Tampa
Tribune
feel '25 to Life' represents
the worst of the worst in
video games," said Bruce
Mendelsohn, a spokesman
for
the
group.
"It's
gratuitous violence for
violence's sake."
February 26, 2006 Sunday
FINAL EDITION
Players are given the
option of playing as a
police officer or a gang
member. If they choose to
be gang members, players
can attack police officers
with guns, bats, broken
bottles and pipe bombs.
Bystanders can be used as
human shields.
Police
Fault
Video Games
Violence
25 TO LIFE' DRAWS
LOCAL CRITICISM
By TODD LESKANIC
tleskanic@tampatrib.com
A video game is drawing
criticism from local and
national law enforcement
organizations
for
its
depiction
of
violence
against police.
The game, "25 to Life," was
released
by
Eidos
Interactive Jan. 17 to
protests from the National
Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial
Fund,
a
Washington-based group
that
promotes
officer
safety.
On the game's Web site,
Eidos describes the main
gangster
character,
Freeze, as a "good-hearted
drug dealer" who is only
selling drugs "to stack as
much paper [money] as
possible."
Zephyrhills Police Chief
Russell Barnes said games
such as "25 to Life" can
pose problems not only
because
they
depict
violence against police
officers but because the
indiscriminate
shooting
depicted in the games can
give players the wrong idea
about how officers do their
jobs.
Since the game's release,
more than 170,000 people
have signed a petition
circulated by the police
association asking that the
game - a gang-themed
shoot-em-up - be banned
from stores.
"If people think that's what
officers can do and it's
perfectly OK, that's not
correct," he said. "I don't
see how that can promote
a healthy attitude toward
life."
"Well, quite honestly, we
Pasco County Sheriff's
Office spokesman Kevin
Doll said the game was "in
poor taste," given the
number of officers killed in
the line of duty.
Last year, U.S. Sen. Chuck
Schumer tried to garner
support for a ban on the
game. At the time, the New
York Democrat
toldPg.the
PASCO;
1
New York Daily News the
game
made
"other
controversial games like
'Grand Theft Auto' look like
'Romper Room.'"
Eidos did not respond to
requests for comment.
The protest over "25 to
Life" has reignited the
debate about video game
violence that crystalized
last year around the
popular "Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas" game.
That game, also a gangthemed shooter that offers
players plenty of chances
to kill and break the law,
raised
eyebrows
after
gamers discovered they
could
access
sexually
explicit scenes if they
modified the game's source
code.
The manufacturer later
altered the game so that
players could not access
the objectionable scenes.
Psychologists who study
violence and media say the
link between violent games
and actual aggression is
real - even if playing violent
games is just one of many
factors that can contribute
to actual violence.
Many
game
players
dismiss any link between
real violence and that
depicted in video games,
often citing themselves and
friends as examples of
joystick
jockeys
who
"haven't killed anyone."
"I think it's BS," said 17year-old Jason Bayldon
last week as he stood
outside the EB Games
store in Wesley Chapel. "I
think it's something they
just play out because
mommy didn't love them
enough."
But Craig Anderson, a
psychology professor at
Iowa State University who
has studied video games
since the 1980s, said such
an attitude "is simply
wrong."
He likened continued game
play
to
continually
rehearsing the incorrect
answer to a multiplication
table. Even if you know the
answer is wrong, he said,
consistent rehearsal will
make recalling the correct
answer more difficult.
"It's going to have an
impact, even though you
know it's fictitious," he said.
"The same is true of
watching violent TV."
Critics of the game may not
have to worry as much
about "25 to Life" as they
did "Grand Theft Auto." So
far, "25 to Life," has
received poor reviews in
most online publications.
Reporter Todd Leskanic
can be reached at (352)
521-3156.
E-mail library@
tampatrib.com
GRAPHIC: A video game
is drawing criticism from
local and national law
enforcement organizations
for its depiction of violence
against police.