Day 14, Game 14 - NRA Practice Range

I know this blog is about to be about my quest to play a game a day, every day, for an entire year. And while this entry still satisfies my project requirements, I intend to use it for a little more meaning tonight - a slightly politically-fueled rant. I apologize in advance if you came here just to read about my latest gaming adventure, but I feel fairly strongly about this topic.

I didn't think I would ever have to highjack my own blog, but some things just need to happen.

Today I played NRA Practice Range, a game that was just released for the iTunes App store last night, for free. It's not that I really wanted to play the game, but I felt necessary to do so in order to cement my point of view.

You see, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings one month ago, when the Nation was in an uproar over gun control, the NRA (National Rifle Association) was surprisingly tight-lipped. That was, of course, until they came out and publicly blamed violent video games and movies for fueling our society full of violence, ultimately leading to tragedies such as the elementary school shooting. While no evidence even suggested that video games or movies had anything to do with motivating the sick fuck to walk into a school and shoot dozens of kids, or any of the other recent random shootings, the NRA attempted to deflect negativity towards guns back onto easy targets like the video game industry.

This fueled towns to threaten "game burnings," asking town members to turn in violent video games for a good old fashion bonfire of violent media. They cancelled the burning a week after suggesting it, stating they made their point by grabbing headlines and bringing focus to the issue of violent video games. The NRA was smiling all the way. Their plan had worked.

And then, out of no where, they grabbed their own foot, turned it sideways and promptly shoved it in their own mouth. Last night, like I said before, they released a free first-person shooter game for the iTunes App store, where gamers can use a variety of weapons to practice their shooting, both inside indoor ranges, outside target shooting and skeet shooting. Players can also purchase new weapons, such as AK-47, if they feel so inclined to upgrade their weapon. The best part about it all? They rated the game for people ages 4 and up.

Sure, you aren't shooting people, but rather targets, but the message is still the same. You get cool guns to shoot things. Isn't that what all the "violent" video games do, in one sense or another? The game isn't meant to be an instructional app for gun safety and has no significant "guns are bad" message like they want the rest of the video game industry to do. And to rate it 4+ after telling the nation that guns in video games are harming our kids, on the heels of a school shooting, is flat out a slap in the face to everyone who took them seriously.

For the video game industry to be forced to defend themselves over and over again, and then get brutally thrown under the bus by this hypocritical organization is a damn shame. The NRA is a joke, and this just proves they shouldn't ever be allowed to make public statements regarding serious issues ever again.

I'm pissed that I even downloaded this piece of shit game, giving them another download to boost their numbers. Thank god it was free, or I would be demanding any money spent on this pile of garbage. The game itself sucks, is horribly built and feel like more of a joke than anything. And it is a joke ... a joke to even call it a game. It's a slap in the face to every single person who makes a living in the video game industry.

And for Apple to support this bullshit is even worse. They should make a statement and remove it from their store. The positives far outweigh negatives for making such a drastic, bold statement. But we all know Apple won't do a damn thing about it. They will sit back and collect whatever pennies are generated from this abomination of a "game."

Fuck you NRA. How dare you try to rip down the culture I and millions of others love, just to deflect any blame and hard questions that come your way in the face of tragedy. How dare you turn around and do the most hypocritically heinous act you could think of. How dare you even attempt to slide your way in to the realm of video games, where bullheaded bureaucracy has no place being.

If you excuse me, I'm going to go play a shitload of Far Cry 3 and shoot every god damn gun I can find nonstop, just because. Or I'll go play New Super Mario Bros. Wii U. Either way, I need to clear my head and regroup.

Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels this way...

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