Extreme gaming...

cool rants
It's Christmas, whereby you can always count on producers of kids toys to come up with something completely mad. This year is no exception. I happened upon two new video games, Tony Hawks Underground 2 and Call of Duty, which set me wondering...Why are these makers trying to perpetuate an already serious problem in the world? I suppose I have to see sense, that violence for entertainment purposes has become the norm. When watching the adverts for Tony Hawks game I became seriously uncomfortable. There's a skateboarder, Viva La Bam, who most kids are familiar with, that recruits other kids for this psych-fest adventure. The "chosen one" wears a mask a la Jason from the horror flicks, is carrying a lamb, no doubt meant for the slaughter at some point and looks like a member of the band Slip Knot. What ensues, I can only imagine. As I don't actually own an X-box or whatever machine might be required to watch this mess, I may never know. Call of Duty is even more disturbing in that it's meant to accurately simulate the days of battle during world war II. I watched about 2 minutes of this at a local store and was immediately struck by the graphics, the noise and the imagery. I was stood there recalling scenes from Saving Private Ryan, which this looked almost identical to. I remember thinking at the time of watching the film, this is not for kids! The level of emotion that the film conjures up makes you heart sick. Yet, there is no regret or feeling for kids who play these games. They get off on killing, fighting or wounding anything that moves on the screen. To desensitize kids by video today is as acceptable as putting them on Prozac or Ritilan to curb their wild ways....Does anyone else here see the connection?