Is it really true?

With the recent release of Grand theft Auto and me being an advent gamer, I decided on an editorial called Life Is a Game. The author Gary Hoppenstand does a great job in detailing what many felt had evil influences on our moral standards. This includes items from our past up to our present. He starts off with the amusement he gets from “watchdog” groups that criticize video games for their violent content. I for one am in agreement with him but more on that later.
“What is amusing is not the fact of the existence of violence in games. Many of them are quite violent. Instead, it is funny that our gatekeeprs of culture have such a short memory (or no memory at all)”. Hoppenstand, G. (2006) Violence has always been around in movies and in print media of the past. Hoppenstand described the middle ages, where elite religious groups disagreed with seasonal festivals because they were believed to encourage excessive amounts of celebration.
Now that was just the middle ages; during the industrial revolution when the start of the dime novels and penny dreadfuls , many individuals such as pastors and teachers preached to the high heavens about the evils of the current media. Silent films were also suspect because they attracted the interest of immigrants in New York. Silent films oh come on there were no sounds so the influence could not have been that bad could it?
Hoppenstand states that “Some half-century later, Newton Minow, in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961, told us that television was a “vast wasteland” .” I can sort of agree with that as I believe today that this does hold true with the programming we have available to us on some networks. Speaking of networks, The Beatles and even the ever so popular Elvis Presley were all part of the downfall of our moral standards, as the music they provided for our youths sent the wrong message.
From movies to music and even comic books; all have had there fair share of attacks from “watchdog” groups of the past. Now we are here in the present day and what is next in line for the onslaught of “watchdog” attacks… yep you guessed it video games. Video games are a multi-billion dollar business. They are slowly but surly taken over the top spots once held by big blockbuster movies in terms of money earned.
The problem with videogames besides the obvious (violence to some people) is the public still feels games are for children. As Hoppenstand writes “Video games corrupt the minds and morals of our young people; the argument goes.” He like I, feel that we are adults and should be able to make sound decisions without the help of certain groups. But wait aren’t video games for kids?
On one hand yes but it depends on what market the producer of the console chooses aim for. Take Nintendo for example, they have a family oriented demographic so the games you find on their console would solely be aimed at the family. Then you have Microsoft with their Xbox 360 and Sony with their Playstation 3 consoles, whose market is the 18-35 year old male. Yes I would say that at the price point of the current Nintendo console ($249.99 US) and their aimed market; children’s toy comes to mind. With a price tag of $449.99 (Xbox 360 Elite) and ($599.99) PS3, I really do not think I would like to purchase either one for my 10 year old.
Another issue to point out is the rating system that was implemented a few years back for video games. This rating system was put in place because many felt that games with violent content were getting in the hands of children. The ratings range from E for everyone up to M for Mature. I do not see how hard is it not to figure out that if you have a child not old enough to get into a rated R movie by him/herself then why are you buying said M rated game. This is an issue that will live on for ever and it will move on to the next big thing in the future. In my opinion if we had more parents taken time out of their so called busy schedule to have a talk with their children maybe the government wouldn’t have too.