Dear Mr. Gates:

On Monday, April 16, at 3:10 pm, I was a guest, as I often have been in the past, on the Fox News Channel. News anchor Bill Hemmer asked me to profile the Virginia Tech rampage killer. I did so, noting that until that day the worst school massacre in world history was at the hands of Robert Steinhaeuser, who literally trained on the Microsoft on-line, hyper-violent shooter game, Counterstrike. I mentioned your companyÂ’s game by name. I explained that the rehearsal for such a massacre is key to being able to pull it off, as efficiently as Cho, whose name we didnÂ’t even know at the time. Cho and Steinhaeuser were able to do what they did the first time because it was not the first time. This is why the military uses this same virtual reality simulation to train soldiers to want to kill and how to kill calmly, as the witnesses of Cho said he did. The letter ends thusly:

Mr. Gates, pull the plug on Counterstrike today, or do we need more dead to convince you? "Virginia Tech" was the 9-11 of school shootings, and it appears Microsoft is in the middle of it, in more ways than one.

Regards, Jack Thompson

First of all, notice how the first thing he mentions is how he was on TV; if you think this guy gets off on attention, just wait. The interesting thing about Jack's letter is that its entire point is to blame Microsoft chairman Bill Gates for Counter-Strike and how much death it's caused. This is interesting because, of course, Microsoft has nothing to do with Counter-Strike! The game is developed by Valve and published by Vivendi. The Washington Post writer forgot to fact check before publishing, and Jack Thompson composed this entire ooh-look-at-me letter to Microsoft without first making sure that Microsoft actually has any kind of connection to the game in question.

Soon after this, Thompson sent another open letter to the Virginia Police Department Chief. You can read the whole letter here, but here are the important bits:

Dear Chief Flinchum:

I went on the Fox News Channel Monday and even identified the game, Counterstrike, obsessively played by Cho, which was also used by Robert Steinhaeuser to author what is now the second worst school shooting in world history in Erfurt, Germany, which he also concluded by killing himself. These are not coincidences; these are patterns.

Once again, he starts off by mentioning that he was on Fox News. He also says that Cho "obsessively played" Counter-Strike, which is completely unfounded.

Thompson also implores the Virginia Police Chief, "If your Department really wants to get to the bottom of this, you need to talk to me now."
While the Virginia Police Department tries to pick up the pieces of this tragedy, deal with potential copy-cat killers, and try to investigate Cho's threat and motives, Jack Thompson wants to waste their time with his God-like delusions of authority. He wants to show them the truth, that it all boils down to "murder simulators." Jack Thompson should be ashamed of himself.

Never mind that, according to a search warrant (pdf) filed by the Virginia State Police, Cho Seung-Hui had no video games in his school dorm. Never mind also that when MSNBC's Chris Matthews interviewed one of Cho's suite-mates, he said that he never once saw Cho playing any video games.

Jack Thompson doesn't mind, because he still maintains that Cho trained on Counter-Strike. He even went on Hardball with Chris Matthews and tried to spout his theories again. Matthews wasn't having any of it, as you can see in this video from Kotaku.

MATTHEWS: How does the game prepare or drill him in the execution of 32 people?

THOMPSON: It drills you and gives you scenarios on how to kill them. It gets you to kill with your heart rate lowerÂ…

MATTHEWS: I know it is a theory. And it is a theory in this case. When was the most recent testimony, and when is it applied to, that he was involved with “Counter-Strike,” the video game, that Cho was?

THOMPSON: Cho? His high school friends. And, typically, whenÂ…

MATTHEWS: OK. Well, he is a fourth-year student at Virginia Tech...

As I said before, in the wake of a tragedy like this we are all looking for answers. We want to know how a person could do something so horrendous, we want to have some kind of rationalization for an irrational act. This is a natural reaction and is part of coping. I doubt we'll ever know what exactly was going on inside Cho's mind in the time before the shootings, and honestly I don't think we ever should.

But what Jack Thompson is doing isn't helping anybody. He doesn't want to explain Cho's motivations, he just wants to rationalize his own personal vendetta against the gaming industry. Thirty-two people have died senselessly, and instead of helping the afflicted or promoting counseling for depressed teenagers, Thompson just wants to spew his hatred.

Any time anybody under the age of thirty does anything violent, Thompson is on TV ready to blame the games. What has he ever accomplished, though? In my tenure as a games journalist I've seen Thompson call all gamers pot-heads, threaten to sue Wikipedia, sue the Florida bar, prey upon the families of countless family members of violence victims to increase his exposure, offer $10,000 to charity and then refuse to pay, and claim that the Beltway Sniper trained on Halo just for starters, but this is by far the worst.

If there was any evidence to support the fact that the Virginia Tech shooter played Counter-Strike, or even played any video game, I could accept Thompson's crusading as a mis-interpretation of facts. But, for the lack of such evidence, Thompson just pretends that there is evidence. Just to clarify, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that Cho Seung-Hai has played any video games in the last 5 years, but Jack Thompson maintains that that Counter-Strike is the cause.

Jack Thompson is delusional. He is an immature, hallow, self-centered little man who will leave no corpse unexploited to further his cause. America has experienced the worst shooting in history. This is a time for encouragement, for empowerment, and for reflection. This is definitely not a time for hatred, but hatred is all Thompson is capable of. He has an unrelenting, unmitigated hatred for video games and all people who play them and he is willing to exploit even a national tragedy to spread his hateful message.

There is no way to argue that video games had anything to do with this shooting. But, just for the sake of prosperity, could they?

To be perfectly honest, in my lifetime of playing video games I have probably killed over a billion imaginary people, robots, monsters, vampires, and zombies. I can recognize most widely-produced pistols, rifles, assault rifles, and machine guns by sight now, thanks primarily to their use in video games. I know military and counter-terrorism movement strategies, techniques, and equipment; again, mostly because of video games. As far as I know, however, I haven't killed any real people. I've never committed a felony, I've never threatened anybody with violence, and in the few situations when I've been around real weapons I've behaved as responsibly as I could imagine would be possible. Most of my friends are in the same situation.

The connecting fibers between school shooters is not that they play video games, it's that they play video games and shoot people. A person who plays video games and then goes on a shooting rampage can no more blame the games for the rampage than he could the brand of toothpaste he used that morning.

If video games did not exist, those who crave violence would simply find it elsewhere. It's important to remember that violence is not a recent phenomenon, while video games are. People have been killing each other since the dawn of man, not because they learned how to in books or cave paintings, but because there is something wrong with them.

