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Magazine Articles
Without exception, every
article analysed below takes an anti-censorship position. This is
usually owing to the fact that they are sourced from magazines that are
published for the specific purpose of reviewing and promoting computer
games among interested readers. These article writers have an informed
idea of the nature of computer games and their
players
and can thus comment on all topics mentioned in the eBriefs with a reasonable
degree of authority.
Bloody
games! Sex, violence and videogames. (1996, November). PC PowerPlay,
pp. 24-29.
Violence
and sexual content in games is examined in the context of their strong
relevance in presenting an exciting fantasy world in which the players
use various skills and strategies to win and have fun. This article,
appearing in Australia's largest computer games magazine, takes an anti-censorship
position and points out just how little it takes for games to get banned
in Australia. It also emphasises the maturity
of gamers, who are mainly adults, in that they do not exercise any
criminally violent impulses in the real world.
A chainsaw cuts through a computer's monitor, spattering blood,
to indicate the main story in the November 1996 issue of PC PowerPlay.
Hafner,
K. (1996, August 12). Log on and shoot. Newsweek, pp. 58-59.
Women enjoy the Duke
Nukem 3D game that some have considered degrading
to their sex. Written by a female journalist who interviewed
female players of this game, no mention is made of any controversy, just
that these women love the game, especially for its multiplayer capabilities
in which they fight each other in Duke's virtual world. Their game
playing husbands are delighted by their wives' newfound preoccupation.
Ferrell,
K. (1996, August). Sex and violence '96. PC Games, pp. 42-45.
One of the leading computer
games magazines from the USA examines several computer games in development
or released in 1996 that feature high levels of sex and violence.
Such titles include: Duke Nukem 3D,
Harvester,
and Phantasmagoria 2. Both
the reporter and the game company representatives he interviews note the
trend towards increased levels of controversial content to the aim of increasing
the games' appeal to adult players and to promote mature moral messages.
Hellaby,
D. (1996, April). Forbidden games. Australian Penthouse, pp. 70-72,
110, 128.
A leading Australian computer
issues journalist notes that computer games are now being regulated according
to unfair assumptions imposed upon them by politicians. Such assumptions
fly in the face of plenty of games industry
evidence that most game players are adults and deserve to play games
specifically aimed at them. Particular attention is placed on the
banning of Phantasmagoria. Calls
for decreased censorship are made.
Mackay,
P. (1996, November). How it happened and where it's heading.
PC PowerPlay,
pp. 28-29.
Peter Mackay, the OFLC's
former chief games censor, now games industry representative, writes of
his frustration with the supposedly unjust and illogical way in which computer
games censorship was imposed in Australia. He ridicules the assumptions
on which the current system is based.
Mackay urges gamers to understand that the OFLC only administers the regulations
as dictated by politicians - it does not necessarily agree with them.
Phantasmagoria
banned. (1995, October). Hyper, pp. 5-8.
Upon learning that the much-anticipated
game Phantasmagoria had been banned
for sale in Australia, the editor of the largest local gaming magazine
wrote this extensive editorial. It defended the right of adults
to play games specifically designed for them and pointed out the inconsistencies
of a society that allowed adults to vote, fight in wars, and have consensual
sex, but yet banned them from playing certain mainstream, popular games
enjoyed by their peers overseas.
Ricketts,
E. (1996, June). Wild at heart. PC Format, pp.19-26.
A leading computer games
magazine from the UK takes a highly balanced view on the issue of sex
and violence in computer games by presenting various examples of both
and inviting representatives of many community and government groups to
comment on them. Very wide ranges of views are expressed, with firm
arguments both for and against this sort of material. The magazine's
reporter takes the view that extreme examples of sex and violence in games
are just a passing phase and that gamers will quickly tire of it as actual
gameplay is most important rather than extreme controversy.
Russo,
T. and Toyama, K. (2001, February). Games grow up. NextGen, pp.
54-60.
Within a computer and video
games magazine from the USA aimed primarily
at an adult readership, this article presents a long, insightful look at
the current state of controversial content in
games and associated ratings issues. It emphasises that gaming
is primarily an adult activity and that games should be permitted to
capture the entire range of adult human experiences. As such, the
adult gaming community should be able to buy many games aimed specifically
at them while other games are aimed at younger generations. A revised,
fairer, and more detailed ratings system must accompany such reform.
Computer game action heroes Duke Nukem (from Duke
Nukem 3D) and Lara Croft (from non-controversial Tomb Raider)
feature on the front cover of NextGen's sex and violence in games
issue.
Sex, lies,
and videogames. (1997, August). PC PowerPlay, pp. 44-48.
In this update to their earlier
article on similar topics, PC PowerPlay catalogue more recent examples
of controversial computer games and the various actions that have been
taken against them by concerned government and community groups. Both sides
of the sex and violence in games issue are explored (see both Accusations
and Stakeholders), with the magazine coming
down on the side of decreased censorship. Once again, adult games
are recommended for adult players. Readers are asked to protest to
the OFLC and ask for an R (adults only) rating for games.
Violence
in video games. (2000, July). Hyper, pp. 14-19.
Two interviews related to
the controversial ultra-violent computer game
Soldier of Fortune
are presented in order to contrast the creative, artistic viewpoints of
the people who created this game with the rigid legalism of the OFLC who
passed it with the highest possible classification (MA 15+). Essentially,
the game's creators included graphic violence for realism and associated
emotional impact purposes, and the Australian censors responded with by
the book adherence to the regulations they are bound to administer.
See Accusations.