Why striking down California's game law was a good thing.

First off, people may be wondering where the heck have I been. Well the quick and dirty is I got laid off and put all my time into finding a new job, which I now have! Yay! Also I am working on planning a wedding. So free time to blog has been few and far between. I will try to get some more content up. I thank those of you who keep checking back looking for more posts.

Today, the Supreme Court struck down a California law that would make it illegal for a merchant to sell violent (Read 'M' for Mature) rated games to minors, would require labeling on all violent video games and fine merchants up to $1,000 for failure to comply with the law. Now that is paraphrasing it a bit.

Right off the cuff that doesn't sound like a horrible thing right? I mean, I think most people would agree that children should not be able to just purchase violent and obscene video games. So what's the problem then?

The problem is who decides what is violent and obscene? Based on the law, that would fall to some government entity to decide and this is where things get fuzzy. How does one determine what is too violent for children? Believe it or not, there are people out there who think Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry are over-the-top violent and should be banned. Who decides exactly where the line is drawn? Shouldn't that responsibility ultimately fall to the parents of said children. What if some parent group decided that Mario Kart is too violent by promoting reckless driving and litering? You don't think that could happen? Remember this is the country where a woman sued McDonalds because she spilled hot coffee on herself and won!

This law was redundant to the practices already in place by the ESRB and pretty much every major retailer who sell video games. Lawmakers wanted the people to believe that the industry is completely unregulated and that your children can just walk into their local retailer and buy Duke Nukem, Mortal Kombat, God of War and many others... Let us look at the three major points of this law and why we don't need it.

1) The law would make it illegal for a merchant to sell a mature rated game to a minor. Now I don't live in California. Where I do live though, I haven't seen kids buying any 'M' rated games from Best Buy, Wal-Mart, EB Games, etc. I see retailers asking kids for ID's when trying to purchase those games and have seen them turn away kids and tell them to come back with their parents. This by the way really ticks off the parents who seem to think that every video game out there is Care Bears and Pac-Man. A long time ago the ESRB stated that all merchants should not sell games with an 'M' rating to anyone under 17, and most retailers have a similar implemented policy. Send your kid into a Wal-Mart or Best Buy by themselves and see if they just walk in and buy Duke Nukem Forever. If they can, walk in there and ask why to speak to the manager and find out why they sold that game and didn't follow their policy. Chances are someone could get fired. The retailers actually do take it seriously.

Let me share a story here. A month or so after Grand Theft Auto III came out, I was in an EB Games. The manager there is a guy named Ray. A kid about 10 or 11 comes in wanting to buy GTA3. Ray tells the kid that he can't sell the game to him because he is under 17 and that his Mom or Dad would have to come in to buy it for him. This kid leaves and maybe 10 mintues later comes back with a bit of an irate mother in tow. She says that her son said that he wasn't allowed to buy a video game. Ray explains that the game is Rated 'M' and features a lot of mature content. The Mom wants to know what is so bad about this game. Ray and I then explain the first hour or so of gameplay. From picking up whores, assinations, running over grandma, having sex to regain health then being able to get out and kill the whore to get your money back. She looks down at her son and asks "Is this really the sort of game you think you should be playing?" The kid looks back and explains how his friend has it and how cool it is. Mom hands over the money, kid gets to play something he really should have no business playing.

If the parent ignores everything that says "Don't buy this game for your child", there is no law that is going to fix this situation.

2) The law would require warning labels about the content of violent video games. Do me a favor, get up, go to your favorite video game retailer and look at their games. Look at every game they have. Do you see any that don't have a game rating on the front AND back? On the front is the general rating; EC, E, E10+, T, M, or AO. On the back of the game there is another place for the rating and some descriptors for why the game has that rating. Some examples: Blood and Gore, Comic Mischief, Nudity, etc.

Then, go over to the movie or CD section. How many movies do you see with the rating on the front? Beyond that, look at the back of the movie where the rating is. Do you see a descriptor as to why that movie is rated PG, PG-13, or R? Sure CD's have that "Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics" sticker. Look at the back of the CD, where does it explain that rating? Is there just a single instance where the F-Bomb is dropped or is it some hardcore violent speech?

