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Gamers Are Good People, Too
The Ticktockman writes "For years, gamers have been looked down upon by the media. We are said to be crazy lunatics who, given the chance, might decide to shoot up our school because of the games we play. Well, the game-themed webcomic Penny Arcade has had enough. They have now started a little something with the Seattle Children's Hospital called 'Child's Play', where gamers can buy videogame and non-game-related gifts for patients there. So if you feel like showing the world that gamers are compassionate people too, then head on over to the Penny Arcade 'Child's Play' page for more details."
"For years, gamers have been looked down upon by the media. We are said to be crazy lunatics who, given the chance, might decide to shoot up our school because of the games we play."
:)
Nah. Any group which spends an immense amount of time and money on playing lame video games will be too stupid to conjure up shootings.
A blog like any other.
Hopefully this will go well. It'll be even better if the media picks up what Penny Arcade is doing rather than running another badly written story about how little Tommy is inevitably going to kill lots of people if he even touches the box that Vice City is packed in.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
This a great idea, and I hope a lot of people give thier support, but remember that there are lots of other ways to help, too. My girlfriend's father was recently in the hospital for several months awaiting a heart transplant. He couldn't do any sort of physical activity, and so I brought him one of my old NES systems and a few games. He told me later that they helped him stay sane since he was stuck in his hospital room all day. He was tired of watching TV, but Mario and Link were great company!
It may not "News for Nerds," but it certainly is "Stuff that matters."
...called 'Child's Play'...
Now chucky be good..
Ever notice how the things you like are never harmful, and they are always misunderstood by society?
:-)
Whereas the things you don't like are unprecedented levels of chaos, evil and destruction never before witnessed in the history of man?
It doesn't matter what the issue is, or what side you're on: play this to your advantage and you'll win ever time
While I think that what Penny Arcade is doing is a wonderful attempt to change the public perception of gamers, I think that the core of the problem is that parents just aren't spending enough time with their kids. When the only interaction and respect that children get is through television, the Internet, and video games, what do you expect?
I'm certainly going to contribute to what the guys are doing with Child's Play, but what I'd really like to see is some sort of media backlash against the parents who are neglecting their duty to our future! Our children should be viewed as a responsibility, not a liability, and we should stop looking for scapegoats and step up to the plate!
I'd love to submit an insightful post on why most people are able to differentiate between game violence and the real thing, but I've got to go clean my guns.
I have one statement about violence in video games: it is not reality.
now I'll elaborate with further statements.
I've played my fair share of bad games, watched faces of death, rotten.com, goatse.cx....*shiver*
so I'm not a stranger to horrific things.
But at the age of 18 when I saw a dead man it was different. way different.
He had suffered a heart attack behind a gas station in bakersfield.
Then there was the late night car drive back from san fransico with my sister when we saw the flipped minivan and the grotesqe result of ejction and head vs pavement.
Both of those incidents were nothing like the movies or even the video accounts of similar events. This was real.
When someone's experience in reality is the same as one imagined, there is something else wrong.
If you are going to do something like this, do it because it makes you feel good.
Alternatively, you could do it for the kids...
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
"but now it's pointless."
Maybe if little Cancer-Boy wasn't going to be getting a wonderful gift, which he (or she) might not otherwise be able to enjoy. Nintendo doesn't care if you've lost all your hair or if you only have 6 months to live, it's just there to love you with all the Mario and Zelda it can.
See, it's not just about the kudos for gamers not being granny-killing, child-raping monters, it's also about helping people in need.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
This probably won't be well-received on /. because it's counter to the "feelgood" nature of the story, but...
There's no reason to expect that just because someone does something good, they're not capable of doing something evil as well. There's many a tale of mafioso gang members going to church on Sunday with their mother, taking confession, and going out on Monday to kill someone....
I'm not saying that anyone who helps this project out is going on a gun-toting killing spree (as if!) but to say X can't do A because (s)he has done B is a bit too simplistic.
It's a nice idea. Don't hype it beyond what it is, it doesn't need it.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
> Gamers Are Good People, Too
They just behave like good people, they call it Role Playing.
I beg to differ. I was a highschool dropout, 10th grade. My parents kept guns all around the house. I live in Texas, I could go on a Doom2 style rampage with the weapons within reach from this computer. A .308, AR-15, Bowie Knife, 9mm Macarov, .44 Desert Eagle. The only point you make I don't match is #3, and surely that doesn't make THAT big of a difference. Don't blame kids shooting up people on ANYTHING except the kids are fucking crazy.
Here's the wish list. Now get over there and buy something for the kids!
The poster you replied to cited 4 factors he felt were common among the shooter kids. You applied those factors to yourself, and since you're not a shooter, you declared his point invalid.
The problem is that you are not interpreting his point correctly. What he said, basically, is "for all shooter kids, there exist these four factors". What he DID NOT say is that "all people with these four factors are shooter kids". There is a very big and important difference.
Which is sort of what you're doing, no offense. Turning this one into a pro-spanking tirade is missing the point and creating a little spat off to the side.
What we need to do isn't scold parents for not spanking their kids. We just need to encourage families to spend time together, it's that simple. When you have time together, the kids will pick up on the values you believe in -- partly because you play the whole parental role and instruct (and sometimes scold) them, but more importantly because they'll see how you act yourself. There are tons of ways that'll come out, lots of different flavors to it. You're into this spanking thing; well, whatever, but at least be there with them, you know?
Personally I don't always blame the parents. Partly this is economic -- two working parents on the same schedule has become the norm in order to keep up our SUV insurance payments, and that means kids just plain have less time with the adults who really do care about them. Scolding a single mother for not spanking her kids more is just not going to help anyone. On the other hand, if her work gave her flex time, for example, that might help. Your "Parents are to blame" angle would probably shut that option down.
But back to the games thing: I like computer games, play them with the kids or with the kids watching often enough, and I'm darn certain they understand the distinction between fantasy and reality there. On the other hand I've run into two-year-olds who couldn't talk except in snippets from video games. Not enough parents in that life, too much games in isolation. That's the difference.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.