Aliens vs. Predator got the big thumbs down on Dec. 3, primarily for its depictions of gore and violence. Its developer, Rebellion, has said it will not modify the title in order to receive classification, so this amounts to a big "pretty please?" to Australia from Sega.

The Review Board has invited applications to be considered an "interested party" to the review, but reminds that this review and its reconsideration can only be within the scope of Australia's existing classification regulations. I.e., no one's being invited to complain about creating an R18+ rating category for games, as such an option is for lawmakers, not the review board, to implement.

Aliens vs. Predator: RC Rating to be Reviewed [Refused-Classification.com via Game Politics]

"Outpaces," is the word the FTC's report uses in describing the games industry's conduct among its peers, noting the 80 percent prevention rate in keeping M-rated content from minors, and keeping ads for M-rated games off the television prior to 10 pm.

Further: "The Commission commends the ESRB for its new online ratings summaries, which provide a more detailed explanation of the content that factored into a game's rating. This tool should enhance parental understanding of the ratings and the ratings process."

Entertainment Software Association President Michael Gallagher called the report "a strong acknowledgement and validation that industry-led self-regulation efforts are the best way to provide parents and retailers with the resources and support they need to keep our kids' entertainment experiences suitable."

The report evaluates the marketing and adevertising practices across the entertainment industries. It's the FTC's seventh such report since 2000.

Games Industry Best Regulated of All Entertainment Sectors [GamesIndustry.biz]

The study, "Playing By the Rules" was undertaken by Pro Juventute, a Swiss children's rights group, and Track Impunity Always (TRIAL), which is concerned with international criminal justice. Their report provides a legal analysis of the conduct enabled by the games.

Rather than play the games themselves, the two groups sent expert observers to watch serious gamers play through and then note the egregious acts they saw. Here's what they had to say about Battlefield: Bad Company.

In the scenes, there seems to be no assessment of proportionality in the attacks realized in civilian areas and we do not know, whether precautionary measures were taken to minimize civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects. However, in a real life situation, one is often confronted with similar circumstances: regular armed forces and irregular armed groups are very unlikely to give any information about the planning of the preparation of military operations to international organisations or human rights bodies. Without such information, it is difficult to establish that a military operation was not proportional, in particular whether the attacker took all the precautionary measures necessary to avoid, and in any event to minimize incidental loss or civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects."

In addition to the extensive destruction, some of the scenes portray the members of "Bad Company" taking gold and "treasures" found in the civilian houses they have just destroyed. Upon obtaining them, the players get points. These actions amount to pillage, which is strictly prohibited under IHL and thus have also been labeled as "strong". This illegal action is confirmed in one of the scenes where you can hear a member saying that "Pillaging is an old war tradition." Pillage is considered as a war crime both in international and non- international armed conflicts.

I'm thinking that asking the goons of Bad Company to take precautionary measures for anything would be a little like talking to a cardboard box. It's also amusing to me that a basic, nonviolent scavenging mechanic rates a "strong" violation of international law (which it would be, if it occurred in real life) and is called out as a war crime.

Anyway, the study had a number of recommendations. Among them is a call for clearly defined rules of engagement.

It would be very useful if developers would incorporate more specific rules on how to conduct an operation in their games, in terms of the weapons allowed, the behaviour allowed, the military targets sought, the degree of collateral damage permitted, etc. The message of the scenes should never be that everything is allowed, or that it is up to the player to decide what is right and what is wrong. In real life, this is not the way it works.

If you want to dive into more killjoy gasbaggery about Modern Warfare, World at War and - Jesus, True Crime Streets of L.A. is in here? Who did they find to play that? Anyway, you can grab your copy of the report here [pdf.]

Fighting Fair: International Humanitarian Law As Applied to Games [Game Politics]

There are some minor spoilers in the writeup, I suppose, so I'll let you venture over there if you're interested in what the awesome displays of violence entail, as they most directly pertain to capabilities or plot points in the story.

"The violence and the profanity account for the Mature rating," saith the ESRB, so let's look at the other half of that equation.

The game includes frequent use of strong profanity (e.g., "f**k," "motherf**ker," and "c*nt") and some lesser four-letter words (e.g., "sh*t" and "tw*t"); in one instance, an enemy attacks [Subject] Delta [that's you] while screaming, "F**king sodomites everywhere!"

