Dear Avault Reader,

Recently two independent events took place that reminded me of an article on gaming and violence that was published on our website back in 1997. The first event was the announcement and marketing, of the soon-to-be-released Duke Nukem Forever. The second was the enlightening chat with Penn State Professor, Ali Carr-Chellman on the Avault Podcast. The subject of violence and its potential relationship with video games is as relevant (and unresolved) today, as it was 14 years ago.

So without further ado, we present to you once again our take on this sensitive subject, written by David Laprad and aptly named The Children of Doom.

- Angel Munoz

The Children of Doom

[first published on the Adrenaline Vault December 22, 1997]

Kids and Violent Games: A Lethal Combination?

“With all the pathetic educational games out there, thank God kids can play our game and really learn something. They learn to be evil.” -Postal developer

“Daddy,” my son playfully queried from behind the computer chair. “Can I play Duke, too?”

I paused my game, granting an undeserving, and very ugly, alien invader a few precious remaining moments of life, and turned to look at Lucas. His 4-year-old face beamed with anticipation.

“Yeah!” my daughter gleefully cried, discarding her kindergarten homework and bolting to her brother’s side for a peep at the impending carnage. “You can shoot the bad guys in the belly, just like Daddy does!”

Whoa! Where did that come from?

Without even looking, I could feel my wife’s searing glare from across the room. I had a critical decision to make. I looked at the young, unblemished faces of my children, and thought of the equally untarnished, yet very impressionable, souls behind their sweet smiles. I then turned back to survey the computer’s monitor. A rocket was nearly imbedded in the alien’s cranium, and a half-dressed dancer was lewdly suspended mid-gyration in the background.

The decision was simple. I turned the computer off. One alien spared, and one husband off the hook.

But did I spare my children? Would a few, arguably innocuous moments blowing up mutants and strippers in the fantasy world of a gun-toting, vulgarity-spewing, womanizing hero have had a transformative effect on my son’s personality, turning him into a brutal degenerate, fully capable of executing lethal harm against fellow human beings? Could a computer game have such a powerfully negative impact that it could offset other positive influences?