Task One

Modern Warfare 2 was a real breakthrough for gaming both financially and visually. Captivated with explosives, the reveal trailer conducted excitement and anticipation for viewers. Realism of violence seemed to be the key for large amounts of sales and with Call of Duty’s immensely high budget; this trailer presents exactly what I mean.

The trailer begins presenting 6 dead bodies on the ground, limiting the viewers in what we see by the black smudged edges of the screen. This connotes a sense of darkness and obscurity within the frame. Or perhaps it’s just a way of masking the blood-filled road that connotes murder and brutality. Following that clip, various cut scenes are shown where several recognisable characters from previous Call of Duty titles are presented, acknowledging viewers that this is a continuation from Call of Duty 4. This is important as one of the conventions of trailers is that the length usually lasts for 2 or 3 minutes. Equally like an advertisement, the audience would already have a background knowledge on the events that the characters go through which will help engage them in this fast paced trailer.

In regards to the audience, this game is primarily aimed at teenagers despite the 18 certificate age rating. Having said that, the consumers are looking primarily for an upgrade on the graphics from Call of Duty 4, what this means is that blood will be more realistic as well as other profanities as it paints a clearer picture for the viewers. Also, real life events such as 9/11 which caused a controversial moral panic globally have been reiterated in such video games. This is evident through the setting shown in the trailer.

Note also how the camera is constantly moving/shaking throughout the scenes. This connotes a sense of action and excitement coming from a first person perspective. Since it is a trailer, it limits what the audience can see which is vital to sustain the anticipation from the audience. This is one of the main conventions of a trailer. Also, the face paced attitude that is adapted through the use of cut editing gives an edge to the trailer, making it more action packed and exciting for the viewers.

The interface for Modern Warfare 3 is rather glamourized, where guns and players are fully customizable. This argues the fact that video games are becoming more exposed to violence. However, the main multiplayer content shows a different picture. This particular match is played on Resistance, an abandoned  industrialised area in France. In terms of lighting, it sustains a variation of dark and light, giving the game a more realistic effect. The game is seen to be very fast pace, giving the audience a fearless approach to playing the game.
Also , the weapons are shown to be very lethal as the person died with one bullet from the sniper rifle. Moreover, the first person perspective gives the game that realistic feel as blood is splattered across the screen as a representation of how hurt the player is also with sound effects in sync of the player breathing heavily, connoting the real life impact of being wounded, however it is not heavily accurate.

The Independent - Quotes

Violent TV, Video Scenes Desensetise Teen boys

''Teenage boys who repeatedly watch vicious TV programmes, films and video games are likelier to become insensitive to violence''

''We found that as the boys were exposed to more violent videos over time, their activation in brain regions concerned with emotional reactivity decreased, and that was reflected in the data from the fMRI and in the skin conductance"

''Desensitisation was most marked among boys who had the most exposure to violent media in their daily lives, as measured by questions in their initial meeting with the researchers.''

The Guardian - Quotes

Where is Game Violence Going?

''Game violence, whatever the narrative context, is about taking pleasure in dishing out death – if it wasn't fun we wouldn't do it.''

''The realism won't just be skin deep. Slowly, a new age of anatomical authenticity is dawning.''

''The depiction of violence may become more self-conscious and stylised.''

Action on Computer Game Violence

"Video games are different to films or videos and not all parents have grown up playing games in the way our children do. We need to look carefully at how we improve content warnings and strengthen sales enforcement."

The Seduction Secrets of Video Game Designers

''Consistently, he says, the most successful games are the ones that provide us with interesting tools such as weapons or magic (or even angry birds) and allow us time to experiment with them. ''

''In highly successful shooters such as Call of Duty and Bulletstorm, when an enemy is shot, they don't just collapse to the floor, they explode into chunks. In casual puzzles, titles such as Zuma and Peggle, a completed level is accompanied by pixelated firework displays, sparkling rainbows and messages declaring: "Ultra Extreme Fever". These contrasting forms of graphical over-elaboration aren't just there for window-dressing, they're a charm offensive on the brain's pleasure centres: you're good, you're a success – you're powerful. ''

Study Downplays link of Video Games to Violence

The games can improve children's decision-making and instil 'positive learning traits', some research suggests.

