Harry's Blog

I'm all for strict control of who plays violent videogames - but we feel that sometimes the message about protecting children is somewhat ruined by nutters like Anglican Synod lay member Tom Benyon.

Benyon has been frothing at the mouth about games - so much so he's had to actually invent game content to get upset about, a bit like those preachers adding their own backwards messages to rock and roll in the sixties.

"There is a bubbling sewer of gratuitously violent and sexual pornography and games all around us. I have seen its pernicious effect. A family member saw a so-called ‘game’ and he had nightmares. The images remained with him for months," he most probably lied.

The comments came in a church Synod debate calling on the government to introduce stricter controls on games. Benyon then went on to focus on some imagined games - we have no idea where he saw some of this stuff...

"Why is it acceptable, indeed lawful, to portray the killing and burning of a woman in Fatality, [or] the sawing up of a woman in Mortal Kombat, or playing football with severed heads; the chainsaw killing of a man in Saw III, rape, torture and so on?”

Rape sir? Rape? We challenge you to tell us which game you saw this in?

In the interest of balance I should point out my wife is an Anglican priest. She was horrified by this story too. But horrified that yet again various nutters seem to be doing their best to show the church in the very worst light.

Did you know I have more than one blog? See that link in the top right to something called "grumpygamer"? That's my tech, gadget, music and videogame blog. Over the last few days I've been making some changes ready for it's rebirth.

And to celebrate I've written a review of one of this autumn's most eagerly anticipated videogames - Forza Motorsport 3 on Xbox 360.

Please do check out my review.

Memory is a funny thing, the way certain experiences are recalled via various connections. Take for example the arrival of The Sims 3 review code in the post today.

I'm sat at the PC installing it now and it reminds me of 2006 when Lanie spent most of the year playing The Sims 2. She got completely addicted to the game, raising little families within the game and - much to my surprise - killing off elderly neighbours by trapping them in the garden so she'd inherit their wealth.

The Sims 2 and Lanie's addiction to it was about the only thing we ever argued about. But I know she played the game to avoid worries over paying for our wedding (which was a very stressful time for us both) and also to avoid worrying too much about being pregnant with Patrick and Kitty (or Domino and Zizzi as they were known early on).

So today I'm installing the next game in the series in the knowledge if she was still alive Lanie would be very excited to get her hands on this sequel. And so, who knows, I may slaughter a few elderly neighbours in memory of her.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 may have all the best games, the best controller, XBox Live and a more powerful GPU but it seems it may not be the choice for the next generation of gamers.

Over the last week both Patrick and Kitty have got uncomfortably close to my various bits of technology surrounding the television but both have shown very little interest in the Xbox 360.

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