Spring Break
Political games tackle hot topics
by Daniel Ortner
Arts | 2/5/08
Posted online at 11:45 PM EST on 2/4/08
/ Last updated at 3:48 AM EST on 2/4/08
I am going to reveal one of my darkest secrets. In the 2000 election I almost wanted George Bush to win the presidency. Of course, as a lifelong Democrat I far preferred Al Gore's positions and personality, but as a somewhat immature 11-year-old I was a single issue voter. I was a committed video gamer and could not tolerate Joe Lieberman-one of the staunchest advocates of video game censorship and a constant condemner of the art form as a source of moral corruption-being one breath from the presidency.
Even as national security, a misguided war and economic troubles removed video games from their position in the crosshairs of every sleazy politician looking to score points as pro-family, they continue to be the target of much ill informed invective and attack. Yet, even as Mitt Romney declared, "I want to restore values so children are protected from a societal cesspool of filth, pornography, violence, sex and perversion," the budding format has continued to evolve in directions I could not even have imagined eight years ago.
To be fair to critics, some video games have become more senseless and violent over the past years. Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto and a slew of other series have seemed in competition for brutality and pointless gore. However, some games have also brought a sense of profound moral decision making along with this spur of violence. Games such as Bioshock offer the gamer decisions that touch the very nature of their humanity. In this game, one can choose to harvest small children for more power or rescue them, and each of these decisions has a crucial impact on your character's personality, interactions with others and the game's ending. Just as in the best films, games such as Shadow of the Colossus, or the Metal Gear Solid series create personal conflicts and force the gamer to think about the nature of his actions, goals and ambitions.
Perhaps because of the constant political assaults against them, video games have also come of age as a political medium. In the 2004 election, online games such as the Bush Game took stereotypical Bush-bashing into the realm of a side-scrolling action game and still managed to teach players more about the injustice of Bush's tax cuts than the mainstream media dared. Recently, Japanese environmental groups released a socially conscious whaling shoot-'em-up, Harpooned, that gamepolitics.com wrote "uses outrage to spread environmental message."
Even as national security, a misguided war and economic troubles removed video games from their position in the crosshairs of every sleazy politician looking to score points as pro-family, they continue to be the target of much ill informed invective and attack. Yet, even as Mitt Romney declared, "I want to restore values so children are protected from a societal cesspool of filth, pornography, violence, sex and perversion," the budding format has continued to evolve in directions I could not even have imagined eight years ago.
To be fair to critics, some video games have become more senseless and violent over the past years. Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto and a slew of other series have seemed in competition for brutality and pointless gore. However, some games have also brought a sense of profound moral decision making along with this spur of violence. Games such as Bioshock offer the gamer decisions that touch the very nature of their humanity. In this game, one can choose to harvest small children for more power or rescue them, and each of these decisions has a crucial impact on your character's personality, interactions with others and the game's ending. Just as in the best films, games such as Shadow of the Colossus, or the Metal Gear Solid series create personal conflicts and force the gamer to think about the nature of his actions, goals and ambitions.
Perhaps because of the constant political assaults against them, video games have also come of age as a political medium. In the 2004 election, online games such as the Bush Game took stereotypical Bush-bashing into the realm of a side-scrolling action game and still managed to teach players more about the injustice of Bush's tax cuts than the mainstream media dared. Recently, Japanese environmental groups released a socially conscious whaling shoot-'em-up, Harpooned, that gamepolitics.com wrote "uses outrage to spread environmental message."
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