I’m going to talk for a moment about video game politics before getting to video games.

On Monday I posted a link to the Video Game Voters Network, because I think it’s important for us gamers to be aware of these issues. I’m just going to touch briefly on why.

I’ll start by saying that I don’t think M rated games should be sold to minors. That’s my personal take on it. I don’t think an eight year old kid should be able to walk into a store and purchase Postal. If I had an eight year old son, I probably wouldn’t buy him Postal. However, if I had a fifteen year old son, and I knew him as a person and felt he had a firm grasp on the lines between reality and fiction, right and wrong, I’d probably go ahead and buy him Postal.

And that is where the heart of this issue lies for me. I think that video games should be regulated, but I don’t want them regulated by the government. I have two main reasons for this.

One, letting the government step in takes the responsibility off of the shoulders of the parents, and you know what? Fuck that. Parents need to be responsible for their children, and I’m sick of the government legislating morality for these lazy people. If you’re not ready to sacrifice the better part of your daily life for a good fifteen years, don’t have kids.

And two, no other media of this nature is government controlled. So allowing video games to be restricted by the government is like waving a huge flag that says “Yes, video games are more dangerous than all other forms of media. So much so that we needed the government to step in and regulate them”, and we all know that’s horseshit. I’m not about to let them stamp a big guilty sign on our forehead when I don’t believe that video games are any more dangerous that violent movies or books.

Anyway, enough politics for today.

I’ve played some Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter over the last couple of days. Despite my uncertanties, I’m enjoying the campaign. However, I find myself a little disappointed in the multipler. Now I’ll admit, I haven’t played multiplayer extensively, but what I did play was a bit of a let down.

It seems like when it came to online play, they said “ok, now let’s throw all of the tactics out the window and make a point and shoot game”. I was expecting to be dropped into a map comprised of a section of their incredible rendering of Mexico City, where I would use cover and tactics from any number of hiding spots to eliminate my enemies.

What I got (when I played), was flat, boring levels like I would expect from any first-person shooter, and no tactics at all. Just run, shoot, and duck. You can’t  conceal behind cover and pop out like you can in the campaign mode.

Maybe I’m missing something here, and I’ll go play some more to be sure, but it’s not as fun as I was hoping it would be. The single player campaign is pretty cool though.

And Oblivion is now less than a week away. I’m psyched for that game. And I’m sure most of you know already that the same company is publishing Fallout 3.