1

Presented to: International Communication Association-Communication History Division

2014 Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA (25 May)

Mediating video game violence: A case study of GamePro Magazine, 1991-1999

By Greg Perreault Ph.D Candidate

Missouri School of Journalism

179 Gannett Hall Missouri School of Journalism

Columbia, MO 65211

gppfm5@mail.missouri.edu

2

Abstract

Mortal Kombat. Night Trap. Lethal Enforcers. Doom. The game titles themselves

foreshadow the controversy they would create. The video game medium arrived suddenly

and progressed quickly. While moviegoers had several decades between Charlie Chaplin

and Platoon, video games grew to mainstream popularity in the 1980s and the first

debates about their violent content took place in the early-1990s. But no journalistic

community has more at stake in these debates and discussions than video game

journalists. This historical analysis examines the most popular video game journalism

magazine in the 1990s, GamePro magazine and how they mediated the debates about

violence. The magazine provided a voice for an unheard group at the timegamersand

simultaneously cheerleaded for the increasingly violent nature of games.

Keywords:

Video games, video game journalism, violence, magazine, 20th century, technology

Mortal Kombat. Night Trap. Lethal Enforcers. Doom. The game titles themselves

foreshadow the controversy they would create. The video game medium arrived suddenly

and progressed quickly. While moviegoers had several decades between Charlie Chaplin

and Platoon, video games grew to mainstream popularity in the 1980s and the first

debates about their violent content took place in the early-1990s. Little scholarship has

been devoted to examining how the news media has examined video game violence.

Most scholarship on video games at this point is devoted to either effects research or

3

narrative examinations of the content. The mainstream news media has provided

sustained reporting on the debate over video game violence from the first splatter of

blood in Mortal Kombat to the recent up close-and-personal shootings in Call of Duty.1

But no journalistic community has more at stake in these debates and discussions than

video game journalists. In the 1990s, they were often considered the lesser brothers of

mainstream journalistic counterparts, but video game journalists were heavily invested in

the subject matter of video gamesnot just because magazine advertising generally

depended on it, but also the writers and editors generally loved video games. How did

video game magazines address this violence? The fan-oriented video game magazines

GamePro Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly and Nintendo Power account for an

unheard voice in this debate. This study gives voice to GamePro Magazine and tells the

magazines story of video game violence.

The 1990s may not be ancient history, but video game technology, culture and

depictions of violence have all progressed light years since then. The time period 1991-

1999 was selected to provide a picture of a key time period in gaming. It is during this era

that video games became a part of the first debates about violence, a fixture in the

childhood of most children and developed a true culturelargely through magazines like

GamePro. While GamePro is a magazine in the traditional sense, it catered to consumers

who lived, played and shared their experiences in the midst of a rapidly changing

industry. GamePro was a forum for communal discussion about gaming before the

advent of the online gaming community online. Telling GamePros story simultaneously

tells the story of the birth of a video gaming culture, how growth in technology

4

accompanied growing depictions of violence and how accusations of violence from

outside the gaming community were discussed and dismissed.

An examination of what happened in magazines like GamePro is rare. Few

scholars have questioned how magazines dedicated to the gaming population may have

mediated video game violence differently than writers in the mainstream press. Using

GamePro magazine as the main source, this study will explore the coverage of violent

video games released in the 1990s. How did GamePro magazine mediate the

conversation about violence in video games? How was GamePros response emblematic

of the gaming, technological and cultural context of 1990s?

Why gaming, why now?

To understand video game journalism in 1990s and how gaming violence was

mediated, it is important to first understand video games during that time period.

