Modern Warfare in The Media
Written November 11, 2009
Australian newspaper The Age has published an online article concerning Modern Warfare 2, as you’d expect with the ire rising about the graphic “No Russian” airport scene.
While the article itself is an interesting read on one man/father/gamer’s view on the game, the comments themselves are what interested me. The following one by Gary of Eastwood especially:
The advantage of once being a soldier going overseas to Iraq (1991) and playing combat games is the discovery of how benign they are. It’s a sexy topic ripe for PhD’s and a contradiction to raise the gamer-nasties issue. If the effects are as horrible as feared we would be living in a state of anarchy. People are challenged and effected by games. Yet, how is it that we expose people to actual war with its killing, maiming, dying and mental health disruption and yet not be as loudly concerned about its damaging effects in in competition with the hypocritical amount of time, effort, reports, moral outrage and media attention that is given to silly games. I don’t play them only because I’m useless at them. They are as harmless as other games where killing is disguised. Books, films, stories (even music, who are these crackpots?), documentaries and news, feed the brain content and distill effects. What are the actual effects? Can there be only one kind of effect? No, I don’t think so. I think there is a ever expanding spectrum of effect that comes down to choice. Playing couch combat games as opposed to being a soldier holding a rifle, wearing heavy body armour, with webbing, pack, 50 degree heat, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, dirt, basic hygiene, chronic indecision, sick, tired and dead refugees, a lot of fear, trembling and anger, isolation, disturbing experiences and occasional moments of inappropriate and manic euphoria. So relax and have a your latte. These games are meaningless. All I ever hear about is the damaging effect of ‘games’ whilst the world is filled with real nasty wars with people who’ve never played couch combat games who would kill you for 50 cents.
-Gary | Eastwood – November 11, 2009
This is the kind of insight people need into violent/war-themed games, in my opinion.