I too would love to find a single thing to blame the violence at Virginia Tech on. If there was a single thing we could point out as the cause and lock up, ban, or outlaw, I'd love it. If somebody could suitably convince me that banning video games on a global scale would prevent any more violence of the scale of what we saw on Monday, I would gladly throw all my games into the trash. Anybody can see that it would be impossible to come to such a conclusion, however. There will always be crazy people in this world. There will also always be old people who don't understand the media of the young. Cho Seung-Hui was no more driven to murder by video games than he was by rap music, rock and roll, or baggy pants.

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor.

You probably know that the PlayStation 3 will be releasing in just a few months now, and you've probably been hearing some pretty nasty things being said about the future platform. Spin, hype, hate, and fanboy adoration are quite typical in this business, especially right around the time a big new system is set to release. In this consumer world, we like to break down simple things like colas and videogame machines into lifestyles and factions. Pepsi people hate Coke people, PC people hate Mac people, Nintendo people hate Sony people. People never seem to realize that they're putting way too much energy into drinks, computers, and game systems. So, with a clean mental palate we're going to examine some of the predictions of doom cast toward the PlayStation 3. Folks, this is Point-Counter-Counterpoint.

Point-Counter-Counterpoint works like this: we've scanned some forums and picked out 10 of the most common arguments people have made against the PS3. The anti-PS3 arguments will appear in bold, and below them will be an observation by some of our writing staff or other gaming experts.

Today we have contributing: Gaming Horizon's Editor-in-Chief Shiva Stella, Senior Writer Aaron Dunlap, and Staff Writer Evan Lahti, and a special guest contributor, Ryan Kincaid, administrator of Metal Gear Solid: The Unofficial Site (TUS).

Evan: I can't understand why Sony wants to put out a basic version of the PS3 at all. Yes, it's excellent that they both have a hard drive (unlike the Xbox 360 ‘Core' system), but with the recent announcement of the European launch being delayed and the units available at launch being less-than high, it's curious that Sony didn't simply decide to focus its attention on putting out one model, and making that model perfect. It simply makes things more complicated for retailers and consumers alike to have to think about different features separating the two variants.

Shiva: A gamer who picks up the $499 "core" version isn't a gamer. I'll rephrase: he isn't a gamer in Sony's target audience, otherwise he would pick up the "full" version. The cheaper version is put out for the people who don't care about hard drive storage or Blu-ray or console bundles or even what games the thing plays; these people only care about price, because over little Jane's cries for Crash Bandicoot and little Billy's wailings for Madden, green is the only thing someone over the age of 25 can understand. As such, no HDMI support for people who don't care about HDMI features (or own a compatible TV) makes a lot more sense rather than charging them for crap they won't use.

Aaron D: Bingo. The cheaper version is really only for people who would pick a version based on price, the sort of person who doesn't know what HDMI is. In fact, most people who know and care what HDMI are the early-adopter, cutting-edge type people who will want the best and can afford to pay the difference. That's probably why Sony decided not to include an HDMI cord, because people who use HDMI are quality freaks and they'll NEVER use stock out-of-box cables and they probably have a bunch laying around anyway. As for the changing specs, I think Sony did bite off a bit more than they could chew with their initial specifications, but once reality struck they still ended up with a lot of power. I'm pretty shocked that all those memory card formats are still accepted (SD, Compact Flash, et al). They've barely said what those are even for; is it just for watching slideshows of your digital photos? Can you save your game status on them?

Conversely, not many people have High Definition televisions yet. Isn't it a bit early to start pushing so hard for a technology most can't afford?

Evan: As Sony is a company that manufactures HD-TVs, it's in their interest to add that compatibility to give consumers another reason to upgrade. There's various numbers about how long it'll take for HD to ‘replace' standard-feed televisions (just as broadband has all but eliminated dial-up), but it's conceivable that HD televisions will become affordable during the PS3's lifecycle, and for those of us that have been blessed by the high-def gods, it's another reason to take advantage of the highest-quality visual equipment available.

Shiva: So long as you hook it up to a TV that doesn't support HD and can still play the games, Sony is hardly "pushing" HD. The company that develops a console that is only compatible with an HD TV, however, is. And while companies continue to phase out the old junk and bring in the new, it's more than feasible that the average consumer will spend the next decade moving toward HD.

Aaron D: The reason nobody has HD sets right now is because there's so little content for it and what content there is remains so underrepresented. Has anyone ever seen the show LOST in HD? It's unbelievable, but nobody ever thinks, "I should buy this crazy new technology so I can see LOST in better picture." As movies and videogames are now moving toward HD, the people should start moving with it. Personally, I hope the developers for the PS3 do a better job of making sure their games look alright in standard definition as well; there have been a few games that are literally unplayable in SD (King Kong, Dead Rising among them). Besides, people tend to buy a new television every 5-7 years; so if they don't have an HDTV now, their next one should be – and their PS3 will be waiting for them.

No "shock" in my Dual Shock. Is cheesy tilt-sensing worth the loss of force-feedback?

Evan: The vibration function is an often-overlooked feature by gamers, or at least one we've grown to take for granted since the days of the 64's "Rumble Pak." It's unfortunate that Sony's legal situation means developers won't have another way of immersing us within the experience, but adding a simple axis-tilt input does allow them another avenue for adding unique gameplay experiences (I've no doubt Kojima has a long list of ways he'll implement this in MGS4).

Aaron D: Indeed, it is sad that Sony's patent issues somehow forced them to drop the vibration feature. It's also sad that, in attempt to replace it with something else, they had to emulate Nintendo's Wii controller so shamelessly. One nice thing is that, without the rumble motors, the controller feels really light in your hands. I think once people get over the loss, however, losing rumble won't be too big of a deal. I'm looking forward to some games that make good use of the tilt sensing.

Shiva: I'd rather have a game respond to my direct actions than a controller that spends most of its "vibrating" responding to cutscene explosions anyway. The tilt-sensing feature could make control schemes much more intuitive; do you really enjoy a controller that gives you a little motion when Bob falls out of an airplane and lands on his head?

Sony says they won't have enough consoles to ship for launch. Only 500,000, they say.

Evan: The launch is important, but what's more vital to the console's success is how many units Sony can put out by the end of the year. If Sony can produce close to another 500,000 by year's end (a spokesperson has said that 1 million to 1.2 million units will be on shelves in North America by December 31), it will be positioned well.

Shiva: Show me a console in gaming history that has launched with "enough" units to meet demand created by advertising. The affront from Microsoft came from a company still touting a system that nobody but Aunt May, who worked at Best Buy, could get a hold of. So long as Sony lets the system speak for itself and doesn't launch a blow-out campaign that makes the rest of the population want to commit suicide because Walmart's out of stock, the company should be fine.