Moreover, it is important to understand gaming culture of that era. At the close of the

1990s, Mazzi Binasisa described the video game as reflective of societys wants and as a

footnote of youth.2 In America, one would think that video games arose as a result of the

marketplacegreat disposable income and more free time. On the contrary, video games

grew to mass popularity in the midst of a recession in the early 1990s. A stock collapse in

1987 began a period of financial recession that continued until 1992.3

Video games existed for hobbyists since as far back as the 1950s.4 Arcade

machines popularized video games in the 1970s, but it was still largely considered a

niche hobby. The Atari 2600 brought arcade games into the home in September 1977. At

the time, observers considered it a successa low cost way of playing the arcade games

5

at home. But the Atari suffered from poor regulatory measures and inept money

management, which often led to poor products.5 6 Game creators spent thousands on

marketing and colorful boxes but an inadequate on games 7 American consumers reacted

with frustration that led to the video game crash of 1983.8

As a result, in 1985, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in America faced an

uphill battle and considerable suspicion on the part of both toy store distributors and

consumers. Toy stores resisted stocking another video game system in their stores after

the abysmal crash of the Atari. But children were drawn to the game packaged with the

NESSuper Mario Bros. By 1990, a third of all American households had an NES. It

was an instant success and continued to be the dominant video game system until the

mid-1990s.9

Nintendo demonstrated that games were not just for a minority of arcade nostalgic

adults, but also an appealing entertainment alternative for kids.10 In order to make their

games appealing to consumers, Nintendo instituted a strict licensing and censorship

policy. All NES games had to be licensed by Nintendo and it censored blood and gore,

references to sex, references to religion and references to alcohol and drugs.11 These

censorship guidelines eroded during the 1990s, but for a while it gave parents some sense

of security.12

Improving technology

Yet while many saw video games as something for children, the video game

industry proved by 1990 to be very grownup. By 1992, the industry made more money

than Hollywood and was on pace to dwarf the music industry. By music industry

6

standards, Super Mario Bros. 3 went platinum 11 times when it was released in 1990.

The only artist who could claim such an accolade in the 1990s was Michael Jackson.13

While Nintendo was the dominant video game company for the early 1990s, its

sway eroded by 1999. In late-1989, Sega introduced a competing console, the Sega

Genesis. Like Nintendo, Sega insured that only consumer-friendly (and largely kid-

friendly) games went to market. Unlike Nintendo, the Sega officials did not enforce the

same level of censorship and their system was 16-bit, which meant it had twice the

graphics and audio resolution of the 8-bit Nintendo.14 15 Eager to maintain their hold on

the American market, Nintendo created the 16-bit console, the Super Nintendo

Entertainment System, in 1991. The Super Nintendo competed in graphics and sound

with the Genesis and Nintendo also had a death grip on licensees from the previous

Nintendo system. Until 1995, the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis dominated the video

game console scene.16 17 Video gaming had spread beyond consoles and arcade machines

however. In early computers, games operated from floppy disk drives and used the DOS

operating system.

Violent Games

During the NES years, many derided the system as childs play even as that was

Nintendos very secret to success. In 1993, 70 percent of video game consumers were

under the age of 18.18

In October 1992, the game developer Midway released Mortal Kombat for the

Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis after a successful run as an arcade game. The

violence depicted in the fighting game went beyond just the depiction in blood. The game

7

portrayed impaling, beheadings and the like. Mortal Kombat instigated the introduction

of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which began placing mandatory

ratings on all video games in 1994. As such, Mortal Kombat was the first game to receive

a mature rating.19 Players derided the Super Nintendo version of this game because

Nintendos censorship guidelines removed the gore from the game content.20

Also in 1992, Hasbro Interactive announced Night Trap, one of the first survival

horror games. Night Trap featured full-motion video and generally worked as an

interactive movie. In the game, a series of unattached, beautiful females between the

ages of 16 and 19 are captured by zombie-like creatures and will presumably be killed if

the player doesnt rescue them.21

The following year, in December 1993, the creators of Wolfenstein 3D followed

up their commercial success with Doom. A first-person shooter set in a Mars space base,

Doom applied the same violent gameplay mechanics of Wolfenstein to demonic aliens.22

Doom was one of the games argued to be an inciting factor behind the Columbine

shootings in Littleton, CO.23

Video game journalism

These controversies didnt happen in a vacuum. Since its early days, the role of

the press in America has been to mediate conversation.24 Yet the press also gives voice to

the voiceless. Video games in 1980s and 1990s suffered the same fate as television and

movies in their early yearsthey were either dismissed or ignored by serious journalists.