Violence helps children 'conquer fears and develop a sense of identity'

'The changing nature of childhood in a modern world'.

Game Violence

The study in the United States showed an increased likelihood of getting into a fight at school or being identified by a teacher or peer as being physically aggressive five to six months later in the same school year. It focused on 364 children ages 9 to 12 in Minnesota and was first included in a 2007 book, "Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents."

Japanese researchers studied more than 1,200 Japanese youths ages 12 to 18. In all three studies, researchers accounted for gender and previous aggressiveness.

Amazon Book Reference

Censorship:

How does film and video censorship operate in Britain? Why does it exist? And is too strict? Starting in 1979, the birth of the domestic video industry - and the first year of the Thatcher government - this critical study explains how the censorship of films both in cinemas and on video and DVD has developed in Britain. As well as presenting a detailed analysis of the workings of the British Board of Film Classification, Petley casts his gaze well beyond the BBFC to analyse the forces which the Board has to take into account when classifying and censoring. These range from laws such as the Video Recordings Act and Obscene Publications Act, and how these are enforced by the police and Crown Prosecution Service and interpreted by the courts, to government policy on matters such as pornography. In discussing a climate heavily coloured by 30 years of lurid 'video nasty' stories propagated by a press which is at once censorious and sensationalist and which has played a key role in bringing about and legitimating one of the strictest systems of film and video/DVD censorship in Europe, this book is notable for the breadth of its contextual analysis, its critical stance and its suggestions for reform of the present system. Key features include: * Detailed case studies of individual instances of censorship, including Last House on the Left, sex videos in the R18 category, and press-inspired campaigns against films such as Child's Play 3 and Crash. * Interviews with central figures * The author's own contemporaneous reports on key moments in the censorship process.

Video Game Censorship:

Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Video game censorship.<br/><br/>More info: Similar to other forms of media, video games have been the subject of argument between leading professionals and restriction and prohibition. Often these bouts of criticism come from use of debated topics such as video game graphic violence, virtual sex, violent and gory scenes, partial or full nudity, portrayal of criminal behavior or other provocative and objectionable material. Video games have also been studied for links to addiction and aggression. Several studies have found that video games do not contribute to these problems. Furthermore, several groups have argued that there are few if any scientifically proven studies to back up these claims, and that the video game industry has become an easy target for the media to blame for many modern day problems. Furthermore, numerous researchers have proposed potential positive effects of video games on aspects of social and cognitive development and psychological well-being. It has been shown that action video game players have better hand-eye coordination and visuo-motor skills, such as their resistance to distraction, their sensitivity to information in the peripheral vision and their ability to count briefly presented objects, than non-players.

Media and Entertainment:

Media and Entertainment Law presents a contemporary analysis of the law relating to the media and entertainment industry both in terms of its practical application and its theoretical framework. Looking at key aspects such as TV and radio broadcasting, the print press, the music industry, online news and entertainment and social networking sites, this textbook provides students with detailed coverage of the key principles, cases and legislation as well as a critical analysis of regulatory bodies such as the Press Complaints Commission and OFCOM.
Drawing on principles from public law, tort, contract law and human rights, Media and Entertainment Law explores all the central themes of the subject including privacy and confidentiality, contempt of court, defamation and intellectual property, as well as helping students to gain an awareness of ethical issues surrounding journalistic practice. Media and Entertainment Law is also the first book to discuss superinjunctions and the phone-hacking scandal involving News of the World.


Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence :


Video Game Controversy:


Similar to other forms of media, video games have been the subject of argument between leading professionals and restriction and prohibition. Often these bouts of criticism come from use of debated topics such as video game graphic violence, virtual sex, violent and gory scenes, partial or full nudity, portrayal of criminal behavior or other provocative and objectionable material, particularly since video games are primarily aimed and marketed for children and young adults. Video games have also been studied for links to addiction and aggression. Several studies have found that video games do not contribute to these problems. Furthermore several groups have argued that there are few if any scientifically proven studies to back up these claims, and that the video game industry has become an easy target for the media to blame for many modern day problems. Furthermore, numerous researchers have proposed potential positive effects of video games on aspects of social and cognitive development and psychological well-being.

Final Critical Investigation Title

How and why are videogames such as Call of Duty becoming more violent? Is this a concern for the typical audience?

Labour MP and prominent anti-video games campaigner Keith Vaz has tabled a motion in the House of Commons, condemning Modern Warfare 3 for its violent content and calling on the British Board of Film Classification to take "further precautions" over violent video games.

 "This House is deeply concerned about the recently released video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, in which players engage in gratuitous acts of violence against members of the public; notes in particular the harrowing scenes in which a London Underground train is bombed by terrorists, bearing a remarkable resemblance to the tragic events of 7 July 2005; further notes that there is increasing evidence of a link between perpetrators of violent crime and violent video games users; and calls on the British Board of Film Classification to take further precautions when allowing a game to be sold."

"The game you refer to is a certificate 18 game," he said. "It should not be sold to children and the government's job is to make sure that adults ... can get what adults should be able to and children are not in danger of being subjected to adult content."

"Keith, for many year, has been very critical of adult content in video games and he's homed in particularly on the Call Of Duty franchise,"

"He's tabled a motion, about a week ago, condemning the game. I just amended it to make the point that the game has an 18 classification and that the BBFC said in a statement that it bore no resemblance to the July 7 bombings in London – which is what he refers to in his motion.

"There may be disturbing or unsettling content in that game, but adults should have the choice as to whether they want to play those sorts of games or not."

Watson says that he hasn't played Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 yet, but he has booked time to play it during the Christmas recess as he's a massive fan of the franchise. He's currently playing Portal 2.

Neither Vaz nor the game's UK distributor, Activision, were available for comment.

"In all of entertainment, only Call of Duty and Avatar have ever achieved the billion-dollar revenue milestone this quickly," Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick said.

"There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening-day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year's five-day global sales record of $550m."

''On the one hand, it glorifies the illegal assassination attempts the United States government planned against the Cuban leader … and on the other, it stimulates sociopathic attitudes in North American children and adolescents."

 "It contains such scenes of brutality that even the manufacturers have put in warnings within the game telling people how they can skip particular scenes."

Critical Investigation: 10 Possible Links

1) http://www.gamecensorship.com/
Gives an overview on censorship in general.
2)http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/6767623.stm
Article on video games that get banned for not enough censorship

3)http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/28/games.censorship
Article - statistics of the growth of underage people who play video games

4)http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/nov/08/pricecheck-call-of-duty-modern-warfare
Call of Duty article
5)http://www.dailystar.co.uk/gameon/view/220545/The-top-gun-Call-Of-Duty-still-winning-the-war-of-the-shooters/The-top-gun-Call-Of-Duty-still-winning-the-war-of-the-shootersThe-top-gun-Call-Of-Duty-still-winning-the-war-of-the-shootersThe-top-gun-Call-Of-Duty-still-winning-the-war-of-the-shooters
Tabloid article on how low censorship promotes sales for franchises such as Call of Duty
6)http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11521

7)www.debate.org/debates/Video-games-should...censored/1/

8)thinkprogress.org/.../supreme-court-rules-against-video-game-censorship-7-2/

9)http://gmedia.glos.ac.uk/docs/articles/Gentile_Lynch_Linder_Walsh_20041.pdf

10)http://www.igda.org/anti-censorship