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Is This Really Even News Anymore?
I am pretty much contradicting myself by writing about this, but yet another "main stream" journalist thinks video games are super terrible for society and that something must be done to stop them.
The source in question comes from an editorial written by Giles Whittell, writer and parent from the Times of London, where said Journalist has come to the conclusion that video games are as bad as heroin and teenage pregnancy. Sigh.
The writer believes that one shouldn't have to try games to know their bad just like they shouldn't have to try heroin or teenage pregnancy to know they're bad. An obvious indication of how little this person knows about games is their repeated use of the phrase "I will never buy my children a Nintendo" (because apparently someone at the Times believed it crucial that Giles actually try a game before criticizing it).
At this point I'm just going through the motions. Turns out crime has gone down as video game popularity has risen. The largest market isn't kids, it's 18 - 35 year olds. Heroin kills people and teenage pregnancy often leads to broken families. Video gamers almost always grow up to be skilled, intelligent, and productive members in a increasingly technology dependent society. Video games shouldn't be a babysitter, they are a form of entertainment, as much as reading a child a book or taking them to the park. Video games can teach children valuable skills including teamwork, the villainy of cheating, accomplishment and working with loss. I can keep this up all day...
Anyone care to guess when the next one of these type of stories get written?
I wish I could say something that would change people like Giles Whittell's mind, but they have clearly madeup their minds already.
Posted by Decompiled at April 2, 2008 6:27 PMTuesday, May 6th at 9:17 AM. That's my guess.
Posted by Sgore at April 2, 2008 7:47 PMwhy don't people say this about gas powered cars? we know how dangerous those are.
why don't people say this about toxins and carcinogens found in many known and consistently manufactured products? we know how dangerous those are.
but oh, if it's video games, clearly that's affecting the minds of youth. these "journalists" probably don't like games because they aren't steering youth the way they want them to go.
Posted by nicesocks at April 2, 2008 8:21 PMYou missed some mistakes in your post - in your third paragraph it should be 'they're' (contraction of they are) not 'their' (possesive).
Posted by Randlan at April 2, 2008 9:22 PMAgain, TV and Radio need tighter regulations before gaming. Everyone has access to at least a one of those and is more likely to see/hear those before they experience a particular game.
Where are the complaints about things like alcohol ads on tv? Every day (morning, evening, or night) I see at least a half dozen ads for beer, not to mention characters in regular, popular shows glamorizing the booze. Why is this not sensored? There is more problems with kids drinking alcohol then committing violent acts (and not all violent acts are attributed to video games... shockingly enough). Inspite of the so called V-Chip, these commercials still get through and any 3 year old can be near by and hear how wonderful bud light is and be like, "oh daddy drinks that, so it must be good and I will try it too."
Or the various phone "chat" lines. They are borderline softcore porn and come on right in the middle of time spent with family. So suddenly the show we were watching has to be turned off because, quite frankly, I dont want to watch some skank with a 6th grade education in her underwear spouting some cheesy lines in order to entise the socially inept of society.
Anyway, my perspective is that, sure, games should have some regulations. I dont want my kids being able to go to a store and get certain games. But even more so, TV, radio, billboards, etc should be controlled better.
There, I've had my rant for the day. I think these "regulators" need to take a good long hard look at other aspects of society and work on those before they start nitpicking the gaming industry. And parents should start acting like parents and spend some real time with their kids. Teach them why certain things arent good and help them make wise decisions. Oh and maybe turn off that idiot box that sits in everyones living room more often. Who really needs it anymore?
Latah!
Posted by verkinix at April 2, 2008 11:36 PMThe heading for this article is "is this really even news anymore?". The importance of this article cannot be described with words, and the feeling of mutual understanding imbibes me.
However, the article refers to the "destructive mindset towards games" as if this is the straw on the camels back, and from hereon we shouldn't pay attention to these accusations.
On the contrary it is important that we continue to practisize the fact that games >developdeteriorate< it. This is a discussion that will endure beyond our life expectancy, but I hereby implore you all; we must keep up our arms in the face of ignorance, arrogance and mysticism/religion. These deductive mindsets only defends a narrow mind and a misinformed heart.
Haha...Cosmosis, you certainly make the videogame debate seem more epic...
But, really, do videogame blogs have to post an update every single time a guy in the media writes some antiVG article? For real, the only people who read GamingSteve, Joystiq, Kotaku, etc, are gamers who've already heard this same story over and over and over, people who don't believe all the sensationalist crap, people who don't need to be convinced that VGs aren't evil.
Now, if somebody were to get an op-ed published in the Times to shoot down Mr. Whittell's pathetic arguments, more of the general public would be exposed and maybe that would accomplish something...
Posted by Hizzah at April 4, 2008 6:04 PMFortunately the comments seem to disagree with him.
Posted by Gungnir at April 6, 2008 10:49 PMPlease keep your comments relevant to this entry: inappropriate or purely promotional comments may be removed. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.