I hate to weigh in on something that everybody else in this industry is going to write some hit generating cop out article for, but I just can't sit by and watch this nonsense happening without making a knee-jerk argument against it. First, to honor full disclosure, I should let you all know something.

I shot every single civilian I could in "No Russian." Every. Single. One. Did I do it because I'm some sick freak who loves watching innocent people die? Of course not. Did I do it because Infinity Ward put that in the game for a reason in order to tell a narrative and, out of respect to them and their artistic vision I should play it? Partly. Mostly I spilled the blood of every poor little ragdoll because the people whining about this scene are so outrageously hypocritical that I felt it was my duty to shoot these innocent lines of code just to spite them.

My problem here isn't that the Jack Thompson's of the world are going to rail against this game for how far across the line it apparently stepped. That always happens. People who don't understand video games or want to place blame for terrible parenting or just plain crazy people doing terrible things are always going to gravitate towards video games because it is an interactive medium and they don't understand it. They are like your grandparents trying to text message you. This is nothing new and it doesn't even bother me anymore.

What does bother me, nay infuriates me, is reading gamers and, even worse, video game journalists and people within the industry joining these people in their outrage. Maybe this just pisses me off more than most people because of my well known pretentious views on gaming journalism, or how I feel video games should be considered as much of an art form as anything else. Maybe this all just pisses me off because it made me so angry I had to look like a hypocrite myself by writing an article about video game journalism even though I've already mentioned how annoying I find it when games journalists write about games journalism. This is my soap box though, and I'll do what I want.

The problem I have with people from our side of the line whining about this like a bunch of misguided soccer moms is that these hypocrites have most likely at one point either A) complained about censorship in games or, even worse than that, B) done articles about how video games should be considered equals with movies and television. This is why these people should have their licenses revoked from video game commentary. If video games should be held equal, then why aren't you writing articles about how outraged you were that an entire city got nuked in 24? Or how about all the innocent people that get gunned down in Battlestar Galactica? Isn't that crossing a line too if Modern Warfare is? All entertainment is created equal, right?

It is ridiculous to see colleagues who preach that video games are no longer a mindless diversion just for kids and can be used to address serious issues or even be considered works of art all of a sudden lose their spine when it comes to this. Whats even worse is that they are undermining the games journalism industry by doing it. My predominant theory is that these people, I won't name names but I'm sure you've read their commentary and articles, smell hits like sharks to a bleeding whale. Of course most gaming journalists are going to say this is "nbd" and par for the course and, hopefully, have a similar opinion to me. But these divas, these jellyfish who seem to suddenly think video games can't be a difficult commentary on real life, know that by going against the grain people will go and read their insipid and hypocritical viewpoint.

Video games aren't just mindless escapism anymore. They can be entirely engrossing, conflicting, intelligent narratives on any number of subjects. They should be taken as equal with any other form of entertainment or statement. To undermine it in the name of getting some cheap hits is sickening. What is even worse is the alternative that some journalists and gamers in this industry really ARE unintelligent hypocrites who want to put on their Moral White Knight Guy Fawkes mask and rail away at the idea of shooting a few innocents in a video game right before they go to the movies and watch Gerard Butler cut a swath of destruction through Philadelphia. It scares me that these people don't realize how hypocritical they actually are.

So, moral of the story, you can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want games to be taken seriously as a medium for artistic expression and entertainment, you are going to have to deal with video games actually addressing serious things. If not, well, I guess you can always review puzzle games.

Or maybe those would be too challenging for you too.