When Video Games and Gay Rights Collide

From The Consumerist:

Xbox Live has banned the account name theGAYERgamer, as shown in the image. When called for an explanation, the user was told the name offended "the greater Xbox community." While I'm well aware of the frequency of homophobic epitaphs spewed via Xbox Live voice chat on a regular basis, I did not know that Microsoft was officially endorsing that sort of bigotry.

Looks like I'll be getting a Playstation 3 soon after all.

Good Question

Sorry. It's not that I'm obsessed with Grand Theft Auto, or that I don't care about other things going on. Well, it's closer to the latter, actually. I am getting sick of this primary. And I know, I know, it's great that everybody gets to vote and yadda yadda, but the Democratic candidates have been spending millions of dollars to beat each other up, and there's no recuperation period before the actual election. The longer this goes on, the easier it is for McCain to slide by. That's what I see happening. I think Democrats have vastly underestimated McCain's electability. The press has buffed him to a glossy sheen, and Obama and Clinton are looking mighty scuffed.

So anyway, this interview, via GamePolitics.com, cheered me up. Phil Villarreal, film critic for the Arizona Daily Star, spoke to Dan Isett of the Parent's Television Council, yet another group spreading misinformation about Grand Theft Auto IV in an attempt to ride the wave of free publicity.

Villarreal: Have you played the game?

Isett: I’ve actually played ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’ and it’s right in keeping with previous versions. The series continues to lower the bar and this is the first game that has an alcohol content warning. You get points for driving drunk in this game.

Villarreal: You know that’s not true, right? The game doesn’t have points.

Isset: If nothing else, it’s a rewarded activity. Necessary for advancement.

Villarreal: I don’t think so.

Isset: But there’s an alcohol content warning and a scene of drunk driving, correct?

Villarreal: Yes. Did you play that part?

Isset: No, no. I didn’t get that far.

Villarreal: Are you a gamer at all? Do you play any games these days?

Isset: I enjoy video games.

Villarreal: What do you play?

Isset: I have a lot of fun. I play all sorts of games. I actually have a Wii.

Villarreal: What were the circumstances that you played “GTA IV?”

Isset: I rented it at a friend’s house. I think that what’s important is it’s a horrifically violent game and if you want to quibble about extra points being granted, fine. It rewards every antisocial behavior.

Awesome. Anybody who actually plays video games can easily answer the question "What do you play?" without stumbling all over themselves. "I actually have a Wii" is exactly the answer you'd expect from someone who has no idea what they're talking about. Starting that sentence with "I actually" immediately betrays your own incredulity that an adult would want to own a Wii. For future reference, in case Dan Isset or any other nongamer who needs to claim to be a gamer to retain credibility is asked this question, here's a crib sheet on how an actual game enthusiast might answer the question "What do you play?"

Well, I'm a sucker for RPGs, both Western and Japanese styles. I like action games as long as they have an intriguing story behind them, and of course nothing beats having some people over for a good party game like Mario Kart, Smash Brothers or Rock Band. I have an Xbox 360 and a Wii hooked up in the living room, three networked high-end PCs, a Playstation 2 in the bedroom for late-night retro sessions, and a PSP and DS for when I'm on the go.

"I actually own a Wii," is pretty easily interpreted as, "I don't know what I'm talking about, but let me throw out a product name I know of. I assume that will adequately convey my mastery of the subject matter."

Down with Niko

So, yeah, I picked up my copy of the game that is poised to collapse society as we know it. Grand Theft Auto IV has made its way into my living room, and from there, as I write this at the office, may have already begun to seep under the door and infect an expanding radius of what was once good, decent American culture.

I'm not really exaggerating. Even if you could not possibly care less about video games, you have heard about how awful GTAIV is. This is how it is being presented. Even when journalists try to sound hip and compare the game, rightfully, to past 'scourges' like comic books and rock music, they usually feel the need to toss in some reason why GTA is the exception, the really evil entity, as opposed to those other simply misunderstood paradigms. Here's the L.A. Times critic Tim Rutten, via GamePolitics.com:

One of the hallmarks of a healthy consumer society is that its older generation habitually despises and decries the entertainments of the young. The young, in turn, elevate their aesthetic rebellion to respectability over time…

Where earlier generations of youthful art crossed boundaries… they also affirmed something else, some alternative or countercultural value…

What “Grand Theft Auto IV” affirms is the pleasure of eschewing decency for obnoxious violence.

So is this an accurate depiction of Grand Theft Auto IV? Non-industry critics will likely say yes, but then, non-industry critics have almost universally failed to actually insert the game and play it as it's meant to be played. I put in about two hours last night. Here's what I found.