Aaron D: Exactly, Shiva. I can't remember any console launch that wasn't preceeded by some cheesy "Oh No We Didn't Make Enough of Them!" drama. It's just a ploy to raise hype and demand. If people think they're hard to get, they'll want them more. The downside is that when the console launches and people have to buy them on eBay for Christmas presents, they'll have to pay even more money for them.

Sony is putting way too many figurative eggs in their metaphorical Blu-Ray basket. End users don't really care about formats so long as they work.

Evan: Much as the inclusion of the DVD format may have pushed many gamers over the edge to purchase the PS2 ("Hey mom, it can play movies too!"), if Blu-Ray ends up edging-out the HD-DVD format, it's another quality that'll make the system more versatile, which is never a bad thing.

Shiva: I've spotted several Blu-ray format new movie (DVD) releases in the past few months, but I haven't heard a peep from the HD-DVD camp. People like to compare the VCR format war of the 80's to the Blu-ray/HD-DVD "war" we've got now by claiming that what happened before will happen again – cheap people will win the day, and Blu-ray will go the way of Sony's special tape format. But gamers aren't traditionally cheap people, or they'd be watching The Simpsons or playing board games for entertainment instead of wasting away with EA's Sims Something or Other.

Ryan (TUS): In contrast to Evan's comment, the growth surge of the DVD format could in part be attributed to the success of the PS2. As more and more people gained access to playing DVD movies on their consoles, they found more of a reason to invest in movies. I'm sure Sony is betting on this as well with Blu-Ray, as the format isn't exactly booming at the moment. On the topic of whether or not gamers care about the format, I have to disagree. When the Nintendo 64 was released as using only cartridges, the response wasn't exactly positive. And moreso than with gamers, game makers expressed their disdain quite clearly. A better format means more developer adoption, and with the massive storage capacity of Blu-Ray, developers have already begun to voice their approval.

Developers say that the PlayStation 3 is difficult to work with or that the Cell processor is a pain to program for.

Evan: We heard similar qualms at the advent of the PS2's "Emotion Engine." As game makers start to develop an understanding of how to get the most out of the Cell processor over time, I'd expect a considerable visual gap between PS3 launch titles and games down the road.

Shiva: A PC can be "hard" to program for unless you understand its workings and know what you're doing. Given time, developers will start to tame the beast. It's sort of like Newton's Law of Gravity – all launch games suck; it's universal. The visuals and physics will improve as devs devote the time to master the hardware. Also, email me the name of a programmer who is not a whiny bastard.

Aaron D: I've talked to a few developers who say they've been having problems indeed (they'll only say that off-the-record, of course), but who knows for sure. What a hard-to-program-for platform means is this: really good exclusives, really bad ports. The people designing games just for the system will have to become very familiar with how the platform works (they can't just "bang out some code"), and companies designing multiconsole games won't be able to spend enough time focusing on each individual system's version so you'll end up with some buggy ports.

Ryan (TUS): In the same vein, the 360's development tools could be considered too easy, or point-and-click. Or, if I was feeling snarky, "amateuristic". "Difficult" is a subjective term and many developers, such as those working on Full Auto 2, have voiced their approval of the PS3's development kit, stating that the kit seemed to be extremely adaptive and easy to program for. Supporting this view is the fact that the PS3 is based on open (or publicly available) programming standards such as PSGL, COLLADA, and OpenMAX. This opens the door for would-be game designers to more realistically start work on PS3 homebrew games and applications. Microsoft has only recently adopted this concept with their XNA Game Studio kits for Windows and 360.

The PS3 launch library is pretty slim, only 13 titles or so.
Evan: This could be bad news. There's been some talk that Sony didn't make development kits for the PS3 available as early (or in a completed form) as it could have, but at the same time, developers understand that they've got a guaranteed group of purchases, and they have to take advantage of that early opportunity to make bank and create a reputation for the system. Either way, with a dozen-plus titles, the PS3 could still cover the necessary bases for a successful software launch: a fighting game, a racing game, a AAA first-party release, major sports titles, more than one shooter, a party game, and something with a lot of replay value. Games with solid multiplayer modes are also vital. We'll see.

Shiva: It doesn't matter how many launch titles will be available, because they will all be nothing more than a graphical introduction to the might that is the PS3. And they will all suck. It would be slightly pleasanter to have a larger variety of titles to choose from, but almost anything would be better than Kameo (no offense to the Kameo crowd).

Aaron D: Kameo wasn't THAT bad. The water boss did suck though. But yeah, launch titles are practically destined to suck, so I don't usually bother with them. I usually buy one or two games that I know I'll be able to get a few months out of, and once developers have had time to complete some decent games, I haven't wasted a bunch of money on crappy launch titles. The Xbox 360 is nearly a year old now and there are less than 5 titles that are really worth the effort. Lets not forget that the PS3 will have COMPLETE backwards compatibility, so you can still play all your PS2 games while you wait for some good PS3 ones.

Ryan (TUS): Actually, the last I checked, the roster was at around twenty or so titles for launch. Moreso than the 360, if memory serves correctly. But honestly, when have launch games ever been a clear indication of hardware potential? It took games like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X to show developers and players alike just what exactly the PS2 hardware was capable of before we started to see a majority of the more impressive titles.

Where's the innovation? Xbox and Nintendo are trying new things and the PS3 seems like "Just another PlayStation."
Evan: "Just another PlayStation" is not necessarily a bad thing. Sony has hung its hat for more than a decade on bringing a diverse line of quality third-party content to gamers. Sony's online infrastructure is still completely unproven, and that's something that Microsoft seems to have locked down, but innovating on the software level is something Sony should be able to continue to provide.

Shiva: It's not just about hardware – 99% of it comes down to games. I bought an Xbox for KOTR, and I'd do it again (I'd probably have to, thank you semi-backwards compatibility). Nearly all of Sony's recent success came from repeatedly releasing good quality and diverse titles.

Aaron D: At their E3 conference, Sony said the PS3 is "not about gimmicks." Cut to footage of that EyeToy card battle game. Anyway, I think the Wii has people in a daze about gimmicks, as Nintendo may have finally found one that will work. In the end, though, sometimes you just have to realize what you're good at and focus on it.


Why is Sony staying so quiet about the PS3 if this huge new system is going to be launching in 2 months? Where are the ads and the hands-on reports? Are they hiding something? I've fallen and I can't get up!
Evan: Instead of simply banking on being able to carry over its userbase from previous hardware, Sony does need to take initiative and convince gamers that its console is worthwhile and represents a genuine contrast to the Xbox 360. I've been pretty disappointed with how Sony's PR has pitched the system thus far, but I think the company does seem more concerned with just getting the launch off the ground rather than aggressively marketing the PS3 and committing funds to that cause.

