Step Away From The Joystick

DECEMBER 16--Until the killjoys at Missouri's Department of Corrections stepped in earlier this month, inmates at the maximum security Jefferson City Correctional Center were able to pass their time playing violent video games like "Hitman: Contracts," "Max Payne," and "Grand Theft Auto." Seems that prison brass were unaware that many of the 80 titles in the facility's PlayStation-equipped video game room featured gory, blood-drenched action (activity in which many of the prison's inhabitants engaged while once at liberty). The officials banned 80 games after a Kansas City Star reporter asked about the propriety of murderers, rapists, and armed robbers honing their skills on titles like "Blood Rayne." Below you'll find a two-page list of video games removed from the 1,996-bed prison and a list showing all titles originally ordered (the documents were provided to TSG pursuant to a Sunshine Law request). The video games were not purchased with state funds, but rather through a "canteen fund" generated via prison commissary sales. For some reason, titles on the removal list carrying the "teen" annotation were not, in fact, removed, according to corrections officials. (3 pages)