Kotaku: Violent Games

Study on Effects of Violent Games: Blame the Player, Not the Game

Matthew Buzzi — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:00:00 EDT

A study by Villanova University psychologist Patrick Markey suggests that the personality of the person playing a video game is more likely the cause of violent behavior than the actual content of the game. More »

Expert Blames Sexual Video Games For A Rise In Sexual Violence

Mike Fahey — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST

For one Fox News reporter the worst thing about Epic's upcoming first-person shooter isn't the over-the-top violence and excessive profanity. It's the naming of Skill Shots after sex acts. Could they lead to real-world sexual violence? More »

Broken Record Congressman Pushing Health Warnings On Video Games Again

Mike Fahey — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST

In 2009 California congressman Joe Baca introduced legislation that would require games to display a label warning of links between violent video games and aggressive behavior. Now Baca's back, singing the same old song with a few new lines. More »

The Daily Show Solves The Problem Of Violent Games And Children

Mike Fahey — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:20:00 EDT

Is the solution to children playing violent video games bundling Family Game Night with a machine gun, a nine-person shooter, or replacing Niko Bellic with American public radio personality Ira Glass? Watch out: He'll shoot your penis off. More »

Who Should Be Responsible For Keeping Violent Games From Children?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EDT

A Gallup survey conducted over the weekend finds that while Americans believe the greatest responsibility for keeping violent games out of children's hands lies with parents, they aren't opposed to the government stepping in to help. More »

Why Supreme Court May Support Criminalizing Some Violent Games Sales

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:00:00 EDT

The battle between the video game industry and California politicians about whether to criminalize the sale of overly violent video games to minors has been one-sided so far. But the Supreme Court has grounds to turn the tide for California. More »

Help California Name Some Dangerously Violent Games

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:40:00 EDT

This week's decision by the United States Supreme Court to hear arguments both for and against the State of California's attempt to make the sale of very violent games to kids illegal raises a question: Which games would be affected? More »

Supreme Court Decision On Whether To Hear Violent Video Game Case Expected Soon

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:40:00 EDT

The United States Supreme Court may decide whether to hear a landmark case affecting the sale of violent video games as early as next week, the California Attorney General's office told Kotaku today. More »

More Movies Refused BBFC Classification Than Games

Mike Fahey — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST

In an attempt to counter unfair stereotypes about games, UK game industry trade organization TIGA reveals that three times as many movies have been refused British Board of Film Classification ratings than games in the past five years. More »

How'd That Germany "Killer Game" Trashing Rally Go? (Eh....)

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:00:00 EDT

Over the weekend, a German advocacy group asked individuals to bring their "killer games" to the front of an opera house to throw away in a large dumpster. More »

Attempts To Ban Violent Games In Venezuela Progress

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:53 EDT

The Associated Press reports that the Venezuelan government's attempts to ban violent video games such as Counter-Strike, is weeks away from passing, though it isn't likely to affect widespread sale of pirated games. More »

Students Protest Call Of Duty Dog Killing

Mike Fahey — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:40:00 EDT

Students at the Academy of Notre Dame in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, are up in arms over Activision's Call of Duty: World at War for promoting the killing of deadly attack dogs. More »

Study: Children Desire Mature-Rated Games

Mike Fahey — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:40:00 EST

A study published in the U.S. Pediatrics journal this month finds that giving a video game a mature rating makes it "unspeakably desirable" to children. More »

Congressman Calls For Health Warnings On Violent Games

Mike Fahey — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:40:00 EST

Do violent video games need health warning labels? California congressman Joe Baca thinks so, and he's introduced legislation that would make them mandatory. More »

Oasis Guitarist Reckons Violent Games Cause Knife Crime

Brian Ashcraft — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The recent increase of youth crime has Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher. Eighteen teenagers have been murdered this year so far in London, and the Metropolitan police have set up a dedicated task force of 75 officers to combat crime. And the cause of this crime? According to Gallagher: More »

Parents! Watch Out For Meat Shields

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:40:00 EDT

Time to wheel out mainstream media's default boogieman: VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES. In this today's thrilling episode, Arizona's KTVK-TV warns parents of "meat shields." Citing Yahoo!Games, KTVK 3TV writes: More »