The story begins with a lavishly produced cinematic sequence, depicting the brutal murder of... no, wait. No brutal murder. Actually, the opening sequence introduces us to the main character, Niko Bellic, as he discusses the politic tensions in his homeland and his reasons for coming to America with a fellow sailor as their ship pulls into Liberty City harbor. No violence at all. Odd.

We are then introduced to Niko's Cousin Roman, who runs a ruthless cartel of.. er, no, wait. He owns a run-down cab company, which is in jeopardy due to some loan sharks he owes money to. We learn that Roman has been exaggerating his success in correspondence to Niko and others back home, and that his situation is less American dream and more American immigrant working-class. Again, no violence.

Soon after, Niko is introduced to Michelle, a friend of Roman's secretary. Immediately they hop into Niko's car and engage in some violent bondage... no, wait. They go bowling. THEY GO FUCKING BOWLING! What the fuck is this? I paid for sex! I paid for violence! I didn't pay to watch a down-on-his-luck immigrant on an awkward but cute bowling date with a woman. They didn't even kiss at the end! What the hell??? Sorry. I just feel that maybe I've been sold something very different from what I now actually own.

Ah, here we go. Finally, Niko, who is now driving cabs for his cousin, gives a ride to a Jamaican fellow who's afraid he's being followed, and gives Niko a gun to cover him. Sure enough, the guy comes under attack, and Niko has to pop some caps in the attackers. Alright, here we go! Carnage! Haha! Pow! Pow pow! Ummmm... really? That's it? Uh... okay.

Now it's time to learn about the police. The in-game tutorial teaches you how to ambush the cops so as... no, wait. It instructs you on how to flee, not on how to fight the cops. Dammit. Cop killing is what this game is supposed to be about, and they have me running away??? This is crazy!

From there, it's more cab-driving, awkward but cute dating, meeting some unsavory characters who wish Roman and Niko harm, and learning more about Niko's troubled history. These characters are very human and deeply complex. The game is far more Goodfellas than Die Hard. It's not for children. Or even young teens. But in some ways, I'm delighted to know that all of these young adults are engaging in this piece of digital storytelling, which is far more profound and thought-provoking than most of the films currently showing at the cineplex.

I played for two hours. Of those two hours, approximately five minutes was spent engaged in any sort of violence. To say that this game offers nothing but an affirmation of obnoxious violence is clearly inaccurate. But then, why be accurate when you can stir controversy.

Kevin McCullough Update

Turns out Kevin McCullough couldn't resist swiping back at the critics who found fault with his column on Mass Effect. Taking the sophisticated tact one would expect from such an obviously intellectual journalist, he resorts to calling his critics "Gamer Nerds". This from a guy who looks like Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley had a brief but torrid love affair with a ferret, producing a child that very nearly survived.

Of course whenever a web argument erupts, 80% of what gets said is mindless namecalling and empty threats, leaving about 20% actual content. The lazy participant will focus only on the garbage, and pretend that the actual content doesn't exist. Is Kevin McCullough lazy?

To a person (after being hyped a bit by gamer-nerd-blogs) and no doubt instructed to flood my inbox with response, the gist of these responses went something along these lines, "YOU LIED, YOU LIED, YOU LIED." Some called me a yellow journalist, some just typed the "F" word something like 27 times, and signed it, "have a good day."

Yes. Yes he is. He also has a bit of an inflated ego, assuming that gamer blogs were instructing people to criticize him, instead of just laughing at his stupidity as was actually the case. But does he understand proper comma usage?

But what was it I was supposed to have lied about? That my friend is the compelling part of this highly emotional drama - if only to one niche of people attached to their X-Boxes.

He does not. Unless, of course, he has a good friend around whom this controversy revolves. I assume he would have mentioned this friend earlier.

I'm sure this moron's book is just captivating reading. I'd rush out and grab it, but this poopy pants living in the basement has some Rock Band to play.

UPDATE: Penny Arcade reminds us that Kevin McCullough is really just a sad little man who never got over his childhood dream of being famous, as only they can.

The Crazies Won't Stop Writing!

Courtesy of Penny Arcade:

Hot on the heels of the Syracuse fellow who thinks blogging is out of control and the bowtied asswad who thinks teh gais r gunna git us, we've got Kevin McCullough, who honestly believes that the Xbox game Mass Effect, which I've actually blogged about here, should be a central issue in the presidential race; specifically, how best to burn all copies of the game and, if possible, the programmers in a public bonfire.

