Video game makers stay course, aim not to offend
9/13/01 11:40 PM ET
By Ben Berkowitz and Jean Yoon
LOS ANGELES/LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The video game
industry, known for scenes of cinematic mayhem, will take pains
not to offend a public shocked and grieving after terror
attacks on New York and the Pentagon, but will keep
long-awaited action games flowing, executives said on Thursday.
"We've always held (that) there's considerable physical and
psychological distance between our games and the reality of
current events," said Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Electronic
Arts Inc. (ERTS.O), the leading U.S. game publisher.
EA suspended "Majestic" its popular online interactive game
that draws players into an X-Files-like conspiracy.
The company was concerned that one of the game's features,
in which players receive recorded calls from actors portraying
sometimes frantic characters, would hit a raw nerve after the
attention given to phone calls from victims and survivors of
this week's real-life violence.
Publisher Arush Entertainment is also evaluating a game in
development that features legendary video game character Duke
Nukem blasting his way through New York. The game is being
reviewed for possible offensive scenes, such as depictions of
the now-toppled World Trade Center, the company said.
The game's logo and a clip of highlights were removed from
Arush's site because they contained images of the World Trade
Center, Chief Executive Jim Perkins told Reuters.
The fate of "Metal Gear Solid X" for Microsoft Corp.'s
(MSFT.O) forthcoming XBox game console was unclear. The game's
protagonist, Snake, reportedly wreaks havoc in New York.
Microsoft declined to comment on its plans for the console
or its games in light of the week's events, but Nintendo said
it was pushing ahead with its own long-awaited release.
"We have spent time talking about whether we need to make
any reassessments," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president for
corporate communications at Nintendo of America, the U.S. arm
of Japan's Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS).
Kaplan said the launch of the new GameCube console and the
planned associated marketing efforts, including club-like demo
rooms in a number of cities, was still on track.
"I think it's important for us to be respectful and
cautious," said Molly Smith, director of corporate
communications for Sony Computer Entertainment of America.
She said Sony is "making determinations if we need to make
adjustments" but that no delays were planned yet.
Other notable video game publishers THQ Inc. (THQI.O) and
Activision Inc. (ATVI.O) declined to comment on how the attacks
might affect their plans.
"I think that our industry like any industry has a
responsibility to look at what we do and assess whether
tragedies like this should in fact influence how we approach
making the products that we make," said Doug Lowenstein,
president of the Interactive Digital Software Association,
which represents 90 percent of the entertainment software
industry.
EUROPE TAKES CAUTIOUS VIEW
In Europe, the attitude toward game content was more
cautious. "For (the) next couple of years, games makers will
stay away from creating games that involve planes going right
into any buildings or violence in New York," said one official
at a British video game company who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
"Games makers will deal with it in appropriate
sensitivity...They will probably delay releases of violent
games for now," said Kean Marden, London-based analyst at UBS
Warburg.
Others questioned whether the immediate caution would mean
substantial long-term changes for the industry.
"I doubt (game publishers) will make any change," said
Julian Morse, London-based technology analyst at brokerage
Beeson Gregory. "(Games) are unreal and I don't think people
will make that connection."
CATHARSIS OR CAULDRON?
The IDSA's Lowenstein echoed Morse's sentiment: "Nobody
would seriously suggest a video game has a role in this kind of
tragedy."
Others argued that games provide an important release to
people feeling the stress of the tragedy.
"Now more than ever people need escapism," said John
Davison, editor and director of the Ziff-Davis Media Game
Group. Games provide a kind of all-engaging diversion that even
movies cannot, he said.
At the same time, David Walsh, president of the National
Institute on Media and the Family and a critic of violent video
games, argued that they provide no catharsis, and could instead
magnify people's anger.
"I would find another way" to release that anger, he said,
adding that it was "a matter of ethical responsibility" for
publishers to reconsider the content of their games. |
