Violent Video Games Reveal the Dark Side of Play

Lindsay Lohan is suing Rockstar Games over a bikini-clad blonde character she claims is her likeness in the hit game “Grand Theft Auto V.” Released last fall and created with a budget of more than $100 million, Rockstar Games boasted $1 billion in sales in the first three days of a game that pushes social boundaries by allowing players to kill, steal and destroy in exquisite ways, albeit virtually.

“Grand Theft Auto V” (GTA5) represents pinnacle of both the commercial success and the continued controversy of violence and sexism surrounding the U.S. game industry. This success highlights how human principles and values come to be discussed and explored in contemporary society. The game is a huge, complex game that represents advances in technical features, such as rendering and artificial intelligence. It is profitable because it allows players to transgress commonly accepted social norms and choose to cross boundaries that would be otherwise socially forbidden.

For example, I can grab a bike and evade the police in a realistic downpour. I can steal a fighter plane. How cool is that? Ultimately, “GTA5” signifies the cutting edge of what a certain kind of game can do: create immersive worlds where players have an expansive feel of their own agency and action. Playing GTA5, I’m left with the awe that I can parkour across rooftops, leap into swimming pools, and go anywhere I please. The size of the world is immense.

But I can also have sex with prostitutes and kill them to get my money back without any repercussions. I can run down characters with my SUV as a form of recreation. I can fire into crowds with an assault weapon. If I felt like it, I could do this for hours and hours, and days on end. And this is where the game moves from a transgressive game that explores human nature into something more than that: When you play violent games, a part of you know its wrong — and enjoys that. Such experiences recall the controversial documentary “The Act of Killing”(2013), where Indonesian death squad leaders reenacted their crimes with surreal pleasure.

That’s the real world, all right, but it’s meshed with fantasy, too.

Some boundary crossing is a natural form of play: Anthropologists have noted violent gameplay and dark play subjects for hundreds of years. Victorian kids, for example, played innocently with their dolls but also killed them off in bizarre catastrophes and held funerals for them. Grimm’s fairy tales were ghastly, violent and cruel. Read the originals; it was a natural thing that a father could sell his kids to the devil for some quick cash. In “The Girl Without Hands,” the devil chops the girl’s arms off in retribution when the deal goes awry. That’s pretty horrific stuff.

These situations, however, still portrayed a sense of right and wrong, a sense of beauty, as well as the macabre. They weren’t cynical. Rather, they were outlets and cautionary tales for those surrounded by extremely strict social norms, rigid family structures and incredibly deep-rooted cultures. They typically ended on a hopeful note, too.

Practicing what it means to live in the world with its contradictions and experiences does mean we imagine some dark things in play. But we also need to practice other themes in our play, lest we lose a bit of what it means to be human. We are social creatures and live in societies with shared values. Do our games reflect what’s important to us as well as what’s scary and forbidden?

It is up to designers to expand the vocabulary of play to make other forms of connections to beauty, autonomy, collaboration and community. Some designers are doing it in the increasingly robust “indie” game scene. Play the award-winning game “Journey” and find that anonymous game play with others can transcend trash talk and become awe-inspiring. Play “Road Not Taken” and save lost children in a forest. Or play an indie board game and go off-screen altogether for a night. Excellent new models of play allow discovery that just might express different human principles and bring players novel kinds of joy. Maybe we can leave the Lindsay Lohans out of our games entirely.

Lion Bites Finger Off At Small Michigan Zoo, Woman Claims

EAST TAWAS, Mich. (AP) — State police are investigating a woman’s report that a lion bit off part of her finger at a small private zoo in northern Michigan.

Renae Ferguson tells WNEM-TV (http://bit.ly/1rMhH2j ) that the big cat “ripped” her finger as she tried to pet it Saturday at Sunrise Side Exotics and Nature Trail in East Tawas, about 130 miles north of Detroit. Lt. Melvin Mathews tells The Associated Press that authorities are investigating.

Ferguson and her daughter Tina Dobson say they were visiting the zoo and an employee allowed them to go into the lion’s cage.

The zoo’s owners tell WNEM in an email that “the lady went into the security area and was told by the guide to get back.”

AP left messages Thursday seeking comment from the zoo’s owners.

___

Information from: WNEM-TV, http://www.wnem.com

Going to Plan B for Survival

If your “Plan A” for survival sinks, do you have a Plan B backup?

Forget rushing to the grocery store when disaster like a snowstorm strikes. Everyone else will have the same idea. Need I say more?

The supermarket and the convenience store are the first places a panicking town will flock to for food and water. While they’re duking it out there, you can obtain essential supplies at other places where the masses of people won’t even think to look.

Before some critical event hits, locate all the businesses and water sources within two miles of your home. When compiling this list, don’t assume that any particular business can’t possibly have something valuable. Once the list is complete, sift through it to determine if any have any valuable items. Take your time.

