Rules Have Changed for Video Games
Last week’s terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon created an awkward situation for those in the video game industry who create scenarios that let players combat villains.
The movie industry has delayed several high-profile releases because of similarities between the plots and events of last week. But video games warrant special consideration because they let players take an active part in ever more realistic simulations.
Digital Leisure canceled its upcoming release of “Crime Patrol,” a shooter that lets players assume the role of a police officer hunting down drug dealers, robbers and terrorists. Ubi Soft Entertainment postponed its planned October release of “Tom Clancy’s Rogue Spear: Black Thorn.” The French publisher also said it will modify the content of the game, which originally let players combat terrorism. A report released by Wedbush Morgan Securities suggested that the events will have a chilling effect on sales of games. As a result, nearly every video game publisher has combed its holiday lineup for anything that could be upsetting.
The world’s largest independent game publisher, Electronic Arts Inc., temporarily halted its online conspiracy game, “Majestic,” and yanked another game, “Red Alert 2,” from store shelves because the boxes depicted a New York skyline with the World Trade Center ablaze. The company is repackaging the game in a new box that will omit the New York skyline.
This week, three of the company’s top executives discussed the ripple effects that recent events will have on its development and marketing of video games. The interview was conducted at EA’s headquarters in Redwood City with Stan McKee, chief financial officer of EA; Bing Gordon, co-founder and chief creative officer; and Neil Young, producer of “Majestic.”
Q: Have last week’s events changed the way you develop games?
Young: Clearly, we’re going to look extra carefully at our content over the next months. Whenever you’re creating entertainment, you’re creating it for a market, and you want it to be acceptable. There are details that we may have explored that we will not explore now. The content of “Majestic” rides the fine line between fact and fiction. Our worst nightmare was to have someone who was missing a loved one get a frantic call from the game in the middle of the night. Our game sends players to links and news stories. We’re going to have to be much more vigilant and sensitive about where we point people.
Q: Should the game industry continue to use terrorism as a story mechanism or avoid it?
Young: You ignore it completely. You just don’t go there. We will probably overcompensate to avoid that. It absolutely cannot be fodder. When you sit down to make a game, you don’t think about the villain first. You think about the game mechanics and what you want the player to do. The villain comes in later.
Q: How will consumer demand for games be affected?
Gordon: Just as a nation of boys in the 1940s became fascinated with hiding behind trees and going after bad guys because of World War II, I think there will be an increased interest in soldiering games. If we do get into a conflict, it will be a new kind of war with new kinds of rules. Some people will be interested in protecting their country, their loved ones, and going after this new kind of enemy. Some will see war and strategy games as a way to participate.
McKee: One could make the argument that travel will be negatively affected so people will be spending more time at home. Certainly, the kind of businesses that do well in that situation is home entertainment, and I would include movie rentals and game playing. But that’s just one theory. Personally, I don’t think the events of last week in and of themselves will affect us financially.
Q: Has the marketing of games changed?
McKee: There’s clearly heightened sensitivity. Companies are examining not only content but how they market games to make sure they’re doing the right thing. Why? It’s simply a case of being good citizens. This is a time of national grief, and it would be insensitive to have material that may hurt someone or cause more grief.
Q: Do you think there will ever be a time when last week’s events will be appropriate as material for fiction, movies or games?
Young: I was reading an article that talked about movies during and immediately post-World War II. There was an overemphasis on romance and comedy. That happened for a period of time. And when World War II moved from current affairs to history, [Axis] villains made it back into the story structure.
It’s unreasonable to think we will never see terrorists as villains again. To the extent they epitomize evil, we will see them again.
At some point, it will be the responsibility of artists and storytellers to tell these stories. Does it happen in six months or 60 months? I can’t tell you. I can tell you that we won’t be tackling these issues for a while.
Q: Are there topics that are now off limits?
Gordon: This will be a judgment call every company has to make on its own. For us, it’s all too fresh to make long-term policy statements. At EA, we’ve always tried to move away from gratuitous or excessive violence. As an industry, because of the power of interactivity, the rating system for games is far more conservative than it is for television or movies. That was true before last week, and it’s true now.
Times staff writer Alex Pham covers the video game industry.
