Thomas Nord

"Grand Theft Auto 3" players can maim or kill while stealing cars.

If you watch enough violent movies, TV shows, music videos and, yes, even commercials, after a while you are bound to get a little jaded.

So jaded that you start to develop an open mind, or an outright insensitivity, to the violent shoot-'em-up video games that the industry keeps firing onto the market.

Then something like "Under Ash" comes along and resets your moral compass.

The premise is familiar to anyone who has played video games like "Doom" or "Quake" -- armed with a weapon, you confront and kill folks (who would like to do the same unto you) as you work your way across a digital landscape.

What makes "Under Ash" different is that the perspective is of a young Palestinian, and his targets are Israeli soldiers occupying his town.

It is a new phenomenon in video gaming -- the move from fantastic and violent scenarios to situations in which killers have real-world agendas and the storylines come from CNN, not science fiction.

Take, for instance, "Hooligans -- Storm Over Europe," a game produced in Holland and a popular seller on the European market. The object is to lead a gang of soccer hooligans as it rampages through a fictional city, coming up against the riot police and rival gangs.

Here's how the game's Web site explains it:

"You must kill, maim and destroy the opposing Hooligan teams. You muster and control your faithful troops by administering drugs, alcohol and of course a good dose of violence every now and then."

While neither game is popular in the States, Americans have latched onto a rather grisly game called "Grand Theft Auto 3." Created by the video-game company Rock Star, "GTA3" sounds benign by today's standards, but the title is misleading.

Players, in the employ of a criminal mob, must steal cars. Anyone who gets in the way -- cops, other gangsters, innocent bystanders -- is liable to end up bullet-riddled and bloodied.

"The content is, simply put, insane-ly brutal. . . . This is a dark, gritty game," says GameSpy (www.GameSpy.com), a gaming Web site. "You're a common street thug, and you break just about every law that there is. . . . You'll interact with all sorts of gangs, hookers, and corrupt cops. You'll be sent to murder people, to destroy buildings, and to just generally ruin other people's lives. It's really pretty good stress relief."

"GTA3" has been talked up by celebrity gamers like Colin Hanks (the acting offspring of Tom Hanks) and, thanks to being banned in Australia, has received lots of free publicity. It is moving off store shelves like a hot-wired Ferrari.

"I got a lot of cops on the Louisville police force who love it," quipped Chris Fingar, manager of GameForce in Fern Creek. "The only thing that bothers them is that you can kill cops (in the game)."

All three games probably were inevitable. Whether fueled by politics or pure mayhem, advances in video-game technology have forced creators into an arms race of sorts. With each passing generation of games, the pressure increases to capture fickle players who want the most realistic experience possible.

"I'm doubling my business every year," said Fingar, who said GameForce is close to opening a third store, to join those in Fern Creek and Valley Station.

Critics have lamented the rise in violent games, a trend that seemed to take off in the mid-1990s with the popularity of "Doom" and "Quake," so-called "first-person shooter" games that place a virtual gun in the player's hand. Complaints about the games gained power when authorities revealed that the perpetrators of at least two school shootings -- in Paducah, Ky., and Littleton, Colo. -- were devotees of "Doom" and "Quake."

Gamers say the games are pure fantasy and just a good way to blow off steam in a stressful world. And some of the criticism is silly. Those who complain that World War II games like "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" allow players to take on the role of Nazi soldiers seem to miss the fact that war-simulation games have been around as board games for many years.

But other critics are more on target when they worry about games like "Ethnic Cleansing," a video game making the rounds of the white-power movement. Modeled after games like "Doom," "Ethnic Cleansing" allows a player to garb himself as a skinhead or a Klansman as he scours an urban landscape for Jews, blacks and immigrants.

Games like "Ethnic Cleansing" are not created by mainstream game designers. They're the product of outlaw programmers looking to spread a hateful message. Fortunately, groups like the Anti-Defamation League are aware of this phenomenon and are working to warn parents and educators about such games.

Fingar said he would never encourage or sell a game like "Ethnic Cleansing," but he noted that readily available software makes it fairly simple to turn already violent games like "Doom" into something even more sinister.

