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Tuesday 17 November 2009, 11:35
Attacked in the House of Commons and defended in print (and in Twitter) by Charlie Brooker, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the latest videogame to be declared a desperate hazard to the minds of the young and impressionable, but to me the whole controversy looks rather familiar: Yes, it's the 80s video nasty saga all over again. Honestly, next thing you know Spandau Ballet will be reforming and playing live.
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Monday 16 November 2009, 13:49
Thursday 19 November 2009, 14:40
Outspoken, opinionated and never lost for words, Mark is the UK's leading film critic.
This twice-weekly video blog is the place where he airs his personal views on the things that most fire him up about cinema - and invites you to give your own opinions.
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Comment number 1.
Matthew17th November 2009 - 11:51
Bravo Mark, very well put. Unfortunately I've completed Modern Warfare 2 so Keith Vaz needs to start praying for my corrupted soul.
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Comment number 2.
KubrickandScott17th November 2009 - 11:54
Phew. For a second there Mark I thought you were going to have to do jury duty again. Now I can rest assured that you'll be on Friday afternoons for the foreseeable future :)
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Comment number 3.
Colonicus4217th November 2009 - 11:55
After playing the game I have a wierd sensation that everyone around me is evil and my trigger finger is twitching.
Of course it could just be the fact that I'm hungover, have drunk too much tea and have RSI from working with a mouse all day.
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Comment number 4.
Dayvonator17th November 2009 - 12:35
Well in the past 10 years, videogames have become more like films, and films have become more like videogames!
you hit the nail on the head when you said that the lobbyists wanting bans and restrictions are out of touch with the medium. They still think gamers are 12 year olds or psychotic 15 year olds. In truth the average gamer age in the UK is 28 (and the game is strictly 18 rated), and the average age of an MP is 51......There's a huge generaional divide between those who 'get' videogames, and those who don't.
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Comment number 5.
Yorkshire Mouth17th November 2009 - 12:39
Of course, it didn't all start with the 'Video Nasties' debate in the '80's.
A good read is Martin Barker's Haunt of Fears: The Strange History of the British Horror Comics Campaign', about the backlash against horror comics in the '50's - a time long before Spandau Ballet.
Steve W
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Comments 5 of 86