Modern Warfare 2 Besmirched on Fox News

I know that the persecution of violent video games as portrayed in the mainstream media is an endless one. Despite that knowledge, I continue to find myself lending my voice to the choir of millions of unheard video game advocates.

Back again for some Robot Punch!, where we exercise the motto: Don’t hate the media; become the media!

The video above is one of the latest bout of yellow journalism to be projected into the living rooms of ignorant America. Fox News chose our representative well: Some blogger guy with poor conversational articulation. It’s like pitting some trailer park hick with a hook hand in a knife fight against a US Marine. Poor Cletus never stood a chance, but at the end of the day, everyone gets to cheer, “Semper Fi!”

Don’t be so fast to judge Mr. Christensen… He was a victim of his own naiveté. Fox News did originally attempt more credible pundits, like Jason Andersen of the ECA. Unfortunately, Anderson was disqualified from the offer to be the voice video game industry expertise. This is probably because patsies don’t ask questions. Had Jon Christensen been more insistent about proper preparation for the interview (and less distracted by the opportunity to promote his blog) he might have saved himself some embarrassment.

The best I can offer for this situation is how I might have responded, had I been in that seat. The last words spoken by the host to influence Christensen’s response was in regard to Modern Warfare 2’s realism. To which, I would respond:

“I don’t know… Is it realistic? I mean, I’ve never seen actual combat. The video game looks convincing, but if you stuck a rifle in my hands and dropped me into a Middle Eastern sandbox, I doubt both scenarios would parallel.”

I would express the same points held by Christensen on the reservations toward playing as a terrorist, though perhaps more eloquently…

“You don’t actually play as a terrorist; that’s a deceptive statement. You play as a CIA agent who goes undercover to bring down the terrorist organization from within. You’re a double-agent spy working for the Red, White, and Blue. Jack Bauer does the same thing and advocates baby torture, yet he’s considered an American hero.

“As for helping the terrorists in violent acts, well, that’s just part of going undercover. Again, in every All-American action movie where the hero has to pose as a criminal to join a gang, they make him go through some initiation to prove how bad he is. If he’s forced to do horrible things to keep his cover from being blown, it just adds to his animus for bringing the bad guys down.”

And my final word:

“Parents have the responsibility to be aware of what games their children are playing. Regardless of whether the game falls into a child’s hands or not, what’s important is how the child is raised to interpret that interactive fantasy. Above all, it’s up to the parents to instill proper values in their kids so that they understand that actual violence is not a game and to respect real world warfare.”

And for this reason, Fox News will probably never call me for an interview.

Sean Ryan writes the Robot Punch! column, here on GotGame.com. He’s also the founder and head writer for TheGreyGhost.net, where he also co-hosts the Method to Madness podcast.