Play Meter

UP FRONT Message received, loud and clear T Bonnie Theard Managing Editor PLAY METER he message was delivered at an unexpected venue: the AMOA Expo '94 annual business meeting and breakfast. The messenger was not a coin-op veteran but a sports figure: Michael Singletary. He implored the audience, "If you could for a moment think about this: What effect do you have on America's youth? What is the impact you have on young minds? There is an opportunity waiting out there, an opportunity to take a young mind and help facilitate character, morals, and value. It's time to change, add on to what you have, and look at how you can go forward and make a difference." He r eferenced another industry with potential, saying, "Te levision cashed in." He d ecried having to screen the programs his children can watch. "Something is wrong," he remarked. Turning his attention back to our industry, he acknowledged, "Your hearts are in the right place . G e tting to the n ext level will take a serious change . As America's divorce rate rises and the influence of drugs is felt , who molds the minds of young people? Yes, you 're right, it's you. You can b e the one to make an a mazing impact. Just think about it." I wond er what h e thought when h e saw some of the moves players can use in a few of the games on the exhibit floor. He may have echoed what an operator and his wife t old me two years ago, that we are crossing the line of good taste. Singletary n ever use d th e word "violence. " It went unspoken, although the audience understood what he was talking about. An operator's wife, who came up to 12 n ew AMOA president Tami NorbergPaulse n to ask what she thought was his real message, said her husband would like to use more non-violent games but they don 't make as much money. Not only violence but vulgarity has reared its ugly head. Highly sought after and promoted secret codes access new moves , but can also taunt opponents with vulgar and suggestive phrases. All taken good-naturedly I am to suppose. An operator told me that the programm ers put such items into a game as private jokes among themselves, without intending it to reach the general public. I can't say for sure if this is tru e. It seems rath er juvenile, but I would prefer to believe that scenario than accept the notion that educated adults can find nothing better to think of building into gam es whose major a udie nce is young p eople 12 to 19 years old. Is our industry coming down to nothing but body function references and gross-outs that are inherently offensive , yet passed off as entertainment? If a little vulgarity sells , then let's give them more. The same for excessive violence. What next? A return t o the d ays of public ch eering as lions eat Christians a nd gladiators fight each other to the d eath ? Surely we have progressed from the barbarism of such displays. They need not be repeated on video screens across the land. In the past I have defended the gam es to others, thinking that fantasy adventure was at the h eart of the action and h armless role-playing was the end result. I am changing m y m ind rapidly becau se I see higher levels of offensive material creeping into game play. Opponents can b e vanquished without being re duced to a bloody pulp. When will our industry get the message? We are sinking our own ship. A. DECEMBER 1994