"True Crime: NYC" Draws Heat

It seems Activision has incurred the ire of the police commissioner of NYC, Raymond Kelly, who is asking for Activision's soon-to-be-released game, True Crime: NYC to be boycotted. The second in the True Crime series, follows the exploits of a fictional police force, the thinly veiled PDNY, who tend to break laws and provide a generally vigilante approach to crime fighting. Kelly says, "It's totally inappropriate. It's a tough job, a dangerous job, and this undermines what police officers try to do" (NY Daily News). Enter retired NYPD detective, Bill Clark, who helped with the game and is best known for his technical help on "NYPD Blue". Says Kelly of Clark, "I'm saddened that even some former members of the department are linked to that video game."

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The New York Daily News portrays Clark's response, "police union officials should spend less time worrying about games and more time working on "getting cops more than a $25,000 starting salary."" Good comeback, Mr. Clark. Yes, my first reaction was also, "Don't you have more important things to be worrying about?"

So, let's summarize, the commissioner of the NYPD is calling for a game which poorly portrays cops to be boycotted. Then, perhaps, he should also have boycotted "NYPD Blue" and "The Shield". You can watch both of those on TV. That's right TV!

Going further, is it not the job of police officers to uphold the law and the Constitution? This game is protected under the First Ammendment.

Here's the problem boiled down: People who are outside gaming, Mr. Kelly, for example, worry that us gamers don't know the difference between fiction and reality. Us gamers, on the other hand, are worried that people like Mr. Kelly don't understand the same thing.