The Assault on Video Games by Lyndon LaRouche

For those of you who have been following the news lately about video games and their relation to the Virginia Tech shootings, there's been an interesting charge put out by the followers of Lyndon LaRouche, that games are as dangerous and addictive as heroin. The organization has been harping specifically about Counter-Strike, and has made such claims like Bill Gates has purposefully used the Xbox 360 version of the game to turn America's youth into violent killers, and that Counter-Strike was originally created by Microsoft.

In fact, in a recent interview the leader of the LaRouche Youth Movement, Paul Morino, stated that " video games are creating menticide among the young generation…", as well as referencing Col. David Grossman and bringing up Wolfenstein 3D as the first killing simulator.

Many of LaRouche's political statements do not reference just first person shooters, however, and how moved to considering video games as a whole. Several statements on the LaRouche Political Action Committee's website (www.LaRouchePAC.com) reference Google.com using technology to track aggressiveness of players in games, military recruiters attending Dreamhack, and Cheney using video games to turn the American people into the new Nazi SS.

Despite that much of their information is wrong (for instance Counter-Strike was originally a mod for Half-Life, having nothing to do with Microsoft), they continue to make statements accusing the video game market of promoting fascism and violence in our society, and have been making these statements for years now.

Honestly, I'm speechless. I'm shocked. These aren't recent claims made by the LaRouche organization in wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, they're just a part of a series of rhetoric that LaRouche has made since before 2002. In statements found on The Schiller Institute's website (www.SchillerInstitute.org), LaRouche claimed Pokemon was being used to turn children into mindless killers.

Of all the things to base social disorder upon, why video games? Why not the drug or gang culture found in poorer communities in the mid- to late-80s that has become so widespread? What about problems with the Welfare system of the United States, or the trend towards focusing on celebrity news when we're currently involved in military operations on the other side of the world?

How do you make the claim that video games are the sole reason for a man to take up a gun and shoot a room full of people? Especially based on one sentence in a Washington Post article that was removed within a few days? And how can you neglect the other evidence, the record of Cho being diagnosed as possibly autistic, or his placement into a mental institution? All this, and you believe a claim that he played a game in high school would drive him to murder his fellow students?

All I can suggest is next time, do more research. Check your facts. That's all I can really say to you.

Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee: www.LaRouchePAC.com
The Schiller Institute: www.SchillerInstitute.org

History Channel Uses Game to Bolster Program

Apparently the History Channel is now using games to help reinforce what viewers are learning on their shows. The latest season of "Dogfights" will begin July 13 with 20 new episodes, and at least 11 games for those episodes. According to the Reuters article, Kuma Reality Games is heading the project:

"'There will be a variety of planes to fly, starting with WWII planes like Zeros and Hellcats,' Kuma Reality Games CEO Keith Halper said. 'We receive the script for each show from the History Channel, and we evaluate it to make an accurate but fun gaming experience that's true to the show.'"

The episodes can be accessed online via the History Channel(www.HistoryChannel.com) or Kuma Games websites(www.KumaGames.com) to download the games.

This is not the first time the History Channel has used video games to aid programming. In December of 2005, the game Band of Brothers was used alongside the documentary of the same name, and Rome: Total War was used to help illustrate points in the 13-episode "Decisive Battles" series.

The Reuters article can be found here.
History Channel: www.HistoryChannel.com
Kuma Games: www.KumaGames.com