Violence Is Where the Action Is

Darren Chastin loves being thrust into the middle of chaos.

When the 26-year-old software developer from New York is looking for a thrill, he reaches for the virtual killing sprees of “Postal” and “Carmageddon.” Or there’s “Grand Theft Auto,” in which players earn points by--among other things--carjacking taxis, buying drugs and running down pedestrians.

And as soon as the computer game “Kingpin: Life of Crime” hit the shelves in June, Chastin raced to buy it.

“Look, I’m an adult, and these are the kinds of games I like to play,” Chastin said. “It’s the same thing for movies and books. I like ‘The Godfather.’ I loved ‘The Terminator.’ My house is filled with Stephen King novels. I don’t want one kind of entertainment to be more tame than another.”

Much to the chagrin of federal legislators and family advocate groups, there is one undeniable truth when it comes to entertainment, digital or otherwise: Violence sells.

But amid national hysteria over violence in society, there is a growing sense among computer-savvy players that game makers should be free to provide content that is as thematically wide-ranging--and controversial--as what Hollywood offers up on film.

“You can’t separate the two anymore,” said Drew Markham, chief executive of Xatrix Entertainment Inc., the West Los Angeles developer of “Kingpin.” “If people can wrap their heads around the idea that games aren’t just for kids, everyone will be much happier.”

Xatrix’s controversial “Kingpin,” for example, is specifically marketed to adults. The game is an “homage to gangster films like ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Wise Guys,’ ” Markham said. In it, players try to infiltrate organized-crime rings and do whatever it takes--including killing people--to take over a city.

Its “Mature” rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board is prominently displayed on a box depicting scenes of gun-toting thugs and bloodied bodies.

Action games have been getting stale over the years, “but ‘Kingpin’ pushed the genre a little further,” said Dave Ward, a 24-year-old electronics store manager in Britain who runs one of the largest fan Web sites devoted to the game (https://planetkingpin.com). “It was something different.”

The key difference is realism. Advancing technology allows “Kingpin” and a new crop of violent video games to be more lifelike, with sharper graphics and more compelling backdrops, like the glowing fire pits that light up the game’s graffiti-covered alleys.

Not surprisingly, reaction to the game from some corners has been chilly. U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.), for example, sent a letter to Irvine-based Interplay Entertainment Corp., “Kingpin’s” distributor, asking it to recall the game.

But analysts say the hype surrounding violent video games, fueled by the Columbine High School massacre--in which the teen assailants were said to have been avid fans of such fare--is driving a misperception that this genre makes up the majority of video game software sales.

Just look at Rock Star Games’ “Grand Theft Auto,” which was banned in Brazil and denounced by officials in France and Britain. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who in 1994 pressured the video game industry to adopt a ratings system, condemned that game as “graphic, gruesome and grotesque.” He noted that the industry has an obligation to protect children from such images.

“Grand Theft Auto” has sold about 2 million copies worldwide since its December 1997 release. In comparison, consumers have gobbled up 1.75 million of “Barbie Fashion Designer”--a title that helped broaden the industry--since its introduction in September 1996.

But violence has always been found in the entertainment children consume. Classic fairy tales are filled with gruesome and frightening images, ranging from the witch burning to death in the oven in “Hansel and Gretel” to the monsters lurking in the forest of “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Violent video games garner less than 15% of the industry’s overall software sales in the U.S., said James Lin, vice president of equity research at Wedbush, Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.

“Right now there’s a misperception that the video game industry is comprised wholly of violent games,” Lin said. “That’s not true--it comprises a lot of action and adventure games.”

Some firms that develop critically acclaimed games that take players on enticing journeys, such as “Myst,” or tell stories, such as “Abe’s Exoddus” and “Abe’s Oddysee,” hope an expansion of the video game market will further lessen the importance--and lower the profile--of violent games.

“Do I believe violent games sell? Absolutely,” said Sherry McKenna, chief executive of San Luis Obispo-based Oddworld Inhabitants, creator of the Abe’s series. “But what we’re trying to do is broaden the demographics.”

People who buy first-person shooters, such as “Doom” and “Quake,” make up a tiny slice of an industry that includes 30-year-old video game novices who play “Deer Hunter” and 40-year-old housewives who like electronic versions of such vintage board games as “Monopoly.”

But people drawn to first-person shooters tend to be hard-core gamers whom the industry still depends on to generate a buzz around certain titles. Consequently, game developers rely on technical advances to push the boundaries of action and violence to attract the attention of this set.

Avid video game fans are drawn to content that is provocative--not necessarily beautiful or clever. So even though “Abe’s Oddysee” was heralded as the game world’s “Toy Story” and recognized throughout the industry for its groundbreaking imagery, it sold less than “Grand Theft Auto,” charting 1 million units worldwide since its launch in September 1997.

Rocket Science’s “Obsidian” was expected to be the next “Myst”--the industry’s best-selling game ever with 5.5 million units worldwide since 1994. “Myst’s” lush environments and hidden puzzles made it a hit among game devotees and neophytes alike. But “Obsidian” sold fewer than 100,000 copies and barely covered the $3 million it cost to develop and market it.

The industry is littered with other examples of much-hyped games--such as the cinematic “Last Express” by Smoking Car Productions--that were critical darlings but commercial flops.

Even Oddworld’s McKenna conceded it’s human nature to gravitate to titillating entertainment just as people gravitate to burgers and fries over broccoli.

“Consumers are driving a lot of this [violence], and politicians need to accept that,” said Xatrix’s Markham. “The games are only going to get more photo-realistic. The boundaries are only going to continue to be pushed.”

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Times staff writer P.J. Huffstutter can be reached at p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com; Times staff writer Jennifer Oldham can be reached at jennifer.oldham@latimes.com.

* GAMERS’ CORNER: “Kingpin” is a gory tour de force for adults. C6