Shiva: If they're expecting a shortage then they're playing it safe and keeping the gaming community from getting as pissed off as it would be if Sony touted a system it didn't have to sell. Who said multi-billionaires never screw up?

Aaron D: I am a bit surprised how little we're hearing about the PS3. Though, in the months preceeding the Xbox 360 launch I was so utterly sick of hearing about it I couldn't wait for the thing to release just so everybody would stop talking about it. I would love to see those God-awful PSP commercials get replaced with some cocky PS3 commercials, as long as they aren't as racist and insulting as the PSP's. It's just kind of spooky that Sony hasn't made a peep in the mainstream about their supposed end-all console.

• Bill Clinton perjures himself in grand jury testimony
• Oklahoma judge Don Thompson loses his job after being caught using a penis pump under his robes while court was in session
• House Speaker Tom Delay retires from the House in the midst of grand jury probes into the legality his various political activities
• Representative William Jefferson is videotaped accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribe money; the cash is later recovered from his freezer

• President Bush launches a war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq based on faulty and/or contrived intelligence
• Vice President Dick Cheney shoots his hunting partner in the face
• Representative Cynthia McKinney assaults a capitol police officer
• Representative Patrick Kennedy wrecks his car at 2am in Washington D.C. while under the influence (of something); escapes a sobriety examination by claiming he was "on his way to a vote"The entirety of Congress allows comprehensive illegal immigration legislation to die
• And now, word that both Dennis Hastert and John Murtha could be in ethical trouble for extremely shady earmarks

On Wednesday, June 14, 2006, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, a subcommittee of the US House or Representatives, held a hearing titled (why do these things need titles?), "Violent and Explicit Video Games: Informing Parents and Protecting Children."

As you may have heard, the outcome of this event was not entirely in the best interest of gaming as a whole. The gist of their conclusion, after questioning the head of the ESA, the President of the ESRB, the Director of the FTC's Consumer Protection bureau, Wal-Mart's VP of merchandising, and three game/health experts, was that violent videogames are akin to pornography in their harm for children and that the ESRB is at fault for letting something like Hot Coffee (which was a terribly isolated incident that would be nearly impossible to reproduce) defile our children.

I watched most of the hearing live, before the video feed suddenly cut out once things started getting good, and throughout the whole hour and a half of viewing I was consistently flabbergasted by the ignorance and misinformation that the Senators conducting the hearing were dealing with.

It is extremely apparent that these people, the ones wielding the power of the entire Legislative branch of our government, have little to no experience in the actual "world" of game playing. Every bit of evidence or material they used in their favor was misrepresentative, illogical, or flat-out wrong.
Congressman Stearns

Take, for example, the video clips that the Senators showed after each of the attending introduced themselves. Congressman Cliff Stearns (R. Florida) prefaced the video with something to the tune of, "this should give you an example of the type of material found videogames today." A series of clips then played, mostly from various Grand Theft Auto games, one from San Andreas where the player flew a plane into a building, another from the same game where the player stood on a street corner and shot civilians from a distance with a sniper rifle (even, gasp, police officers), and then a cutscene from Vice City where the main characters complete a drug transaction in a comically farcical way.

What they failed to mention was that all the footage of "acts of violence" they showed were all completely player-choice. The game does not require or even reward you for crashing planes into buildings or sniping police officers; it means that whoever recorded that clip decided on his own volition to see how violent he could be. A player could go through any Grant Theft Auto game and never harm any person who did not attack him first; any violent acts taken out upon strangers or non-combatants is entirely the player's choice.

And the clip of the drug deal, come on... you can watch real drug deals on The Discovery Channel, and there is fictional drug trading in many movies and television shows.

Much more misinformation was bartered in regard to the "Hot Coffee" element of GTA: San Andreas that most people don't even understand.

What People Believe About "Hot Coffee"

In the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, you can enter in a secret code (most people believe that code to be "hot coffee") and you enter a secret level where you engage in scenes of sex and rape. Any person can buy a copy of San Andreas and enter this code to unlock the illicit material. Because this fully explicit material exists in a game rated M (Mature; 17+), the ESRB made a grave mistake by not discovering this material and giving the game an AO rating.

What REALLY Happened With "Hot Coffee"

When Rockstar was creating San Andreas, they planned to include in the actual course of the game this scene where CJ (the player's character) and a woman engage in consensual sexual intercourse at the woman's request, even. Rockstar (wisely) decided late into the development cycle that this material would be offensive and cause too much trouble. This sceneÂ’s programming was already integrated into the game's architecture and would therefore be very time-costly to actually remove, so they unlinked all triggers in the game that would cue the scene. In the game as it shipped, there was absolutely no way that this scene could ever be triggered. You could play the game ten thousand times and the sex scene would never show.

Later, some software crackers discovered this content in the PC version of San Andreas and created a software patch that would hack the game files and make it so this scene could be viewed in-game.

To unlock this scene, a player would have to go onto the Internet and find this very complicated unlock patch and apply it himself. This is the only way the "hot coffee" scene could ever be viewed in the game.

While the player was online looking for this patch he could also have downloaded all the illegal child pornography he wanted, but this is not what concerns these Senators. They are concerned for our children's safety because someone could buy a $50 piece of software, play it for at least six hours to get to the part of the game where the sexual content takes place, and manually install an (illegal, according to the DMCA) patch to play a humorous sex minigame.

Nevertheless, almost immediately after "hot coffee" was discovered, the ESRB changed the game's rating to AO (Adults Only) and every single copy of the game on store shelves was recalled and sent back to the manufacturer until a version could be authored where it would be completely impossible to unlock the scene. That part, nobody seems to know about.

Senator Stearns, addressing the representative from Wal-Mart, said, "All a child would have to do to buy this game on your website would be to click this, 'I agree that I am over 18' button and he could buy the game and then enter the 'hot coffee' code to view sexual materials." One of Stearns' assistants leaned in and whispered something in his ear then, most likely something to the tune of, "they fixed the game so you can't view that scene anymore," but Stearns continued, "Ok.. but a child could have just clicked that button to get the game!"

Right, and he'd also need a credit card. Not to mention, even the most law-abiding and child-protecting pornography websites on the Internet can only verify that a customer is over 18 by requiring a credit card and asking that he click a button to confirm that he's over 18. If it's good enough for porno, it should be good enough to make sure nobody buys a videogame who isn't supposed to be.

And if children are using their parentsÂ’ credit cards to make online purchases at Wal-Mart willy-nilly, should we blame Wal-Mart or maybe the parents not paying attention? Obviously the Senators want to protect the parents from having to become responsible for their own children.

The real loser in this subcommittee hearing was the ESRB. Patricia Vance, the President of the ESRB, was there for questioning but was obviously unprepared for this last-minute hearing and was too-easily flustered by the Senator's too-easy questions.

