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August 05, 2005
How about some Hot Coffee?
One upon a time there was a game called Medal of Honor. This game took place in World War 2, indeed the first scene of this game involved storming Omaha beach. This first level was particularly difficult, most players (or at least me) dying repeatedly as they tried to reach safety. Somewhere around the 10th attempt at finishing the first level, it hits you: grandpa did this...
This was a real, emotionally impacting moment, the sort of thing that good art aspires to. Perhaps if you’re historically literate, you remember pictures of Auschwitz, and realize that all the death is warranted. Mayhap memories of trying to take that damned beachhead inform your decision as to whether dropping the atomic bomb was a good idea. It did for me...
So, is it art? Of course it is. No real question at all. Given that it is art it deserves the highest level of first amendment protection. And given that this one piece (at least) is capable of being recognizable art, the genera as a whole deserves that same protection. Given that it does, congress needs to stick its nose out of things, and start looking at more important issues-- like perhaps the war we’re in...
Which brings me to Hot Coffee. There is a game call Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This game follows the adventures of a young criminal as he does naughty criminal type things. Like stealing cars. And killing cops. For some reason, none of this actually got a whole lot of outcry. What set parents off was the possibility that their children might see some consensual sex. Clothed.
In order to see this clothed, consensual sex, players must first download a bit of software that alters the programming in such a way that certain content will be accessible. Then they have to play the game in a certain way, and do really well at it, to unlock this content. The content is, by all accounts, lame. So what’s the big deal?
Games have become a part of our culture in a very real way. They are capable of being soaring works of art, and of being dreck. For the sake of the art, we need to protect the dreck...
Posted by Andrew at August 5, 2005 11:04 AM
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