How misinformed is Mr. McCullough?

"...the new video game that one company is marketing to fifteen year old boys."

Mass effect is rated M for Mature, meaning it shouldn't be played by anyone under 18. McCullough is apparently one of the idiot parents I discussed here.

It's called "Mass Effect" and it allows its players - universally male no doubt - to engage in the most realistic sex acts ever conceived.

While the game is, indeed, called Mass Effect, that appears to be the only nugget of truth in this sentence. Females are now allowed -- and on occasion, even choose! -- to play video games nowadays. And, there are no sex acts depicted in Mass Effect. I've finished the game, and I don't believe Mr. McCullough has. I can assure you that there is no graphic sex depicted. There's not even any nudity. There is one bedroom scene that would easily be allowed on prime time television. That's it.

One can custom design the shape, form, bodies, race, hair style, breast size of the images they wish to "engage"...

No... one can customize one's own character, but not the characters he or she engages with. At all. This is completely fabricated. And to get to the one aforementioned bedroom scene, which is about as randy as an episode of Friends, requires about 40 hours of shooting aliens and engaging in galactic diplomacy. Hardly a plug-and-play scenario.

Okay, I could do this all day, and I'm barely past the first few paragraphs. I'll just toss this last one out.

With it's "over the net" capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away.

While anyone with an understanding of computer programming and the capabilities of the Xbox 360 knows this is an impossible scenario, that's secondary here. Is it just me, or does he almost sound... excited by the prospect? Seriously. I read that, and could almost visualize a tiny bit of drool running from the corner of McCullough's mouth. I think it's the use of the word 'orgasmic' to modify 'rape'.

It takes a special kind of batshit conservative to run out of actual things to bang his head against stupidly and resort to making shit up out of whole cloth. The game McCullough describes doesn't exist. It is unlikely to ever exist, as no responsible game retailer would carry it. But the fact that it doesn't exist does not appear to phase Kevin at all. He's gone to war against this imaginary game, I assume because the Goblin King was occupied elsewhere and unavailable.

If you're clamoring for more Kevin McCullough, and I know you are, his book, published by Harvest House Publishers, is available here.

Sshhhhhhh... I'm Gaming

I apologize for the downtime over the holiday weekend. I'd been very active around here this month, and then took a bit of a slide. I can't blame this on the holiday, as my work schedule caused my wife and I to stay home and enjoy a quiet Thanksgiving on campus, where I successfully conquered my first Thanksgiving turkey (with stuffing, no less!)

There are two culprits, and I shall name them Rock Band and Mass Effect.

I don't often use this space for game reviews, though I certainly could, especially with the vast number of great games released recently. I usually try to reserve doing so for an occasion when I can tie the game in to some cultural or political discussion (even if it's a rather tenuous link.) So I'll pass over Rock Band quickly, because there is no such link to be made. The game is just unbelievably fun in a multi-gamer household. I 'play' guitar, my wife plays the drums (which actually takes skill), and we turn ourselves into Captain Obvious: touring cover band. It's just awesome.

Now, as for Mass Effect, I'll be honest and admit that I'm not playing it strictly for its commentary on politics and culture. It is a stunningly beautiful game, with a compelling story that should appeal to fans of any of the great space operas: Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly and so forth. The acting is absolutely top-notch, and the presentation is epic and cinematic throughout.


Two humans speak to a Turian in a scene from Mass Effect. Turians are the most influential creatures in the galaxy. They have the strongest military and a somewhat imperial attitude. They have little skill with diplomacy, and rely on their council-race allies for peaceful negotiations. Many Turians are blatantly hostile towards humans and other underdeveloped races, believing that upstarts are mostly interested in usurping their power. Turians believe in "Total War", deploying immense military force upon an enemy until they have no choice but to support the Turians.

What makes the story behind Mass Effect stand out most is its departure from the concept of a human-centric universe. In the game, humanity is something of a developing third-world nation, new to spacefaring and interplanetary politics, with no representation on the galactic council. Frustrations over racism, manipulative superpowers and the disempowerment inherent in political subjugation are all important factors in the story. It's an unusual vantage point for an American in the early twenty-first century. I've heard and read that many people find the story a little unsettling, and I wonder to what extent playing an actually repressed character is responsible for this. Americans like to assume the role of underdog, no matter how ridiculous such a stance is when held up against the indisputable power and influence of the United States. Things that point out the ridiculous nature of that mindset often seem to unsettle mass audiences. There is no question which race in the game best represents the United States, and it is most definitely not humanity. It's the race whose politics and military actions, while always couched as being in the interests of security, seem to the player as being unreasonable obstacles meant to keep humanity down. It is very interesting, and yes, at times unsettling, to get a glimpse of what it looks like when a great power attempts to manipulate the development of a lesser power from the vantage point of the lesser power.

