The inspiration for this week’s blog topic actually popped up on my Twitter feed. Entertainment Weekly tweeted about the topic of graphic content in video games and I thought it would fit in perfectly with discussions about intellectual freedom.
The link shows stills from several different video games and asks if these images are gratifying for gameplay or simply gratuitous. Nudity, graphic sexual content, and violence have always been issues of controversy in books and movies, but those issues have now crossed over into games for your Xbox, Playstation and Wii. Non-print materials are some of the most circulating items in library collections these days, so I thought it would be good to discuss them in the same way we discuss books.
After some searching I came across an article from PC Magazine Online called “Banned Video Game Called ‘Fine Piece of Art’”. This article discusses ‘Manhunt 2’, a game that was banned in Britain and Ireland that is now facing restricted sales in the US because of its violent content. The game’s publisher stands behind the game fully and says "it brings a unique, formerly unheard of cinematic quality to interactive entertainment, and is also a fine piece of art." In this game players become insane asylum escapees who kill enemies in gruesome ways. ‘Manhunt 2’ was made by Rockstar Games, the same company that created the Grand Theft Auto series.
I was most interested in the fact that big name retailers like Walmart, who according to the article account for 25 percent of U.S. video game sales, refuse to carry ‘Adult Only’ titles. Game makers Sony and Nintendo will not allow ‘Adult Only’ content on their systems either.
Because of it’s rating, the game’s future is unclear. Take-Two, the publisher of Manhunt, recently hired new executives after a ‘shareholder-led coup’. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is quoted saying that "this is one of the tasks ahead of new management, to rein in that creative talent and tell those guys we are in the business of making money and you should make games that will sell, not games that are artistically beautiful but not available at Wal-Mart”.
This topic, and last quote, raises several questions. Should video games be given the same treatment as books? Should libraries collect ‘Adult Only’ games? If these games are pieces of art, should executives have the right to force gamemakers to ‘rein in their talent’ in effort to make a larger profit? Are video games taking their content to the extreme?
Entertainment Weekly link:
Article:
"Banned Video Game Called 'Fine Piece of Art'." PC Magazine Online 21 June 2007. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 June 2011.
Document URL:
This kind of surprises me. I've seen some of the video games that kids play, and I can't imagine that this video game in particular is any more violent than the ones already out there being played.
ReplyDeleteThe question about whether libraries should have "adult only" games is interesting, because libraries don't collect "adult" print materials as a general rule, at least in public libraries, which is what I am assuming you meant. (For Harvard, where they have studies on pornography, they probably _would_ offer "adult only" games. See my own blog for more on Harvard's porn http://cassintellectualfreedom.blogspot.com/). Presumably, your collection development policy would help you decide if "adult only" material is right for your library.
ReplyDeleteAs far as video game art goes, I have seen some spectacular and beautiful art in titles such as _Okami_ and _Final Fantasy_, so there is no doubt in my mind that there is an artistic merit to at least some games. However, art is subjective. What I find artistic, others may see as kitsch, and vice versa. Michelangelo's _David_ has been seen by some as obscene and not at all artistic. Others see it as a masterpiece. Which is it?
I did find it amusing that Sony, a company based in Japan where they have all that controversial manga (see Dr. Moeller's blog at http://s640seminarinintellectualfreedom.blogspot.com/) decided not to run "adult only" games on their platform.
I agree with Cass that video games can certainly be a medium for artistic expression, But the video game industry is just that...an industry. I would say that if video game developers are creating games on the company's dime, then it doesn't matter how "artistic" they are - the company has the final say about what types of games get developed. And what they are concerned about is what will sell.
ReplyDeleteIt really makes you think, though, about books and the publishing industry. If making video games is just a business, then what does that mean for writers?
I agree with Cassaundra about the "Adult-content". Most likely your collection development policy will say whether you can collect it or not. When it comes to executives forcing the game makers to make sell-able games. Well they are paying them. That is like saying can the director of your library make your shelf books? Well if that is what your job description includes then your productivity better meet with their demands. If the game developers feel they can express themselves artistically and make a game that sells then they can make their "Adult-Content" games on their own time and with their own money. It is a job. They don't have to work there.
ReplyDeleteKatie, have you seen some of the drivel that gets printed for children just because the author is famous for some reason? Book publishing is an industry, a business. Writers who don't sell do get published at least not more than once.
ReplyDeleteAbout the gaming, as long as people are spending their own money and playing these games in their homes then "adult only" content is fine. When it bleeds onto library computers I think we have to treat it as porn and as Cassaundra said follow the collection development policy of your library. Do you carry other such materials?
Glad my library doesn't though, you know by now I'd have issues with that.
I agree, violent and sexually explicit video games fall under the same category as pornographic material or horror films that are too gruesome for the theatres. This category usually does not meet the quality standards for collection development and would not be included in a libray collection.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the creators claiming that the video game is "fine piece of art" sounds like a cop out to me. Anything that can be defined as art all the sudden seems to have a right to be viewed in society. Oh, that's not pornography, that's an "artistic nude." Our American society seems to be ready to jump at the defense of "art" because art is an expression of humanity. The creators were not attempting to create art, they simply wanted to sell a product.
Back in the late '70s and early '80s, when video games--particularly console games like the Nintendo and Atari--were new, there were a LOT of third-party publishers who would create very sexually graphic games (if that era of video game graphics can be called "graphic" at all).
ReplyDeleteIt was in response to this, and to video games on CD-ROM (with much better-quality graphics) that the ESRB, the industry's rating organization, came into being. The ESRB, along with increased copyright protections against independent third-party developers, has had a major chilling effect on the production and popularity of video games that go beyond community standards. "Adults Only" is to video games what "X" was to movies--it literally kills a game to get that rating (hence why "X" was changed to "NC-17"), because stores like Wal-Mart refuse to carry AO-rated games.
The question for me is whether this is an issue of censorship--and it plainly is. In a way, it's self-censorship by the game industry's ESRB, but this is only because it keeps the government out of it. And even then, it's still censorship.
So is it any different than censoring a book or video? Libraries aren't in the habit of being video game rental stores, but if they were to add video games to their collections, it would only be consistent for them to treat video games the same as they treat any other media they carry. If they carry pornographic videos or sexually explicit books, then they should carrying AO-rated games.
Video games quite often are great pieces of art. They are huge, developed worlds that allow for almost endless variety and choices. A good video game tells a great story and draws the player into the world just like a good novel does.Video games and other new media have become just another part of our culture, and I think we definitely need to treat them as such, and recognize the good they can bring to us and our libraries rather than dismiss them all.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am not personally a fan of the games like Grand Theft Auto that force you to be evil to play well, I do enjoy quite a few other games with violence in them, and I am a very non-violent person. The actual sexual content in games is really quite minor, especially compared to movies. Lots of innuendo though.