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Child's Play-Spawning Game Critic Praises, Apologizes

Posted by simoniker on from the groveling-retractions-plus-plus dept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing out a HeraldNet editorial praising online comic Penny Arcade for their 'Child's Play' charity effort, in which the author apologizes for having written the original anti-gaming article which helped the Penny Arcade authors to their decision that "the media seems intent on perpetuating the myth that gamers are ticking time bombs just waiting to go off." The controversy eventually spawned the Child's Play charity fundraiser, which ended up raising almost $150,000 worth of toy/game-related donations for the Seattle Children's Hospital, and the HeraldNet columnist praises the "speed and power with which this network of gamers mobilized their effort on behalf of children and Children's Hospital." He also apologizes for his previous views, commenting: "Certainly many gamers read my column as a statement that I believe that they are bad people. For that impression I am sorry. I did not and do not believe that."

68 comments

  1. Why write it then? by BladeMelbourne · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "I did not and do not believe that."

    Then one must ask why did you write that? Bad hair day? Boy-friend dump you? Broke a nail? ;-)

    1. Re:Why write it then? by TwistedGreen · · Score: 1

      Maybe it was just that time of the month. ;)

    2. Re:Why write it then? by welshwaterloo · · Score: 4, Funny

      heh.. he wants kids to go there: "If your children play video games, and even if they don't for that matter, I encourage you to know about Penny-arcade.com" First paragraph on their site: "Legally, what we need is something mad stringent - something to make those motherfuckers hoof it door to door if they want to talk to me about my dick so bad." Bill France, a father of three, is a child advocate *sigh*

    3. Re:Why write it then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Why write it? Simple. It makes people worry, it makes you look smart. People start buzzing about it and recommend it to their friends. They pick up a copy of the newspaper, get outraged, and tell their friends. The point of newspapers, magazines, and television news, is to make money. If they stuck to the facts they would be boring and people would spend their money elsewhere.

      The problem is, this ancient formula is falling apart with time. New media outlets, mainly on the web like Penny Arcade actually put money below content. Anyone can be a publisher on the internet. You can't just be sensational any more. You need real content. Penny Arcade apparently has it. If they didn't, somebody else would do it. You can start as small as a personal web page and grow to any size in time. No need to buy an expensive printing press.

      What is so interesting about this is the interaction between the new and the old. The newspaper that originally published the anti-game slander can still publish this garbage because they are still mainly competing with other garbage local newspapers. At the same time, they have a web page which puts them in the same world as Penny Arcade.

      Normally when a newspaper publishes garbage like this, they just end up getting a few angry letters in opposition, while everybody affected by the scaremongering slander sit and do nothing but feel bad.

      Today, people are so connected that this doesn't have to happen any more. That guy must have thought he was still living in the 80's when he wrote the anti-gaming article. He probably knew he was stretching the truth so thin it was about to burst. Why should he care? If it brings in more readers he gets a raise, truth be damned. Well now he knows just how easy it is to make a fool out of yourself on the internet.

      Nothing has changed with people. There have always been just as many people who get angry about how ridiculous these "video games are evil" (replace video games with rap music, heavy metal, dungeons and dragons, or even harry potter, as necissary) stories are. The difference is that on the web everybody has a voice, and liars like him can be exposed for what they are. Expect more of this as the internet becomes more integrated into our lives :)

    4. Re:Why write it then? by erasmus_ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, you can tell he's not too bright by the way he claims that the original Child's Play challenge was written on Penny Arcade by an "unidentified author", when every single post on that site has either Gabe or Tycho's name and face right next to it.

      --
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    5. Re:Why write it then? by Ayaress · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I feel like posting to his new article, but I really can't be gracious about his apology. I'd like to be, and I'm pretty sure he learned a hard lesson when he's seen so many gamers spending hundreds of dollars for kids they've never met, in a year when Toys for Tots and Coats for Kids barely register.

      But then, his apology carries too little credibility. He could have retracted his previous statements that gamers were warped and the most dangerous animals, and I'd probably take his word for it. But he has to claim he never said what he said, which pisses me off much more than the fact that he said it to begin with.

      See, words have meanings. When you put the words, "Gamers," "are," "bad," and, "people," together in that order, people generally assume you mean, "Gamers are bad people," and not, "Ducks have orange cocks."

      The way I read this, not only has he said gamers are sick twisted child rapers, but now he seems to think we're either illeterate or have no memory span.

      Hate to tell him, I can read, and I have a hard time forgetting.

    6. Re:Why write it then? by R2P2 · · Score: 1

      He's saying he didn't write that. It's just how people interpreted what he wrote.

    7. Re:Why write it then? by lowdown722 · · Score: 1

      and who exactly are Gabe and Tycho? it's not immediately clear from the site (though you can narrow it down if you look at the bottom of the page for the copyright notices). as a journalist, he might not have felt comfortable identifying the writer only by his pseudonym, although if he were a good journalist, I would think he would have tried to reach Tycho IRL for a comment.