There's no punchline here; I don't have any profound conclusion to make. I just think that the game is worth playing as a beautiful and engaging piece of science-fiction literature, and that these are things you might consider while playing.

Bite Me, GameStop

It's an exciting couple of weeks coming up if you're... well, if you're me, I guess, or have my exact taste in video games. Super Mario Galaxy, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Rock Band, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings... and that's just between now and next week. That's a whole lot of gaming dollars spent in the course of two weeks, and while I'm looking forward to purchasing at least one copy of all those titles, I was not looking forward to doing it at GameStop.

I can't stand GameStop. I almost lost it when I saw the 28 Confessions of a GameStop Employee, which basically boiled down to a novel-length justification of terrible business practices.

A store's allotments are based on its net sales figures and, among other things, reserves. A particular title that isn't guaranteed to fly off shelves may not be sent to a store at ALL if no interest is shown in it... This is not some faceless abusive policy, this is fair business; video games are expensive, and no company wants to order excess stock for a store that seems disinterested in it.

You're GameStop. You don't really have any serious corporate competition. You can afford to stock one or two copies of a niche game. Of course, this is nonsense anyway. GameStop is notorious for not having any copies of a brand new, guaranteed-to-fly-off-the-shelves game except for people who preordered. The reason becomes obvious when 'G' points out that preorders make up a large part of how GameStop stores and employees are esteemed by the big guys in suits. Loyal GameStop customers know that if they want a game on the day it's released, they'd better put down cash ahead of time. It has nothing to do with supply or demand, despite what GameStop employees might tell you. It's because the assholes in charge will fire employees who don't sell preorders, and managers of stores that don't sell preorders.

So, anyway, I was thrilled to discover a new shop tonight while driving to the local organics store. The Game Shop, at 341 Central Park Avenue in Scarsdale, NY, just opened their doors, and they definitely get a big recommendation from me. The owners are all previous GameStop managers, and the gentleman there tonight assured me that their primary goal is to avoid the customer and employee abuse that have become common practice at GameStop. I grabbed a copy of Super Mario Galaxy on impulse, happy to support a local establishment that cared about its employees and the gaming community.

This Blog Entry Rated:

Back to video games today. This time it's not a particular game I'm advocating, but simply a familiarity with how games are rated.

For a bit of background, the game Manhunt 2 has been the center of some controversy for a while now. It is being created by Take Two, the same company responsible for the infamous Grand Theft Auto series and the big-deal-before-it-came-out-but-then-everyone-
realized-it-was-not-as-bad-as-the-activists-warned-(hoped) Bully. I am definitely a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto games and Bully. The GTA games are, more than anything else, outstanding parodies of particular pop culture themes (specifically, and in order, "Goodfellas" style mafia films, "Miami Vice" era Florida in the 80's, and "Boyz in the Hood" South Central LA from the 90's.) Bully is a great recreation of high school for those of us who didn't quite fit in well enough to relate to Beverly Hills 90210 or High School Musical, and is consistently funny and actually pretty short on real violence.

I'm not very interested in Manhunt 2, but given the legal attention given to other games by Take Two that I did enjoy, I have kept up with the Manhunt 2 controversy. Manhunt 2 was originally rated "AO", for Adults Only, by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). "AO" is the harshest rating a game can receive, and means that a game will not be carried by most retailers. Take Two made revisions, resubmitted the game to the ESRB, and the games rating was changed from "AO" to "M", which means it will have this symbol plastered on the box:


Mature. 17+. Would you buy your impressionable preteen a game with this symbol on the box? A lot of parents do, and that's the problem. Parents buy these games for their kids, and then sue the company when they find out just what's in the game. I've even warned parents I've seen making this mistake.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I said to one woman, buying Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for her son, who appeared to be about ten. "That game is pretty graphic. It's rated for ages 17 and up. It might not be appropriate for your son."

"Oh, it's okay. All his friends play this game. He told me it's very popular right now."

Well, yeah. No shit. The problem isn't what he's telling you, it's what he's not telling you. And the bigger problem is that you're naive enough to believe that video games are still targeted solely at children, and you don't bother to pay attention to the little symbol that's basically screaming, "Hey! Do you let your kid watch R-rated movies by himself? Then maybe you shouldn't hand him this game, you moron!"

