Anyone Up For a Bit of the Old Ultraviolence?

For want of something to keep me busy during these cold winter months, I picked up Biohazard 4 (a.k.a. Resident Evil 4 in the States) for my Gamecube, on the recommendation of Matt. I've always hated Resident Evil games, first and foremost for their sluggish control scheme that seems to think that limber, young police officers should have the maneuverability of my father's 1990 Volvo 240 (a vehicle that rightfully should have been classified as a tank, rather than a car). Luckily for me, they've seen fit to completely overhaul the controls (among other things) this time around, making for something much closer to Metal Gear Solid with zombies. Another unexpected discovery is the fact that almost all of the game's story is told through scenes with English voice acting and Japanese subtitles. Just about the only Japanese necessary is in the game's menus, where the ability to read katakana and a little bit of kanji goes a long way.

Well, I was eating lunch with the 7th graders today when one kid mentioned that he had seen me at the arcade with Matt about two weeks ago. He then started talking to his friends about videogames and in an attempt to make conversation, I mentioned that I've been playing Biohazard lately. While the Gamecube version is quite old at this point (by videogame standards, anyway), the recently released Playstation 2 version seems to still be a hot topic of conversation. Well, before I knew it, the entire room was chiming in ("I've already beat it!", "I just finished fighting the tyrant!"), giving me the impression that most of them owned the game as well. But wait, Biohazard 4 is supposedly only for sale to those of us who are at least 18 years of age. How did a whole room of 12 year-olds get their hands on copies of this game?

Seems like the Japanese Computer Entertainment Ratings Organization must be just as effective as its American counterpart, which has been under fire as of late, for its alleged poor performance. While there will always be parents (and multi-platinum rappers) out there who are willing to buy their children games intended for an older audience, the problem, according to media watchdog groups, is that retailers are often just as willing to sell the games directly to the children. Back in my geekier high school days, when I hung out at video game stores for fun (please, don't ask), I was frequently told by the clerks that if they refused to sell a game to a child, they would oftentimes find themselves on the wrong side of a yelling parent. I can easily see why a clerk in this situation would have absolutely no desire to enforce the ratings system.

Well, I guess I wouldn't have set to thinking about any of this were it not for the level of violence depicted in Biohazard. Having not played a violent videogame in years, I was a little taken aback when I first loaded up the game. It took me a good hour or so of gameplay to adjust to the idea of shooting realistically-rendered human beings with a shotgun. Maybe it's the teacher in me talking but I have to admit, the idea of my 12-year old students playing the same game is a little unsettling. And the fact of the matter is, studies do exist that show a correlation between violent games and violent behavior in children (yeah Chicago!), although these types of studies are publicly obfuscated by just as many industry-funded ones that purport to prove the opposite.

At any rate, some American conservatives are demanding that games should be censored to meet the requirements of children. Being a strong believer in the freedom of expression, I'm not sure that this is the answer. While I may not personally want to play an overly violent or sexually explicit game, I'm not sure that it's the role of any political body to prevent other adults from doing so. I think that relatively few people would agree that mature music or movies should be censored, so why games? In an ideal world, parents would monitor their own children's media consumption and ensure that it is appropriate for their age level. However, if parents are going to side with Mr. Cent, then more strict regulatory practices might be needed after all.