Basically California wants to pass a law requiring what the game industry is already doing and doing better than the movie and music industry. Not sure what a rating means, look it up on the ESRB's web site:

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

3) The law would fine a retailer up to $1,000 per occurance that it sold a 'M' rated game to a child. The problem here is they are going after the industry that has the highest level of complaince among all mainstream media purchases. The fact is that the game industry does a better job at keeping mature rated content out of the hands of children. Here is a link to a 2011 study done by the U.S. FTC. They found that less than 13% of underage teenage shoppers were able to purchase a 'M' rated video game. That might seem high to you. That is a drop from 20% in 2009. Compare that to the movie industry where 38% of underage shoppers were able to purchase an R-Rated movie.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/04/violentkidsent.shtm

The Video Game industry does everything it can to make sure that parents are aware of what the content of their games are. They do better then all other media industries at keeping mature rated content out of the hands of underage buyers. Why is the government trying to interfere with them then? My opinion is they shouldn't.

Had the law been allowed to go into effect, it would of allowed the government to decide what is and what isn't acceptable for your children. That is not our government's job. That is the job of the parents. Although as my example above shows, sometimes parents just don't care. Be involved in your child's life. Look at the games they are playing, ask them questions about it. Educate them and yourselves and stop looking to the government to do your job.

I have decided to not cover how this law could have impacted the industry, since it was struck down there is little point in that. I have also decided to not provide my critique of the lawmakers who tried to push this upon us. Hopefully they will look at what they were trying to do and realize that the game industry is one of their biggest allies in keeping mature content out of the hands of our children.

(NOTE: I really feel out of rhythm in writing this. I might go back and re-write pieces of it. This is my first post in months and this is a bit rushed.)

Retrospective Review: Disney’s Epic Mickey

This is my first review of a game for Evolved Gamer.  I am not sure if this is how I am going to handle reviews in the future, this is basically a test run.  At this point the game is a few months old, I have played through it and had some time to think about the ideas and concepts of the game.

Epic Mickey is a game created by Junction Point Studios which is headed by Warren Spector.  Junction Point became part of Disney Interactive back in 2007.  Epic Mickey was released exclusively for the Nintendo Wii in November of 2010.

Story Synopsis:
Mickey awakens one night to find that the mirror in his bedroom is actually a portal.  Being curious, he goes through the portal and finds himself in the work shop of Yen Sid (from Fantasia).  Mickey observes him using a paint brush and thinner to create a model world.  After Yen Sid retires for the evening Mickey takes it upon himself to play with the brush and thinner.

Mickey accidentally spills an ink vial all over the creation then haphazardly uses some thinner to try and clean it up.  This makes a lot of noise and upon hearing hearing Yen Sid returning to see what is going on, Mickey flees back through the mirror and tries to forget all of this.

Fast forward some time later and what Mickey seems to have created is a “Phantom Blot” which decides that in order to escape its world it needs Mickey’s heart.  This is the first big problem I have with the game.  The blot can come into the “real” world to bring Mickey back into it, but it can’t get out on its own.  Hey, the script says that is what is going on so let’s just go with it.

Mickey is brought into this world called The Wasteland and with them help of a Gremlin Gus escapes the Mad Doctor and Blots plans to remove his heart.  Mickey discovers The Wasteland is the home for cartoons from Disney’s past who have been forgotten about.  The head of this group is Oswald the Rabbit.

Mickey goes on various quests to help restore The Wasteland, its characters and eventually to destroy the Phantom Blot.  I am cutting the Synopsis here as to not spoil the story development if you decide to play the game.

Gameplay mechanics:
The game uses the Wii-mote and nunchuk controls.  Using the Wii-mote for targeting where to place the Ink and Thinner and jumping.  The nunchuk is used for moving Mickey.  Pretty standard stuff for a Wii game.

Mickey is equipped with Yen Sid’s paintbrush, and using Ink and Thinner that he finds throughout the world, Mickey has the “choice” to use either for solving puzzles and defeating boss characters.  This is actually a really neat concept and I wish it had been better implemented.