Sodomites? F—- yeah! Oh there's also some stuff about hookin' and red-light districts. Frankly, in a laissez-faire capitalist society I'd be astonished if those weren't encountered, so maybe this should be rated O for Objectivism.

BioShock 2 [ESRB via Hot Blooded Gaming]

PC Games Hardware benchmarked both the uncut Left 4 Dead 2 and the censored German demo using to a 60-second demo sequence from the second chapter of "The Parish." The sequence involves a ton of common infected as well as multiple Boomers and a Spitter. The setup: Radeon HD 5870 used to display the demo at 1680 by 1050 with maximum details, "4x MSAA and 16:1." I can't quote what that means exactly but "the setting is quite challenging for the CPU."

Here's what they found:

The direct comparison between cut an uncut version reveals huge differences in performance. It doesn't matter if we use a dual-core E6600 or quad-core Q6600 processor, the less violent version of the demo runs about 40 percent faster that the uncut version. Furthermore the difference between the two uncut results (dual-core vs. quad-core) is bigger, too, what indicates a higher CPU workload.

This isn't just a trivial difference, PC Games Hardware points out owners of the cut version may play on "uncut" servers. So, "a scene that lags in the uncut version might be running smoothly in the cut version - especially in Versus Mode this could make the difference between death and survival."

That said, someone with a full version may also reduce the depiction of violence through the game's command console.

Left 4 Dead 2: Unfair Performance Benefits with Cut Version? [PC Games Hardware via Blue's News]

However, there are six "secret" Achievements/Trophies and a whole slew of "kill xx enemies this way" awards that suggest the game hasn't been watered down at all. My personal favorite will probably be "Whoooaaaa!" and "Wheeeeeee!" because it involves excessive blood-sliding.

A Playlogic representative declined to confirm or deny the inclusion of the child-killing Achievement/Trophy, but they did supply us with this list:

Gamerscore / Trophy level / Name / Description
15 / Bronze / Closed "The Lumberjack Lands" / Complete all the chapters in "The Lumberjack Lands"

15 / Bronze / Closed "The Candy Castle" / Complete all the chapters in "The Candy Castle"

15 / Bronze / Closed "The Little Kingdoms" / Complete all the chapters in "The Little Kingdoms"

15 / Bronze / Closed "The House in the Clouds" / Complete all the chapters in "The House in the Clouds"

15 / Bronze / Closed "Who's Famous Now!" / Complete the "Who's Famous Now!" chapter

15 / Bronze / Incredible Combo! / Perform a 50 hit combo

15 / Bronze / The Sky is the Limit / Perform an aerial combo

15 / Bronze / King for a Day / Win an Arena chapter without dying

15 / Bronze / Pacifists Finish Last / Lose an Arena chapter without killing

15 / Bronze / King Pushy / Win an Arena chapter by using push only

15 / Bronze / Unstoppable / Win 5 Arena chapters in a row in 1 play session

15 / Silver / Notorious / Win 100 Arena chapters

50 / Silver / Variety is the Spice of Life / Complete Stuffy the Taxidermist's collection by defeating all enemies

100 / Gold / Mine! / Collect all weapons

15 / Bronze / Beaver Killer / Defeat The Log Champion

15 / Bronze / Real Beaver Killer / Defeat The Log Champion again

15 / Bronze / Puppet Master / Defeat Pinocchio

15 / Bronze / Go Eat Your Own House / Defeat Hansel and Gretel

15 / Bronze / And All is Quiet Again / Defeat The Pied Piper

15 / Bronze / The Witch is Burned / Defeat The Candy Witch

15 / Bronze / I Didn't Want Her Anyway / Defeat The Little Giant

15 / Bronze / Beat up the Bully / Defeat The Little Giant again

15 / Bronze / Turning a Blind Eye / Defeat Father Giant

15 / Bronze / Left the Tailor in Stitches / Defeat The Little Tailor

15 / Bronze / "Fairytale Land" is Painted Red / Spill 10 000 gallons of blood

15 / Bronze / "Fairytale Land" is Sucked Dry / Collect 1 000 000 riches

15 / Bronze / Hand Holder / Complete game on easy mode with multiple players

15 / Silver / Sharing Celebrity / Complete game on medium mode with multiple players

