Dear Mr. Wells & Mr. Balestra,
My name
is Taylor Atkinson and I am writing this letter about your phenomenal 2013
release, The Last of Us.
Let me
begin by expressing my profound respect and admiration for your studio. Video
game production is a challenging market to make profits in, and its rapid
changes make staying relevant and exciting a unique trial. I played Crash Bandicoot when I was 9 when it
came with my first PlayStation. Last year I purchased a digital copy on my
PlayStation 3 because I love it now as much as I did then.
I have also
followed the Jak & Daxter series,
and I adore Uncharted. They are all
more than deserving of the awards and accolades they have received. You can
understand, then, how thrilled I was for the release of The Last of Us. Unfortunately, I have not been able to experience
it. Yet.
Watching
theatrical and gameplay previews in anticipation of its release, I noticed liberal
use of profanity throughout. While I expected my hopes to be in vain, I waited
to see if there would be content filtering options. While the game has been
given a ‘gore filter’, no language filter has been introduced.
In
writing this, I realize I am not representing the majority of ‘gamers,’ or even
the majority of media consumers. Most adults purchase video games with complete
disregard for the ESRB rating. Still,
there are many of us who feel that if something cannot be shown in good conscience
to people under the age of 18, then there is no great benefit to be gained in
exposing adults to that same content.
I would
never advocate for restricting any company’s right to produce this content, but
rather for options to be available to enjoy excellent media and still maintain one’s
own personal standards.
My
moral decisions are mine alone, and in making them I have no desire to pressure
or put down others. I consider no one ‘bad’ or ‘worse’ for having different
standards, but I try to live mine and hope that a mutual respect encourages
everyone to allow for and accommodate one another’s personal views. I realize
that I am coming forward as a representative of a moral stance that many
consider archaic at best and pointless at worst. Often, ‘gamers’ are portrayed
as a group with looser morals and less concern about exposure to mature content.
Often mass media has pushed the argument that video games even encourage a casual
disregard towards violence, sexuality, and profanity.
I believe this is a lie, one which
we all have a responsibility to expose.
I believe ‘gamers’ are equal
participants in the millions of individuals throughout the world who have found
that a commitment to avoiding excessive violence, sexuality, and profanity
whenever possible has led to greater peace, self-control, and respect for all
humanity. I believe I speak for them in saying a collective ‘Thank You!’ for
the filters you’ve provided, and asking you to expand that effort.
Critics
often point out that profanity provides a more realistic environment
representative of what could actually be expected in the portrayed extreme
circumstances, and that profanity is mild in comparison to the violence and
sexuality in many games, implying an underlying hypocrisy in its opposition.
Both of these arguments have
fundamental flaws:
Firstly,
while fidelity to reality is a welcome enhancement to many games, there are many
real-life situations whose reproduction would obviously be damaging and hurtful.
Real events so terrible as to be nearly unspeakable -- sexual abuse of
children, extremely gruesome violence -- frequently occur at the hands of
terrible people, but there is little or nothing to be gained by widespread graphic
depictions of these acts. This extreme example implies a spectrum of ‘real-life’
events, with varying degrees of gain from their reproduction. While profanity,
as well as sexuality and violence, are a day-to-day reality for many people,
there are many of us who live such a life that it isn't, and don’t feel anything
to be gained from its inclusion.
Secondly,
the prioritizing of standards is something that every individual decides for themselves.
While it may seem self-evident to one person that, of the three, violence is
worst, sexuality less so, and profanity the least in affecting a mind or
spirit, another person may prioritize them differently and should feel free and
enabled to do so. When filters are provided for one and not another, every
individual cannot feel validated in their individual standards.
I realize
that I am asking you to do something that will not provide your company with
direct financial profits. While a profanity filter would make many of us happy,
the cost of providing one would not likely be offset by an increase in sales.
All the same, the benefits that it would provide are great and noteworthy: A
message of inclusion and respect to the entire gaming community and evidence of
your company’s commitment to ideals higher than profits alone.
Optimistically,
this could even be a watershed moment, where your actions could help galvanize
a large number of producers to include content filtering options, helping
people to live according to their moral standards and showing the world at
large that the artistic medium of video games produces a respectful, uplifting
community – a perception that has been lost in its vilification at the hands of
non-participants who have not seen the friendly competition, amazing
storytelling, and beautiful art it has provided for all current and future
generations
I would
be extremely thrilled to be able to play what is, by all accounts, one of your
greatest masterpieces to date; Currently, I am not able to. Even if my letter
does not move you to include the profanity filter which I have argued for, it
would thrill me to know that you have received it, read it, and considered the
ideas I've presented.
Thank
you so much for your time.
-Taylor
J Atkinson
