With the recent school shootings publicized around the world, I cannot help but feel somewhat
fearful around my own high school, despite the fact that there really is no danger. The
tragedies in our public education system has forced the masses to find a convenient
scapegoat--anything that removes the burden from the killers themselves and places it on
society, a faceless entity like the "Internet." Whether such a transfer of blame is honest is
irrelevant.

What does matter is that video games have been cited, or at least implied, to cause violent
behavior. I can understand the ignorant buffoons protesting that which they do not
understand. ALL video games are a threat to society (pardon the sarcasm here...)

Just last week, a group of seven dangerous ten-year olds approached me. At first, they seemed
harmless. Then, the violence began. Each removed from his backpack (yes, HIS- it's video game
violence we're talking about, here) a different weapon from the most dangerous game of them
all. That's right--Tetris. With each wooden block the size of a baseball bat, I knew I was I
trouble.

As I was struck down mercilessly by the children, three very important questions crossed my
mind. One--Video games were responsible for this merciless act of bloodshed; they are
responsible for all violence. Two--The green reverse Z-Block was hurting me the most; I never
liked him to begin with. Three--Where did that kid with the long 1x4 block go? I can never
find the long, red block when I need it.

Anyway, our "mature" American society has irresponsibly accused video games of promoting
aggressive behavior in our youth. While many games are obviously violent, like the famed
fighters and first-person shooters, not all games display blood and gore. Take, for example,
Nintendo, whose pinnacle of violence involves drive-by banana peels and slashing bushes for
money. Yes, I too feel threatened by the influence Parappa the Rapper and Mega Man have on our
innocent youth.

Despite the abundance of harmless video games, violence has sadly evolved into a popular
theme. Fighters like Mortal Kombat and shooters like Doom immorally use blood and guts to
appeal to young adults. Our beloved Nintendo-allied Square (pre-Sony, when games were
perfect...) once used a rather fantastic series of battles involving swords and
sorcery--Kefka's laugh, Exdeath's Mu, and Zeromus' hatred were not to be feared in reality.
Now the assault weapons that kill have become a part of their modern games--Barret and Vincent
in FF7 are merely reflections of a gun-loving world.

Sony Playstation sales, games and systems, are extraordinarly higher among teens than Nintendo
or those other companies that used to make systems. The gore factor is a more significant
selling point for Sony than Nintendo, regardless of which system has the better games (Go,
Nintendo!) Violent video games exist everywhere of course, whether on consoles or on
computers. However, the rampant blame placed on the gaming industry by our "unbiased" media
has begun to infuriate me. Whining about all video games will accomplish nothing; strike down
those that truly present a threat to our safety. Even better--take away the goddamn guns
(pardon my Barret).

Sincerely,
Greg Thaera (Q) at [email protected]

P.S. Watch out for the Tetris gang! (even though I obviously made up that story)


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