The Root of All Evil = Video Games

I have a confession to make. I am now a regular listener of CFUN 1410 talk radio. It all started about 2 months ago when I bought a new alarm clock for my bedroom and was trying to set the alarm to play a station of my choice instead of the annoying generic siren. I accidentally set it on 1410 and since then I have been waking up to talk show host, Pia Shandel.

I don't know what her broadcast and journalism background is, but I sort of enjoy waking up to her morning program blaring into my ears. Sometimes you need a loud, prattling radio personality to give you that jolt at the start of your day. And boy, does this woman prattle on and on, on a variety of topics ranging from local news stories and pop culture to info-tainment segments bordering on straight up advertising.

Today the Pia Shandel show got on my bad side for the first time. I was still in bed, eyes still tiny slits, slowly opening up to the morning light coming through the blinds, when I heard Pia start off on her new topic: video games. I perked up a little but was still feeling like I could sleep in another hour and forget about going to work. Pia introduced the news of an upcoming console game, based on the Brian de Palma/Al Pacino film classic, Scarface. Then Pia went completely off the deep end.

Somewhat predictably, she start to rant and rave on the corrupting influence of video games and was so disgusted that companies were allowed to sell violent games. I was fully awake at this point. You know what was really disgusting? The appalling lack of research and intelligence given to this very important topic. In my hazy morning state, I was considering calling into the show, as caller after caller was let on to side with Pia and also rant unintelligibly about the many societal ills wrought by gaming. A single caller, a parent to his credit, finally chimed as the voice of reason and was very, very articulate. Of course, none of his points were given any credence and it was back to the one-sided phone calls.

I was so incensed by this debacle that I wasted more time at work slapping out a rebuttal on CFUN's feedback page. I could write pages on this topic, of the mainstream media's awful coverage of the video games industry and violence in our society, but I had to settle with the following diatribe:

Heard the segment today on the Scarface video game from Radical. I don't believe Pia went there! Actually, I do. Negative, biased news stories against video games are all the rage now. The gaming industry is an easy target and is undergoing the same public scrutiny as other forms of entertainment in years past (TV, radio, comic books, music, movies... you name it)

I believe there was one sane caller admist the madness who put up a very valid, very sensible defense for electronic entertainment and his points were all but ignored.

Incidences of violent crime among youth are at an all time low (at least in the US), so how does that even wash with Pia's massive logical leap that violent video games cause kids to shoot up their own schools? At best, there is a correlation, which is miles away from causation.

I would love to see this topic revisited on Pia's or another host's program and this time invite someone from the "other side" as a guest. Maybe a producer or designer from a prominent local game studio, of which there are many.

And this time, I would suggest discussing a game like Bully, a game that has not even been released yet and has generated much negative press, from various parents groups and crusading anti-games lawyer, Jack Thompson. The sad thing is, this game is being touted as some kind of "Columbine simulator" when it is actually anything but. Judging from the previews from legitimate gaming publications and blogs, Bully is more a simulation of life in boarding school. There are no deaths, no depictions of blood or gore. Players are in fact encouraged to fight against bully characters in the game.

Of course, this simple distinction is all but lost on the mainstream media, which continues to take the easy route and portray video games as the root of all evil. It's sensational, irresponsible news reporting. These recent stories about gun violence are very tragic, but there is soooo much more to the picture than just a piece of entertainment.

Although I enjoy Pia's show and her overall style, I just had to let you know how far off she was on this topic today. Hopefully it will be revisited in a more balanced manner in the near future!

I've corrected it here, but I actually spelled "public scrutiny" as "pubic scrutiny" in that first paragraph. Oops.

Please, people. We need to stop looking at the reasons behind tragedies and the failings of our own society at face value. For every apparent reason for something happening, there are 100 reasons behind that reason. Instead of blaming video games for a miniscule percentage of kids going postal at their high school, let's look at how money is continually being drained out of the public school systems. Let's ask why parents are forced to spend more time at work, leaving distractions like TV and video games to raise and babysit their children. Hell, let's examine why we aren't putting some accountability on the parent's shoulders. Let's go out on a limb and think super-whacky-crazy thoughts and consider that maybe, just maybe... there are always going to be mentally unstable individuals out there who will latch on to anything as way of validating their sociopathic behaviours. There's always going to be loners out there, the guy or girl who wasn't loved enough as a child, the ones that are shunned by their peers for being different. Where's the media attention about funneling more money into support programs for kids, counselling services, critical thinking and media education and a myriad of other things that would make for a healther, safe and smarter society?

Please, for fuck's sake, people. Let's drop the cirucs act and demand some credible journalism from our news and media outlets.

Well, that's the end of MY rant.