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- CALGARY (CP) -- You're racing
through crowded downtown Chicago, smashing into trash cans and mailboxes,
leaving the cops behind to eat your dust.
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- Pedestrians dive out of your way screaming "Maniac!"
as your vehicle jumps an automated drawbridge and skids sideways, spitting
sparks and burning rubber.
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- Midtown Madness, a video game from Microsoft, was designed
to cure hothead speed demons of their road rage. "To people who feel
road rage, let them experience a relief, give them the tool to relax,"
said the game's designer, Frederic Marcus.
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- But police and criminologists doubt whether a game fix
will soothe those crazed, volatile drivers. They believe the game will
fuel asphalt anger in teenagers too young to drive in the real world.
"The question I'd have of Microsoft is: Give me the evidence that
this is the cure and not contributing (to the problem)," said Doug
King, co-ordinator of Mount Royal College's law enforcement program.
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- Marcus insists it's simply clean, family fun. "It's
like reality -- driving frantically in the city and doing whatever you
want. That is what real life is all about, anyway," he said. "To
me, a video game is a toy. It's basically a fun and entertaining experience."
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- According to the game's video site, designers got their
inspiration from the TV show America's Scariest Police Chases. "Once
the cops start their pursuit, they're a hard bunch to shake: they'll chase
you down dark alleys, through city parks and even on the freeway,"
states the site. "And they really hate yahoos doing donuts on Wrigley
Field."
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- Sgt. Peggy Gamble of the Ontario Police Road Rage Program
said the hype just encourages drivers to manifest their madness on real
roads. "I would think that giving somebody all these ideas on how
to drive fast, avoid things and having pedestrians jump out of the way
would encourage some people to actually go out and try to do it,"
said Gamble. "It's quite extreme."
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- Gamble points out it is largely teenagers and younger
kids who play video games. "With teenagers learning how to drive
and getting their drivers licences, we don't want them to go out on the
road and drive like they would in the video game," she said.
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- Rosemary Gartner, a criminology professor at the University
of Toronto, said the game inevitably brainwashes young minds. "The
military uses video games like this to train for war," Gartner said.
"By watching these, the aggressive message sinks into the brain, subconsciously
or otherwise."
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- Marcus said unlike some video games, there is no blood
or killing in Midtown Madness. "It took an incredible amount of effort
to have pedestrians able to avoid the cars at all costs," he said.
"I don't want to do violent games. I've got a kid."
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