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Audience and Gears of War 2

Audience and Gears of War 2. Moral Panics. Structure of Audience section. We will be discussing three ideas which relate to the audiences of computer games: Moral Panics User Created Content Social Spaces Each session will focus on one game

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Audience and Gears of War 2

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  1. Audience and Gears of War 2 Moral Panics

  2. Structure of Audience section • We will be discussing three ideas which relate to the audiences of computer games: • Moral Panics • User Created Content • Social Spaces • Each session will focus on one game • It is up to you to apply the ideas from the focus game to the other two games

  3. Moral Panics and the Media

  4. Any Justification? • Psychologist Guy Cumberbatch has stated: "The link with a video was that the father of one of the boys - Neil Venables - had rented Child’s Play 3 some months earlier. However, the police officer who directed the investigation, Albert Kirby, found that the son, Jon, was not living with his father at the time and was unlikely to have seen the film. Moreover, the boy disliked horror films - a point later confirmed by psychiatric reports. Thus the police investigation, which had specifically looked for a video link, concluded there was none. But, of course, this received very little coverage and the lasting impression most people seem to have is of the newspaper campaigns in November 1993 blaming violent videos for the toddler’s murder.”

  5. Moral Panics and Computer Games “A mass murder simulator.” David Grossman • Doom (1993) • "They have no pity, no mercy, take no quarter, and crave none. They're the perfect enemy.“ Excerpt from the DOOM manual

  6. Doom and Columbine Massacre • In 1999, at Columbine High School, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and 1 teacher before killing themselves • Harris is purported to have said the massacre would be ‘like fucking Doom man... That shotgun – straight out of Doom!’ • Harris is purported to have designed levels for Doom based on the layout of Columbine High School

  7. Any Justification? • Harris did play Doom and design levels (though did not copy layout of school) • They made several tapes prior to the shootings that discuss their plan – they only make reference to Doom in one section of one tape • US Secret Service and Department of Education investigation into the links between actual shooters and video games play concluded: • Only 12% of the shooters showed any special interest in violent video games; far less than the number of shooters who seemed attracted to books and movies with violent content (59%). • That leaves 41% of all shooters who had no connection to violent media of any kind...

  8. Moral Panics in the UK • Stefan Pakeerah (14) was murdered by his friend Warren Leblanc (17) in 2004. • Stefan’s mother blamed the murder on Manhunt • Manhunt was subsequently removed from the shelves in Dixons & Game • Demand for Manhunt then went up

  9. Any Justification? • The police denied any such link between the game and the murder, citing drug-related robbery as the motive. The presiding judge also placed sole responsibility with Leblanc in his summing up after sentencing him to life. It was later discovered that Leblanc did not actually own the game, but Pakeerah did.

  10. Far Cry 2 and Albertville High School Shootings • "Remarkable parallels emerged between the video game and the 17-year-old’s rampage... In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer hijacked a car, held a pistol to the driver’s head and asked: “Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?” Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9m copies, wear black camouflage uniforms – the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday...Most sinister of all, Far Cry 2’s killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun, the weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer.“ Adam Lewitt – The Sunday Times In 2009, Tim Kretschmer killed 9 students and 3 teachers at Albertville High School, Germany

  11. Any Justification? • In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. • No it isn’t • Characters in the game... wear black camouflage uniforms – the clothing Kretschmer wore • Almost none wear this costume • Far Cry 2’s killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun, the weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer. • There is no Beretta handgun in Far Cry 2 • In June 2009, all 16 German state leaders voted to ban games where: “where the main part is to realistically play the killing of people or other cruel or inhuman acts of violence against humans or manlike characters.”

  12. Moral Panics and Gears of War 2 • On 22nd October 2008, ‘Joystiq’ website reported that both Germany and Japan had banned Gears of War 2 for being too violent.

  13. The BBFC & Gears of War 2 • GEARS OF WAR 2 was passed ‘18’ for strong bloody violence.The BBFC Guidelines at ‘15’ state that violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The violence and associated gore in this game is too strong for ‘15’ and can only be contained at the adult classification category. Moreover, throughout the game there is a clear dwelling on the infliction of bloody injury. Shooting adversaries often produces large blood spurts and heads can be blown off. The player also has the option of cutting opponents in half or impaling them on the blade of the chain-saw attachment of the standard issue assault rifle. In such cases blood appears to splatter onto the television screen. • GEARS OF WAR 2 also contains strong language. • This work was passed with no cuts made.

  14. Uses & Gratifications and Gears of War 2 • Four types of players (Richard Bartle – 1996): • Achievers • Explorers • Socialisers • Killers • What are the ways in which GOW2 might be used? • What are the possible gratifications for each use?

  15. What are the arguments for banning GOW 2? • Effects theory – links between violent media & real acts of violence • Problematic as main case studies have proven no such link • Promotes poor morals/ethics in young people • Game has 18 rating • Average age of UK gamer is 35 • Image of loner-gamer challenged by online play

  16. Right to Choose Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) has a system of identifying the content of a game. VIOLENCE DRUG USE DISCRIMINATION SWEARING GAMBLING FEAR ONLINE SEX

  17. What do Microsoft Say? • As you know, we are committed to keeping Xbox LIVE a safe and fair place to play for the more than 17 million active members. As part of our regular safety monitoring we have pinpointed a group of players who have unlocked specific Gears of War 2 Achievements through an unauthorized hack. Deliberate cheats like these are in direct violation of the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use and will not be tolerated. As I post this, we’ve begun taking steps to reset the Gamerscores of the offending players. [Posted April 28th, 2009.] I typed ‘Should Gears of War 2 be banned?’ into Google to see what Microsoft had to say about their game. Here is what I found.

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