15 / Silver / Dream Team / Complete game on hard mode with multiple players

15 / Bronze / Hero / Complete game on easy mode single player

15 / Silver / Legendary / Complete game on medium mode single player

15 / Silver / Heroic Ever After/ Complete single player on hard mode

15 / Bronze / Whoooaaaa! / Slide through blood continuously for 3 minutes

15 / Bronze / Wheeeeeee! / Slide 330 feet continuously through blood

15 / Bronze / Master Slicer / Slice 250 enemies with a sharp weapon

15 / Bronze / KABLAM! / Crush 250 enemies using a blunt weapon

15 / Bronze / Strike a Pose! / Stun 50 players using the love potion or love wand

30 / Silver / Who Wants My Autograph? / Complete all chapters from start till end with at least an A or A+ Grade

125 / Bronze / King Bling / Buy all statue upgrades

15 / Bronze / Treasure Hunter / Open all treasure chests

15 / Bronze / Weapons Are For Babies / Kill 250 enemies without using any weapons

15 / Bronze / Lazy Bastard / Remain in Taleville for more than 15 minutes

0 / Platinum / Victorious! / Unlock all Trophies!

Note: That "King Bling" Gamerscore reading looks like a typo — we've contacted Playlogic for confirmation.

The study's results imply that video games draw on physiological mechanisms in ways similar to warfare, where testosterone-fueled aggression provides a strong advantage. Researchers had tried studying it on subjects in sports, but the natural production of testosterone by physical exertion clouded the results of the study.

In this one, researchers pitted 14 three-player teams against one another in Unreal Tournament 2004's Onslaught - a capture-the-flag mode - and laid a $45 bounty for winning team players vs. $15 for losers. To make sure they knew what they were doing, they let the teams practice for a week.

Afterward, they found that winning teams' testosterone levels spiked immediately after the tournament, especially in those who contributed most to the win. When team members played one another, in death matches with similar cash incentives, the best performing males typically produced less testosterone than those they defeated.

"In a serious out-group competition you can kill all your rivals and you're better for it," said David Geary, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Missouri. But when competing against others in order establish a social hierarchy, annihilation doesn't make sense. "You can't alienate your in-group partners, because you need them," he said.

Gamers Are More Aggressive to Strangers [New Scientist]

EA spokeswoman Tiffany Steckler, speaking to GameSpot Australia, implied Left 4 Dead 2's violent content is not beyond the pale of Australia's home grown entertainment fare.

"It's funny that a place like Australia, which has come up with some pretty violent material in the past with something like Mad Max, can effectively ban video games for the same reason," she said. "EA believes that adults should have the right to make their own choices when it comes to the content they consume."

She declined to comment when asked if any changes were coming to the game, following the board's refusal to classify it at MA 15+, its highest rating. The games industry has for some time now pleaded for Australia to adopt a higher classification rating to permit more mature content to be sold Down Under. Last year's original Left 4 Dead was given an MA 15+

EA Responds to L4D 2 Banning Down Under [GameSpot AU via Game Politics]

Giving an interview to The Times of India, Dorje doesn't find his interest in violent video games to be inconsistent with his philosophy or his stature within Buddhism.

I view video games as something of an emotional therapy, a mundane level of emotional therapy for me. We all have emotions whether we're Buddhist practitioners or not, all of us have emotions, happy emotions, sad emotions, displeased emotions and we need to figure out a way to deal with them when they arise.

So, for me sometimes it can be a relief, a kind of decompression to just play some video games. If I'm having some negative thoughts or negative feelings, video games are one way in which I can release that energy in the context of the illusion of the game. I feel better afterwards.

The aggression that comes out in the video game satiates whatever desire I might have to express that feeling. For me, that's very skilful because when I do that I don't have to go and hit anyone over the head.

The interviewer asks if his mediation should be taking care of such urges and he politely brushes her off. "No, video games are just a skillful method," he says.

You know, I have felt oddly ... serene ... after playing Left 4 Dead.

"Video War Games Satiate My Feelings of Aggression" [The Times of India]

Said Doug Lombardi, the Valve spokesman:

We were surprised to hear of this news yesterday. Obviously, everyone at Valve is pretty bummed. It would be a shame if folks in Australia, or anywhere else, are unable to purchase Left 4 Dead 2 because of a ratings issue.

