The public enemy, the leak and the therapy session

Wow! Just wow! I've found THREE really interesting stories in one day! What are the odds of that? Also, all three of them are different and more or less fascinating! Now, let's start with something I found on Y! Games...

A poll shows that games are public enemy Nr. 1 for parents with underage children. The results are simply astounding! 20% or so said they are most afraid that their kids might smoke marijuana, 18 % said they are afraid the kids are playing GTA, while 17% and 15% said they are afraid of pornography and addiction, respectively. Has GTA become the symbol of violence, nudity and evil in the parents' eyes? Most likely yes... Not to mention that more than 17% of the people who bought GTA IV were underage (meaning around a million kids).

Now we move on to the infamous leak... Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is a long awaited game, especially after the successes of Call of Duty Modern Warfare and COD World at War. But this week some French guys decided to upload a part of the game, the first mission to be precise. I saw the video and the quality isn't too good, so I could barely read in French something related to "extreme violence" and "skip the mission". The player didn't skip the mission, and so we find ourselves in an elevator at an airport... What follows made me ashamed for being a gamer and for liking the COD series. After you exit the elevator, you and your friends flash out their MGs and start to mercylessly kill the civilians. You have the option to watch or to participate. Gunning down innocent and harmless people, blowing up stores, killing SWAT teams and splashing blood everywhere... So much for gamer dignity...

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/modern-warfare-2-leaked-footage/333509

The last part is a happier one. There are two cases in which people were actually helped by video games! The first case is that of a Japanese paralyzed man who was connected to a device which was connected to the MMORPG Second Life. Electric pulses through the spine and to the legs gave the man the impression that he was actually walking while playing! These Japanese... The second case is that of Iraq War veterans who use a computer simulation of the US Army called Virtual Iraq to relieve painful moments of their service and to help the get over them.

A witch-hunt, a soon-to-come controversy and a new hope, all of them provided by videogames. And they say they're useless...