Sometimes I feel that chess is a violent game. You have to cultivate that agressive spirit to want to destroy your opponent if you want to be any good at it. I wonder if that is a good thing to cultivate this agressive ego in kids.
The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.
~ Chris hedges
I’m a dinosaur when it comes to computer games. The only 3D game I’ve played on the PC was counter strike and that was 2 years ago. Recently I got a chance to try out one of the latest games called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It was on a PC I just helped my younger cousins upgrade so that they can play games on it. The game was shockingly real. The graphics were so detailed on the large 23.5” monitor that in one scene I got killed because I was waiting for the cut scene movie to start. It wasn’t a cut scene. The game had already started. The landscape was so beautiful and detailed I thought there will be a movie cut scene before the game start.
I can see why chess loses out in terms of appeal compared to computer games. If I were my cousin’s age, I would probably choose these games over chess too.
It was so addictive I got caught up in the game for a few hours. I kept marveling at how the programmers made the game so realistic. The game took a dark turn abruptly when there was a scene where you get to play a terrorist. It took place in an airport and shockingly, one of the requirements was to gun down innocent people in an airport. Again realism was quite high here when you get to see bodies twitching in the final throes. Also disturbing when you can actually walk over an shoot the survivors lying on the floor. Sure, we’ve been desensitized by violence in movies but in games I feel it’s quite different as you are immersed in it and decide to actually pull the trigger. The game carries a “Mature” label and a 18+ age limit but I think in Malaysia, this will not deter younger kids from playing it. An example, my cousins cannot watch the movie “Jennifer’s body” as the cinema has an 18+ tag which I think was ridiculous especially after censorship. However they have no problem getting Modern Warfare 2 and playing for a few weeks.
After this I think that chess is pretty tame compared to computer games these days.
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Remis Aman : 09 January 2010 at 4:03 pm
MSSM Chess budget slash is more brutal than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2