Although moving pictures began to be displayed in the early 1900s, it was not until the

1940s that mainstream journalistic film criticism became a consistent feature of print

8

news.25 The reason for delay? Criticism was for art. Most agreed that theater and music

was art, but movies?26 With video games, the population of players grew rapidly and with

intensity. It is not surpising then that gamers founded their own magazines in order to

share video game news, review games and discuss industry trends.

Video game journalism itself, at its best, could be considered equivalent to

television or movie criticismlargely editorial in content. At its worst, as in the early

years of Nintendo Power, it was simply a marketing arm of video game developers eager

to push specific games into the homes of their consumers.27 Nintendo Power was the first,

mass audience video game magazine and thus many journalists characterize video game

journalism as simple advertising by game developers or the vehement ramblings of

hardcore fans.28 But Nintendo Power was not the only video game magazine on the

market in the 1990s.

GamePro Magazine debuted in 1989 and covered video games on all platforms,

computers and even arcade cabinets. This is in stark contrast to its competitor Nintendo

Power, which only covered Nintendo products. It gained a reputation for being willing to

be critical of poor games in previews and reviews and for the buyers beware section in

which readers could send complaints about issues with defective games.29 In January

1995, GamePro proudly shared that with more than half a million subscribers, GamePro

was the most popular video game magazine in the United States.30 And while there has

always been some diversity among video game players, this was not the case with

GamePro. GamePro cultivated a niche and highly desirable audience: 97 percent of

readers were male and 64 percent of readers were between the ages of 12 and 17.31 All

GamePro writers used synonyms that generally reflected their reviewing niche (ie.

9

Scary Larry, Hack n Slash). Many of the pseudonyms apply to the same person.

GamePros editorial policy was to never reveal the identity of their writers.32

Currently, no computer systems or organizations archive videogame magazines

this includes the publishers themselves. The archives on most videogame magazine

websites only present a few years of issues. The magazine GamePro closed in 2011 and

finding back issues continues to be difficult. The only location these magazines could be

found was on the website RetroMags, which digitally archives video game magazines in

comic book reader format (.cbr). RetroMags makes the digital files available freely on the

condition that they not be used for profit. RetroMags relies on crowdsourcing to gather

the magazines. Fans work as a community to present the most complete collection of

video game magazines. Many magazine archives are still incomplete but, GamePro,

perhaps due to its popularity, has a complete archive from 1991 to 1999. As a result of

the completeness of archive, the popularity of the magazine, and the features of video

game criticism noted above, this researcher selected GamePro as a case study in

examining how video game journalism discusses violence in its games. Every GamePro

from 1991 through 2000a total of 96 issueswas examined and explored for the way

writers and editors discussed violence in video games.

Anxiety regarding video game violence

Early on, readers expressed some concern about the potential role of the video

game medium. In May 1991, Jonathan Cocco wrote to GamePro expressing concern

regarding video game narratives.

Too many companies are manufacturing games that are simply variations on a theme. When will someone come onto the scene and breathe life back into the

10

games?...I hope someday the giants of the industry will realize that people are looking for real story lines, not just an excuse to vicariously kill somebody.33

Cocco was right. At the time, the video game industry needed something to breathe life

into it and that arrived with Mortal Kombat and Doom in the mid-90s. However,

vicarious killing would be a central part of this new life.

From 1991 to 1993, GamePro presents a fairly sanitized picture of the world in

the art, ads and discussion of video games. In a February 1991 review of The Magician,

the author describes characters in the game as peaceful warriors.34 The phrase

peaceful warriors is emblematic of those early games. One could argue that video

games are innately violent. As one letter to the editor notes, in Super Mario Bros., the

Mario kicks turtles and stomps gombaswhich is violence too.35 In Sonic the Hedgehog,

the player attacks robots in order to free entrapped animals. GamePro Magazine indicates

that the story is complete once peace has arrived; the warriors lose their reason to war.

The cover of the May 1992 issue of GamePro presented a first in the history of

the magazinea character with a weapon on the front cover. GamePro featured

Splatterhouse 2 on the cover, yet the image is hardly what one would expect. The

cartoonish drawing of the killer protagonist makes the hockey mask wearing protagonist

look like far more child-friendly than the game indicates. He holds a knife, but the blade

subtly cropped out and strange green blood drips down the knife. The use of green blood

is odd because the game actually shows red pixels of blood. The reviewer even describes

the game as gory.36 Changing the color of the blood dampens the violence that was

actually present in the game.

