The Onion has a very interesting, satirical look at blaming violence on video games. Here’s a snippet:
Parents Against Robot-On-Robot Violence (PARORV) is calling for a ban on the giant-robot-themed PlayStation 2 game “Armored Core 2,” which the group claims inspired a 17-year-old giant robot’s Feb. 22 slaying of 13 giant robots and himself.
According to Martian authorities, the young assailant was obsessed with the violent game.
“From what we’ve seen, this appears to be a case of a giant robot who, through excessive exposure to giant-robot-battle video-game scenarios, lost the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality,” PARORV spokeswoman Marianna Cutchek said.
“You can’t blame something like this on a game,” Sony spokesman Mitsuko Yamaguchi said. “Sure, it’s easy to point the finger at a convenient scapegoat, but what about the real questions: Where did this robot acquire enough credits to outfit his AC with such heavy hardware in the first place? Why didn’t the AC’s high-AP head unit’s onboard computer facilities receive counseling before it was too late? And, of course, any time a robot goes berserk, it has to be asked: Where were the manufacturers?”
The tragedy has prompted many within the giant-robot community to call for increased regulation of fighting-robot-themed video games. It is the latest in a string of controversies for the embattled entertainment industry, which is reeling from charges that the popular TV show BattleBots, in which remote-controlled robot fighters battle “to the death” in an arena-like setting, glamorizes robot-on-robot violence.
I’ve found that the Onion always seems to put it in perspective.