The ESRB, for the uninitiated, is an independent foundation started by the ESA that assigns age ratings to every videogame sold at any retail store. They do so by asking game developers to provide a thorough list of all mechanics of the gameplay and any material (in context) that would be offensive, and to include gameplay videos of certain scenes. It's in the publishers' best interest that they be honest, as the rating of their game defines what stores will sell it and how many parents will allow their children to play it.

Senator Stearns got hung up on the notion that it's called the Entertainment Software Rating Board and it's not an actual Board of people who sit around a conference table and discuss all 1,100 games that are released each year. The games themselves are reviewed by volunteers who have no ties to any game publisher, developer, or company.
Dr. Kim Thompson; kook.

Dr. Kimberly Thompson, a shrill-voiced professor of "Risk Analysis and Decision Science" at Harvard's School of Public Health, has a definite grudge against the ESRB. She and her researchers do their own ratings of certain games and chides the ESRB for how "inaccurate they are." For an example of how this woman's mind works, she has stated before that the gameplay of Pac-Man is "64% violent" and at this very hearing tried to denounce the ESRB's ratings by saying that "60% of games rated E (age six and up) by the ESRB reward players for 'injuring other characters." Yes, this includes Mario, for he jumps on turtles which apparently incites youngsters into fits of carnal rage.

The conclusion of the whole hearing, which was decided before it started, was that the ESRB is doing a poor job and should change the way it reviews games – including a serious suggestion that they play every game they review, instead of relying on publisher-provided details.

The fact that anybody could say this with a straight face demonstrates how little these people even consider gaming. One senator who agreed with this idea stated earlier that he liked to play Civilization IV and after many hours still hadn't mastered it. By a generous estimate, it would take over 100 hours to see everything the game Civilization has to offer. A game that you can beat in under five hours is considered to be "too short" by us reviewers, and even a game that you could beat in five hours would take another five hours just to see every corner of the game; and consider then that some games unlock new content only after you've beaten the game a certain number of times. Consider also a game like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas where the gameplay is, aside from the scripted missions, entirely open ended – so it would take an infinite amount of time to see "everything" in the game because what happens is up to you. Consider still that as the ESRB would be reviewing the games for content and not speeding through like the average player, the ESRB reviewers would be forced to play very slowly and deliberately and to take notes for each event.

If the ESRB spent a generous 10 hours on each of the 1,100 games that release in a year, it would take over a year to review a year's worth of games. Also, the ESRB would have to receive completed copies of the games in order to review them, so if they received a too-high score they would have to spend months and months just removing one scene/weapon/character and bug-testing for any errors that removal might have caused. In short, forcing the ESRB to play every game through to completion, if not entirely impossible, would cripple the game development process and would (like the government loves to do) stifle creativity.

The ESA's Doug Lowenstein said two very powerful things that were completely ignored. "Defining this industry based on its most controversial titles would be like defining the film industry based on Kill Bill, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Natural Born Killers," and "Our research shows that the average gamer now is 33 years old. These are not kids."

That doesnÂ’t matter when Congress is on a vendetta and will allow no facts, logic, or sense of decency to stop them from protecting these imaginary children who will go completely bonkers if they see a woman's breast.

The ESRB is not the culprit here. Wal-Mart, or any retailer, is not the culprit here. The developers making violent or sexual content aren't the culprit here. The culprits are these old cronies who refuse to understand the basic principles of the matter. Trying to condemn videogames based on a few acts of player-motivated violence is akin to condemning books based on the fact that if you rearrange letters and words, you get satanic rituals and descriptions of rape. Chiding a store for allowing a child to circumvent their safety policies is akin to blaming Borders if a child buys a mystery novel that includes scenes of murder or sex. Blaming the gaming industry for Hot Coffee is akin to blaming a book publisher if someone draws a penis on a page from a book with a magic marker.

I'm using books for that metaphor because books are something people understand. You can learn to make bombs from books, you can read about how to burn down a house for the insurance money, you can learn what was going through Charles Manson's head in the 1960s, and you can read the hate-filled words of zealots, dictators, racists, bigots, murders, rapists, and extremists, but nobody cares because they're books. We hope that parents would keep children from reading harmful books, but we don't chide everybody but the parents if they donÂ’t.

Despite the backlash regarding its nature as a marketing device, AA has continued to be well-liked among gamers - more than 120,000 new players enlisted in the month of May alone. Compare this to the actual enlistment of the U.S. Army at 700,000, and you get an idea of the immense draw that a free, violence-driven game carries among young adults.

But amongst these millions of digital conscripts, lost between binary bullets, simulated grenade fire, and online campaigns is an individual seeking not to take down terrorists or secure imaginary objectives, but to subvert – to add his voice against the backdrop of virtual war. An artist’s voice. A voice of memorial and reality.

Since March, Joseph DeLappe, art professor at the University of Nevada in Reno, has been using the America’s Army game as an online gaming performance and protest of the war in Iraq. Under the callsign “dead-in-iraq,” DeLappe logs into the game’s servers and proceeds to list the names of the killed American personnel via the chat interface, one by one. Much like a real protester or non-combatant, he doesn’t fight or involve himself in the game whatsoever.

“I pondered this idea for well over a year,” recalls the 43-year-old artist. “I was really uncomfortable with it. It’s so real…those are real people,” DeLappe says of the names he lists.

In speaking with DeLappe, he emphasized the difficult nature of his work. “It’s a depressing project,” he notes, “you get a sense of the insanity of war.” Between typing the names out one at a time, which DeLappe describes as a “very physical act,” and watching players willingly simulate war before him, one would think that the juxtaposition would take a toll before too long. But DeLappe recognizes that he has a long road ahead of him.

“As an artist, when you’re uncomfortable with something, it usually means you’re on to something,” he says. DeLappe intends to continue inputting names on a regular basis until the Iraq war comes to a close. At time of publishing, he’s entered 505 of the total 2,460 recorded American servicepersons killed in action in Iraq.

The memorials for 9/11 in New York City was one of the things that inspired DeLappeÂ’s project initially, but the online performance doesnÂ’t represent his first foray into the digital domain. DeLappe, who holds a Masters degrees in Fine Arts and another in Computers in Art and Design from San Jose State University, has been exploring less-conventional visual, digital, and interactive forms through his work for more than 20 years.

“I would consider myself a critical gamer,” he explains. “I’m really curious about where this stuff is going and how it’s utilized […] you have this really high-tech gamespace, but I really am attracted to the combination of analog text input in that context.”