The depictions of violence in these early issues reflect the sanitized imagery of

violence in American culture at this time. News media images of the Gulf War in Iraq

11

presented little of the horrors that war typically reeks.37 Fewer R-rated movies were

released during the early 1990s than in the years that followed in 1991, 133 rated-R

movies were released and by 1994, that number shrunk to 112 before climbing to a new

high of 144 in 1995.38 Along with the renewed climb of R-rated movies came intense

debate about violence in music. During this time period, hardcore hip-hop and rap grew

to mainstream popularity as a result of artists Run-D.M.C, Ice-T and Wu Tang Clan.

During this time period, this music overlapped with gangsta rap themes and focused on

themes of street life, crime, drugs and police brutality.39 Like violent video games,

hardcore rap was the subject of public discussion and concern in the mid-1990s.40

And when R-rated movies and violent music increased in popularity again, so did

the rise in video game violence. In PC games, this change in tone took place around the

games Wolfenstein 3-D and Doomwhich was later released to a number of game

consoles. An ad for Doom in GamePros January 1995 issue proudly proclaimed Now

theres a place more violent than earth.41

The primary discussion grounds for violence in video games surrounded two

powerful genre fads during the 1990s. Early on it the fighting game dominated the video

game scene but as the decade progressed survival horror games and first-person shooters

simultaneously grew in popularity and public attention.

Dominance of the Fighting Game

A change occurs in the introduction of fighting game genre, which reached a

dominant position with the release of Street Fighter II. It is impossible to downplay the

degree to which GamePro Magazine promoted and crusaded on the part of the fighting

12

game genre. The reviews, special pullout strategy guides, ads and editors notes all

indicate an unrestrained enthusiasm for the rise of the fighting game genre.42

This enthusiasm rose from the fact that video game software, like the children

who played it, had grown up. The sanitized early GamePro magazines that touted Sonic

the Hedgehog drew child readers. The letters to the editor indicate that as those children

grew up, they didnt give up their video game console but rather expected it to grow with

them. In part this is indicated by the GamePro ratings system. The early ratings system

had pictures of a young boy to illustrate their five-point scale for graphics, sound, control,

challenge and fun factor. In June 1996, the boyish rating faces gave way to a more

developed manly face. The editor discussed the new ratings images saying Our ratings

guy has a more angular face nowhey, hes no longer the baby faced kid he was, so why

shouldnt he look older?43 The gamers grew up and so did their games.

GamePro first introduced Mortal Kombat in November 1992 in their feature Hot

at the Arcades. The author Hack n Slash describes the violence in detail:

Please note: If youre squeamish or have a faint heart, this game features some of the goriest violence ever to flicker across an arcade screen. High damage blows yield copious amounts of your opponents blood. One players secret move rips an opponents head right off of its body spinal column and all!44

Mortal Kombat included a feature new to fighting gamesthe fatality. Once a player

defeated their opponent, the winner had the opportunity to execute a special move that

would cause the opponent to die in a gruesome manner. Players loved fatalities and

many wrote to GamePro to defend the over-the-top gore. In an interview with GamePro

Magazine, the lead graphic artist for Mortal Kombat, John Tobias, argued that the

fatalities drew people to Mortal Kombat, but great gameplay is what kept them there: I

dont think anyone is attracted to just something red on the screen.45 However, Mortal

13

Kombat II introduced humorous, non-violent alternatives to fatalities: babalities,

which turned an opponent into a baby, and Friendships, in which the character spares

his opponent. The allure of Mortal Kombat was evident to GamePro writer Hack n

Slash:

Mortal Kombat is taking arcades by storm, commanding lines even larger than those for Street Fighter II. With its beautiful graphics and gut-wrenching game play, Mortal Kombat is clearly making a bid to be THE fight game champ.46

Like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat was followed by a host of sequels that appeared

typically first in arcades, but also across console platforms. The level of violence and

gore in Mortal Kombat remained largely a feature of the Mortal Kombat brand as fighting

games peaked in the mid-90s.

