In an interview last summer, Hal Halpin, the president of the ECA’s U.S. branch, argued the gaming community has been unfairly singled out. “What we’re really talking about here is media addiction, but unfortunately we’re not even talking about that,” he told the Washington Times. “The issue has been politicized down to games, to the exclusion of all other media, including movies, music and television. It seems disingenuous on its face.” Halpin argues that the same diagnosis of obsession could easily be applied to Trekkies, Star Wars’ fans, or even devotees of Sex in the City. Game proponents also point to research that suggests the programs have positive benefits for kids. For example, this week, a U.S. study (commissioned by a video game site) concluded gamers are more successful and have better family and social lives than non-players.
The industry has put a ratings system in place for games—Call of Duty 4 is rated M (Mature) for its “intense violence, strong language, blood and gore”—but has also worked to ensure that restrictions on games remain suggestions, not law. The ESA has launched nine legal challenges against state laws that sought to regulate minors’ access to M or AO rated games. The lobby group argues that such laws are infringements of their First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. And so far, U.S. courts have agreed.
David Walsh, president and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a Minneapolis-based watchdog group, says he is discouraged by video gaming companies’ seeming lack of concern. “I don’t think they want to touch addiction with a 10-foot pole,” says Walsh. “It raises all sorts of liability issues for them. And my interpretation is that their strategy is to ignore it and hope it will go away.” Cases like Brandon Crisp’s, however, are forcing concerns onto the public agenda. While there is still a dearth of funding for research into possible links between games and addictive behaviour, the demand for information is soaring. “If you talk to front-line counsellors in places like universities they’ll tell you that this is a huge issue,” says Walsh. In response, his organization has put together an academic study group to look at the problem, and is planning for a major international conference next year. “The way people are viewing this is changing quickly.”
Precisely what makes a game like Call of Duty 4 so attractive to kids, and even adults, is hard to pin down. The games are fast-paced and interactive, and some studies indicate that in men, at least, they activate rewarding feelings in the brain. Increasingly, the lure of financial rewards has also crept into the picture. Call of Duty, the bestselling “First Person Shooter” game of all time, is so successful that there are now professional leagues, like Major League Gaming, in which the world’s best players can make tens of thousands of dollars playing at tournaments and even land corporate sponsorships. Teenagers like Brandon play the game obsessively, fuelled on Red Bull and junk food, to try to break into this lucky circle. This scares Steve Crisp, who wonders if Brandon’s problem was made worse by the lure of making “$100,000 off a stupid game.” It’s unlikely Brandon was in any position to do this when he left home. He’s a skilled gamer, but wasn’t known in the upper ranks of the “sport.” His idea of playing professionally is not unlike a teenager’s dream to play in the NHL. “They may well see themselves as getting to be a professional but very few people will ever achieve that dream,” says Dennis McCauley, who edits GamePolitics.com, a gaming industry website, which has been following Brandon’s disappearance.
As the days turn into weeks, Steve Crisp wonders if his son is with people he met playing Call of Duty. The online “clans” Brandon played with were more like cults than teams, he says. But there’s been no sign of Brandon anywhere online since he left home. What really worries the father is the possibility that his son may have somehow unwittingly come in contact with bad people— perhaps a sexual predator—on the Xbox Live system. Steve hopes that by spreading the word, someone will find Brandon. But if his worst nightmare comes true, he has another message: “I want to educate every parent out there about the problems with these online games.”
