Like many parents, Gene Martinez was drawn into troubled introspection by the tragedy at Columbine High School a few weeks ago. He worries about the potential effect of everyday violence and violent forms of entertainment upon his children.
The topic also concerns him as a businessman.He sells video and CD-ROM computer games. "Doom." "Mortal Kombat." And gentler kiddie fare, too.
"The last thing I want to do is hurt people or contribute to people being hurt," said Martinez, president of the Game Pedler, which has shops in several Salt Lake area malls. "I've thought a lot about it."
However, Martinez added, "this is an entertainment product. It's not forced on anyone. Parents have to decide what their kids can have or can't have."
Collateral blame and suspicion have been cast in every direction in the wake of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's attack upon their schoolmates in Littleton, Colo. Cliquishness, bullying, inadequate gun laws and inattentive families all have been brought into the discussion.
As have bloody movies and role-playing video games.
Clinical psychologist Debbie Quackenbush calls the latter "violent depictions." And as Martinez suspected, there is little academic proof that the worlds of fantasy and reality meld as indiscriminately as some people think.
"There is not a definite causal relationship" between violent depictions and violent acts, said Quackenbush, a member of the Utah Psychological Association board. "One does not necessarily cause the other."
The qualifier, though, is that many children, and perhaps some adults, are less able to separate the imaginary from the real. In addition, kids who already have violent tendencies also seem to gravitate toward fantasy violence.
More extensive still is the numbing effect repeated scenes of combat and cruelty, whether animated, in an action movie or on the evening news, might have. People simply may not be as stunned by real-life violence because they've been saturated with and anesthetized by make-believe mayhem, Quackenbush said.
When he dropped by the Nickelcade entertainment center in Taylorsville with his cousin the other day, Jacob Wilde chose to play "Killer Instinct 2." The smashmouth game pits armed pairs of warriors -- male, female and anthropomorphic beasts -- in brutal fights. He dexterously managed the joystick and buttons that allowed him to vicariously direct the action.
"I think it is pretty violent," Wilde, a college student from Sandy, acknowledged during a pause, "but it is just a video game."
The Nickelcade, part of a mercantile complex at 4700 S. Redwood Road, has all kinds of pinball and video games, about 350 of them, said employee Brian Pitt. These range from early prototypes like "Pac-Man" and "Asteroids" to high-body count actioners like "Terminator 2" and "Revolution-X," with their bleak futuristic settings.
While the blood-and-guts games are ever-popular and more and more realistic, players and onlookers also gather around realistic sports games like "NFL Blitz 99," which re-creates real football teams and real players.
"My favorite is 'NBA (on NBC) Showtime,' " Pitt said. "I've probably poured $50 into that one."
The Nickelcade centers along the Wasatch Front are meant to be places for the entire family, said owner David Long, hence the variety of games. Air hockey and target games are popular, and younger kids love those that generate tickets they can redeem for prizes.
South Jordan's David Carlson doesn't care much for arcades. He likes the complexity of computer-game playing. Avidly at it since age 8, Carlson is now 23. The late teens and '20s are a common age for those really into the hobby.
"I can spend two hours a day to no hours a day to a straight eight or 10 hours" in front of the monitor, he said, depending upon how much free time he has. And he likes them all: sports and racing games, strategy contests and puzzles, "first-person shooters" and "RPGs," the acronym for role-playing games. "There's so many different kinds," he said.
He's heard of people suffering from "Nintendo-itis," an umbrella term covering carpal tunnel-like maladies as well as pains in the shoulders, arms and hands. But he also thinks game playing can develop skills, including dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Flight-simulation games, "with superior graphics and a true feeling of flying," might even be useful training for real-life pilots, Carlson said.
Most games are not that violent, he added, though "the first-person shooters can get very violent to gruesome to even foul." And certainly some people shouldn't be playing such games, Carlson said.
Sen. Orrin Hatch is among those calling for a federal investigation into how manufacturers of violent music and video games target young people in particular. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing this past week he specifically wondered why adult games like "Resident Evil 2" are being advertised in kids' magazines. "Few people would argue that cigarettes, alcohol or X-rated or NC-17-rated movies should be advertised in children's magazines," Hatch said. "Why should such violent video games?"
Representatives of the trade countered that they are taking necessary steps and hope to do better.
Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association, told the committee that of 1998's 20 best-selling titles, 15 were suitable for all ages, three were rated for teens and only two were recommended only for adults.
A few years ago the IDSA voluntarily created the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a panel that, somewhat like the G, PG, R and NC-17 categories for movies, rates video and PC games for content and puts icons on the packaging. The five designations are "early childhood," "everyone," "teen," "mature" and "adults only."
Along the same line, Utah's Nickelcade outlets place bright advisory stickers on many games, offering direction to parents and players, noted Joseph Stabile, director of operations.
"Ms. Pac-Man" earns a green sticker that says "Suitable for all ages." "Time Killers" has a yellow one, noting "Lifelike violence, mild." "Killer Instinct 2" has a bright red spot indicating "Animated violence, strong."
The arcades do not carry "mature" games. "They have things I don't feel would be appropriate in front of children," Stabile said.
Nickelcade owner David Long said the centers have been seriously contemplating segregating or cordoning off violent combat and shooting games. "That way it would be easy for parents to say, 'Do not play games in that area,' " he said.
The centers want to be family-oriented, and that means options not only for ride- and prize-loving children but also the fighting games older kids and young adults enjoy, Long said. He's a parent, too, and understands the pull these have on his 14-year-old and 17-year-old.
Without a "Lethal Enforcer" here or an "Ultimate Fighter 2" there, "they will be less likely to come along," he said.
Ultimately, Gene Martinez believes, how involved children get in arcade, video and PC games comes down to how they are raised, the rules -- however lenient or strict -- they have to follow.
His kids, ages 13 to 20, have been game playing since they were 3 years old. They haven't abused their privileges, Martinez said. They've had to come home with good grades, do their chores and participate in school sports and other activities.
"They don't have a lot of time to play games," he said. "I haven't had a lot of problems with it. Maybe I've been fortunate."