Most of the quests involve platforming around the environments and using Ink or Thinner to add or remove objects, after that they are mainly fetch quests having you go back and forth between areas to get x amount of item a and returning it to NPC b for item c which you need to complete quest d.

To get from one area to another Mickey goes through “Film Reels” which are all based on various Disney shorts.  They are done in a 2D platform style and each of these has a film reel item to collect that you can use to unlock various items and bonus features.

My impressions:
Let me start off by saying while the game is rated ‘E’ for everyone, I don’t feel it is done justice for younger audiences.  This is a dark and mostly sad game.  The fun and light-heartiness you would expect from Disney is just not here.  Everything is very much doom and gloom throughout.  While mature gamers might understand this as the world Mickey is inhabiting, parents should know this up front.  While far from inappropriate (This is Disney) it just might not be what parents are expecting.

I was really disappointed when I found that the environments don’t remember what you have done to them.  For instance, the major hubs of OsTown and Mean Street.  When I first went there I spent a bunch of time repainting the area.  Later, when returning to those areas they were in the same state as when I first arrived.  This really gave the sense that what I was doing didn’t matter and was not having an impact.  

You also can only Ink and Thin the areas that the designers want you to.  So your Ink and Thinner only work on certain things and the rest of the world is impervious to it.  Logically this doesn’t make much sense.  Much like how in Red Faction you could destroy the wall all around a piece of unbreakable glass and yet that glass was still just standing there magically.  If you are going to give the powers of creation and destruction I felt they could have done a better job.  Why can I erase this one section of floor but not the other?  

The controls are good, but not great.  Same with the in-game camera.  There are times where you go to make a jump, but then the camera pans, and as the camera pans you are now changing direction due to the direction you were previously pushing.  This can lead to many missed jumps and deaths.  Also, there are a plenty of jumps that you just have to be darn near perfect, and in a E-rated game played on Normal difficulty you shouldn't have to be perfect.  I found myself a few times just walking away from the game because I couldn’t make a jump over some electrical current or to the next platform.

Some of the levels I thought were just brilliant.  I really loved Tomorrow City and Mickeyjunk Mountain.  I feel they had a great look and nostalgia to them. The levels design is good, although linear in that there is only one way to progress, and if you can’t find that specific way then you are stuck for a bit until you figure it out.

Actually that brings another point, the dusting off of old and forgotten Disney characters and environments is great.  You will see characters and places that you haven’t seen in 20+ years.  If you are a Disney buff you will really love the 2D sections of the game where you play through some of the environments from various Disney silent films.  

That also leads to something poorly done about the 2D environments.  You have to go through the same ones over and over and over.  There is no way to by-pass this.  Personally after completing one of these sections once you should have the option to skip it or play through it the next time, for instance to collect the hidden film reels in every section.  Having to spend 1 - 4 minutes multiple times really slows down the gameplay and feels tedious, not fun.

Speaking of the film reels.  Collect enough of these and turn them in on Mean Street outside the Theatre and you unlock various upgrades, like health and Ink/Thinner upgrades.  Two of the upgrades are unlocking Disney short films, which you can access from the main menu of the game.  The first is an Oswald cartoon called “Oh, What a Knight” and the other being a Mickey Mouse one called “The Mad Doctor”  These were some great unlockables and I really wish more had been included.

The game gives you the “choice” on using Ink or Thinner to solve certain puzzles and for boss battles.  This is a poorly implemented good/evil morality system.  Use Ink and you get one reward, use Thinner and you get another.  This goes for environments and boss battles.  The problem is the choices you make don’t have much impact on the rest of the game.  So what the developers seem to have done is just create a reason to play through a second time, that is to get all the unlockable artwork.  There should be a greater impact to the player, but that is something to discuss in another article.

If you are a Disney fan looking for a trip down memory lane, I think you will enjoy Epic Mickey.  If you are a parent wanting to buy this for your child, I would make sure that you play it with them as to guide them through some of the concepts of the story.

