Gaming News When politics breaks into gaming: Debates surrounding Trump and violent video games
Donald Trump’s recent victory against Kamala Harris in the American presidential election has raised various fears among players. The 45th and now 47th President of the United States has a history of targeting video games that were considered violent, much like a cowboy standing in front of a can propped against a ranch wall would. In general, politicians of all stripes and nationalities have for many years viewed the controller as an extension of the handle of a weapon.
Summary
- 30 years of video games that “defy all human morality”
- Political frenzy
- What about the future?
30 years of video games that “defy all human morality”
Some thirty years ago, the notable releases of the bloody Mortal Kombat and the strange Night Trap in 1994 led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the self-regulated American organization that rates video games. The second half of the 1990s confirmed the ugly duckling status of video games, at least in the media and political spheres. When the first two Grand Theft Autos were released in 1997 and 1999, DMA Design’s titles were accused of being violent to children. “When I tell young people that they will win the game (…) if they kill a lot of police officers (…), I find that there are enough of these games that (…) promote hatred against police officers
In the United States, it was the infamous Columbine High School case that gave pause to those who believe that gambling should be much more closely monitored or even censored. In April 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, opened fire on their classmates in the hallways of their high school. Results: 13 dead and 24 injured. Investigators established a connection between the perpetrators of this massacre and Doom, the FPS from id Software, since the shooters had invested a lot of time in this game. The media around the world used this information to declare the software the ideal culprit of all this violence. GTA, Doom, Mortal Kombat… all of these creations hit the headlines because their content is considered violent and/or immoral by a press and political leaders who see in these virtual outlets seeds that could give rise to very real crimes. Attacks on video games are often published after news reports of mass shootings or heinous crimes, out of genuine fear or opportunism, giving meaning to what has no meaning.
Political frenzy
The sad phenomenon of Mass shootingsParticularly in the United States, where the right to own a gun is guaranteed by the Second Amendment, the debate about the supposedly harmful effects of gambling has continued to reignite. In 2018, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Donald Trump claimed that video games may have played a role in the massacre. “I’m hearing more and more people say that the level of violence in video games is really shaping the minds of young people
In January 2013, a month after the Newtown massacre, Barack Obama attacked the sale of firearms in the United States by calling on Congress to vote for a series of measures, including authorizing research into connections between firearms Mass shootings and video games. In 2005, it was Hillary Clinton who voiced her concerns. “These violent video games steal the innocence of our children and certainly make parents’ jobs even harder“, she explained. Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Chuck Schumer… Whether governors or senators, many people across the Atlantic have made connections between shootings and video games.. It must be recognized that the levels of certain games, including the Russian airport in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in which the player can participate mass shootingHe did not calm the debates. In France, many political figures such as Nicolas Sarkozy and Valérie Pécresse have expressed their reluctance to play video games. More recently, it was Emmanuel Macron who announced that, in his opinion, “Some live on the streets playing the video games that got them addicted
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What about the future?
Now that Donald Trump is back at the helm of the United States, does this mean he will play war games? It’s hard to know what the future holds. For now, all we know is that the issue of violent video games played almost no role in the presidential election campaign. There are therefore no new regulations regarding the sale or content of video games.. Recall that in the United States, a Supreme Court decision concluded that video games were a constitutionally protected form of expression and that laws restricting their sale or rental due to violent content were unconstitutional. However, the ESRB is urging retailers to limit the sale of age-rated titles.M“ (for adults) and “FOR THE” (adults only) for customers aged 17 and 18 years or older.
Instead of violent games becoming toned down or more difficult to access, players in the Trump era may be waiting for more expensive consoles and accessories in particular, given the latter’s plans to impose high tariffs. In fact, China is threatened with taxes of 60%, which would lead to a drastic price increase for the American consumer, as the importer will inevitably pass this increase on to the selling price. The idea behind it “Realignment” would be to make manufacturing products in the United States more profitable. Therefore, in this looming trade war, players could lose their feathers.
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