Category Archives: Violence in games

The World of Warcraft habit of Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was presented as initial evidence in his trial yesterday. Julie Horup examines the fallout amid media demonisation of games.

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According to a survey conducted by UK website Playr2, of the 1221 parents who participated in the questionnaire with children aged 17 or younger, 64% said they didn’t check the ratings on the game box to see if the game was age appropriate for their children.

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ESRB president Patricia Vance has told Gamasutra she believes AO ratings are “good for the system” and that she wishes elected officials would stop trying to pass bills aimed at limiting the sale of video games – something she equates with “frivolous lawsuits”.

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The UK’s Association of Teachers and Lecturers held its annual conference recently, during which it was discussed how young children are “acting out violent scenes from adult computer games” in the playground.

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On March 19, US Representatives Joe Baca (D-CA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) once again introduced a bill that would require games to bear a health warning label stating: “WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior.”

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The ESA has announced the state of California will hand over $950,000 to the trade body in order to reimburse it for legal fees incurred from US Supreme Court case against SCOTUS.

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The International Committee of the Red Cross is looking into whether videogames in which the player participates in wars, whether fictional or not, should adhere to the Geneva and Hague conventions.

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Tired of the old chestnut about games causing violence? It’s time for gaming to grow up and stop passing the buck, Julie Horup argues.

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Techland has said it wasn’t surprised when Germany banned its zombie-shooter Dead Island from being sold in the country. Matter of fact, the firm and its publisher Deep Silver were aware of such a possibility “from the very beginning.”

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Ralph Baer, who invented the first home console in 1972, isn’t happy with the direction of some modern games.

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Speaking to the Guardian games blog, Andy McNab has described what drew him to advise Dice on Battlefield 3 – “the story” – and which bits reminded him of genuine missions – “the urban stuff”.

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By now, everybody’s surely seen – or at least heard of – the “Games Transfer Phenomena” report that has been all over the internet after an article appeared in both the Metro and the Daily Mail. Most gamers I know have been outraged – and so, it appears, has the study’s co-author.

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Mid-afternoon snacks to go with your cuppa.

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“I really think, if anything, there is more evidence to show that the violent games reduce aggression and violence. There have actually been some studies about that, that it’s cathartic. If you go to QuakeCon and you walk by and you see the people there [and compare that to] a random cross section of a college campus, you’re probably going to find a more peaceful crowd of people at the gaming convention. I think it’s at worst neutral and potentially positive.” – id’s John Carmack to IndustryGamers.

Coop Norway has announced it is to stop carrying 51 gaming brands and toys previously available to customers, after the horrific events in Oslo and on Utøya, including games CoD4: Modern Warfare and World of Warcraft – titles which the perpetrator Anders Behring Breivik claims to have actively played.

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Videogames won a huge political victory in the US today, as the Supreme Court voted to strike down a law that would have made it illegal to sell violent games to minors, and declared that video games qualify for free speech protections. As you can imagine, the US industry is thrilled.

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Back in November 2010, the US Supreme Court Justices weighed in on the videogame violence bill written by California state Senator Leland Yee which was supported by the state’s former-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The case is to be ruled on by the end of June, so sometime by the end of next week, we should know something regarding whether or not California will be able to legally limit the sale of what it considers violent video games to minors or not. We’ll keep you posted. Via MTV. [pic]

Back in April, Gamers’ Voice sent a letter to Channel 5 over an episode of The Wright Stuff program after it linked a London gang-related shooting with violent videogames, before showing footage of Modern Warfare 2′s No Russian level.

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A branch of the Knights Templar Bundestag would like production of “negative computer games” banned, and a prohibition placed on negative games coming into Germany.

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South Australian attorney general John Rau intends to introduce a revised games ratings system for his home state, and asked for nation-wide acceptance.

Hooray? Not quite. It won’t help you get your hands on the likes of Mortal Kombat and an uncensored Left 4 Dead 2 – but it will stop under-eighteens buying Grand Theft Auto IV or Fallout 3.

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