If you thought listening to the disclaimers at the end of a commercial for medicine or reading the warning labels on the side of a cigarette pack is funny, then get a load of this.

I read the report posted on CNet by Don Reisinger which indicates that on January 7, 2009, Joe Baca, a democratic representative of California, introduced the H.R.231: The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009 bill to 111th Congress requesting to make it mandatory that video games that have received a rating for violence to display the following warning:

WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.

I thought it was funny. At first…

Clive Thompson had an excellent editorial yesterday on the Wired blog about horror videogames delivering better thrills than recent horror films. His argument touched on the fact that games are inherently subjective (ie. you are the one in danger, as opposed to vicariously watching a character on a screen be in danger) along with Hollywood’s recent propensity for gore over suspense (Saw, Hostel, etc. aren’t very big on subtlety).

It’s a great read but Thompson only touches briefly on one of the most crucial elements of creating a successful horror experience in either a game or a film – sound design. Sound is everything when it comes to…