[Vision2020] Video games

[Carl Westberg]

I was watching the Newshour on PBS last night, and saw a segment on violent 
video games that opened my eyes.  I'm a 52 year old liberal Democrat that 
owns an Xbox and a Playstation 2, but my gaming is limited to golf, 
baseball, football, and occasionally bowling and pool.  I've only been 
peripherally aware of the other, violent genres out there, until last night. 
  They spotlighted two games, one of which awards points for killing 
policemen, and also gives you the opportunity to have sex with prostitutes, 
and then kill them.  After you kill them, you can decapitate them, if you 
wish.  In the other game, one of the ways you can kill someone is to pour 
gasoline on them, set them on fire, and then, if you want, urinate on the 
burning corpse.  The graphics are quite lifelike.  This ain't Pong.  I'm 
certainly no prude, but I was rather stunned when the segment was finished.  
The gist of the story was an attempt in Washington state to ban games 
featuring the killing of police.  Are these games ultimately harmless, and 
is this much ado about nothing?  Or are they just wrong?  If they are wrong, 
what do we as a society do?  Is banning an answer?                           
                                                                             
                                                                             
                                                                             
                          Carl Westberg Jr.

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