What's The Fuss About Warfare?

Today sees the release of 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2', across many a gaming platform. A game splattered with violence, gore, grit and guns, it sounds perfect to put under the tree for a little six year old. However, before I start getting into detail, let's look at the basics. The first game was notorious to say the least. Instantly slammed in the House of Commons for being too "realistic", it seemed that the aims and efforts of video game producers were seen as taboo, and that maybe games should steer clear of this area of real life. But maybe it's not because the games are realistic: in 1993 'Cannon Fodder' caused mass hysteria by being a blatant exploitation of wartime grief, never mind the uproar from the British Legion due to the use of a poppy on the front cover.

Video games will always have something said about them for as long as they are around, simply because they play such a big part in the lives of kids nowadays. Children are known to spend up to six, maybe seven hours a day on their consoles instead of doing something productive; no wonder the world is getting tremendously fatter.

I hear you saying "you must be some nerd to be saying all this, video games are great!" However, I agree, video games are great, but in the last year I have felt their wrath. Throughout the time I should have been revising for my GCSE's I tried to crack open Fallout 3, and still failed. My results felt the full blow and it's given me a chance to reflect on video games as a whole. But enough of that demoralising tripe!

This week, the political effect of video games was seen again with Keith Vaz MP bringing up the subject in Parliament. (Thank you to Graham Murkett for this) Vaz, who voted for the invasion of Iraq, claimed "it [Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2] contains such scenes of brutality even the manufacturers have put warnings within the game". Ironic? I should certainly think so. War is a horrible, horrible thing, whether it be necessary or not, and war on an XBOX is far more timid, I think Mr. Vaz. The game has an 18 certificate from the BBFC, so the law on this is as heavily enforced as on film. Vaz's argument was not really to have it pulled from the shelves but instead to make 100% sure that children don't get their hands on it, but when I turn on the news at midday on a Saturday when some juveniles are bound to be watching, I see reports of another British soldier killed brutally in Vaz's name.

So I ask, what poisons a child more? Shooting a few pixellated Russians witha joystick or seeing dead men just a few years older than themselves paraded down a road in a coffin draped with a flag? With the power of the media and the ease of gaining information, the effect on the British public from the wars in the East are catastrophic. This is total war, as everyone has a feeling or opinion about Iraq, Afghanistan or Iran.

To put it simply, 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" is just leisure. Instead of debating about a product which is playing a bigger and bigger part in our economy, maybe, especially so near to Rememberance Sunday, MP's should think about what is going on a million miles away and how that is affecting our children at home. We all know Britain is in social decline, and maybe taking a step back could be the best answer.

As you can see, this is a far more serious piece, brought on by Keith Vaz MP's little falsh of hypocrisy (I love writing about powerful people contradicting themselves). Thanks for reading, I'll see you soon.