Last week, I, and no doubt many of you, came across the story that Southington, a town in Connecticut near Newton,
had organized a violent videogame exchange program where the ultimate result, while less obvious than disc-based bonfires in the town square, was the burning of violent videogames perceived as too dangerous for kids to play. I felt like I was being trolled by the world, so I ignored it on the chance that it wasn't true.
Apparently, it was.
Even though that's been
canceled, the idea that some videogames are so violent that they might turn children into mass murderers remains.
Another city - Melrose, Massachusetts -
now plans on collecting violent videogames in return for coupons for deals at local businesses or maybe even a coupon that allows school children to get out of homework. You can also turn in violent toys and movies. So say goodbye to your Little Johnny Axe Murderer action figure with strangulation grip, and Die Hard films.
I don't know what's worst part of that is: is it the collection itself, the pandering nature of "get out of homework free" cards, or the ridiculous attempt to spread the blame by including toys and movies?
As if that wasn't stupid enough, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has said they'll pull violent videogames from rest stops as well. Rest. Stops.
REST STOPS? Who plays arcade games at rest stops? Has that ever happened? Who enters a rest stop with some idea other than getting back out and on the road before you get murdered?
If Assassin's Creed 3 is to be believed, this kind of behavior goes all the way back to the days when operas were cool and important. We haven't lost a generation of children yet to murder and debauchery, so I don't know why people think videogames will finally be the entertainment form that does it.
Get some freaking self-awareness, people born before I was.
If you don't want to follow the links above, you can find all the relevant articles at
ign.com,
polygon, and
The Boston Globe