An example of DeLappe’s fascination with this dichotomy came in 2003, when he made use of a different game for his online stage, the World War II-based Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Here, he recited the stanzas of Siegfried Sassoon, a WWI poet. “What I discovered was the way poetry’s designed, it fits really well in the text messaging system,” DeLappe recalls. “I started thinking about the environments as being very theatrical.”

This realization, among others, fueled DeLappe into additional game-situated projects, including the more lighthearted “Quake/Friends”: an online recital of an episode of the popular sitcom, Friends, within Quake. His website, http://delappe.net, says that the group performance was “intended as a parodic mixing of popular entertainment to create a temporal occurrence of clashing inanities.” Another project performed a text-reenactment of the 2004 debates between George W. Bush and John Kerry across three different online games (The Sims, Battlefield Vietnam, and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast) – with more than 50,000 characters of text and roughly eight hours needed for each recital, the artist estimates.

While his online, usually politically-tinted performances are certainly unique, “dead-in-iraq” represents DeLappe’s first direct, protest-style stage. Trying to use the Army’s own recruitment tool against them is no small task, but how does the military respond to DeLappe’s online demonstration? Paul Boyce, U.S. Army Public Affairs Specialist stated this reply to my inquiry: “America’s Army is open to virtual participation in an authentic U.S. Army experience to players throughout the United States. The Army does not limit participation unless there is negative impact on other players' experiences. As such, unless an individual uses foul or insensitive language, or is otherwise ruining gameplay for others, the management of America's Army takes no action.”

While the response indicates that the Army isn’t too worried about losing potential recruits through DeLappe’s actions, “ruining” is an interesting word in this context, and begs the question - do players of America’s Army have a right to a “pure” playing experience free of outside interests like DeLappe’s? Though his recital of names is arguably less disruptive than the hackers and team-killers often present in online games, according to DeLappe, many gamers respond negatively to his performance. “They’re upset that I’m interrupting their game – maybe I didn’t understand the level that people were absorbed,” he noted, emphasizing that most players within America’s Army are more concerned with the disruption of the gameplay than anything else. Understandably, gamers want to protect their own immersion within the experience, and some feel passionately that DeLappe shouldn’t be allowed to intrude upon their play.

In a May 24 post on the America’s Army official forums, the user “Westudi” had this to say regarding DeLappe’s interventions: “This isn't freedom of speech. If I were a server admin I would ban him. He can write an editorial, or do a plethora of other things that are protected under the notion of freedom of speech. Going into a server paid for by someone else, and doing this against their wishes is not protected under freedom of speech.”

Another forum-goer on the Game Politics forums, “diehardskeptic,” agreed. “Personally, I'd kick him out of a game I was hosting because he wasn't participating in the game. The idea that I should be subjected to someone else's ego trip just because we happen to be inhabiting the same virtual real estate is foolish. He's welcome to do his thing (for which I give him credit for using an unusual method for his "protest") and people are welcome to ignore or ridicule him,” a May 18 post read.

Other gamers, like 21-year-old Antonio Barrientes, seem a little more understanding of DeLappe’s methods. In our interview, Barrientes talked about how he felt that while DeLappe isn’t doing anything wrong through his protests, he wondered if it was the best setting to get his message out. “Particularly, I think he has a right to do this. The only thing I doubt is whether it's the right form of communication,” the California native noted. “America's Army may well be a tool for recruitment or even propaganda, […] but I don't know if his message and list of deceased soldiers should be reserved only for those who boot up their desktop for an hour or so of recreation – I think it would be a lot better-served if it were posted in places that more people could have access to.”

Barrientes continued, “It kind’ve [sic] took me a bit to come to terms with his method, and while it's true that I still believe more people need to see the list and posted names than just gamers, it would probably be an effective way of trying to send a message. Again, I still doubt he's reaching enough people, as you'll never know if one is engaged in the program to the point where they can't reflect on it as much as if they heard it in another forum. That's not to say that gamers don't care by any means, but unless one could give an exact number as to how many people are getting and understanding the message, I still worry about the message being lost on the ground of people not providing enough attention to it.”

DeLappe himself recognizes that his work is a relatively limited act. With a server holding somewhere around a dozen players at a time, DeLappe understands that he isn’t affecting a large group of minds directly. “It is truly fleeting, it’s very brief – in some ways it’s a very timid gesture,” DeLappe admits. “But why wait until [the war] is over? We need to be thinking about them now,” DeLappe underlines. “I don’t assume this is going to prevent anyone from signing up, that’s not the point of it,” he clarifies. “It just gets people thinking beyond the narrow confines of the Internet. If you think about the context where I’m doing this – it’s an environment that condones a level of simulated violence that’s extreme, and if that’s okay and accepted because it’s pretend, on some level you could say that this is also a pretend protest. This isn’t real, and that’s part of the point: trying to bring some real into this escapist context.”

As DeLappe continues to list the U.S. fatalities from the war in Iraq within America’s Army, we’re driven to examine what kind of country and culture we really live in – one where millions of young adults engage in a playful emulation of war while our own soldiers endure countless hardships overseas each day. Putting himself on the frontlines within the uncharted medium of a video game, the artist’s online performance adds memorial to the escapist, government-sanctioned experience that millions of gamers enjoy through America’s Army. And though the performance’s scope can be questioned, as well as whether or not one has a right to intrude upon an online space, more importantly, DeLappe wants us to recognize the bizarre discrepancy in our actions - real war isn’t recreational. ]]> Tue, 30 May 2006 19:03:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_hackgu_vol_1rebirth http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_hackgu_vol_1rebirth http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_hackgu_vol_1rebirth# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. It was written by Eric Dayday.

After introductions and pleasantries were exchanged, the representative went on to give us a basic outline about G.U. It takes place several years after the original .hack games. G.U. features a rebuilt version of the World known as World 2.0. ItÂ’s not the same world that players once knew, having been built from scratch. ThatÂ’s not to say that it will be completely different. Many of the environments will seem familiar to .hack veterans, just not carbon copies of the ones found in the previous four games. It also sports a darker, grittier, edgier feel than its predecessors. One look at the character designs is enough to see that.

That brings us to our main character, Haseo. He is a new player to the game and already starts things off on the wrong foot. On his first adventure, he befriends two other players who end up betraying him and attempt to PK, or Player Kill, Haseo before he is finally saved by a mysterious man. The man saves him for his own reasons, wanting to recruit him to his cause, but saying anything else would spoil some of the story. The rep wraps up the introduction by mentioning that Haseo seeks a legendary PKer known to bend the rules of the World. He also leaves us with the ominous message that not all of the problems from the World 1.0 have been fixed.

