Grand Theft Auto Made Me Do It

Games are in the headlines again, but for all the wrong reasons. It doesn't help matters that even the experts don't know what's what.

Grand Theft Auto has killed more people, or so some of the more reactionary members of government and the press would have you believe. A young boy in Japan allegedly killed his mother and father last week after his father called him a fool.

Grand Theft Auto III: The source of society's ills, apparently

The 15-year-old, who is reported to have bludgeoned and bladed his parents, was described by his classmates as an average student with a love for games and a penchant for Rockstar's 18-rated (in the UK) Grand Theft Auto III.

The murders come at a time when Japan's games companies are coming under pressure for excessive violence in their wares. Several prefectures around the country are considering an outright ban on the sale of violent games to minors, citing their unwholesome influence.

Publishers and retailers aren't giving up though. The groups have attacked local governments for failing to clearly set out reasons for game bannings.

For instance, there was no explanation from officials as to why Grand Theft Auto III, which is receiving the bulk of the negative attention, has been banned but its sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has not, despite similar levels of violence in the two.

Game ratings have once again been tapped for attention, and not just in Japan, as companies battle with the problem of educating customers.

A recent study, commissioned by the UK games industry and presented at the International Games Summit in London this week, showed that customers in the UK are generally aware that ratings exist but choose to ignore them.

Parents, too, seem unperturbed with age recommendations, with several of those interviewed for the study saying that they thought their children were mature enough to make their own decisions.

A separate study, conducted by researchers at University of Aachen in Germany, suggested that playing violent games produces similar studies in the brain as those in subjects who had violent thoughts.

The murkiness of the debate is, however, evident from the contrasting opinions of other experts in the field.

Dr Guy Cumberbatch, head of the independent Communications Research Group in the UK, described the German report as, "very much a witch-hunt in relation to video games."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games