Courting controversy.(Editorial)

Immediately upon its release, the graphic-novel styled video game MadWorld (see "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, MadWorld," pg. 26) became a lightning rod for the outrage of media watchdog groups the world over. John Beyer, director of the UK conservative special-interest pressure group mediawatch-uk, was quick to vocalize his disgust over the game's content, even urging the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) to deny the game a rating, which would have effectively banned it from being sold. On March 10 of this year, the day the game was released, the National Institute on Media and the Family issued a press release lashing out at Nintendo for tarnishing the family-oriented image of the Wii by "opening its doors to the violent video game genre." (The game is played on the Wii platform.) The game's publisher, Sega, already buckling under pressure, announced late last summer that it would not release the game in Germany, fearing a backlash from local media watchdog groups and an ill-informed public there.

The game is, without question, graphically violent. Literally. All the action centers on killing and dismembering, though it is done in a black-and-white comic-book style, with red accent: blood. The moral outrage, however, almost seems laughable considering the violence plays out with all the realism of a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. Nonetheless, these media watchdog groups, hyper-sensitized to game violence, are a threat to artists, their livelihood, and the artistic maturity of the medium, especially if developers and publishers concede to their wishes in fear of stoking their ire. They have the power to foment public opinion, influence mainstream media, and pressure ratings boards, such as the ESRB and the BBFC, to strip games of their classifications, essentially crippling their marketability and distribution.

Even worse, with the economy fighting its way out of the recession, Bloomberg.com is reporting that Activision Blizzard, the world's most powerful publisher reportedly with $3 billion in cash and no debt after the merger with Vivendi, is now looking to gobble up smaller developers as cheaply as possible. This follows in the footsteps of another gaming giant, EA, which has in recent years acquired Mythic Entertainment, Phenomic Game Development, Hands-On Mobile, Digital Illusions CE, and Headgate Studios, while still holding a 15 percent controlling interest in Ubisoft. With the industry's wealth and power consolidating in the hands of a few gaming conglomerates, the opportunities for creativity and innovation could only dwindle under these pressures. ...