Businesses you might never think have water will have water, such as a dental clinic: bottled water. Same with beauty spas and health clubs. Many gyms also sell food. Don’t blow off the hobby shop: It might sell craft wood and twine. And don’t scratch off an office supply store: the big ones sell candy. Major bookstores sell bottled beverages, pastries and sandwiches.

Make sure you have a bicycle to get to these businesses in the event of a disaster, because a car won’t be practical during or after an event like a tornado, hurricane or flood. And don’t wait for the event to see if the bike works.

If you normally walk your dog or do fitness walks or runs, take different routes to get used to all the different routes throughout your town, in the event that a calamity obstructs your main route. You’ll then instantly know an alternate route to get to a business to obtain essential supplies.

Finally, keep physically fit. Pedaling a bike for a few miles with a duffel bag full of food and bottled water will be very taxing for an out-of-shape person.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

I Know a Guy

I know a guy with deep-set dark eyes that sparkle when he smiles.

I know a guy who for years never washed his hair because the dirt kept it tame. “I hope the kids have your hair,” he laughed.

I know a guy who moved to Colorado and was asked to be a hair model.

I know a guy who uses aerosol deodorant. Ugh. Years ago, when he and his girlfriend backpacked through Europe, he “sprayed” his clothes with Right Guard to clean them. His girlfriend experienced chemical asphyxiation each time she hugged him.

I know a guy who, 13 years later, still uses the same noxious substance.

I know a guy who does laundry nearly every day and becomes exasperated by the way his wife and daughters shed their clothes with their underwear still in their pants and socks in each pant leg.

I know a guy who sings Frozen duets with his daughter in the shower.

frozen duet

I know a guy who grew up with no sisters and hardly any friends of the opposite sex, but was happy to grow old surrounded by women.

I know a guy who didn’t wish for a son and grew irritated by anyone who presumed he wanted anything other than his daughters.

I know a guy who didn’t need a boy, but got a boy.

got that boy

I know a guy who kisses that boy and his girls every day.

I know a guy who can’t wait to play sports with his son and daughters.

i know a guy

I know a guy who works hard all day supporting his family and comes home to help with dinner, dishes and bedtime.

I know a guy who works extremely hard and tells his wife that she works harder.

I know a guy who sometimes loses his temper, but knows how to say sorry.

I know a guy who fills the bath with bubbles and hides princess figures in the tub, so his girls get clean searching for them.

I know a guy who gets swept away coloring with his kids, meticulously drawing their favorite cartoon characters out of sidewalk chalk on the fence. Sometimes his wife rolls her eyes, “The kids aren’t coloring anymore … you’re supposed to be playing with them!”

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I know a guy who told his wife she was beautiful every day throughout three pregnancies.

I know a guy who tells his wife she is beautiful even when she hasn’t showered, brushed her hair or put on makeup.

I know a guy who feels pain when his wife cries.

I know a guy who is a role model for my son.

I know a guy and I hope my daughters find men like him.

I know a guy and he knows me.

Happy 8th Anniversary.
The original version of this essay ran at justinesolot.com.

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Fewer Americans Wiew Muslims Favorably, But the Door Is Wide Open to Better Understanding

A new poll by Zogby Associates, a leading public opinion research firm, has both disquieting and encouraging news about Muslims. Disquieting is the fact that the percentage of Americans viewing Muslims favorably has declined over the past four years, from 35 percent in 2010 to 27 percent in 2014. This goes along with the finding that 42 percent approve of law enforcement profiling Muslims and Arabs (whom most Americans incorrectly assume to be Muslim) while only 34 percent are confident that an American Muslim could do the job of working in an important government post. Arabs and Muslims have the highest unfavorable and the lowest favorable ratings of any religious or ethnic group mentioned in the survey. (In addition to asking about attitudes toward Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and three varieties of Christians — Roman Catholics, born again, and Presbyterians — the survey also queried attitudes toward Chinese.)

The news is not all bad, however. The percentage of those holding an unfavorable view of Islam and Muslims has actually declined, from 55 percent in 2010 to 45 percent this year. This presumably means that those who do not know or are unsure of their response has grown from 10 percent to 28 percent over the past four years. In other words, a growing segment of the U.S. public feels they do not know enough about Islam and Muslims to make a judgment or have become more confused about the issue over the years.

In fact, the Zogby poll found that 52 percent of respondents feel they need to know more about Islam and Muslims, while only 36 percent feel they already know enough.

These figures are corroborated by the fact that many Americans show ignorance of such a basic question as the relationship of Arab ethnicity and Muslim religion. A plurality of 44 percent of Americans believes that the majority of Arab Americans are Muslim — in reality fewer than a third of Arab Americans adhere to Islam. Thirty percent believe that the majority of American Muslims are Arab — in reality less than one-quarter of Muslims in this country are of Arab origin.

