January 28, 2010 -
Spencer Halpin’s Moral Kombat, the 2007 documentary that focuses on the subject of violence in videogames, can be viewed for free in its entirety on Babelgum.
In examining its controversial topic, the film talks with a slew of game industry people, politicians and critics, including Dr. David Walsh, Jack Thompson, Lorne Lanning, American McGee, Joe Lieberman, Henry Jenkins and Doug Lowenstein.
The film will be free to watch online for 30 days.
In making the documentary, a variety of cutting-edge technology was employed, some of which is detailed in an article on Apple.com.
Disclosure: Spencer Halpin is ECA President Hal Halpin’s brother. GamePolitics is a publication of the ECA.



Comments
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
At about the 1:14:30 mark, Jack Thompson is talking about how the industry is responsible for "making little ones stumble". He specifically mentioned Michael Carneal, Kleibold and Harris, and Lee Boyd Malvo. I thought him grouping Lee Boyd Malvo with school shooters is a bit odd. Jack has said in the past that Lee Boyd Malvo was forced to play Halo by John Muhammad in order to "suppress his inhibition to kill". Since Jack has said that Lee Boyd Malvo was forced to play video games against his will, he really can't blame the industry for making Lee Boyd Malvo "stumble".
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
Is it me or all of the anti-game nutjob depicted in this movie focus on the fact that "videogames are for children"?
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
The where are they now part at the end was definitely the best part for obvious reasons.
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
Just finished it. WOW that was a great film. Shows the sides from both angles and lets both sides speak their mind about the medium.
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
I know what im watching afterwork.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
http://www.killatia.com/
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
If I remember right Jack was praising this film left and right, if only because he's in it.
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
you remember it right
岩「…Where do masochists go when they die?」
岩「…I can see why Hasselbeck's worried about fake guns killing fake people. afterall, she's a fake journalist on a fake news channel」
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
No picture of Hal Halpin folding his arms?
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
HA!
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
Someone should do a study on the link between aggression and Joe Lieberman. I know I get angry and start shouting every time he comes on my TV. I wonder if I can use a V-chip to protect me from such inappropriate content?
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
Now, now. That was uncalled for.
Considering what I've heard of the man, I found Lieberman's stance in the film to be quite refreshing. The man recognizes that different games are tailored to different audiences (and different age groups) and that games have changed significantly over the past decade. He even admits that the controversy he helped start was kind of ridiculous by today's standards. He comes across as very intelligent and rational, and I'd be proud to have him in office if I was an American. I may or may not agree with his other policies, but I see no reason to label his words as "inappropriate content".
With a couple of exceptions, the arguments presented by all sides were well thought out and reasonably fleshed out. The only major players (ie: people with more than two lines) who didn't seem to have a solid foundation for their arguments were Thompson and Lt. Col. Grossman. Grossman kept his focus on a small number of extreme titles (like Postal 2), ignoring the fact that these games are not representative of the medium and were critically panned by the majority of gamers. I don't need to say anything about Thompson that you wouldn't already know (his playing the religion card, misusing Bible passages, misinterpreting Harvard studies, etc...). I'm glad that they included an actual Harvard researcher to debunk the man's claims. And yes, his "where are they now" blurb was very satisfying. If only they included the "why"...
The rousing speech towards the end of the film really got to me, kind of in the same way that Playing Columbine did. All in all, I'm quite impressed with what I saw and intend to buy the Blu-Ray once it becomes available (...or the DVD if they never make a Blu-Ray version...). I think any self-respecting gamer should take the time to watch this film.
Re: Watch Moral Kombat, For Free
YES!!!!!! I have been waiting to watch this film forever. When the heck will it be out on DVD?