Indeed it would, but that's gonna be the case unless the Classification Board reconsiders (unlikely?) or Valve changes the content (even less likely?).

Electronic Arts' top many in Germany, Gerhard Florin (pictured) says enough is enough. In an interview last week with Spiegel, Florin called Germany's USK rating system "censorship" and called on the country to use the PEGI ratings, used across the rest of Europe.

What we're doing here [with USK rating] is censorship. And no one complains. When we talk about games here it's about violence or their alleged addictiveness, and not about their cultural status. The few good studios are asking themselves why they should stay here anyway.

The boss of the USK noted that the government's (gotta love this title) Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons often is what's stepping in against violent games before they get to the ratings board.

"It's hard when half-truths are being used," said USK's Marek Brunner. "They say the USK does this wrong, the USK does that bad and why doesn't this get a rating?"

EA: German Ratings are 'Censorship' [GamesIndustry.biz via Game Politics]

UGO reports the existence of the achievement, although it also says that Playlogic has likely designated it to be removed from the final version. However, the uber-bloody violence done to kid characters will remain in the game.

Playlogic producer Poria Torkan said that while players in Germany - considering a violent video game ban - found the game "very funy," he acknowledged the whole killing-a-thousand-kids-thing might be a bit problematic.

Yeah. As Game Politics points out, Microsoft and Sony would probably have something to say about it before they license the game, too. But that won't stop the cable news haranguing, once word of this spreads.

Fairytale Fights and the "Kill 1,000 Children Achievement [UGO via GamePolitics]

The Centers for Disease Control examined 500 adults across all majority ages (18 and up) in Seattle, because its Internet usage is highest in the United States and it's one of the largest media markets. Forty-five percent of respondents reported playing video games. Of them, CDC found that gamers' average age has gone up to a what-am-I-doing-with-my-life 35, and body condition, health and emotional state have followed suit.

All is not lost; girl gamers my age have it worse. CDC found they reported "greater depression and lower health status than female non players." Unsurprisingly, "male gamers reported a higher BMI and a greater reliance on the Internet than non-gamers.

"Health risk factors, specifically a higher BMI and a larger number of poor mental-health days, differentiated adult video game players from non-gamers," he said.

"Video game players also reported lower extraversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video-game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status."

Feel like crap yet? You should, according to this study.

Video Gamers 'Older Than Thought' [BBC]

Nope. That's because it's a board game. Monopoly, in fact. A 54-year-old man was playing with a female friend, and when she wouldn't sell him Park Place and Boardwalk - I mean, really! - he hit her in the head, breaking her glasses.

Reader Rich B. wrote in, full of hoary disgust at what these "board games" are doing to the nation. "Wonder if the politicians will finally see reason and call for a ban of all board games, before they destroy our American youth?"

I think it's a valid point. The feelings of being ruined, dealt with unfairly, driven out of business, and unable to pay the rent - even in a virtual environment - creates powerful stress, and it's not hard to see that leading to incidents of anger or violence. And not just in Monopoly. I remember back in Candy Land, this one time I got stuck on a fucking licorice space in Molasses Swamp and the feelings of helplessness were just debilitating ...

Mich. Man Jailed for Assault During Monopoly Game [AP on Google News]

In the video, which you may see here, Klint Anderson, a spokesman for the Weber County Sheriff's Office, mentioned that Preston's dad took away a driving video game, which is a good detail, fine. But the anchor smells the blood in the water. "Ahhh, ahh, something like a Grand Theft Auto? Something like that?" Objection! Leading the witness!

To be fair, Anderson didn't take the bait. "I have no idea," he said, "I didn't ask the father what game it was but some of those video games are pretty realistic."

Someone needs to tell Hairspray that if a child was playing an M-rated game, in Utah, this kid would probably be in custody of child protective services, not going on the Today Show. But then, it's just not as fun to blame Gran Turismo,

Did 7-year-old Learn to Drive From Video Games? [GamePolitics]

The prosecutor in the case of Nathan Hartley, convicted of "door-checking" two Maryland kids and sent to jail for 7 years, says he didn't bring up any GTA angle in this case. He said that was the strategy Hartley's lawyers took in an attempt to get the proceeding kicked back down to juvenile court. But it hasn't stopped mainstream outlets like Galaxy News Radio WTOP-FM of Washington from mentioning completely untrue bullshit in its report on the crime:

In the popular game "Grand Theft Auto," players drive virtual cars and intentionally hit pedestrians by smacking them with open car doors. It's called "door checking," and prosecutors say 18-year-old Nathan Hartley decided to try it with a real car last summer.

