. The Arts section is dominated above-the-fold by a huge screenshot of "Red Dead Redemption," which more or less applies that same "GTA" formula to a western setting. Seth Schiesel gives the game a glowing review, ending his review by saying "In the more than 1,100 articles I have written for this newspaper since 1996, I have never before called anything a tour de force. Yet there is no more succinct and appropriate way to describe Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar rides again."

Whereas "Bully," working from a similar concept in 2006, was intensely scrutinized for controversial scenes to pick apart before it was ever released, leading to endless courtroom battles and debates by people who had never touched a controller, here we are in 2010 with The New York Times praising a Rockstar game's writing and ability to immerse the player in a different world. It's always nice to look back and see how far we've come.

Pushing the Medium Forward

Has any medium's idea of what is acceptable for display moved as quickly as that of video games? Just two years ago, Mass Effect was universally hated (by people who had never played it) for including a "sex scene" which was actually just mild nudity. Now, Bioware's latest titles include the same level of mostly clothed "sex scenes," with virtually no public outrcry, despite these titles' huge mainstream attention. And despite not coming anywhere close to actually portraying sex, they're probably closer than the Hot Coffee mini-game was so long ago. Jack Thompson has disappeared, games are getting reviewed in the New York Times every week, and their perception as a children's medium is dying.

Video games can now have nudity and yet still be sold in Wal-Marts. That's a huge and recent development. Grand Theft Auto IV's DLC expansion The Lost and Damned was a strategically important place to get this done, and I think developer Rockstar North knew that. The Lost and Damned included a cutscene with a visible digital penis (belonging to a congressman), making it the first mainstream North American release to include male nudity. First of all, the game would not be released in stores to begin with, because it was download-only. The only people who could stop it from being sold were inside Microsoft. Second, as merely an expansion, the mainstream media attention wouldn't be overwhelming, so you get less people talking about a scene that they've never actually seen, which is important. Third, the DLC would eventually be sold in a disc format, after the attention had died away. Now we have stores selling a video game with frontal male nudity without controversy. It has now set precedent for all game releases in the future, and the medium has moved forward in the public consciousness.

Heavy Rain is now widely known as a game that's meant to move the medium forward, in many more ways than simply nudity. But, the fact that their nude scene is interactive makes an important distinction in the ongoing argument. One of the major reasons people will argue that video games should not have nudity while movies can is that video games are interactive. Nude scenes in games past have almost all been simple, non-interactive cutscenes, but in Heavy Rain, you can be seen as controlling the scene. The game hasn't yet been released, so I haven't played it, but it will be interesting to see exactly how it's handled. Regardless, the scene just isn't attracting the Fox News-class outrage we've seen in years past.

Maybe certain Japanese games like Rapelay put things in perspective.

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.

Common Sense Media's Reply

I emailed Common Sense Media about their previous fearmongering, and here's what their likely automated response said:

Thank you very much for writing and sharing your concerns. Our mission is to give parents the information they need to make decisions about what media is right for their family. We do hope we can influence the choices kids make, and as an added precaution, we can raise awareness with parents and also within the industry. By raising awareness with parents, by reinforcing what an M-rating means, and by recommending that M-rating sales policies are enforced at stores, we felt we were helping to keep violent games from children. Our aim was to show that change can happen, if the conversation continues.

Again, thanks for writing. We appreciate your feedback.

Not especially enlightening, was it? Oh well.

Common Sense Media Scares Parents for Donations

I signed up with Common Sense Media a while back in hope of writing a few reviews and pointing out exactly how violent certain video games are so that parents can know without any sensationalism spliced in. This allowed me the privilege of receiving their newsletter, (which interestingly enough wound up right in my spam folder every time), which this morning gave me this (click the image for a size large enough to actually read):
This bit was followed immediately by a large "donate now" button, and an offer of "free" summer tips for media management that would come with your donation. A few things here: Number one, right at the top, is the claim that violent video games have been proven to make kids more aggressive. If you'll look at my earlier post here, you'll see that every result possible has come out of tests on kids' aggression with violent video games. There is absolutely no conclusion, so you can't claim anything.

Second, the claim that a donation to Common Sense Media could completely stop kids from buying violent video games, ever. Zero. Not even a flea market or an independent gaming store would ever sell an M-rated game to a minor, ever. Parental involvement couldn't possibly be the solution, but more money for Common Sense Media is. Also, I'm sure that adult gamers have had enough trouble buying games for themselves with Wal-Mart and Best Buy turning into complete Nazis over the age limit. Even when the buyer is old enough, just having a kid standing next to him can prevent the employee from selling the game.

Third, the awful fear-mongering the email uses for donations. Your children will be psychologically screwed up for life if you don't give us $25-$1000 today. That's the message coming across. Give us money or else kids can play Grand Theft Auto and they'll spend their entire lives having sex with prostitutes and then killing them afterwards. The email claims that "Grand Theft Auto promote[s] murder, sexual exploitation, and violence towards women." Anyone who has actually played the game will know that's not true. You don't "score points" for offing grandma and people of both genders in the game are equally repulsive, bad, and flawed people. The older generation is never going to understand video games if this crap is allowed to go on, so go ahead and take a little time to talk to Common Sense Media about this.

Because communication is the solution.

I Did It: GTA IV 100% Club

I successfully completed the Grand Theft Auto "Key to the City" challenge of getting the game 100% complete within the first three weeks of its release. Time remaining when I finished: around 55 minutes, so I shaved it pretty close. Anyway, I'm very excited and can't wait to see the key that Rockstar apparently will send you.

