Atari Poop – River Raid

Hey folks, before we get started, I’d just like to bring your attention to the title: Atari Poop.  Eric Bailey suggested I come up with a title for this here series, so I took to Twitter seeking out ideas.  Eric then replied with several great titles, but only one contained the word “poop”. As soon as I read it, I was sold.  We finally have a title to associate to the nonsense I contribute to this otherwise excellent site.  So now you know and should tell your friends, come to 1 More Castle to get the inside scoop with Atari Poop.

Anyway, on with the poop…

 

River Raid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Released in 1982 by Activision and designed by Carol Shaw (which just happens to be an anagram for antidisestablishmentarianism), River Raid hid unimaginable terror behind its super sleek graphics and slick soundtrack.

In a scenario that would make every modern day American uncomfortable, you play as a terrorist who has high-jacked an airplane.  Your mission: shoot down everything that stands in your way – bridges, boats, and helicopters – while headed for your primary target, the White House.  Censors got a hold of the game and had that last part removed, so we were left with an infinite amount of random levels.  However, what the Americans and the rest of the world save Germany failed to recognize was that the gameplay itself was part of a secret  plot to train children to become terrorists.  I’m serious.  Take a look at this gameplay video and tell me I’m wrong.

As a result of this, River Raid became the first video game to be added to Germany’s Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften’s list of banned material.  Its reasoning was that the game glorifies war.  Instead of pushing the player to understand the horrors of war, all of its aspects are trivialized.  War, as depicted in River Raid, is just stuff that happens automatically.  You shoot a bridge, helicopters come at you.  Moral judgment on both sides is completely removed.  The whole process is automated.  As well, everything always disappears, once shot, in a way that hides the reality of the destructiveness of war: no bodies, no blood, no debris, no smoke, no fire, no problem, right?

Worse than this is how the game rewards the player the more destructive he or she is.  Explonding enemy vehicles and fueling stations earns you more points and, especially in a game that doesn’t end, getting more points is the only real way to “win” at the game.  Combined with the well-known addictive aspects of video games, the game is thus able to train thousands of young children to hone their skills, essentially helping them become snipers.  Scarier still, these teenaged and pre-teen snipers have been conditioned by the game to be cold and unfeeling towards death and destruction.  When this is combined with the game’s ability to increase aggression, physical tension, restlessness in thinking, difficulty in concentrating, and headaches in children, society has one nasty cocktail on its hands… likely of the Molotov variety.

Proof of the German’s wisdom in banning this game came in the many years following River Raid’s release.  Countries like the U.S. and France had widespread problems with homegrown terrorists, while in Germany, groups like the Red Army Faction faded into obscurity during the 80s because no German children became interest in committing acts of violence.  People who grew up during the 80s will vouch for me that it was a desolate and barren decade of violence and indecency.  Luckily, we survived thanks to a heavy dose of Eurodance and Who’s the Boss?