Tag: danger
Ain’t fantasy games supposed to be satanic or dangerous or something?
by admin on Apr.25, 2009, under A-Q
Good Lord, no! In the early 1980s, “urban legends” about college kids who played Dungeons & Dragons and ran off made the rounds. Televangelists who were already railing against heavy metal music and late-night television added it to their hit lists. A novelist cranked out a potboiler on the subject, Mazes and Monsters, and Tom Hanks played the cracked gamer from that story in the movie of the week. 60 Minutes even sent Ed Bradley out to investigate the claims.
Problem was, there was never any problem. The Industry Watch Committee of the Game Manufacturer’s Association has diligently investigated all claims to date of adventure games leading to violent activity. None have panned out. Again: None have panned out. In the few known criminal cases where games were blamed for antisocial activity, all the people eventually recanted. It was just a handy defense.
And concerns with the topics of certain games being “seductive” tend to deflate when people find out the broad range of subjects that games address. Yes, Magic features characters who dabble in magic