Advocacy Groups Want Games Locked Up

Leigh Alexander — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT

As the GTA IV launch is once again trotted out as a controversy flashpoint, there's one thing the gaming audience tends to agree on: This game is not for children. Of course, just how zealous they are about enforcing such a mandate varies wildly. More »

"Kids Who Don't Play Video Games Are At Risk"

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:00:39 EDT

Click to view In the aboveGrand Theft Childhood authors Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson talk about their research and findings. Fascinating, intelligent stuff. Watch it. More »

Video Games Can Be A Rich And Magical Experience

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:40:00 EDT

Several of you have pointed us to an amazing opinion piece by Naomi Alderman at The Guardian titled "If we deny children access to all computer games, we deprive them of a rich and magical experience", a beautifully written response to recent events in the UK like the Byron Review and the banning of shocking Kane & Lynch advertisements. She praises Byron's report for touching on the many opportunities for fun and learning that computer games allow, and how we need to move away from the notion that computer games cause harm, and then points out how the print and television media reacted by warning parents about violent games and monitoring their children at all times. In short, they completely ignored the positive points and focused on the negative. Alderman paints a much brighter picture, though the quote that struck me as the most poignant was this:

The world of Grand Theft Auto does contain violence and misogyny; but then, so does The Godfather, or Goodfellas. So, for that matter, does The Iliad.

Kane & Lynch Ads Banned In UK

Mike Fahey — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EDT

The Advertising Standards Authority is not amused by the recent UK advertisements for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. The watchdog group has recieved 26 separate complaints against the violent ads, which include a TV spot, posters, and print ads. The main offender was the poster, which featured a gagged, crying woman with her head held back by one of the game's heroes. Another poster contained a quote from OXM calling the game "Grittier and nastier in tone than anything you've seen before, the violence here is visceral, brutal and very, very real." The television ads included the crunching noise of a rifle butt being brought down on a man's face and another man getting his throat cut. The ASA has ordered that Eidos not broadcast or reprint the ads again, deeming them too graphic and shocking to be seen in any medium. Hope no one gets fired over a game as average as Kane & Lynch. More »

'The Myth of the Media Myth': Games and Non-Gamers

Maggie Greene — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:00:00 EDT

All of us have our stories about game-related interactions with non-gamers, some of them undoubtedly on the negative side of things ('I hate video games,' someone rather snottily told me at a party a few weeks ago, and that's certainly on the mild end of the negative spectrum). But is it something non-gamers even give much thought to unless they're pressed on the issue? Can people even explain why they dismiss games and gaming out of hand? Brenda Brathwaite muses on why this may be in an article over at the Escapist and talked to lots of people in the industry (our own Ashcraft even makes an appearance). Shall the gamer and non-gamer ever meet on equal ground?: More »

British MP - Games Let You Rape Women

Mike Fahey — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:20:37 EST

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: More »

UK Gets Serious About Video Game Ratings

fdemarco — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST

The front page of the Guardian has an interesting story on the tightening up of the UK's video game rating system. According to the Guardian, only games that display "sex or "gross" violence to humans or animals" currently have any kind of age limit attached to them, leaving a large portion of games unrated that contain "weapons, martial arts and extreme combat." To make sure that large portion doesn't go unchecked, Ministers are proposing a completely overhauled ratings system. More »

Iowa Caucuses Good On Gaming

Mike Fahey — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:20:40 EST

The results of yesterday's Iowa Caucuses are in, and it's a clear win for video game fans everywhere! As the smoke cleared and the votes were tallied, two of gaming's strongest critics managed to avoid coming out on top. Republican Mitt Romney, who likes to lump in violent video games with pornography as factors corrupting America's youth, found himself in second place behind Mike "Change Your Last Name Before Being Elected Please" Huckabee, with 25% of the vote to Huckabee's 34%. On the democratic side of things, Hilliary Clinton found herself trailing John Edwards 30% of the vote by a tiny margin, with Barack Obama taking the lead with 38%. Clinton has long been outspoken against violent video games, at one time claiming they were "stealing the innocence of our children...making the difficult job of being a parent even harder." I think we're ll well-aware as to how hard it is to be a parent and still have to do all that unattractive parenting stuff. Icky. Despite the early numbers, the candidacy is hardly sealed for either party at this point. Next stop, New Hampshire! More »

Helpful Parental Game Buying Tips From Leland Yee

Mike Fahey — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:20:27 EST

Violent video games have topped the charts on and off since gaming began, and California State Senator Leland Yee couldn't help but notice that many parents suck at keeping them from children. Instead of using traditional methods of dealing with inattentive parents, Yee has decided to bring your mothers into this and simply release a list of helpful tips for purchasing games this Holiday season. For example:

Pick games that require the player to come up with strategies and make decisions in a game environment that is more complex than punch, steal, and kill.

