Once a month or so, N'Gai Croal and I debate a video game. Usually we do it well after a game's been released. We call our exchanges Vs. Mode, co-publish them on both of our blogs, and hope that people have enough bathroom time to read them.

The latest debate concluded this morning. It's all about Grand Theft Auto IV. We talked about bringing our A game for this one. Or at least we would have if we spoke in sports metaphors. It's full of spoilers... about the game's moral quandaries, its ending and other stuff. So beware.

But if you're looking to see him have a go at me for preferring San Andreas to GTA IV and if you're interested in stuff like this...

N'Gai: I'm wondering whether the fault lies not with inconsistencies in the work of Rockstar's writing team, but with the credulity of all of us. Liberty City is filled with self-deluded characters like Playboy X, Manny and Brucie, who present themselves one way only to be exposed by their behavior. Why do we take Niko at face value? Is it just because he's our avatar? ... Maybe Niko is deceiving himself as much as do the rest of the lowlifes he runs with. Maybe as much as he believes he's fatigued with death and killing, he's actually drawn to it? Maybe we have all misunderstood Niko Bellic.

...then head to either of our sites and read the loooong debate. I'm linking to his version, because I'm classy.

Round One
Round Two
Final Round

Why Aren't There More Console MMOs?

XBLA's Delisting Policy? Developers' Perspective

ESA, Game Critics' Awards Debate "Best Of E3" Eligibility

A heated debate has erupted between the Entertainment Software Association and the Game Critics' Awards over the eligibility of games in this year's E3 Media and Business Summit. The dispute was prompted by Activision and Vivendi's recent departure from the ESA and, simultaneously, from the show.

The association assumed that the departed companies' games would no longer be eligible for any of the annual "Best of E3" awards, given out by an independent group of Game Critics' Awards judges at each year's show.

But Geoff Keighley, GameTrailers executive producer and co-chairman of the Awards, said that decision hasn't been made yet. The critics' group, of which Kotaku managing editor Brian Crecente is also a member, still needs to meet to discuss the issue and decide how exactly to define which games are and are not eligible.

"The fact that Activision is not a registered exhibitor for E3 has brought to light the issue of how to determine the eligibility of games," Keighley said.

Why the Term 'Gamer' Does Not Need to Go

Last week, Douglas Wilson made an impassioned argument for why the term gamer needs to go; this week, Rene Patnode, a fellow soldier in the grad school trenches, responds with his take on why the term gamer does not need to go the way of the dodo:

... change to the fan sub-culture appears inevitable, but yet so are reactionary responses from the fans. But those responses are soon swallowed up by the progress of the sub-culture on the whole. Given this inevitability, is there reason for concern?

After all, the course of history has already begun to unfold. In the same way we gaming old-timers may look down on PlayStation fanboys (for the record, I'm a Nintendo man), those same gamers who cut their teeth on the PS2 may denigrate the n00bs who are just learning to waggle their Wii-motes. Wilson's critique may in fact stem from his own nostalgia for the good old days before a series of tubes became the internet we now know and love, and flame wars became easier to ignite.

Si, Ceci Est Un Gamer [GameSetWatch]

British MP - Games Let You Rape Women

The time-honored tradition of stodgy men arguing over things they know nothing about continued in England during last Friday's game censorship debate in the House of Commons, with MP Keith Vaz showing us how it's done while speaking in defense of Julian Brazier's bill to add a censorship level above the British Board of Film Classification. In comparing the interactivity of video games to movies, Vaz unleashed this little gem:

However, someone sitting at a computer playing a video game, or someone with one of those small devices that young people have these days, the name of which I forget— [Interruption.] PlayStations or PSPs, something of that kind.

"Well, whatever they are called, when people play these things, they can interact. They can shoot people; they can kill people. As the honourable Gentleman said, they can rape women."

'The Art of Games': Art and Entertainment

In typical fashion, one post on the games-as-art debate spawns a response. This is one debate I actually enjoy watching, since the evidence people haul out in support their positions is fascinating. We go from the Impressionists to 300 in this Gamasutra essay by E. Daniel Arey, and he tackles the question of why the 'art inherent to games' does indeed matter. Just like any good artistically driven medium, games have pushed the boundaries since their creation, he says:

While I fully understand and support that games are a wonderful play pastime, and that gameplay and fun are the beating heart of our business, I find these assertions to keep everything the same as a set of false boundaries that foster cynical limitations by those in power to assure the status quo is comfortable and predictable.

The real truth is, games have always pushed the boundaries and evolved on their own, right from the beginning. First they were a simply a "Novelty." Then Time Magazine proudly labeled them a passing "Fad." Then they were a "Quaint Pastime." Then a "Cultural Phenomenon." And now a "Mainstream Entertainment" medium.

I think the problem inherent to these discussions is that while people can try and slough the question of 'what is art?' off to academics, it's very much tied to the question of 'art and video games' or 'art in video games' or 'video games as art.' Many modern media struggle with this, and it's by no means confined to games - but this debate has no end.

The Art Of Games [Gamasutra]

'Are Games Going To Grow Up?': A Debate

Roger Ebert Strikes Back

Former ESPLA Boss Talks Banning

Pirate v Ninja Makes The Paper

Lawyerman Versus Monster Killer

Second Life Presidential Press Event: Aftermath

Ebert Reviews Silent Hill

An Epic Debate: Are Video Games Art

Emerson Defends Ebert Debate

Ebert Debates Games as Art