Moving on, the rep then talks about some of the new things weÂ’ll find in G.U. The darker theme is once again mentioned, but what perked my ears is what came next. The newest .hack title will be more action-oriented meaning that players will be able to combo with button presses instead of relying on menu commands to do so. This seems to be the trend in RPGs these days; however, here it looks like a logical decision. The system in the previous games seemed geared to a more interactive fighting engine and now we finally get it. Fans can also expect to see new skills and super moves that theyÂ’ll earn as they progress in level.

Fans have already noted that Haseo is a multi-blade – a new class to the .hack universe. As a multi-blade, Haseo will be able to change amongst the different weapon types as he pleases. To gain access to those weapons, you’ll need to level him up. However, just because he learns a new type at a higher level doesn’t necessarily mean it is better. Some weapon types will be more effective against a certain enemy than others, which is the advantage to being a multi-blade. The catch to keep this class from being overpowered is the fact that he’ll never truly master one weapon type.

Guilds are another big addition. Joining a guild not only gives you a network of other players to talk to, but it will also give you access to better equipment – that is if there are a lot of members in the guild. And guilds will gain larger headquarters as their numbers increase.

After all of that, we moved on to the pre-approved questions that were submitted by each of the participating sites followed by an open Q and A session.

(Note: The following is not a transcript of the call. The questions and answers are paraphrased and/or summarized.)

Q: Will there be a Pre-Order Bonus? If so, what will we see?
A: They want to do something special for those that pre-order, but nothing definite at this point.

Q: Will we see a playable demo before its release?
A: For the masses, this seems unlikely. However, it will most likely be playable in some form at E3.

Q: Will there be a dual-audio (English and Japanese voices) option in the new games?
A: The simple answer is no, but this led to a lengthy discussion of why, and its good news despite the “no”. The biggest reason why .hack//G.U. will not have a dual option is that there simply isn’t enough space on the DVD to hold that much information. The game content itself fills up so much of the disc that they just can’t fit in a dual audio option. To put this in perspective, the text file containing all of the dialogue is about 35 megs – zipped. If having no dual audio means we’ll have this much game to play, I am all for it. There was also a brief mention of legal issues as well.

Q: Will there be a Parody mode this time around and if so will the US get it too?
A: Maybe – but that’s because the game isn’t quite finished yet and the developers haven’t determined what kind of completion bonuses they want to include.

Q: How many parts will this series be and will it come with a packed-in DVD?
A: G.U. will be a three-part series and no DVD will be packed in.

Q: Will G.U. be able to carry over data from the previous .hack// titles?
A: The option to carry over old data will more than likely be an option, but what exactly it will do is still undecided.

Q: Will keywords still be used?
A: The use of keywords to travel to different fields is still intact, though the rep promised that the system would be more streamlined and easier to use than in previous editions.

Q: Will there be any gameplay outside of the World?
A: No, all “outside interaction” will still be done through e-mail and text messages.

Q: Is G.U. being developed by the same team that created the older .hack// games?
A: Yes, the same exact dev team is working on G.U. This not only includes programmers and artists, but composers and collaborations as well.

Q: Will we see any sort of true online .hack// game in the future?
A: No, not one of G.U. (Ed. Note: Though it should be noted that .hack//fragment is a true online .hack title released in Japan late last year.)

Q: How does .hack//roots (the animated show currently airing in Japan) tie in with G.U.?
A: TheyÂ’re related in the way that Liminality/Sign and the old .hack// series were. Roots will run parallel with G.U. and also cross into it at times. However, G.U. will not contain any footage from Roots.

Q: Will we see any old characters return?
A: All the rep would say is that some would seem similar and familiar. Saying anything more would be spoilers.

Q: How much of G.U. is dependent on the old .hack// series?
A: G.U. is completely original so having played the previous four games is not a requirement to jump into G.U.Â’s world. There will be plenty of references that older fans will appreciate, but those new to the series will be able to enjoy the game just as much.

Q: Has the target audience changed?
A: The rep said he felt that the target audience has not changed noting that while G.U. is a different game, parts of it will feel similar.

Q: How long will G.U. be?
A: The rep again mentioned the sheer amount of information that fills the disk. He also said that the development team was aiming to create a lengthy adventure, not some short 10-12 hour game. There is no exact time estimate, but given how large the game is, we can expect to have plenty to sink our teeth into.

Q: What does G.U. stand for?
A: The rep confirmed that Grow(ing) Up is one meaning, but not necessarily the only one. With many reports coming out of Japan of other possible meanings, we can only tell that saying more would contain spoilers.

Q: How will PK-ing work?
A: You as Haseo cannot PK others. However, you will come across others being PKÂ’d and can choose to help them or not.

Q: Will there be any US exclusive content?
A: Unfortunately no as the rep once again cited the amount of information on the disc.

Q: The first .hack launched a massive media craze. Will G.U. continue this?
A: G.U. will indeed continue this as already seen with the Roots animated series. Fans can expect to see DVDs of those along with other G.U. products outside of the games.

Q: How important are guilds?
A: This was a difficult question for the rep to answer without giving anything away. All he could mention was that tension between guilds will play a role.

Q: Will we see people outside of the World die?
A: Not likely. While they are going with a darker theme, donÂ’t expect any kind of permanent deaths.

Q: With the darker grittier feel of G.U., are you looking to add blood and gore?
A: This .hack title will still have a T (Teen) rating. While theyÂ’re changing the overall theme and feel of the game, adding blood and gore is not something they see that will help accomplish that.

Q: Along those same lines, will we see more mature dialogue?
A: The rep responded by saying if the question is regarding the introduction of swearing, then no. It will be mature in the sense that it stays true to the T rating, nothing like a G-rated Saturday morning cartoon.

Q: What is the appeal of .hack//?
A: The rep succinctly answered with - “It’s all the fun of an MMORPG without paying a fee or dealing with ‘those kinds of people’”.

Q: Will there be a level cap?
A: That is still being determined, but mentioned that for Haseo, there will be a class change cap.

Q: Any information about the voice cast?
A: They are in the middle of casting right now, so thereÂ’s nothing final or definite at the moment.

That brought us to the end of our .hack// G.U. conference call, though not without someone sneaking in a comment about the new name of NintendoÂ’s next-gen system. IÂ’d like to thank the Namco Bandai representatives for taking the time out to talk with us as well as the other participating sites for their wonderful questions.

.hack//G.U. is scheduled for a May release in Japan and a fall release here in the US. With E3 right around the corner, you can be sure more details will be released and we will be there for the scoop. So, stay tuned to Gaming Horizon as more information about G.U. is revealed.]]> Tue, 02 May 2006 09:49:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_violent_games_laws_uninformed_and_on_the_rise http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_violent_games_laws_uninformed_and_on_the_rise http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_editorial_violent_games_laws_uninformed_and_on_the_rise# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. It was written by Evan Lahti.

