Jack Thompson said:
These games are murder simulators
What else would you call the graphic depiction of someone being purposely dragged personally backwards through a saw blade?
Accidental?
They're "murder simulators" like Pong is a table tennis simulator.[/QUOTE]
Interesting if not totally ineffective comparison - Pong is actually meant to portray table tennis though as a game since at the time it was created the hardware and software limitations prevented it from being more realistic - it didn't do an *accurate* enough description. The new Mortal Kombat game however, is fully 3d rendered with human anatomy descriptions and depictions and blood and gore, so it is very much more accurate in it's depiction of murder. Not simply murder, but violent, depraved, psychopathic murder.
I find the game, and the review video, reprehensible.[/QUOTE]
My point is that Pong only resembles table tennis in the most superficial way possible. It's about two players knocking a ball back and forth within a predetermined playing area, but that's it. Being good at Pong doesn't make me any better at table tennis. It might pique my interest in table tennis, sure, but it's not a simulation. Not with any reasonable level of accuracy or realism.
Similarly, the Mortal Kombat games only resemble murders in a superficial way. It's about inflicting damage and hurting a person until they die, but that's it. Being good at Mortal Kombat doesn't make me any better at killing people. It might indulge my violent urges, sure, but it's not a simulation. Not with any reasonable level of accuracy or realism.
To me, the word "simulation" implies a level of realism and accuracy. A flight simulator attempts to recreate the act of flying an airplane, as realistically as possible. A military simulator is designed to predict the outcome of combat scenarios as accurately as possible. Even games like Sim City, Sim Tower, Sim Farm, Sim Ant, the Sims etc are expected to live up to the "sim" part of their name through realism.
This is why I find it ludicrous when people like Jack Thompson say violent video games are a simulation of real life violence. Playing Quake doesn't teach me how to fire a gun. Playing Mortal Kombat doesn't teach me how to fight. Playing Grand Theft Auto doesn't teach me how to jack cars. Playing Assassin's Creed doesn't teach me how to blend into crowds and avoid the authorities.
Now, perhaps there's a case for violent games desensitizing us to violence, but I think that's a different issue.
