Video game violence—don’t buy it

"Many people, especially children, think that whatever they see in the media is real. If in the name of entertainment violence is glorified, anti-social behavior is approved of, and human sexuality is trivialized, this is a sin both of those in the media who are responsible and also of those supervisory authorities that ought to put a stop to it." (YOUCAT)

Sounds good, but who is supervising the adults sucked in by the same sin and supporting it financially? Look what hit the shelves and homes this week. Grand Theft Auto 5.

"Grand Theft Auto V," the latest installment in Rockstar Games' hit video game series, reaped an eye-popping $800 million in worldwide retail sales on its first day of release Tuesday, heading for $1 billion.

“ “For better or worse,” Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the decision, “our society has long regarded many depictions of killing and maiming as suitable features of popular entertainment.” As such, Rockstar, the developer of Grand Theft Auto V, the latest entry in the long-running series, which was released today, could include a prolonged interactive depiction of torture without fear of censorship. Nevertheless, the “24”-esque scene, which requires players to rotate the game controller’s sticks in order to tug out the victim’s teeth with pliers, has inspired debate—not only over its artistic merit but also over whether such distressing interactions have any place in video games. “ (New Yorker)

Where in the world are the adults? How many more mentally ill shooters will be inspired?

        

If taxpayers question subsidizing casino tribes' gaming interests

they are called racists and hate groups. Indian casino gaming is expanding across the nation, including new sites in urban areas driven by "landless or rural area tribes shopping for land in or near cities that can be put into trust and used to site huge new casinos." Stop urban casinos

"Bottom Line: The American taxpayer and the growing number of disenrolled tribal members have become collateral damage to our government in a disastrous experiment that began with a train called the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) and given “run away status” when the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was passed in 1988. Promoting inequality and separatism through granting gambling monopolies and allowing tens of thousands of acres to be placed into federal trust status to expand “sovereign” tribal territories within our borders because of past persecution is misguided at best and at worst will undue the constitutional protections secured to all people, tribal and non-tribal." Story here at Capitol Weekly

Gambling as easy money for the state is always a false promise whether it's in Mississippi on floating cruise ships or California eating up thousands of acres that could be producing something worthwhile and honest. Throw in a lot of guilt and greed, and you've got a volatile mix.

The fascination eludes me

Although I'm not into entertainment statistics, when the first day opening sales of a computer game go beyond popular movies and books, beating out movies like "Spider-Man 3" and books such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I at least take notice.

Gamers have made "Halo 3" the biggest launch in entertainment history by scooping up enough units to bring in an estimated US$170 million in its first 24 hours on store shelves, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced Thursday. TechNewsWorld

But I don't get it. Even mentioning this should uptick my site meter. Oh well. Back to my October Book Club selection.