Rockstar: Good or Bad for Video Games

MONTREAL (Joystiq) — Grand Theft Auto revolutionized gaming by creating a world where gamers can roam and explore at will — a breakthrough in interactivity in the industry. GTA’s brand of urban violence has spawned a legion of imitators, as well as sharp criticism from groups ranging from politicians to parents.

Warren Spector, whose credits include several Ultima games, Wing Commander, and System Shock, let on that he is “really angry” at Rockstar for using their “design genius” to create the “ultimate urban thuggery simulation,” Grand Theft Auto.
In Spector’s view, Rockstar’s games make it difficult for luddite parents and politicians to view the medium as anything but unhealthy for children. Spector seems to wish that Rockstar would tone it down a bit because such intense political interest could harm the industry. Politicians have a way of cocking things up.


There is historical merit to Spector’s argument. Comic books were hurt by the same culture war. In 1955, the United States Senate (yes, the Senate) investigated the link between comics and juvenile delinquency. Here’s the Senate report that lead to the establishment of a Comics Code Authority. Here are a few guidelines of the subsequent code:

“The CCA’s strict code prohibited depictions of gore, sexuality, and excessive violence; it required that authority figures were never to be ridiculed or presented disrespectfully, and that good must always win; it prohibited any scenes with vampires, werewolves, ghouls or zombies. The code also prohibited advertisements of liquor, tobacco, knives, fireworks, nude pin-ups and postcards, and “toiletry products of questionable nature.”

Scary.

Rockstar would of course argue that their games are not for children and that people need to get it out of their thick heads that games are just for kids.

Is Rockstar pushing games closer to censorship? Or are they at the forefront of the cultural battle, helping prove that games are not just for kids and should not be censored? Are they self-destructive profiteers or visionary activists?