T w e n t y S i d e d

This week I jump in on the whole violence in videogames debate. My position probably isn’t terribly novel or shocking among gamers, and picking on Katie Couric is really going after low-hanging fruit, but I’ve never really tackled the subject before and now is as good a time as any to wade in.

It’s sad that the debate has gone on so long. It’s also sad how so much of it is driven by the baby boomer generation, since they were the targets of moral panic more than any generation that came before. Rock & Roll, free love, weed, their openness towards minorities, their rejection of the nuclear family… they did a lot of things differently from their parents, and we were promised that all of it was going to lead to one horrible scenario or another. The boomers scoffed at all of it, did their own thing, and the world didn’t end. And now videogames come along and the baby boomers sound an awful lot like their parents. This new thing is unknown to me and I fear it despite all evidence of it being benign.

Is this going on elsewhere? I really only hear about videogame violence in the United States and Bundesrepublik Deutschland. (With the latter having most of the really strange censorship stories.) But we can’t be the only two countries getting hysterical over it. I’m curious how the debate is playing out in the rest of the world.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Last week I answered the question, “What Lucasarts games would you like to revive?” This week I ask, “Uh, what exactly do you mean by ‘revive’?” This entire conversation has also made me aware of just how flexible the term “classic” is. Like some people – young people I’m sure – think of games from 2004 as “old”. Man, I’ve still got some 2004 games on my “play soon” list.

Of course, this entire conversation is now irrelevant because it’s been announced that EA now has a franchise-wide exclusive lock on all things Star Wars. The only way we’re getting a new X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter game is if we get an Army of Two knockoff starring a couple of dudebros named XWing and TieFighter.

I’m not bitter*, I’m just saying it’s true.

* This is a lie. I am totally bitter about this.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.