Museum of Virtual History: Starry Night After 4 Hours of GTA Pigeon-Hunting

This is a new series detailing recent gaming news through classic art. I'll try to keep the words to a minimum.

Item #1: Starry Night After 4 Hours of GTA Pigeon-Hunting

I Have Now Beaten GTA IV

*Huge Spoiler Warning*


It was fun. Now I'm going to go get 100% done so I can get those keys to the city.

Grand Theft Auto IV Release Impressions

Yes, indeed this is a blog about controversial video games and none are more controversial than the Grand Theft Auto series. Obviously, you know that the fourth edition (that's not right, it's more like the sixth, seventh if you count London, disregarding the PSP games) was just released and that I have already played it through quite a bit. I'll get back to playing it shortly, but I needed to mention a passing few of the thousand political mentions the biggest video game release ever has gotten. (Just scroll down the main page at gamepolitics.com and you'll get far too many)

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has come out against the drunk driving in GTA IV. The producers had predicted that aspect of gameplay would come under fire, even though it really shouldn't. I've experienced the drunk driving once and it was so incredibly irritating (especially if cops chase you down for it) that every time since I just called a cab to get back home. Yep, I learned a lesson from Grand Theft Auto IV about drunk driving. Case closed, moving on.

Barack Obama casually mentioned GTA in a vaguely negative way that was pretty consistent with his past remarks that kids should study more and play less video games. Yawn, moving on.

Not too surprisingly, the mother of a slain NYPD policeman was fairly upset about Grand Theft Auto. The linked article there also mentions a man who says there are no consequences for a shootout in Grand Theft Auto, which is ludicrous, but at least not so bad as the dumb people who think you get points for stabbing old ladies.

Sorry, but that's quite enough of that right now. I've got to get back to playing this game and chances are that you do too. If you're curious, my PS3 ID is kingpenguin1029, in case you miraculously find me playing online multiplayer or want to friend me. Hasta luego.

Jack Thompson Letter to Take Two Chairman's Mom

Just read this letter Jack Thompson sent to Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick's mom. Clearly, this is all in continued protest of Grand Theft Auto IV, but we'll all get tired of this sort of thing within the next week before it's finally released.

Introducing R. R. White

Here you are, I'm introducing my new guest poster here at The Legal Arcade. His name is Richard White, and we've been talking via email for a while about our new partnership for the blog. He's finally agreed to send me a few essays, and you'll understand his position on gaming pretty well after reading just a word or two. Anyway, his first essay for this site is on suggestions for a potential Grand Theft Auto V, so I'll just let you read his email to me.

On 3/19/08, Richard White wrote:
Here's the first of my essays for your site. I do hope your readers enjoy.
Grand Theft Auto IV is nearing its release next month, a day which will live in infamy for my sort. Surely, Rockstar Games will have had enough with controversy and they'll tone this game down from the previous editions, but that's likely only a vain hope. Here I've prepared an essay for some suggestions for a more family safe Grand Theft Auto V, given that I will likely never see the day that series is successfully kept away from children.

Suggestions

• Content labels for every separate mission would be a real help to parents. Everyone knows about the grandma-beating that the freer parts of the game allow you to do, but the really bad stuff happens in missions, like forays into adult stores. This would allow parents to struggle through these missions for the children and explain through lies the storyline development in said mission.
• Despite having its own controversy, I found Bully a very safe alternative to Grand Theft Auto. Some weapons like the spud cannon and super slingshot should make the series transition to keep the streets of Liberty City clean from blood. Also, kissing should give your player a health bonus instead of being with a prostitute.
• Humor in Grand Theft Auto should be restricted to obscure references to films only adults would even want to see. For instance, Niko should make a little dance with his potatoes on forks as Charles Chaplin did. Whoever the main character will be in Grand Theft Auto V could be Woody Allen. This is obviously eccentric, but it really would remove one major reason for kids to play the game.
• Jail time cannot be immediately over after major crimes. Getting "busted" should force you to sit the PS3 down and do something else until the next day, when your character will receive a lethal injection.
• Get rid of the Adults Only rating. No game with that rating can every truly be released, so why not call it Mature and change the current Mature rating to something else? That way the rating system can be opened back up before game companies ban the release of the new Mature-rated games.

Well, that's really enough for now. Tell your readers to email their sarcastic, malinformed comments and questions to me at my legalarcade.com email. That way they won't clutter up my real inbox but I can still check in every now and then to change some minds.

R. R. White

Clearly, he'll provide a very different point of view to this site. Several of these seem almost silly they're so off, but I can really agree with his suggestion for the Adults Only rating. Right now, Adults Only is a lame duck rating that can never actually exist in America, so it needs to be shuffled around somehow. As you read there at the end, email any comments you have to rwhite@legalarcade.com so he can learn a thing or two. I gave him that special email so that you can send whatever sort of email to him you want and it won't obstruct his normal email address. I'm really excited about having him as a new guest poster, and I'll be sure to post the rest of his essays as time goes on.

Rockstar Braces for Impact Over GTA IV

Dan Houser, writer for GTA IV, stated in a Yahoo interview that he's, understandably, certain that this installment of the series will bring as much or more trouble than the last ones. He especially fears that the drunk driving and strip clubs are going to cause the most trouble, besides the whole batch of old features to the game. Houser said "I expect [controversy] because we've had so much of it in the past. I wish people would treat video games the same as other media. They seem to not want to do that for reasons that I don't understand. It's a convenient enemy for people." Grand Theft Auto really seems to me sort of mellow compared to some games out there now like Saint's Row, but GTA is cursed to receive the public outcry, as is anything put out by Rockstar until, I don't know, they release a Reading Rainbow game series.