So you end up with parents up in arms about the games their children are playing, and of course, politicians are quick to jump on the 'protect-our-children' bandwagon. In this case, it's California Senator Leland Yee, who is demanding that Take Two disclose exactly what changes were made to warrant the change in rating.

ESRP President Patricia Vance responded to the request:

"Rather than publicly second-guessing what is unmistakably a strong warning to parents about the suitability of a particular game for children, which presumably neither Senator Yee nor CCFC have personally reviewed, we feel a more productive tack would be to join us in encouraging parents to take the ratings seriously when buying games for their children,... It is a parent's rightful place to make choices for their own children. The ESRB and console manufacturers provide families with the tools and information to help them do so."

Couldn't have said it better myself. The ESRB has determined that anyone under 17 should not play the game. What is the problem, exactly? If parents are bothering to parent their children, they will monitor what games their children are playing, and actually watch their children in the act of playing those games to be sure they're appropriate. If you're not willing to do that, then you aren't doing your duty as a parent. I have no desire to live in a nanny state where I can not enjoy a game targeted toward an adult audience (which would make it appropriate for myself, an adult) because the parents of young children can't be bothered to say no when their child demands it.

Yee responded:

"What are they trying to hide? Unsurprisingly, the culture of secrecy continues at the ESRB. Even individuals within the video game industry are now calling into question their rating system. Parents simply can not trust an entity that is unwilling to disclose or give any meaningful rationale at how they come to their decisions... When weighing in on laws to prohibit the sale of ultra-violent video games to children, the industry has said over and over, 'Trust us; our rating system will protect children.' This latest episode demonstrates once again that the ESRB in fact can not be trusted."

No. The job of the ESRB is not to protect children from inappropriate content. The job of the ESRB is to provide parents with the tools to protect their children. It is parents who are consistently unwilling to do their job, and for no reason but sheer self-righteous ignorance.

Fragging Ayn Rand

I'm an avid video game player. I grew up on them, and unlike Roger Ebert, I believe a video game can be art. Like film or music, there's far more filler than art available, but there are some games that are about far more than testing one's hand-eye coordination. I would point to games like Final Fantasy VII, Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic as examples. These are not just exercises in pixelated escapism. They are examples of games as literature; and if you haven't played them, you should.

Roger Ebert says that video games can not be art because art can not be modified by the observer. Since the user dictates what happens in a game, the game can not be labeled art. Of course, what Mr. Ebert seems to forget is that the end user can do nothing in a game that has not been programmed. Any choice the end user has is a product of decisions made by the game designers. The end user's choices may determine how the piece proceeds, but this is only possible within the boundaries created by the designers. Film is like a picture with the added dimension of time; likewise, a game is like a film with the added dimension of multiple possibilities.

I bring this up only because there's a new addition to my list of video game literature: Bioshock, by 2K Games. From the start, that this is not just a first-person shooter is obvious. The main character is the lone survivor of a plane crash, just a normal guy... no super powers, no military training. He finds himself marooned on a small island with a lone tower, which leads to the underwater city Rapture. Rapture is a Galt's Gulch with massive funding, most of it coming from entrepreneur Andrew Ryan, a corporatist libertarian marching in lockstep with Ayn Rand's philosophies, whose name and face are conspicuously omnipresent, like those of Saddam Hussein in prewar Iraq. Rapture was meant to be a free market utopia, where men would own the sweat of their brow, and the great would not be constrained by the small. Something has obviously gone horribly wrong, however, leaving your character trapped in a society that has collapsed in on itself. When profit was allowed to dictate morality and ethics gave way to corporate mandates, Rapture became a hell, and you have to find your way out, discovering the history of Rapture and its inhabitants in the process.


Although the game has been critically embraced, little has been said about the blatantly obvious political statement made by the game: namely, that a completely free-market will ultimately fail, buckling under the weight of human greed and corporate inhumanity. Passing remarks are sometimes made about connections to Objectivism, but these are more than just connections. Like the heroic corporations of Atlas Shrugged, major corporations in Rapture are named after their founders: Ryan Industries, Fontaine Futuristics, etc. It is immediately obvious that these corporations are meant to stand directly in contrast to Rand's concepts of the hard-working businessman's venture. These are the cold, voracious corporations we know today, taken to the next logical step. The game is an intricately-told warning against Ayn Rand's philosophies.

If you have an Xbox 360 or a PC capable of handling it, and Ayn Rand pisses you off as much as she pisses me off, Bioshock is definitely worth a look. It is art.