The ESRB ratings system is integral to how GamePro editors defend violence in

games. The flair-up, however, was one of the last regarding fighting games. Letters to the

editor, GamePro reviews and features all indicate a cooling of the fighting game genre by

1996. Future concerns would arise based around the survival horror and first-person

shooter genres. But in general, GamePro promoted the sense that ESRB ratings had

addressed all concerns regarding violent content.

Censoring and regulating games

Despite the censorship put in place by Nintendo to protect players from offensive

content, players and parents still expressed concern about the potential power of the video

game medium. Over the course of the 1990s, the editorial policy of GamePro Magazine

shifted. Initially, GamePro remained silent on the issue of ratings, but then gradually

opposed the ratings as being restrictive to freedom of expression. In time, Sega would

create a rating system to address parental and policy maker concerns about Genesis

14

content. Then the industry itself would later impose a rating system that included all

consoles. As the ratings system took hold, GamePro used it as a defense as it crusaded

against political calls for greater regulation in the industry.

Calls for a rating system began long before the appearance of Mortal Kombat and

Doom. In March 1991, GamePro Magazine responded to a letter from a parent requesting

ratings on video games. GamePro editors responded with a neutral tone and referred the

parent to a group called Parents Against Video Violence. The editors wrote: The

issue of ratings is a growing concern for parents and gamers alikeWere always

interested in hearing what our readers think about this issue.47

Later, however, GamePro challenged the idea of the ratings system as being a

step toward censorship. The solution, according to GamePro, is for parents to take an

active role in monitoring their childs video games, and take more time to learn about the

video games.48 Once Mortal Kombat reached home consoles, the proposal for video game

ratings only escalated. Super Nintendo censored their version of the game, turning blood

into gray sweat, and editing many of the fatalities. But this created a discrepancy

between the mature-rated Sega Genesis version, which included blood, and the unrated

Super Nintendo version, which did not.49

Nintendo of America denigrated Sega of Americas initial rating system.

GamePro Magazine quotes a May 25, 1993 press release from Nintendo of America that

said Segas rating system was a means for Sega to justify the marketing of increasingly

violent video games.50 Nintendo stated that their responsibility was to only publish

appropriate software.

15

By mid-1993, GamePro Magazine editors saw the writing on the wall

regulation was going to spread industry-wide and thus supported the initial rating system

from Sega.51 In letters to the editor, gamers expressed indignation over Segas decision to

impose a ratings system on their games through the Videogame Rating Council. Gamers

argued that I see more violence on the six oclock news than in their games,52 that

there are eight-year old kids out there with guns, not because of games, but because of

their environment,53 and that if those groups want to cut violence in the games, they

should first cut the violence in the society.54 In March 1994, responding to the rhetoric,

the editor argues that gameplay, not violence is what makes games popular. Yet citing

parental concerns about violence and sexism in games Mortal Kombat and Night Trap,

GamePro started a parental newsletter called PlayRightwhich served to inform parents

about the electronic entertainment products available to their kids.55

In 1994, the Entertainment Software Association formed the Entertainment

Software Ratings Board to regulate the videogame industry and impose ratings based on

depictions of violence, sexuality and obscenities. Segas Videogame Rating Council was

dissolved and Sega voluntarily took on the industry standard ratings. GamePro continued

to campaign against efforts to denigrate violent video games using the argument that an

industry-wide ratings system provides information regarding games, parents have the

right and responsibility to keep themselves informed and if consumers dont think game

content is appropriate they shouldnt buy the game.

In light of the ESRB, Nintendo relaxed their censorship standards in late-1994

and released Killer Instincta Mortal Kombat look-alike. When Mortal Kombat II was

16

released, Super Nintendo didnt edit out the blood or the fatalitiesin fact GamePro

reviewers argue that the Super Nintendo version is the best version of the game.56

Violence up close-and-personal

After the fighting game fad began to die down, two new fads arosethe survival

horror genre, exemplified by Resident Evil, and the first-person shooter, exemplified by

Time Crisis. Doom brought the two fads together and that may explain its success. In

1995, Doom began to appear in home consoles. Although Doom was released only a short

time after the original Mortal Kombat, it did not saturate the market until much later since

personal computer gamers remained a small percentage of the overall gamer population.