I would go as far as adding that smaller children are excellent at fooling parents, and they should not be discounted. Sure, the bigger kids are more impressive and tougher, but those little guys know your firing rate and can swim circles around you. More »

The Morning Show's Other Gaming Expert

Mike Fahey — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:20:31 EDT

Leave it to Jack to steal the anti-Halo 3 spotlight from someone even more deserving of our scrutiny. During JT's appearance on The Morning Show that Crecente picked over last week, Dr. Susan Bartel also appeared on the show to condemn violent games using the amazingly technical explanation that "When kids play violent video games, we can see that their brains are different than when they play non-violent games," going on to say that "We can see a very big difference in their brains which tells us how dangerous these games can be." Right, because brain activity is bad of course. When co-host Juliet asks how the increased brain activity is dangerous, Dr. Bartel leaps into a rant on how a child gets into the role and could kill people if bumped into in the street, completely dodging the question. More »

Comatose Oklahoma Game Law Dies

Mike Fahey — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 08:07:30 EDT

Back in June of 2006, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed into law a bill that would make it illegal to sell or rent violent video games to minors. Due to go into effect November of last year, questions of the constitutionality of the bill caused it to slip from consciousness via a preliminary injunction. After a long struggle to keep the law alive, it passed away quietly in its sleep yesterday via a judicial decision for permanent injunction. My main reason for bringing this up is to share this awesome quote by Bo Andersen, President of the Entertainment Merchants Association.

"It is time for lawmakers to stop targeting video games and the retailers that sell them. They should recognize that all video games are rated, retailers are choosing to enforce the ratings in their stores, and the new PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 video game consoles and Vista computer operating system all allow parents to control the types of games that can be played on them. These voluntary steps, not government regulation, are true to the spirit of the American Constitution."

Someone give that man a cookie, right now. More »

Tory Leader Wants To Ban Violent Games

Mike Fahey — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:20:25 EDT

British Conservative leader David Cameron wants to fight crime in Britain, and of course on of the key ways to combat the criminal element is baning violent video games. Yes, violent video games are one of the many societal dangers that Cameron feels need to be done away with as part of a long-term plan to fight crime by changing behavior of schoolchildren both at home and in the classroom.

"We are never going to deal with crime unless we look at the broader context and say, 'Yes, tough laws, strong action on the police, but also action to strengthen our society'.

NY Game Bill 3: Anticlimax

Mike Fahey — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:20:48 EDT

The saga of the New York video game law has reached as dramatic a cliffhanger as you're likely to get in politics, as both the Senate and Assembly final agreed on legislation, only to have the session end before the measure could be passed. Despite the bad timing the measure is fully expected to pass with the new session starts in July, with the Governor Eliot Spitzer standing by with pen in hand. More »

Virginia Tech Travesty In Crappy Flash Form

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 14 May 2007 03:00:14 EDT

With the controversy that the Columbine-based game Super Columbine Massacre RPG! caused, the Virginia Tech tragedy was bound to receive a game version by someone. Flash site New Grounds has a flash game titled V-Tech Rampage. The worst part? V-Tech Rampage doesn't bring anything more than shoddy, tacky game play to the table. Free speech and free expression are great. Just make sure you've got something to say. Otherwise, it's noise. Brian Ashcraft More »

FPS, A Stage Production

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 08 May 2007 01:00:26 EDT

Over the weekend, First Person Shooter: The Play premiered in San Francisco. The play is set in a start-up video game company that has achieved big-time success due to a the "hottest, most violent game on the market." Things go bad when the company is blamed for a schoolyard shooting. The play was written by Aaron Loeb, former IGN writer and current game developer COO. Says Aaron: More »

Harvard Gamers: Violent

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:00:40 EST

Our source for all things gaming The Harvard Crimson is running a piece on the university's first official video games tourney. US $400 in prizes were up for grabs, along with a Nintendo Wii. A hundred or so crammed into the Lamont Forum Room last week to battle it out in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Halo, Starcraft: Brood War and Warcraft: Defense of the Ancients. Says student Matthew R. McFarlane: More »

