Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2005
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2005 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Mike Antonucci, Mercury News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

DRUGS IN 'NARC' GIVE AMMO TO GAME CRITICS

Given the political and social backlash against violent video games,
you might expect their publishers to duck for cover.

Judging from the latest twist, you would be wrong.

Coming next week: A video game in which characters temporarily become
more efficient at fighting and killing by taking drugs that include
crack cocaine, LSD and speed.

``NARC,'' scheduled for a Monday release from Midway Games, also
includes negative consequences from the drug use. Moreover, the
publisher emphasizes that players won't be able to complete the game
unless the characters they control have cleaned up and become drug
free.

But ``NARC,'' a PlayStation 2 and Xbox game that's theoretically
intended only for people 17 and older, is an example of what's
provoking some politicians and advocacy groups to allege that video
and computer games are becoming a more harmful influence for children.

``The games have gotten worse,'' said Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San
Francisco, who has been trying to build support for state legislation
that would prohibit the sale of certain violent games to anyone under
17.

`Janet Jackson mistake'

David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the
Family, believes some game producers are so eager to garner attention
through controversy ``that somebody, somewhere, is going to make a
Janet Jackson mistake.

``They're going to push over the line too far, and they're going to be
surprised at the reaction.''

The game industry's critics contend that teen and preteen boys are a
huge outlet for violent games, and that retailers are inconsistent at
best in voluntarily restricting sales by age-group ratings.

The industry's defenders say the criticism is largely misinformed and
that adults constitute most of the market for controversial games.
They say industry research shows that younger players are being
closely monitored by their parents.

Game critics ``see this in the context of a 12-year-old, and that's
the wrong context,'' said Carolyn Rauch, senior vice president of the
Entertainment Software Association, the publishers' trade
organization. ``It's in the context of adults who enjoy making their
own entertainment choices, just as they make them for movies, books
and music.''

Industry leaders also argue that most games are unlike the ones
generating the protest. Although the bestselling game of 2004 was the
latest edition in the inflammatory ``Grand Theft Auto'' series, 13 of
the top 20 sellers carried an Everyone rating, which means they were
recommended by the industry for anyone 6 and older.

Attempts to legally restrict minors' access to video games in other
states have been struck down as unconstitutional. But the cause has
not lost momentum; Rauch said the Entertainment Software Association
is aware of some kind of regulatory effort in at least 20 states.

CBS gave the debate national exposure earlier this month with a ``60
Minutes'' segment about an Alabama teenager who killed three men,
including two police officers, in a sequence of events that resembled
action from a ``Grand Theft Auto'' game.

In video clips from Midway that illustrate how ``NARC'' can be played,
drug use is featured as part of what can be experienced to create
interesting visual effects and allow the two main characters to
perform more aggressively or lethally. For example, the use of crack
cocaine makes them crack shots, and the use of speed enables them to
run super-fast.

The main characters technically are law enforcement officers, but the
game allows them to operate like vigilantes and to frequently kill
people, including civilians.

Steve Allison, Midway's chief marketing officer, noted that the game
can be completed without using drugs at any point. Midway also
describes the game as a morality play that's based on real-life issues
of corruption and temptation in law enforcement activity.

But this version of ``NARC,'' a remake of previous games, added the
drug use as a new feature. An ad from Midway in a newsstand game
magazine touts the ability to ``use drugs to gain an extra edge.''

The game, which will sell for about $20, also involves extreme
violence with no realistic basis, such as the ability to kick the
heads off people after taking a fictional drug called Liquid soul.

`Very strong argument'

``When a game in any way glorifies drug use,'' said Walsh, ``I think
there's a very strong argument to be made that this will have a
harmful effect on kids.''

Debates over media content escalated after Jackson's Super Bowl
incident and often focused last year on radio or TV material subject
to government oversight. For decades the issues have involved cable
TV, movies, books and music. Flash points ranged from stunts on MTV's
``Jackass'' show to rap lyrics to the witchcraft in ``Harry Potter''
books.

But some recent criticism of electronic games has attempted to single
them out as particularly worrisome because of they are interactive.
Yee, who wants to restrict the sale of games with violence that he
defines as ``especially heinous,'' says it's the participatory nature
of games that distinguishes them from other entertainment. He points
to the Supreme Court's recent decision to ban the execution of
juvenile killers, noting that the majority opinion from the court
described minors as more vulnerable than adults to outside pressures
that cause them to act irresponsibly.

Allison said Midway is not afraid of the antagonism ``NARC'' may
generate. He said the company will limit TV advertising for the game
to between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., and that the intended audience is the
adults who have made crime games ``the bestselling genre'' in his industry.

``We'll take whatever reaction society throws at us,'' said Allison.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin