Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 2003)
NT THE HAT TALI d from page U opponent for Pt ley Hutchison, cy editorial said tion also has s about whc; intends to run ;e, possibly gove rn isn’t ruling ther office but b. on serving as c- ;ht now, said , Mark Sanders ay early to be i it may or nus| he spring of ave more imp e a special i w ith trauma I ding w ith tr g that we nee now,” he said indication j from page U seneiice in iru communiatt| sc Jones, preside: AM Foundation, his appointmentL mmittee comes fe ition's dealmg? • ies such as abi demies, studeiffi i this crMTimitte!: isc the Found- sort of unique i id the task forced > of faculty, i ff and students have already potential mem ty Relations ges the steenngc it recommend, end of the 1, "the recomn ome out of diet serve to gel tore consistently! let Your Talents lor I cover letter, than! days and enhan ume prepared h| information andlc for the interview c js today at: sResumes.ne f luring the fall andspnngstfij ty holidays and exam penoddf 0. POSTMASTER: Send adi < 77843-1111. iversity in the Division of Stu i McDonald Buildi ittp://www.thebatt3lion.net ment by The Battalion. For a tising, call 845-0569, Arteti iy through Friday. Fax: 84H6’I| idem to pick up a single m 3 per school year. $30 for tOT y Visa. MasterCard, Discover. 1 tin merit ders ecades" igie football ith Aggie one f the Year anglers e Team aFia Psi Kane d Arena! ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■ ■ ■■ ■■ ■ ■ ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■ ■ ■■ ■ ■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ !■■■■■■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ The Battalion Page 3A • Wednesday, September 3, 2003 M Q R eBT H fl nHJ U 5 T pi« sjintendo. a bi company formed in 1 QSS in Japan. cdanQscJ t.Ma face of noma entertainment wden it struck a deal jvitn Sharp Electronlca in the "1 RBOn to become tne first toy company to use electronic components in its products “Super IVlario Bros." released in 1 988 as a complement game to tne Nintendo Entertainment (system, became their trademark title As the gaming industry progressed, the “IV/lario Bros" franchise remained a constant favorite among all sectors of players and is still producing new titles IVIoctal Kombat, released for home systems in 1993. was the first game to bring video game violence to public attention The fighting game consisted of "fatality moves" as a conclusion to a match These moves, which Include ripping an opponent's hearT out of his chest or extracting his skull and spinal chord, were as risky as they were popular and led to a 3-to-1 ratio by which the uncensored Sega version outsold the censored one on the Super Nintendo console. PlaySiatlnn.f? m S^BFlBRiS faunom Released in October 2001 , "Grand Theft Auto III" is being hailed as the most popular title of all time The franchise, created by Rockstar Games] in 1997’. is credited for being one of the forerunners in bringing mature audiences back to video games yTiOMB 73 I # n After years of having numerous failed J attempts at crossovers from console jto Hollywood, "Tomb Raider. " 1 released in 2001 , becomes the first successful video game franchise to conquer the movie market The 2003 sequel, “The Cradle of Life" produced more than $62 million at the box office to date PlayStatloaE f=a rx/ix h Deemed too controversial by his management, Dave IVlirra. the original sponsor of "BIVIX XXX,” dropped his name from the title The adult-geai ad biking game, based on strippers on bikes, was released in the manner it was first envisioned: with strong language and nudity College players change the face of the gaming industry Playing games is a more stimulating and interactive pastime compared to activities like watching a movie... When I get together with my friends we really like to play competitive games such as NCAA or other sports games. We love the control you have over the characters... —Gerald McCarty Senior construction science major By Nishat Fatima THE BATTALION After a hectic day of walking around campus and attending classes, Gerald McCarty doesn’t relax by taking a nap, having a bite to eat or surf ing the Web. Instead, his relaxation process consists of killing demons, steal ing cars or maybe even fighting with a sixth century Chinese monarch; in other words, playing his favorite video games. “I have been playing video games since I was young,” said McCarty, a senior construction science major. “Playing games is a more stimulating and interactive pastime compared to activities like watching a movie.” Video games have come a long way since their modest beginnings as bulky arcade games in the local pizze ria. The simple yet first widely suc cessful Nintendo system, released in the 1980s, paved the way for what would become a constantly evolving technological medium. Their latest form, the Play Station 2, the XBox imd the Game Cube, come equipped with high-tech graphics, three-dimensional games, memory cards and a variety of peripherals, mak ing their predecessors seem prehistoric. The PS2 and XBox come with additional features such as DVD and CD playback, pushing the cost of the systems and complementing equip ment to hundreds of dollars. Despite the hefty price tag that comes with the new consoles, the video game industry is one of the forerunners in the entertainment busi ness; its $7.7 billion revenue in 2(X)2 put it ahead of Hollywood for a sec ond consecutive year, according to Game Informer magazine Issue. 