In line with a large body of research showing that personal acquaintance with members of a group reduces hostility toward and prejudice against that group, the survey found that those who know Muslims are more likely to have positive attitudes toward Muslims as a group: 36 percent of those who said they knew a Muslim viewed Muslims and Islam favorably, as opposed to only 19 percent of those who did not know any Muslims.

Attitudes toward both Muslims and Arabs are deeply entwined with politics. Republicans viewed both groups unfavorably in significantly greater numbers than did Democrats: 63 percent of Republicans viewed Muslims unfavorably and only 21 percent favorably, while the corresponding figures for Democrats were 33 percent and 35 percent. Similarly, 54 percent of Republicans viewed Arabs unfavorably and 28 percent favorably, while 30 percent of Democrats were unfavorable and 38 percent favorable. (In all cases, the remainder were presumably unsure or had no opinion.) Age likewise plays into attitudes: 38 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 viewed Muslims favorably and 25 percent unfavorably, while the corresponding figures for those 65 and older were 58 percent unfavorable to 23 percent favorable. For Arabs, the ratings were 42 percent favorable to 38 percent unfavorable among the younger respondents and 32 percent favorable to 50 percent unfavorable among the older.

Though the decline in favorable views of Muslims over the past four years is disturbing (and not easily explicable, save perhaps by the growing political turmoil in the African and Middle Eastern Muslim world), the overall takeaway from these figures for organizations like ING should be encouraging. Two definite and one tentative conclusion emerge.

  • First is that there is great openness to and felt need for education about Muslims (and about Arabs and other ethnic groups professing that faith) that ING and other organizations provide; not only do a majority of Americans feel they need to know more about these topics, but the percentage of those feeling they do not know enough even to register positive or negative attitudes toward these groups has grown.
  • The second conclusion is one long known: personal contact with Muslims, Arabs, or any other group goes far to dispel prejudice against that group — even if, as ING’s own audience surveys have shown, the contact is as brief as one classroom session.

The more positive attitudes toward Muslims by younger respondents allows at least a tentative conclusion that their views result from exposure in school to reasonably objective instruction about Islam (as required by state education standards starting in the 1990s). In other words, sound education, even without personal contact, also dispels prejudice.

The takeaway from this survey, therefore, corroborates ING’s own research into the effectiveness of its educational work, which shows consistently positive change in attitudes towards Muslims and Islam after an ING presentation. (See ING’s latest impact report here.) More than that, it shows the readiness of the U.S. public for just this sort of educational outreach. The door for Muslims and their friends is wide open; all that is needed is to step through it.

The full report can be viewed here.

Maha Elgenaidi is the founder and trustee of Islamic Networks Group (ING), a non-profit organization that counters prejudice and discrimination against American Muslims by teaching about their traditions and contributions in the context of America’s history and cultural diversity, while building relations between American Muslims and other groups. To find out more about ING, visit http://www.ing.org.

Maha is the author of training handbooks on outreach for American Muslims as well as training seminars for public institutions on developing cultural competency with the American Muslim community. She holds a master’s degree in Religious Studies from Stanford University and received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from the American University in Cairo.

Jamie Foxx Will Reportedly Play Mike Tyson In Upcoming Biopic

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Nested Presents a World Through Menus: the Workflow of Life

At their essence, games – video games, board games, sports – consists of nothing but choices. Will you move here? Will you attack this? And so on. Take those choices away and you’re no longer playing. In roleplaying video games some of the hundreds of choices we’re often urged to make involve exploration, and often consequently, narrative. If you love that part of RPGs, check out Nested.

nested by Julien Orteil Thiennot 620x417magnify

Nested was released last year by Julien Thiennot aka Orteil, more famously known for Cookie Clicker. Julien calls Nested “a simulation of everything”, but don’t think Spore or No Man’s Sky just yet. Think Zork. Or the CliffsNotes for Zork. You see, Nested is a procedurally generated text-only game, presented in nested menus. You start with the universe, which contains within it galactic superclusters, each of which has a galaxy, each of which has planets and so on.

Many of Nested’s menus are recursive – i.e. they’ll eventually lead to another universe menu. But eventually you’ll get used to its dead ends – or are they eternal beginnings? – and stumble upon thoughts, notes and detailed descriptions of objects. Here’s a video walkthrough by RockLeeSmile:

You can play Nested for free. If you’re really lazy you can read what other people have found on Reddit. On one hand, it’s amazing how much fun you can have with menus. On the other hand, I find it hilarious that even in this barest of bare states the player still has to wade through lots of cruft to get to the good stuff.

[via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

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Want This Incredibly Cool Insect Killing Night Light?

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