Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg thinks it’s unfair for games like his company’s Call of Duty to be blasted for glorification of violence when the same level of criticism doesn’t seem to apply to critically lauded movies like The Hurt Locker.
“There’s a sense that games are more exploitive in a way that The Hurt Locker—which also was designed as form of entertainment—isn’t . . . I think they are an art form. And I think that ‘too soon’ criteria is not applied to things like Green Zone. Or United 93. There will be a time when we look back and find it quaint that video games were so controversial. I think the active ingredient to changing that attitude is time,” he said.
Hirshberg continued, “The producers didn’t create The Hurt Locker as a public service; they did it to tell a story that they thought needed to be told. It was a piece of entertainment that they sold tickets to and sell DVDs with. And, yet, that’s not viewed as exploiting current events. It’s viewed as somehow artistically interpreting and commenting on current events. The creative process of making that movie and making our games is very similar, but they’re received differently.”
Source: Kotaku