Teen Video Game Violence In Contexts

Mike Fahey — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:40:54 EST

The latest edition of the sociology journal Contexts features an article by Karen Sternheimer that tackles the subject of the effect of violent games on teens. Entitled Do Video Games Kill?, it explores the use of video games as a "folk devil"; a device allowing society to focus blame and fear, offering up an easy explanation for complex problems. More »

Killing Homeless Is Like A "Violent Video Game"

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:00:55 EST

CNN has a sad piece up on a teen attacks against the homeless. Nathan Moore and his friends Luis Oyola and Andrew Ihrcke savagely beat 49 year-old homeless man Rex Baum. They threw rocks and a barbecue grill at Baum and punched and kicked him. They then hit the man with a baseball bat and a pipe before smearing feces on Baum's face and cutting him to "see if he was alive." The teens then went to McDonald's and bragged about this murder before police picked them up. Quoting CNN: More »

Onechanbara To Slice Up Xbox 360

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 06:21:40 EDT

In the continuing effort to make the 360 appealing for those with "discerning" tastes, zombie chanbara game Onechanbara is slated for released at the end of the year in Japan. And well, we do love our zombies here at Kotaku. The game's title is a word play on "one" (sister, young girl"), "chan" (an informal name marker) and "chanbara" (sword fighting). Dubbed Onechanbara: vorteX, the game pits the cowboy-hat-and-skimpy-outfit wearing young heroine against hoards of the walking dead, whom she slices up with katanas in a Kill Bill-style blood bath bonanza. Anyone familiar with publisher D3's Simple 2000 Onechanbara for the PS2 would probably agree: This is the only safe-for-work imagine available. The words "Japan Only" mean, anything? Brian Ashcraft More »

Dead Rising Censored In Japan

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:23:18 EDT

Dead Rising shuffled-stepped into American stores yesterday. The zombie slashin', clothes shopin', picture takin' Capcom game racks up a high body count, which has lead to a "clean" version for the Land of the Rising Sun. I haven't had a chance to check out the Japanese demo (I have an American Live account), but this dude says it is heavily censored. What's more, the Japanese version of the final game has been changed so that it is not possible to kill innocent people. Only zombies can kill them. Fear not, Play-Asia is to the rescue. Again. The online retailer says that the US version is region free and is importing to Japan. Bring on those innocent bystanders! Brian AshcraftMore Here [Insert Credit] More »

Brit Cops Bitch about Reservoir Dogs Game

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:21:25 EDT

Game studio Eidos's adaptation of Quentin Tarantino's heist flick Reservoir Dogs has come under attack in the UK for being violent. The game has been given an 18 rating, and the British Board of Film Classification stated the game contained "nothing that is particulary stronger than things found in most 18-rated games." Tom McGhie, chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, retorted: More »

Brutal Games Make You Brutal Numb

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 08:25:16 EDT

Gory gaming makes players desensitized to violence say three psychology professors. Their recent study had 257 students play Duke Nukem and Mortal Kombat for 20 minutes. Then, once an endless stream of questions regarding "finishing moves" and speculation on Duke Nukem Forever ceased, the students then watched a 10 minute clip of 100 percent real violent acts. The students had their heart rates measured before, during and after each session. These were then compared with a control group of students that watched the same video without muddling through those retro titles. More »

ESA Wants Gamers to Rock the Vote

lsmith — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 13:40:02 EST

Boasting a banner complete with smiling multi-ethnic people smiling, the ESA launched the Video Game Voters Network. All kidding aside, here's the ESA's mission statement from their "About Us" page: More »

Rockstar's Secret Bully

lsmith — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 10:40:25 EST

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The much too talked about, consistently delayed, Bully is finding its way into the media yet again, this time via the Miami Herald. An article in this morning's Herald titled "Secretive New Video Game Might Inspire Bullies" consists of some interviews Miami-Dade school board members and the illustrious Jack Thompson. One school board member, Frank Bola os, has introduced a "resolution" to have local merchants refuse to sell the game and is urging families not to purchase it. In news from the future, Miami-Dade is not letting residents use the Internet for fear that someone might purchase Bully online. More »