"I have black employees and customers, so I would never want something like that in here," said Fingar, whose store sells only unmodifiable games for console systems like Play-Station2 and Xbox, as opposed to PC games, which can be tinkered with. "It's immature people who are making modifications to these games."

Then again, that all depends on your perspective.

Rudwan Qasmiyah, the Syria-based designer of "Under Ash," did not respond to an e-mail sent to his company, Supersoft, seeking comment. But in a message printed on the "Under Ash" home page, Qasmiyah suggested that the game was in response to video games that target Arabs, usually depicted as terrorists.

"The topics they handled were directed in a way which offends us as Muslims and Arabs," Qasmiyah wrote. "In spite of the great deal of hatred and violence such games were charged with, they succeeded in sneaking to our houses and to the minds of our children and youth who have been used to spend their times playing with them, firing bullets from our backs or in front of us at the men of the Resistance or at the soldiers of the Arab armies."

"Under Ash" is being sold via its Web site (www.underash.com/emessage.htm), and a downloadable demo is available.

Meanwhile, a review of "Hooligans -- Storm Over Europe" suggests that it might not have much of a market in the United States.

"In spite of the interesting idea, this game is definitely not a winner, and relies too much on senseless violence," noted ActionTrip (www.ActionTrip.com), another gaming Web site. "And, as I doubt there are too many football hooligans who are playing video games, I somehow think this project isn't going to do too well on the market."

It's a different story in England, which has battled with soccer thugs for years. According to The (London) Daily Telegraph, the Home Office, the government agency responsible for internal security, was less than enthusiastic about the game. Chances are, such scrutiny will only sell more copies.

"We do not anticipate any difficulty in getting the game in the shops," one of the game's creators told The Daily Telegraph. "If you look at the computer-game industry, there are many more violent and morally reprehensible games out there. We got bored of games where you have to fight ogres and trolls and just thought it would be a nice, topical idea."

Fingar, meanwhile, said retailers can and should take measures to keep hyper-violent games from falling into kids' hands. The game industry has adopted a ratings system similar to the one used for feature films, and Fingar said his staff is rigid about it.

"That's why we check IDs," said Fingar, who said 85 percent of his customers are males between 17 and 25. "We gotta be able to sleep at night."

But beyond that, he said, the violence is all part of the game.

"If you are mature enough to play it," he said, "you have a right to play it."

Thomas Nord can be contacted at tnord@courier-journal.com or at (502) 582-4628.

Previous columns Dec. 13 · Recycled celebs: How can we miss them if they won't go away? Nov. 29 · Itty-bitty digital 'jukeboxes' catch on big Nov. 22 · Is it really a lecture? A calamity? Or is it a party? Nov. 8 · Cinderblöck encourages art through drive-in Nov. 1 · We spy: Consumers now can afford personal versions of miniature spy gear Oct. 25 · Video-game prices high? Teen says, 'Boycott!' Oct. 18 · New services edit sex and violence out of movie videos Oct. 11 · All the news that's not: Satirical news Web site offers outlet for Louisvillian's scathing creativity Oct. 4 · Totally un-fair: Several artists set up rebel show in the shadow of the famous St. James Sept. 27 · The next big thing in extreme: FMX is riding high Sept. 20 · The Emmys: who will win? We think we know Sept. 13 · Fall's big battles: It's the networks vs. cable! It's the networks vs. each other! It's the new TV season! Sept. 6 · Subtle impact: Those who expected massive changes in entertainment after 9/11 were wrong Aug. 30 · Mind games: Contestants gather weekly to pursue a not-so-trivial spot in trivia contest Aug. 16 · CD prices are slashed as industry tries to cope Aug. 9 · 'Footy' gets a toe in the door: Louisvillians hooked on Australian Rules Football form their own team Aug. 2 · 'Sex and this city': It's a hot series on HBO. Is it true in Louisville? July 26 · Strung out? Maybe Dorney Thompson has the answer. . . . He's Louisville's singing therapist July 19 · Emmys get wired: TV academy pushes the envelope with cable-show nominations July 12 · Motorcycle mania: Baby boomers are in hog heaven as they try to reclaim 'The Edge'

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