The ELSPA takes on the media
News
Posted September 5th, 2007 at 1:03pm
by Devin Kent
The ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association), a organization that rates video games in Europe similarly to the ESRB in the US, is hosting a forum called “Ban these evil games” at the London Games Festival in October.
It’s no secret that games have had at best a lukewarm and at worst a downright hostile reputation in the news media. Games come under attack for violence, sex, and bad language far more often than movies and music have recently. The panel at the LGF aims to examine the reasons for this and solutions to fix it.
While I applaud the efforts of the ELSPA, it seems to me that all of the arts have, at some time or another, come under heavy attack from the media. Music especially has been under attack for 30 or so years, with metal bands like KISS and others heavily criticized in the 80s, and numerous rap groups taking fire in the 90s. My hazy memories of the 90s seem to abound with parents that were worried about all the violence on TV, as well.
I think, if anything, the heightened sense of martyrdom surrounding video games comes more from the advent of the Internet than any true larger than usual attack on gaming. Kids and teenagers in the 80s and 90s were far less likely to know that their favorite groups and shows were under attack, because kids and teenagers don’t really read newspaper and they don’t really watch the news (they watch increasingly more violent TV shows, obviously). Teens these days gather in more numbers than ever before possible on forums and communities around the web, and even a small article or report can spread like wildfire because it’s attacking something they love.
I think the only solution to the bad reputation of video games is simply to wait it out. In a few years, the current generation of gamers will grow up without becoming serial murderers and the problem will essentially fix itself. It remains to be seen what the panel at the LGF will come up with.
No Tags
No CommentsLeave a Comment
User Comments