Late last month, Texas politician and gubernatorial candidate Star Locke proposed a $10,000 per-abortion tax on medical clinics and a 50 percent tax on soda that "contains added glucose, fructose, and sucrose." Likewise, Locke suggested a 50 percent "grease tax" on "all food prepared by deep-frying or cooking in any form of oil or grease for human consumption." Locke justified his radical tariffs, stating to the Amarillo Globe: "I take the position that the founding fathers took: that the power to tax is the power to destroy."

One can only imagine the ensuing riots at speculation of a $9 quarter-pounder, but though Locke's levies are illogical (if not unconstitutional), one final suggestion topped the cake: to pass a 100 percent sales tax on violent videogames into law.

While gamers shouldn't fret about paying $100 for the next Halo or Grand Theft Auto update, they should worry that Locke's "solution" is indicative of a growing trend in American politics - more than ever, legislators are pushing for laws that illegalize the sale of violent and mature videogames to minors.

Pro-regulation figureheads like Jack Thompson would have us believe that games are mental intoxications – that each time I pop Killzone or Resident Evil into my console, I’m subjecting myself to content that will ultimately brainwash me into a volatile, aggressive sociopath. In a January 8 article published this year on The News Tribune, Thompson claims: "Teens […] have a neurobiological developmental deficit that can, in the worst case, turn them into "Manchurian Candidate" killing machines."

ThompsonÂ’s pseudo-scientific indictment of the gaming industry is remindful of the language used in prescription medication ads: "Â…side effects of playing Counter-Strike may include nausea, dizziness, or assaulting your friends and family against your will." Â…Perhaps we should consult the Surgeon General as well.

Are there games that are inappropriate for minors? Absolutely. Does it mean that every 17-year-old should be prohibited from buying games because they haven’t sufficiently “matured” enough to handle certain content? Is a generalized, age-based ban an appropriate and effective way to protect our children from violent games?

Unfortunately, one reason these questions remain is the fact that our legislators are largely ignorant of video games as a medium, and are instead informed by a few highly-specified and over-dramatized examples. Titles like Manhunt and Mortal Kombat, while clearly members of the "mature" category, have redeeming artistic qualities, but are construed as typifying an industry-wide epidemic.

Of course, it hasn't helped that the gaming industry has grown so quickly. Not 20 years ago, having consoles and personal computers in the household was a radically new idea; in 2004, the gaming industry posted revenues of $10 billion – more than Hollywood. Culturally and otherwise, gaming's footprint hasn't quite been measured by society, and it’s part of the reason we’re seeing unrealistic regulations.

But if we reflect, the recipe seems familiar: new technologies, new forms of expression, and new ways of perceiving reality have a predictable way of muddling anyone we elect into office. Film, television, and radio represent some of our most highly-regulated businesses; and politicians would rather attack industries that subjectively “pollute” our minds than the ones that pollute the very air we breathe.

If the term "scapegoat" seems too harsh, examine an excerpt from the Baxter Bulletin, an Arkansas newspaper. In an article about Jacob Robida, the recently-accused offender in an attack at a gay bar in Massachusetts that killed a police officer, the paper published this quote from Massachusetts Prosecuting Attorney Paul Walsh: "My look at the search warrant (for Robida's home) was that the investigators turned up no video games. [Â…] From the information we have here, there is no proof video games were involved."

Thank goodness that RobidaÂ’s PlayStation or Xbox werenÂ’t accomplices to his hateful act. But who suggested a game-crime connection to police? None other than Jack Thompson, the Miami attorney that seems to involve himself in national investigations when it suits his interests.

Inexplicably, videogames have become societyÂ’s insanity plea for murder, violence, and other crimes. Will increased game-regulation really attenuate these problems? Likely not, but it begs a more important question - how do we strike a balance between allowing freedom of expression and understanding a medium for what it is, but also aiding parents in choosing what their child should or shouldnÂ’t be exposed to?

Ultimately, parentsÂ’ and law-makersÂ’ understanding of video games has to mature. Politicians seem under the impression that each time Joe twelve-year-old blows away some poor virtual soul in Halo, theyÂ’re going to take it into the streets. But the way people interact and are affected by video games isnÂ’t that simple.

Individuals that commit crimes "inspired" by video games have more deeply rooted problems - an inability to distinguish reality from fantasy. While games with violent content could serve as an impetus for troubled youths, they ignore the "bigger picture;" the fact that ultimately, people are responsible for their own actions.

More generally, society needs to take the initiative to hold a view that recognizes videogames as a legitimate form of communication and entertainment, not a system designed to drill teenagers on the intricacies of executing a drive-by shooting. People seem unwilling to accept the idea that society's ills are rooted in more significant problems than computer-rendered characters engaging in a virtual firefight.

On Friday, Gaming Horizon was invited to participate in a question and answer session with developers of Deep Red’s upcoming PC city-simulation game, Tycoon City: New York. The panel included:Will Jordan – Tycoon City CoderBill Carroll – Atari ProducerJames Brodie – Quality Assurance ManagerJon Law – Lead Designer

In Tycoon City: New York, players make the rags-to-riches journey as an upstart entrepreneur looking to establish himself in the Big Apple. Players can build an array of businesses to draw the attention of New York natives, including coffee shops, clubs, and historic landmarks. TC: NY also boasts an expansive, free-roaming 3D environment, letting players oversee their empire from above, or get hands-on with customers at street level. Published by Atari, the game is only weeks away from hitting stores on February 24; check out what developers revealed in advance of the release in this interview.Tycoon City: New York Official Site

Interview

What's the premise of Tycoon City?

James Brodie: TC is a rag to riches game where [players] get the opportunity to build up New York city the way they want to. The city is split up into 12 districts, each with its own unique style and different architecture. There are a number of opportunities players can take that direct them to meet certain requirements, however you can choose to concentrate on this or play in TCÂ’s sandbox mode. You can upgrade the buildings you place and make New York your city!

How did the idea for TC: NY originate?

Jon Law: We really wanted to create a massive city building game with extreme detail, and there's no other city that is more impressive than New York. We took two trips over to New York (I'd never been before), and that really sealed it.

What do you think are the defining aspects of Tycoon City's gameplay?

Jon Law: The sheer scale and detail of the environment that you build still excites me. There's nothing else out there that allows you to create such a bustling cityscape. As you build, more and more businesses become available, more people types move in, and as you place landmarks, the city really comes to life. It's enormous. When you get up to Harlem and the whole city stretches out before you it's quite a sight. Then you dive down to street level and the people are all active, going about their daily lives. Add to that the various events that kick off throughout the year and our New York feels like a great place to be!

How would you compare Tycoon City to Si