as studies continue to show, dissenting studies prove to be misleading, and the supreme court conceded- video games at worse have no effect on youth violence, and may even be actively beneficial
some massive new video game, let's call it Big Ring Auto 2015, comes out. kids are all playing it, and talking about playing it with each other, sharing thoughts and opinions and secrets! and not shooting each other over it! that's pretty nice!
thing is, if the game is anything like the above- the stuff kids will be talking about will now be, quote, "capitalizing on the underground arms trade"
that's... i mean, irresponsible at best? maybe if we want the new generation to not grow up to be warmonger capitalists we should stop so flatly glorifying it. grand theft auto V's campaign has some... base level criticisms of these things, but the multiplayer is like if they made a video game about that movie Free Guy, somebody should really do that 
now, obviously GTA V can only be played by adults, given the rating. however, for the very rare case that a child somehow plays an extremely popular rated M game, we should probably be taking their experience into account. at least somewhat, yeah?
there hasn't been a recent study on how many kids are buying mature games; the latest numbers i can find show 20-someodd percent of minors trying to buy rated M titles weren't stopped at the register, though this doesn't account for parent behavior when the kid gets home
since 2008, buying M for mature games online has only gotten easier. who's gonna stop you, libertarian gabe newell? still, it's at least something of a barrier from bombarding developing brains with military assault weaponry in the hands of their favorite cartoon characters
...like. tch. iunno. this makes me feel weird.
i just feel like if we're going to set a precedent of T for Teen games being based in warfare, using assault rifles to kill other kids, then we should build with any intent
as much as i love no-build fortnite, i do feel like flatly presenting "here are a bunch of guns and a world of people to shoot" without any real contrarian input beyond "don't get shot back!" in the pursuit of monetizing children is... immoral, at best
hopefully america's military industry complex doesn't find out cuz this seems like a great new way to advertise joining the army at 18
wait no don't do that
oh god dammit don't do that- oh shit, they actually didn't do that given the harassment case(s) at activision
i guess the army knows all about treating women like shit, huh?
but don't you worry, Call of Duty has some more advice to give
motherfuckers really saw the problem of "hey we treat the indoctrinated-children turned traumatized-adults that make it back like shit in this country, especially women" and see the solution as "they're just underselling themselves, and need a chance to work harder :)"
no, i'm not joking:
'traumatized women face issues, so what they need is bootstraps to pull themselves up by,'
violent video games don't cause violence. but in the current system, we're letting the military industrial complex use war games to assist in perpetuating war.
so, if you're going to include guns in your games, as the main gameplay interaction with the world, and you know your title is being played by children- please give a little weight to it, a little purpose?
i'm not asking you to plug the outlets and child-proof the corners of your narrative. i'm asking Epic and Activison Blizzard to stop monetizing children shooting each other over The Internet if they're going to be totally neutral on the subject, or worse-
-let the US Army take the reigns of the narrative
because they see this as explicitly a good thing!!
My greatest honour was to consult with Lieut. Col. Oliver North
on the story of Black Ops 2. I will never forget the stories he
told me about the times he met former Panamanian dictator
Manuel Noriega. There are so many small details we could never
have known about if it wasn’t for his involvement.
I would like to see more collaboration with the military
and game developers.
-Dave Anthony, former writer & producer for Call of Duty
to The Guardian, 2014
Call of Duty is to joining the army what Law & Order is to joining the police; lies and propaganda behind the veneer of entertainment
maybe guns and war shouldn't be made out to be This Cool to teenagers, is all i'm sayin'