Dead Space 2 uses dead wrong advertising

You may have seen these ads on TV and the Internet.  They are for Dead Space 2, a Sci-Fi / Survival Horror game made by Visceral Games and published by EA.

The ads show the reactions of middle-aged mothers to the graphic violence and gore in Dead Space 2, along with bits of what I assume were interviews taken after the viewings.  The ad campaign is called “Your Mom Hates This”, and they even have a dedicated web site with the same name.  www.yourmomhatesthis.com

This is a great example of how to not market a ‘M’ Rated game, as it appears to be marketing to kids and teens that are not supposed to be able to purchase the game.

Dead Space 2 is rated ‘M’ for Mature.  That is supposed to mean that no one under the age of 17 is allowed to purchase the game, yet the ad is trying to say that that the graphical nature of the game could freak out your Mom.  If you are of legal age to actually buy this game, who cares if your Mom hates it?  You know who this appeals to? Teenagers.  Teens who want to rebel, show their Independence and like nothing more than to freak out dear old Mom and Dad.

I’m a well educated man in my 30’s.  I love the Sci-Fi and horror genres. Why would I care if a game is going to freak out my Mom?  I asked a few of my gaming friends who are in their early to mid 20’s if they thought those commercials appealed to them, all but one said it didn’t.  They wanted to know about story continuity, multi-player, new weapons, etc.  None of which is mentioned in these ads.  So again, who is this marketing campaign for?

I would say that most adults (meaning people over the age of 18) probably don’t care much if their parents think a game is too graphical and violent.  Kids and teens do though.  When it comes to those coveted ‘M’ rated games, being able to have those is a status symbol.  You want this game because it’s going to piss off your parents.

Currently Common Sense Media, a family based rating and advocacy group is trying to get sanctions against these ads for the exact same reason.  They state that the ads seem to be designed to appeal to a younger demographic who are not supposed to be able to purchase the product.

What really amazing me here is that this ad campaign was approved by the ESRB according to EA Games.  The group that provides game ratings and is fighting to keep that control in their hands and out of the United States Government.  Patricia Vance with the ESRB states in a letter to Common Sense Media that “Just because a product desires to be seen as 'cool' or 'edgy' does not in and of itself necessitate that it is directed at children."

The question is ‘cool’ and ‘edgy’ to who?  So far I haven’t found anyone of legal age who thinks this marketing campaign is either.  I bet if I went to just about any high school in America though I would find people who did.

What really annoys me about this ad campaign is that it could be a talking point for various political groups who like to demonize the video game industry.  The game industry is being brought before the Supreme Court to see if games should be granted the same First Amendment freedoms as literature and art.  We really don’t need something like this giving us a black eye right now.

Greetings Program!

Welcome to Evolved Gamer.  My first blog, where I am going to talk about games, gaming, and gamers.  I don't plan on focusing just on game reviews and the latest news.  This blog is more about gaming and gamers as a culture.  The things that are going on in the world that impact gaming and my views on those events.

While I won't necessarily be writing about the next Gears of War release, or the latest lawsuit at Activision, I will be writing about how gaming has changed in the last 30 years, how certain laws could cause serious problems for gamers and game developers in the future.  I will be posting some game reviews as well, but not over a broad scope.  I will mainly be focusing on the games that interest myself, or I find bring up interesting ideas.

A bit about myself, just so you have some basis as to who I am.  I have been gaming since I was about 4 years old, starting on systems like ColecoVision through our modern consoles, as well as PC gaming.  I love Action/Adventure games, Survival Horror, and Role Playing Games, with a dash of Racing, Real-Time Strategy and World of Warcraft to round things out.

I’m not an expert, I don’t say that my view is the right one and others are wrong.  I am just a man who grew up along with the industry and feels I have a good perspective on things.  There are games and topics that I am biased towards, but at least I have the knowledge to realize that.  I will try to keep my fanboyism down to a minimum.

I have a bit of a hectic work schedule going right now so I can’t say when the next post will be, but I need to start somewhere.

P.S. Going to be playing around with the formatting and colors to see what I really like.  So there may be empty spaces, broken links and such until I get everything ironed out.  I appreciate your patience and understanding.