Games industry joins the War on Terror

When Kimveer Gill opened fire on schoolmates at a Montreal school, the gaming industry waited anxiously for media confirmation of early rumours that he played World of Warcraft. When it later emerged that he was, in fact, a regular poster on the popular VampireFreaks website and a blogger, this early excitement was replaced with intense disappointment. “We thought that we had reached a turning point, ” Gerry Jones, president of the American Gaming Industry Association (AGIA) complained. “But there was no media outrage, no moral panic about evil video games, no threats of lawsuit by the victims’ families. And that meant no sales.”

This setback is the latest in a long line of setbacks experienced by the video game industry after the September 11 attacks. “When the President declared a war on terror, we just knew that it was only a matter of time before games took a back seat,” he said. “And, sure enough, it was radical Islam that was being blamed for all the death and mayhem in the world and not Grand Theft Auto III.”

Jones said that sales of video games had fallen 20 per cent in the last year. He attributed this to the fact that the media was no longer blaming video games for school massacres, violence amongst young people and other social problems. “Each time there was a killing, we would see an up to 30 per cent spike in sales as people rushed to buy the video game that had been blamed for the killing,” he told Satirical Muslim today. “Our only competition in the past came from heavy metal so we were very surprised when radical Islamism appeared. It just took us from left field.”

The games industry does plan to fight back. Jones announced last week that a number of computer game manufacturers have entererd into a strategic partnership with a number of leading companies. “We will be offering free video games with all sales of Glock handguns, black trenchcoats, and eyeliner brands identified as popular with Goth men,” he said.

Jones also announced that they would be working closely with schools to identify teenagers at risk of violent behaviour. “We hope to find these people before they become violent,” he said. “And give them free copies of the latest violent video games.”

“We need to replace radical Islam as the motivator behind teenage and workplace violence in this country. If we don’t, then the terrorists will win.”