Doom quickly spawned an array of similar first-person shooters including Quake,

Turok and Half-Life. Furthermore, this first-person perspective began to enter other

genres. At the same time, the horror genre proliferated with Blood and Resident Evil. The

new systems and new genre fads combined to bring the action closer to the player. The

limited-field perspective in both the survival horror genre and the first-person shooter

both prevent the player from seeing everythingespecially the zombie creeping up

behind their avatar. In a review of Resident Evil 2, Major Mike notes, RE2s graphics

are more refined that the first games and the rendered cinemas paint a visual (if ghastly)

feast.57 In short, the games graphics increased the horror.

While there was cultural concern about the blood and gore in survival horror and

first-person shooter games, as indicated by the regulatory efforts of Senators Joe

Lieberman and Herb Kohl, GamePro no longer emphasized the gore in the games in

reviews. The gore became normalized. GamePro editors indicated this when they wrote

17

in the April 1997 editorial, a gory game can be more fun to play than one thats

sanitized.58

What changed?

The images of violence in GamePro increased with the players age, with

growing technology and with the popularity of violent games. But what was it that

happened in the early 1990s that brought about such widespread discussion? According

to the GamePro editors, the violent depictions in media arent what changed in this time

period, but the response to it.59 They imply that conservative Republicans used violent

video games as an example of the problems in society; problems they hoped to cash in on

during following elections.

Throughout the 1990s a rising tide of conservatism has washed over the country. It began in 1992 when Pat Buchanan became a bona fide presidential candidate and family values became the main political topic. Soon Congress began debating the violence in video games; Night Trap, a hilariously mundane full-motion-video game, disappeared from shelves, and video games sported a new age-group rating, courtesy of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.60

While the editors point the finger at conservatives for the initial wave against video

games in 1993-1994, the later wave of disapproval against video games that occurred in

1996-1997 cut across party lines. This time led by Democratic Senators Joe Lieberman

and Herb Kohl, this push argued for greater restraint and some Congressional regulatory

measures. In April 1997, the author of the months editorial argued that while the

senators have good intentions, they were misguided in their beliefs regarding media

effects. Most gamers arent influenced by violence, whether its in an arcade, in a

theater or on TV.61

18

Conclusion

During the course of the 1990s, the editorials in GamePro became more

outspoken, more confident and more political as the editors and writers engaged their

aging audience in the societal issues that could affect their gaming hobby. The story of

GamePro reveals a series of fads, which grow more and less popular during the course of

the decade. Seen as a whole, video games over time became more personal and portrayed

more graphically accurate imagery of violence. From 1991 to 1994, fighting games grew

to mass popularity as reflected in the pages of GamePro. But by 1994, letters to the editor

began decrying a loss of originality in fighting games. Real enthusiasm returns to pages

of the magazine with the increased popularity of the survival horror genre and the first-

person shooter genre. The fact that debates about violence in video games took place in

the 1990seven among gamers in a fan-oriented gaming magazineis worth

considering given the progression of technology and depictions of violence that have

happened between then and now. While the 1990s may not seem like the distant past,

technology has progressed substantially.

In the first letters to the editor regarding violence in video games, GamePro

editors distanced the magazine from the violence debate and allowed gamers to carry on

the discussion without weighing in. But by 1992, three years into the publications

existence, the editors came out firmly against any sort of rating system. As the imposition

of a rating system grew more inevitable, the GamePro supported an industry-imposed

system as opposed to one from the government. Then, as further attacks on violence in

games progressed, GamePro used the ratings system as the defense against restrictions on

the sale of games.

19

GamePro created a supportive community for gamers. While the mainstream

media, pundits and politicians decried the ills of video gaming, GamePro provided an

alternative narrativeone that argued that violent video games were not only harmless,

but fun. It provided a forum for gamers to debate and discuss their thoughts on the

violence in video games, and while GamePro editors certainly disagreed with some

letters to the editor, they always disagreed in a respectful manner. The GamePro

editorials and reviews of violent games express defensiveness about violence in games.

