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| Ghillie, not chilly: CoD fans brave the cold for the midnight launch. Hashim Khan,19 (left) Adrian Mooney, 20 (right). Image ©2011 Adam Wareing |
No stranger to controversy, Call of Duty’s realistic depictions of combat and slaughter regularly get the alarmists up in arms.
Modern Warfare 2, released in 2009, gained as much press attention for its opinion-dividing airport level, ’No Russian’, as it did for any record-breaking sales figures or high review scores.
The optional mission involved the massacre of hundreds of civilians, with the most disturbing element being the fact that the player, a deep-cover operative, was free to participate.
Zoë Clapperton, 19, an Apple Store worker from Lancashire, believes that violent games can impact young people who “haven’t got a mature mind” and that violent behaviour comes from the environment a person has grown up in.
And CoD veteran, Julian Hughes, 25, from Liverpool, believes the way in which parents relate violent behaviour to their children is also significant.
Kids are often getting their hands on games like Call of Duty — it’s a regular occurrence to have to mute their irritating, shrill little voices in online multiplayer lobbies.
Yet, while it’s a parent’s prerogative as to what they expose their child to, Call of Duty requires a certain level of emotional maturity to put its violence into context.
Granted, the ‘No Russian’ level from Modern Warfare 2 can be skipped, but any child left alone to make that decision may not have the self-discipline required to steer clear.
Dave Lyons, 34, a supervisor at Sony Format QA, from Liverpool, said: “...it’s an over 18 game, and a responsible parent wouldn’t allow them access to it”.
Modern Warfare 3 has also managed to hit the headlines with some shocking content. A cut-scene where a child is killed by a van explosion serves to mirror the harsh reality of present day terrorism.
CoD fan, Paul Robinson, 25, a warehouse worker, from Liverpool argues that children are already desensitised to violence from other areas of life. He said: “You go to school and you’re getting shown footage from World War II and there’s people dropping dead all the time...”
Dale Phillips, 19, from West Bromwich also added: “I think it’s a big mass-media thing, war, at the moment.”
Tests have shown that violent games can have a significant affect on the brain, as shown in a 2005 study featured on Sciencedaily.com.
René Weber, assistant professor of communication and telecommunication at Michigan State University said that, for the subjects in his experiment, there was “a causal link” between playing a first-person shooting game and brain-activity patterns that are considered a characteristic of aggression.
According to a 2004 study for the Journal of Adolescence, by D.A Gentile, Paul J. Lynch, Jennifer Ruh Linder, and David A. Walsh: “Playing violent games increases aggressive behaviours…and decreases prosocial behaviours.”
Another finding was that parental limits to violent game play resulted in a decline in fights and arguments, as well as an improvement in school performance.
Mumsnet.com believed the topic was “very interesting“, and pointed out some forum posts on their site where there have been mixed views.
One parent wondered whether people thought it was unreasonable that they disagree with their partner playing Modern Warfare 2 with their 10 year old son.
A user called “Mutt“ said: “You're dead right - it is irresponsible and frankly ignorant to think it is an appropriate game for a 10 year old to be playing.”
However another user, called “squeaky toy“, said: “What sort of influence do you think it would have on a sensible, intelligent child?
"I played space invaders when I was 10. I didn’t think I was an alien."
According to Brian Crecente on game site Kotaku.com, in the first 24 hours, Modern Warfare 3 raked in more than $400m in the US and UK alone, shifting around 6.5m copies.
The main draw is the game’s highly addictive and accessible online multiplayer modes. Dave Lyons said: “...its obviously a kick to kill people who are real life players...I want to use my cunning to outsmart somebody else, or have quicker reactions.”
On the release night, like many of the other people in the queues, Dave was intending to play the game through to the early hours.
He said: “...I know there’s going to be my friends online as soon as I go back. I know there’ll be a few familiar faces there waiting to send me an invitation to join the game.”
Zoë was also eager to get home and play it, as she added: “I’m gonna complete it tonight!”
With this game being so massive, there is no doubt that parents face an un-winnable war in keeping the kids away, so perhaps supervision, moderation and guidance, is the most effective strategy.
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