PS3Attitude actually called the prosecutor, John Mark McDonald, to ask WTF, and McDonald said video games had nothing to do with his side of the case. Said McDonald:

The suggestion came through the Defendant. I have never seen Grand Theft Auto, and had never heard of ‘door-checking' until this case. It was a defense he set forth in attempting to waive his case back to the juvenile court. The State did not introduce the game into the prosecution of this case. It added nothing. My comments on the game were to rebut his reasoning for doing what he did.

I did not suggest that the game was to blame for his conduct, and would not. The blame lies entirely with Nathan Hartley. I stated as much in court. As I indicated, I have never even seen the game and I was not passing any judgment on the game. I was simply arguing why I felt his justification was not valid.

In case you are wondering, Hartley struck his victims at 30 mph - they were two brothers, one 11 years old, the other 15. The incident occurred on Maryland's Eastern Shore last August.

I've heard of lots of things blamed on video games, but usually the crime committed at least had some tenuous connection to actual acts performed in one - shooting, typically. It's quite another to completely misrepresent what a game does, even if it's the defendant's side of the story. There's no "on the other hand" about facts, unless you just want to be a stenographer for straight garbage, which is what WTOP is in this case.

GTA 'Door-Checking' Case Prosecutor; "The Blame Lies Entirely with Nathan Hartley" [PS3 Attitude, thanks Parker.]

Rob Watson, the "Bare Knuckles" blogger for the Inquirer, doesn't want to come off as someone railing on the evil of violent video games. Still, he says "this is a bad idea.

"I would say 99.9999 percent of gamers who buy the Prestige edition will have a blast with these new goggles, innocently playing around at night with them.

Yet, it is also like giving away a free race car with Gran Tourismo or Forza - someone is going to cause a highway wreck. In Modern Warfare 2's case, I shudder (just a bit) to think of someone, who may have a hard time with reality anyway, donning these goggles for real mischief or even worse."

I know, I know, I'm cringing at that kind of dot-connection, too. But before you go ripping off this guy's head (well, virtually anyway), maybe his point could be rephrased. The night vision goggles are a novel promo; but think of the headlines we're going to get should anyone use them in the commission of a crime, especially a violent one, whether or not Modern Warfare 2 is said to be an inspiration for it. Yeah, I'd consider that a plausible and obnoxious consequence of the Prestige Edition, but it's still not enough to make it "a bad idea."

In the end, I am sure Activision's lawyer-mans looked at this and the risk of exposure. Someone blessed it, and they probably figured that it can't be said - in a legal sense anyway - that functioning night vision goggles sold to adults are an enticement to commit the violent acts depicted in a game, any more than selling a combat helmet is.

Night Goggles With a Game - Invitation to Mischief? [Philadelphia Inquirer via GamePolitics]

We gave you a taste, and now here's the entire episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit!, which takes on the issue of violent video games and the people that love to hate them. The episode is currently on YouTube in three parts as seen on GamePolitics. Here's a taste of that episode.

The show excels at making what they want to look bad look extremely bad, so we can't really take this as any sort of reasoned argument, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. You'll definitely want to wear headphones while watching, because Penn curses enough for him and his little mute friend.

The Chicago Tribune's advice columnist had the following advice on Sunday:

Sooner or later, raising your kid the way you believe is right means you'll have to risk stepping on some toes. You could have your son bring over an enticing new, non-violent video game. You could call over and say that your Matthew has already used his video game time for the week.

But it's also perfectly reasonable to tell your friends, "I'm sorry, but would you mind if Matthew and Timmy played only racing games?" It's not as implicitly judgmental as laying out your whole parenting philosophy, and if they are your friends, they'll take the hint. The very best option, of course, involves the yard, sporting implements and muddy knees.

Sound advice, parents?

Can I kill games, save friendship? [Chicago Tribune]

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