The reactionary approach created a format for gamers to model when confronted about

the games they play.

GamePro was niche magazine that represented the voice of video game fans and

their concerns. The fact that GamePro Magazine discussed video game violence

demonstrated that gamers themselves expressed some concern about the perceived

violence in their games. GamePro Magazine allowed them a communal forum to present

their concerns, fears and reservations. The magazine challenged gamers, but also

provided them a space where their views could be affirmed and supported.

What can be made of the fact that discussions about violent content in video

games decrease while violent imagery increases in the 1990s? It was not necessarily that

violence became less of a societal topic. Rather, in the gaming community, the level of

violence seen in early games was normalized. After Mortal Kombat, gamers experienced

Mortal Kombat II, Primal Rage, Killer Instinct and the like. The violence seen in those

games became normal and the violent content in games doesnt become newsworthy

again until the violence gets closer. As the technology in games increases, so does the

level of violence presented.

20

GamePro Magazine reached its half million subscribers in the time before the

world wide web would drive much of the gaming fan community online. It also reached

mass popularity before the gaming population diversified across genders and age groups

as a result of the introduction of mobile gaming, social networking gaming and music-

oriented gaming. The magazines staff provided a voice for a previously unheard

community and acted as a cheerleader for the increasingly violent games all to the chorus

of eager young male players. One can applaud GamePro Magazine for its willingness to

address serious national and political concernsspecifically regarding violence and

sexismin its editorial content but question that it dismissed these concerns so quickly.

The magazine provided an alternative voice to that of parents and politicians who judged

the young males gaming habit as a waste of time or potentially dangerous. It affirmed

their interests but rarely questioned whether those interests were appropriate.

The 1990s was a time of concern about violent content and that concern pored

onto the pages of GamePro.62 63 The fact that GamePro responded to such rhetoric is

emblematic of the degree to which they were defending and representing the interests of

their readers.

Most studies of video games have left press negotiations unexamined, and the

video game press in particular. Giving voice to GamePro Magazine reveals an untold

storythe story of young video gamers. GamePro gave them a forum and a voice during

a time when they were young enough to be impressionable, young enough to have no say

in the decisions made in their household and in Washington, yet old enough to realize

that these discussions were important. And while GamePro Magazine is just one out of

several video game magazines at this time, its position as the most popular magazine

21

during the 1990s speaks to the importance of understanding the views and perspectives

written into its pages.

22

1 Williams, Dmitri. "The Video Game Lightning Rod." Information Communication & Society 6, no. 4 (2003): 523-50. 2 Binasisa, Mazzi. All Clicked Out. Game On: The History and Culture of Videogames, edited by Lucien King. London, U.K.: Laurence King Publishing Ltd., 2002. 3 Browning, E.S. "Exorcising the Ghosts of Octobers Past." The Wall Street Journal, 15 October 2007. 4 Kent, Steve L. The Ultimate History of Video Games. New York City, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2001. p. 17 5 Ibid. p. 234 6 Ibid., p. 54-55. 7 Ibid., p. 41. The Atari 2600 game E.T. is considered legendary in this regard. Players would enter the first room in the first level and fall down an endless, and unavoidable hole. The only way to stop the fall would be to reset the system and start over. 8 Sheff, David. Game Over: Press Start to Continue. Wilton, CT: GamePress, 1999. p. 140. 9 Sheff, Game Over: Press Start to Continue. p. 6. 10 Ibid., p. 183. 11 McCollough, J.J. "Nintendo Censorship." Filibuster Cartoons. 12 Sheff, Game Over: Press Start to Continue. p. 459 13 Sheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children. New York City, NY: Random House, 1993. p. 5-6. 14 Bits refer to the level of a computing power. 15 Ryan, Jeff. Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America. New York City, NY: Penguin, 2011. p. 114. 16 Sheff, Game Over: Press Start to Continue. p. 350. 17 GamePro Magazine, no. 46, 1992. 18 Rated X. GamePro Magazine, no. 59, 1993. p. 8. 19 Kutner, Lawrence, and Cheryl Olsen. Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do. New York City, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2008. 20 Arsenault, Dominic. "System Profile: The Nintendo Entertainment System (Nes)." In The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to Playstation and Beyond, edited by Mark J.P. Wolf. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. p. 111. 21 Night Trap: ProReview. GamePro Magazine, no. 51, 1992. p. 62 22 Kushner, Masters of Doom: How Two Guy Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. 23 Irvine, Reed, and Cliff Kincaid. "Video Games Can Kill." Accuracy in Media. 24 Dewey, John. The Public and Its Problems. New York City, NY: H. Holt and Company, 1927. 25 Haberski, Raymond. 1ts Only a Movie!: Films and Critics in American Culture. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2001. p. 11 26 Ibid. p. 12 27 Sheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children. New York City, NY: Random House, 1993. p. 178. 28 Ibid. p. 179. 29 Reilly, Jim. "Game Pro Magazine Closes." Game Informer, 2011. 30 Good Quality and Sequels: Good Buy or Goodbye? GamePro Magazine, no. 76, 1995. p. 12 31 Wanted: Wired Women. GamePro Magazine, no. 110, 1997. p. 24.

