A number of people have asked me interesting questions about working in what can be a contravertial industry. There is a lot of bullsh*t floating around the media regarding the games industry and many people have a very strange view of the industry as a result. I thought I would take a moment to respond to that and explain my gaming ethos.

I believe the game rating system exists for a reason. While there are perhaps some games which should be given a higher rating, for the most part I think games are rated well and I do not think that the producers or publishers can be blamed for exposure to the content.

It is the responisibility of stores to ensure that games are not sold to minors and it is the resposibility of parents to take an interest and to take control what their children play. Its no use whining about the violence in Grand Theft Auto if you let your child buy it and play it, or even buy it for them!

Games are not addictive and they do not incite violence in people. People with addictive personalities are going to get addicted to World of Warcraft and people with violent tendancies are going to be drawn to violent games. The games (which the kids shouldn't be playing if they are underage - see above) do not give the kids money, show them where to buy a gun, how to assemble it, load it and actually fire it!

I played World of Warcraft for several years, but I managed my play time without developing any sort of addiction. I have also played games that are unnecessarily gory or violent. As someone who is not a fan of such things I am repulsed by them, and simply cannot continue to play them. I have also played GTA without even thinking about re-enacting the carnage in the real world.

As for violence in games, i think its a bit of a grey area. I believe that there should be a limit on how much violence and gore should be in a game. However, some crimes are worse that others, and many defenitions of violence depend on your point of view. Violence doesn't bother me as much as malice.

I have recently played Batman: Arkham Asylum, which has a lot of dark material and lots of 'violence' in the game. However, as Batman, you do not kill, merely render the opponents unconsious so that they can be arrested and put back in prison. I do not think this is nearly as violent or dark as games where you are actually able to kill your opponents.

In Tomb Raider, Lara will kill Mercenaries or tigers and other creatures that get in her way. Would it really be so hard to have the tiger run away when it is injured? Or stick to Lara having to avoid fights with humans and only 'kill' zombies and other such things? Why is the killing in this game any worse than the 'violence' in Batman? There are other factors too, for example Tomb Raider rewards the player for running down five enemies on a motorcycle. That is quite malicious, is it not?

As for games like GTA, i think that things could be done to limit the malice. In many other similar games pedestrians will dive out of the way making it very difficult or impossible to hit pedestrians in the car. And, though I have no real objection to being able to pick up a hooker, perhaps the game should not allow the player to kill them afterwards?

I accept that certain games, such as survival horror games (Resident Evil etc.), require dark material and some gore to create the right atmosphere. Some malice may also be required on the part of the villains, but it should not come from the player. I would also point out that these sorts of games do not appeal to me, though I understand they appeal to others.

I think that malice and gore are worse than actual violence. I don't like games like Wolfenstien where you are able to dismember your opponents with a chainsaw - and not only that but desecrate their corpses after they have been killed. I don't think that this sort of violence should be acceptable, as, even though the opponents in that are Nazi's (and so considered evil and generally hated by everyone), it just goes too far.

I also don't think that any characters under the age of 18 should be involved in any violent context.

Sexual content is not something I have a particular problem with. Hookers and horny characters sometimes fit well into gaming worlds such as Vampire: the Masquerade or GTA, and as far as i'm concerned the 'acts' can be as graphics as they like.

My only objections are to games such as some recent Japanese titles where the character is able to take part in acts of violent rape, and, again, to any such scenarios involving children.

In essence, I have few problems with working on games with violence or adult themes. My only objections are to games that involve rape, mutilation, heavy gore and generally allow the player to act with Malice. At the end of the day, games are no more real than films, and should be treated in a similar manner. Games should be entertaining, and should not encourage extreme violence or malicious behaviour.