There’s a news story on Gizmodo today about a teen gamer who tried to strangle his father with a cord from a gaming controller.  Apparently, the father had repeatedly told the boy to turn off the console and finally ended up going into the boy’s room and pulling the power cord, causing the boy to lose all his progress.  The kid was so outraged that he proceeded to try strangling his father.  Craziness.

Now, I know that as a kid, I often felt angry whenever my parents told me I needed to get off my Nintendo and either A) do my chores, or B) go outside for awhile,¹ but I never felt compelled to attempt murder.  And even now it’s frustrating to lose game progress to a power outage, disc failure, and console hiccup – but ultimately it’s not the end of the world, and certainly not something worth resorting to violence over.

This story is not, of course, about video games being responsible for violence.  It is, however, an example of the evolution of cultural norms that place such a high level of value on entertainment that they make foreign ideas like personal control, restraint, and responsibility.  Y’know, video games are a luxury, not an essential.  If they’re the catalyst for behavioral problems in kids, the wisest thing a parent can do is take the games away until the child (or teen) has learned enough responsibility and self-control to be able to handle them without flying off at the handle.  I mean, you can’t tell me that, in this case, this incident was the first time the parents had ever seen a behavioral outburst like this.

1. It might have been a different story had the Nintendo offered a way to save games so that all your progress wasn’t lost every time you quit.[back]

John Scalzi points out on his blog that the Writers Guild of America has created a new award for videogame writing.  This brings into sharp relief again one of the elements that has me so hooked on the Halo series.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m really not an FPS gamer, at least not as a rule.  There are only two FPS games that I play with any regularity – Halo (duh) and Rainbow Six: Vegas.  Before Halo, I had played a little Duke Nukem multiplayer in college (and got smoked every time) and toyed a little with Wolfenstein.  I quickly gave up on both.  I never could quite manage the controls – using a keyboard and mouse in smooth coordination was always beyond my reach – and frankly, the games themselves never really inspired me to master them.

The first – and only – FPS I ever fell in love with was Halo, which surprised me as much as it did my friends who knew how much I disliked FPS games.  So what made the difference?  For starters, all the controls were contained in a single controller that actually had logically placed triggers for firing weapons.  It took me a little time to get used to manipulating two sticks for movement, but that was actually a small hurdle. 

What really gripped me with Halo, however, was the story.  Here finally was an FPS that actually had a fascinating storyline that gave some reason for the madness of fighting one’s way through hordes of enemies.  Duke Nukem never had than a shallow story at best, and Wolfenstein’s story – well, I never played long enough with that one to know what kind of story it had.

Halo: Combat Evolved grabbed your attention right from the first cutscene and held it all the way through the game as the UNSC and Master Chief explored this huge ring-link structure and uncovered some of the most ancient mysteries of the universe.  This story has caused the formation of avid fan communities that continue to push Halo to the top of the bestseller and most actively played lists in the gaming industry.  The storyline that powers these games is robust and lush, providing enough material for four novels.  Between the story and the community that sprang up around it, not to mention the way that Bungie continues to revolutionize gaming, it should be no wonder why Halo is one of the most successful FPS series to date.

DeeJ and L Askan tag-team to bring us more drool-worthy bits from the upcoming Halo 3.  It’s almost a sensory overload with all the promotions and advertisements and previews out there right now with this game.  Mountain Dew is even in on the action with their Limited Edition Game Fuel drink with Halo 3 labeling. 

Like DeeJ, I am, for the most part, in a self-imposed Halo 3 blackout until the 25th.  I know enough about what’s going to be in the game to be positively hungry for this game – Spartan laser, flamethrower, two or three new types of grenades, special items, gorgeous maps, beautiful gameplay, online co-op, Forge, Saved Films, and so much more.  I’ve little desire to find out much more, though, for fear of ruining the story, but I know I can’t wait to play.

Bungie has done something with the Halo franchise that I love to see in video games – they’ve built a beautiful and fun video game that also has a solid and intriguing storyline.  We have characters that we actually care about in the forum of Master Chief, Cortana, and even Sergeant Johnson.  Halo 2 ended in a cliffhanger that had gamers all around the world throwing their controllers across the room in frustration (but not me – I loved it), and Halo 3 promises to wrap up the current story arc and answer all (or at least most) of our lingering questions.  As I’ve said before, I can’t wait. 

But like I said, it’s actually pretty hard now to avoid all the information coming out everywhere about Halo 3 – pirated scans from magazines, Bungie-released previews, IMAX-powered gameplay previews, and more.  Heck, there’s even a new Halo 3 Xbox 360 and a Halo 3 wireless headset that will available before too long.  A number of websites are also giving away various Xbox 360 and Halo 3 packages as part of the gear-up for Halo 3’s release.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a marketing campaign this ambitious – but it sure is a heckuvalot of fun to watch.

Sorry, I think my geek is showing again.  Carry on.