23

32 The Feature Creature. 100 IssuesOver 200 Writers GamePro Magazine, no. 100, 1997. p. 38. 33 Cocco, Jonathan. Is the Industry on the Skids? GamePro Magazine, no. 32, 1991. p. 12 34 Russ Ceccola. GamePro Magazine, no. 29, 1991. p. 52. 35 Reiser, Wesley. Violence in GamesThe Readers Speak Out. GamePro Magazine, no. 60, 1993. p. 12 36 Abby Normal. GamePro Magazine, no. 44, 1992. p. 38-39. 37 Halliday, Fred, T Allen, and J Seaton. "Manipulation and Limits: Media Coverage of the Gulf War, 1990-91." The Media of conflict: War reporting and representations of Ethnic Violence, London and New York, Zed Books,1999. 38 1994 Yearly Box Office by MPAA Rating. Retrieved 11 April, 2013 39 "About Hardcore Rap." Rovi Corp. 40 Jones, Kenneth. "Are Rap Videos More Violent? Style Differences and the Prevalence of Sex and Violence in the Age of Mtv." Howard Journal of Communications 8, no. 4 (1997): 343-56. 41 GamePro Magazine, no. 76, 1995. p. 41. 42 Editor's Note. GamePro Magazine, no. 64, 1994. p. 10. 43 Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes. GamePro Magazine, no. 93, 1996. p. 12. 44 Hack n Slash. Hot at the Arcades: Mortal Kombat. GamePro Magazine, no. 32, 1992. p. 18. 45 Slasher Quan. The Minds Behind Mortal Kombat II. GamePro Magazine, no. 68, 1994. p. 27. 47 To Rate or Not to RateStill the Hot Topic. GamePro Magazine, no. 30, 1991. p. 12. 48 Ibid. 49 A bloodless Mortal Kombat. GamePro Magazine, no. 58, 1993. p. 12 50 Rated X. GamePro Magazine, no. 59, 1993. p. 8. 51 Ibid 52 Violence in Video Games. GamePro Magazine, no. 60, 1993. p. 12. 53 Video ViolenceThe Readers Speak Out. GamePro Magazine, no. 61, 1993. p. 12. 54 Video ViolenceThe Debate Continues. GamePro Magazine, no. 65, 1994. p. 12. 55 Ibid. 56 Special Feature: Mortal Rocks the House. GamePro Magazine, no. 73, 1994. p. 36. 57 Major Mike. Resident Evil 2: ProReview. GamePro Magazine, no. 114, 1998. p. 92. 58 Fight for your right to party! GamePro Magazine, no. 95, 1996. p. 14 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid. 61 Ibid. 62 Halliday, Fred, T Allen, and J Seaton. "Manipulation and Limits: Media Coverage of the Gulf War, 1990-91." The Media of conflict: War reporting and representations of Ethnic Violence, London and New York, Zed Books,1999. 63 Jones, Kenneth. "Are Rap Videos More Violent? Style Differences and the Prevalence of Sex and Violence in the Age of Mtv." Howard Journal of Communications 8, no. 4 (1997): 343-56.