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Video Games Responsible For Everything Bad

by Chris Remo, Jan 10, 2006 10:55am PST

By this point you're probably all sick of reading about particular video games being blamed for the stupid things people do. However, this particular story goes beyond most of those. Unable to find a specific game to blame for an incident, a local media source seems to have simply made one up to blame. Faculty members at Leon High School in Tallahassee, Florida found posters depicting people shooting other people in a truck. It contained a link to a Torrent hosting site allowing download of copyrighted materials. The number given on the poster apparently led to the download of Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide, a well known piece of comedic fiction from a Saturday Night Live staff writer (as of today, the torrent has been removed from the site). The amazing thing is that the reporter apparently did the research to find this out, which included registering for the site.

Under the picture on the flier was the message, "BE PREPARED." Hand written on the flier was "demonoid.com #243751."

Demonoid.com is a file-sharing Web site where members can download movies, television shows, music and more. The numbers are associated with an item on the site where members can download "The Zombie Survival Guide" by Max Brooks. "Zombie" is a video game.

And there we have it. The district superintendent chimes in as well, saying, "This should be a wake-up call to parents. Students shouldn't be involved in games where people are being shot." The article goes from factually correct reporting, having determined what the number actually corresponds to, and then out of nowhere decides that "'Zombie' is a video game." No, I don't think it is. It's certainly not one I've ever heard of it, and if such a game does exist it's not one that can be found on current store shelves, and it wouldn't be one that reporter would know about. A twelve year old who made a game with Klik & Play doesn't count. On the other hand, there's at least one movie called "Zombies," and at least one book called "Zombie." Plus, there's that whole Zombie Survival Guide thing the reporter knew the poster was referring to. But no--something vaguely threatening has appeared somewhere in the world, and a video game must be to blame. Specific events like this aren't going to have any effect on the industry, but they're important to expose because this kind of misrepresentation is getting out of control. Is the school going to issue a dire warning in its next parental newsletter and then hold an assembly preaching about the dangers of video games? Watch out, parents. If your children play video games, they may be congregating to buy books and shoot each other in the bed of a pickup truck.


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  • #51
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    By: Rich McNinch x
    Reply
    Hi,
    I found your story after seeing it linked on shacknews.com, a respected
    gaming website for many years. We've been closely following the
    anti-gaming press and we are a bit miffed by your article. You mention
    a game is responsible and that this game is called "Zombie". Such a
    game does not exist. Somehow you've come to this conclusion after
    following a trail of breadcrumbs left by your culprit that references a
    book. Not a video game. So why did you choose to invent one as the
    badguy of your article?

    Not only is your article irresponsibly inaccurate, but it contributes to
    a snowballing attitude that videogames are somehow responsible for the
    decline of civilization. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to
    back up this attitude. Young people influenced by videogames are just
    as easily manipulated by television, music, or parental guidance. The
    ESRB rates games based on content and these ratings allow parents to
    make informed decisions about which games their children are allowed to
    play. Many stores even check the ID of anyone trying to purchase a
    "Mature" rated title.

    In my opinion the poster with truck full of guns is an implied threat,
    but not from a videogame. Your conclusion that one may be responsible
    detracts from the truth of the issue. This person could be suffering
    from delusions of an impending zombie invasion, or they could view
    humans as nothing more than zombies. Or it could just be a joke you
    didn't get. I haven't seen the poster. I just can't fathom as to how
    or why you reached the conclusion that you did. Maybe next time I need
    someone to blame I'll choose the Tallahassee Democrat. I'll just pull
    it out of my ass.

    Thanks for nothing,

    -Rich
    Jan 10, 2006 12:43pm PST