9781422272664

“People who know how to make games need to start focusing on the task of making real life better for as many people as possible.” 1 —Jane McGonigal, game designer and author

of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), an organization of major American movie studios. Hays was ordered to improve the film industry’s image, so he implemented a system of self-regulation, creating a code for filmmakers to follow that set certain guidelines and general policies for the industry. It was called the Motion Picture Production Code, although many people referred to it as the Hays Code. The Hays Code banned profane language; nudity and sex scenes (including depictions of prostitution); and depictions of illegal drug use, adultery, and interracial relationships. It instructed film directors to make sure that violent stories were told in “good taste” and that criminals were not sympathetic figures. Films could not depict police officers, clergy members, or other authority figures as incompetent, silly, or villainous. (Exceptions could be made if the film were to make clear that such characters were exceptions

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Contemporary Issues: Entertainment and Video Games