There is a new Dutch magazine on the game industry, Control, and it is quite good. Sure, I am biased but there are some great stories in the pilot and the first official edition. Many stories may be familiar to Dutch industry experts but I like the way the editors have been able to just dig a little bit deeper.

For the current issue, vol 1, ep 2, which is available online for free I wrote a column on games & violence. It is titled “Het laatste woord: Games en Geweld (nog één keer)“. For once I didn’t held back. So it’s out there for all Dutch journalists and politicians to read. The magazine has a really nice lay out and is very readable and, for all the Dutch out there, it’s free. Just click the link, my story is on pages 60-67. A preview:

“Voor gamers mag het games en geweld debat saai en oud nieuws zijn. Feit is wel dat sensatiezuchtige journalisten en moraliserende politici elkaar hebben gevonden in een onwerkelijk verbond. De motie over Manhunt 2 is nu ‘politieke realiteit’. Het debat begint pas. En dat debat is niet ingegeven door de doorwrochte kennis van het medium maar door een mix van electoraal opportunisme en fundamentele media ongeletterdheid. Onwetendheid die aangewakkerd en gevoed wordt door beschamelijke ‘journalistieke’ praktijken.”

“My” newspaper, Dagblad De Pers, is stepping up. From now on there will be a bi-monthly games section with features, interviews and reviews. The first ‘pilot’ has been published today with an interesting story on game grants by the EU by Control publisher and new De Pers freelancer Matthijs Dierckx. I did a story as well: “Manhunt 2: niet geschikt voor politici, van alle leeftijden” on the PEGI ratings and Manhunt 2. As a final act of defiance I bought my copy of Mahunt 2 (PS2) yesterday in the Best Buy in Boston.

The .pdf of the newspaper is here. There are two reviews in there (page 17) as well. One on Guitar Hero 3 (it rocks!) and one on The Orange Box. The next issue is scheduled on Friday 4, 2008.

A lot happened when I was lying sick in bed. I’m feeling better now thankyouverymuch. Just before I got that stupid cold again (which followed me around for the last nine weeks) there was a lot of discussion on Manhunt 2. Last week I did an interview for the free newspaper Spits. Some excerpts:

Hij (SGP kamerlid Van der Staaij) vindt dat de vrijheid van meningsuiting en de artistieke vrijheid van kunstenaars en gamemakers minder zwaar weegt dan de bescherming van de jeugd tegen kwetsende beelden. “Maar de Europese Commissie denkt er precies tegenovergesteld over”, zegt onderzoeker David Nieborg van de UvA, die onderzoek doet naar de beeldvorming over games. Eurocommissaris Reding zei afgelopen zomer dat ze liever brancheregulering wil dan het aantasten van de artistieke vrijheid.

(…)

De SGP wil een verbod omdat gewelddadige games zouden leiden tot agressie. “Er is een keur aan onderzoeken waaruit dat onomstotelijk blijkt”, zegt Van der Staaij. Helemaal niet waar, zegt onderzoeker Nieborg. “Daar is de wetenschap nog helemaal niet uit. Daarom maak ik me ook boos over dit voorstel. Zorg eerst dat goed onderzocht is of die theorie klopt, oordeel pas daarna.”

The day after SGP (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij or the Reformed/Orthodox Christian Party) parliament member Van der Staaij phoned me (respect!) and we had an insightful discussion about the banning of Manhunt 2. I think freedom of speech is more relevant here than banning a game which ‘corrupts the minds of children’. Manhunt 2 is not meant for children in the first place. And as far as I heard, the game is actually kinda bad. I wonder if that many gamers would have bought without all the controversy. I also wonder if any parliament member actually played the game they want to ban. It is the least they could do right? Anyway it was nice to weigh in on the matter and to see democracy in action.

Talking about bad games, I stumbled upon a review of the EA shooter Army of Two. I didn’t play (a demo/preview of) the game (yet) but after this preview…

We’re accustomed to being offended by bad games, but it’s not often we find ourselves objecting on a moral level. Not even Manhunt’s lead nutcase revels in murder to the extent of Army of Two’s infantile high-fiving redneck jackasses whose every action is based on some right-wing idea of how great the war on terror is. One minute, the game will throw in a bit of lefty politics (“We’ll never find Osama; this war is all about oil”) and the next you’re gunning down row after row of generic suicide bombers and facing religious fundamentalists who call you and your ‘bro’ “F***ing infidels” before blasting you with a grenade launcher.

The Manhunt reference is spot on here. Will Army of Two be banned? We’ll see…