Critics zap video games: senators urge government action to curb video-game violence

Current Events, Jan 3, 1994

CHICAGO, Ill.--Hooded zombies attack young women using drills to drain their victims' blood ... Two fighters kick and punch each other until the winner pulls the loser's head off with the spinal cord still attached...

Believe it or not, you can watch these horror scenes every day in thousands of U.S. homes. They are part of two widely popular video games--Night Trap and Mortal Kombat.

Both games were featured last month in U.S. Senate hearings on video games. The hearings, headed by Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.), looked at two aspects of video games: violence in the games and how companies advertise the games to children. In both cases, the senators found much to criticize.

Too Much Violence

Senators Lieberman and Kohl heard from a number of witnesses who testified that many popular video games are far too violent for children. The violence of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, the senators were told, teaches kids to be insensitive to human suffering.

Violent video games, said California attorney general Dan Lungren, not only teach kids "to demean and destroy" but also "have a desensitizing impact on young, impressionable minds."

After hearing testimony and seeing demonstrations of the most violent video games, Senator Lieberman declared: "These games are no mark of a civilized society."

Lieberman and Kohl told video game companies to voluntarily cut back on violence in video games. If you don't, Lieberman told the companies, the government will step in and do it for you.

Both major video-game companies, Sega and Nintendo, came under criticism. But the senators had some good words for Nintendo, which limits the amount of violence it allows in video games.

Sega officials defended Night Trap and Mortal Kombat as games intended for older teens and adults, not children. Sega also announced that it had established a rating system for video games similar to movie ratings: PG for children under 13; MA-13 for players 13 and over; and MA-17 for players aged 17 and over.

Misleading Commercial

Senator Lieberman also criticized Sega in particular for one of its TV commercials. He said that the commercial promoted violence and targeted kids under 13. The TV commercial shows a boy gaining the respect of his friends after winning Mortal Kombat. At the end of the commercial, the boy angrily knocks over a tray of cookies given to him by friends now frightened by the boy's fighting ability. The boy roars, "I said I wanted chocolate chip!"

Bill White, vice president of Sega of America, said that Sega had aired the commercial before it established a rating system, and that the commercial was taken off the air.

Realistic Violence

Video-game players have been zapping aliens and wiping out bad guys for more than 20 years. So why have critics only now mounted a serious attack on video-game violence?

There are two reasons, say critics. The first reason is that today more violence seems to sell more products. and Nintendo, for make versions of Mortal Kombat, but Sega's much more violent version widely outsells Nintendo's tamer version. Sega's Mortal Kombat was, in fact, the best-selling video game in 1993-selling more than 4 million copies.

The other reason critics are upset is that video-game violence is becoming more realistic. In early video games, such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders, players wiped out crude cartoon images. But today's video games feature real-looking people. In Night Trap, the characters are played by real actors. In Mortal Kombat, the fighters are realistic animated drawings. Instead of just wiping out a cartoon image, today's video gamers try to kill realistic-looking characters--and that say critics, tends to teach children that human life is cheap.

Video-Game Defenders

Of course, not everyone thinks that video-game violence is harmful. Many people argue that the concern over video-game violence, like the concern over TV violence (CE 4) is much overblown. These people point to the fact that no studies firmly prove that people who play violent video games tend to become more violent in real life.

Some players look upon video-game critics as (in the words of one player) "know-nothing, interfering boobies."

"They're spoilsports," says Tom Jennings, a video-game player. "There are always some people who will say that something new and exciting is wrong and dangerous--no matter what it is."

Other players agree that some games should not be used by children. They say that most video games are harmless fun and not as violent as Mortal Kombat.

"There are some games you want kids to stay away from," says LeeAnne McDermott, editor of a video game magazine. "But there are a lot more games you can feel good about kids playing."

None of this, however, persuades critics such as Senator Lieberman. He has asked the Federal Trade Commission FTC) to investigate how video-game companies try to see their products to kids. And he and Senator Kohl plan to hold a second series of hearings on video-game violence next month.