Are You a Video Game War Criminal?
In a recent article on the Video Gaming news site Kotaku an article entitled, "War Crimes in Video Games Draw Red Cross Scrutiny" caught my attention. You can read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions but as a gamer I find the premise of the International Red Cross' argument without merit.
There's no denying that the International Red Cross is compelled by its charter to "...protect the victims of international and internal armed conflicts. That includes war wounded, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants."
It now seems that may move to extend that charter to the realm of video games,
"... The question they debated this week is whether their mandate should be extended to the virtual victims of video game wars."
I couldn't help but read that last line with a sense of incredulity.
I find it utterly ridiculous that an organization concerned with the well being of the oppressed would devote its resources to the defense of pixels.
Are there offensive video games that treat their characters inhumanely with little to no regard for human life? Of course there are. There's no shortage of human carnage and wanton disregard for the rule of law in video games. However, the premise that it's presence is somehow a war criminal training ground is nothing short of an extension of the nanny nation to a global scale.
Let's not forget that video games like movies, TV and music are nothing more than an entertainment medium. The assertion that involvement in a violent entertainment medium will somehow contribute to one's deviant behavior is as ridiculous. If that were the case then we could all be theoretical physicists just by watching a movie about Einstein a few dozen times.
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