102. A survey conducted by the Interactive Digital Software Association in May of 2002 showed the main reasons people enjoy playing games are because they are fun, challenging and can be played with family, friends or alone. “When I get together with my friends we really like to play competitive games such as NCAA or other sports games,” McCarty said. “We love the control you have over the characters, and we use them to mess around with each other.” Like McCarty, older audiences have embraced gaming as one of their choice pastimes. With deeper pockets than the younger demographic and just the right amount of independence, college-age consumers have become a prime target for the game industry. Andy Thorson, a senior education major, is an associate for Best Buy, a leading video and home computer game retailer. Thorson, an avid fan of video gaming, and a product specialist in the department of video games, said the gaming industry played off nostalgia to bring back its original audi ences and subsequently increase its revenue. “The industry sensed an economic opportunity to attract the attention of the group who grew up playing video games but then had abandoned j them for a while,” Thorson said. “The original market had grown up and matured. The business saw a lot of potential in older players but were lacking the right titles to lure them back.” Thorson said better technology and games geared toward older audiences have been key factors in the emergence of older play ers over the last few years. “Once they broke back into the older markets, it just blew up from there,” he said. “Now, most of our PS2 and XBox Purchasers are college-age students who spend anywhere from $20 to $50 for each new game and up to $250 per system they buy.” Doug Lowenstein, president of the IDSA, recently told www.iilsa.com Jr- “the consumers of video games fall mainly under the ages of 6 to35, two generations that find interactive media as nat- ^ ural as watching TV. It’s clear the industry’s surging growth is not a passing trend, and the millions of said, “I don’t fundamentally think that boys like games more than girls. My assumption is that the market is underserving women.” Rasch said the gender bias is implicit in how the industry depicts its female characters. “All of the women in games are unrealistically portrayed, with oversized breasts and thin waists,” she said. “They should have their characters more life like if they want to attract more female audiences.” With the maturation of its niche, the video game market has been producing titles that are increasingly targeted for the older audiences, thereby creating a danger zone for its younger players. This tactic has led the business to receive heat from different sectors. According to Issue 102 of Game Informer, “Mortal Kombat,” released for home systems in 1993, was the first to bring video game violence to public attention. The high level of brutality and gore in the uncensored version of the title led to the first Senate hearing on video game violence in December 1993. The hearings resulted in the creation of a standardized video game rating sys tem by the then-newly created Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Game Informer also reported the gaming industry was dealt another blow in 1999 when it was discovered that Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were fans of the notorious personal computer shooting game “Doom.” Many opinions have been raised denouncing the theory that media violence leads to aggressive behavior. In a recent article published on www.abffe.com, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes said “there’s no evidence that mock violence makes peo ple violent; there is some evidence that it makes them peaceful.” For some critics, precaution is better than a cure when it comes to media violence. “Compared to the games that were around when I was young, the present games have a lot more exploding, killing and other sequences in them,” Thorsen said. “Personally, I think the adults in charge of the children should explain to them that what they are seeing is not real, and they should not hike it seriously.” Thorson said although games have become more violent than they were in the past, the selections meant for the less mature market is I 0 wfllMWlY || up anu i Americans who played video games yesterday play them today and will still play them tomorrow.” A long-standing notion about video games is that they are solidly gender- biased. Although their combative titles and rough play might back up this idea, Leslie Rasch, a freshman recreational parks and tourism sciences major, says action is what games are all about. “There are some quest games like ‘The Legend of Zelda’ that could appeal to some girls,” Rasch said “Personally, I love playing combative and strategy games because they are so challenging. I think if a person doesn’t like the fighting and shooting in video games, then they just shouldn’t be playing them,” Rasch said. Jupiter Research analyst Jay Horowitz compiled a gaming market research report posted on gamemarketwatch.com. In the report, Horowitz still the main place the younger players get their games from. “Most of our younger customers come in with their parents, who come to me and ask for game recommendations,” he said. “We don’t directly sell mature games to underage consumers. Some parents will buy the mature games them selves for their children even though we recommend against it. That doesn’t hap pen often though, and I don’t see it as a big problem. Violence in video games isn’t any different than what is on TV or in the movies.” Graphics by Ruben DeLuna and Seth Freeman* THE BATTALION Source • PLANET NINTENDO.COM; GAME INFORMER MAGAZINE; YAHOOMOVIES.COM Video game reviews of F-Zero IMG A A £ _______ and I- available on pg. 4