  2. Lip Service by Deimos_ · · Score: 1

    Sounds like its just a lip service apology. Who really know's what his real belief's are. Either way, his credibility is probably gone.

    1. Re:Lip Service by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree on the lip service part, but credibility? If I have learned anything in this life time it is that people trust the media 100% at all times. Nothing can change that. The media could predict the apocalypse, and if it didn't end up happening they can just say "oh well maybe not". Instantly people would believe them again. Sound far fetched? Remember the whole y2k thing?

    2. Re:Lip Service by nanojath · · Score: 1

      I think his response sounds sincere but it's notable that he is not necessarily backing off his opinion that the ultraviolent games are bad.

      And his praise of Childs Play seems sincere and appropriate.

      Now I must go shoot at traffic.

      --

      It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries

  3. Wow. AN article. Colour me whatever. by Kris_J · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, lets review. 3 articles about Penny Arcade's Child's Play, 251 about Violent Video Games. Hey, and that 3 will go up to 4 when this article on Slashdot gets spidered by news.google.

  4. Title Bushism by Tuxinatorium · · Score: 1

    "Child's Play-Spawning Game Critic Praises, Apologizes"

    That makes no english sense unless you replace spawning with spurning.

    --
    Repeal the DMCA!
    1. Re:Title Bushism by Babbster · · Score: 1

      Actually, it does make sense, though "inspiring" might be a better fit than "spawning." The author of the editorial never "spurned" Child's Play, though his article might have provided the impetus that "inspired" the creation of the charity.

    2. Re:Title Bushism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it was a pun, you know, spawning, as in entering into an FPS deathmatch.

  5. Violent games by HalfFlat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Child's Play charity run organised by Penny Arcade is simply amazing.

    But the column cited at its inception doesn't really seem to be demonizing video game players, but a class of very violent video games themselves. The column certainly uses language that while not outright stating it, does imply that ultra-violent video games lead children into becoming sociopathic serial killers, and this was unfortunate rhetoric clearly used to increase the impact of the piece. But there are certainly (at least) two valid points being made there.

    Firstly, and most simply, age-restriction ratings on video games are having little actual effect. Either they are not being observed by retailers, or they are circumvented very easily in all the traditional ways. How they could be made more effective, or even if they should, is another question.

    Secondly, and more contentiously, there are indeed some few video games which are incredibly violent in a spectacularly brutal and callous way. Interaction does make for better learning than passive exposure, and it's intuitively the case that a steady diet of this material at young ages is probably having some malign effect on the more marginally sane in the population. This leads to the question: why do game companies and publishers produce such games?

    Video games can certainly be regarded as a form of creative art. And they're fun, too (or ought to be.) But they're also really expensive to produce these days, at least for any major title. I don't think any large publisher is going to pick up a title unless they feel it has a good chance of being a good seller. And so in turn, it must be that violence sells, even really nasty stuff.

    In film, the extreme end of the spectrum is certainly available, but it's not trivially easy to access for minors. Especially for films which are refused cinema release. The creators of such films are almost certainly not doing it for profit motive, because no exposure means few sales. As such, the movie classification systems of (say) major Western countries generally work as a comprimise. They rarely achieve outright censorship, but do for the most part keep the most violent films away from people deemed too young to view them. It also removes the profit motive from exploiting violence as mere titilation.

    So maybe stronger classification and enforcement is the answer after all, if it can be placed on par with film classification?

    1. Re:Violent games by AvantLegion · · Score: 4, Insightful
      >> And so in turn, it must be that violence sells, even really nasty stuff.

      By this token, games like Manhunt oughta be selling better. After all, Manhunt is from the same company as Grand Theft Auto, and is FAR more violent!

      But it's not. And with the exception of Grand Theft Auto and, to a lesser extent, Mortal Kombat, most of the games that received notoriety in cruased against video games have not been best-sellers. Joe Liberman's old pet game, Night Trap, sold about 5 copies. Thrill Kill was yanked off the market, and the underground distribution of leaked beta copies didn't spark must interest, because the game sucked goat balls.

      A lot of violent games, even exceedingly violent games, really pass unnoticed, because they suck. Most attempts to correlate game sales with violence blatently ignores this. Most attempts also come from non-gamers, removing the possibility of judging and classifying games by quality - yet they still feel qualified to try and come up with "the answer".

    2. Re:Violent games by dickiedoodles · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think some of the responsibility has to rest with the parents in this matter. A normal child of 10 can understand the difference between real life and video games and knows that similar violence in real life is unacceptable, if they don't it needs explaining by a responsible adult. If that doesn't seem to work then the kid has problems and needs to be kept away from violent games/movies/sharp objects.

      The problem is it's easier for parents to blame video games for all our problems and fight that instead of trying to figure out why people really go into a school and shoot half their class. maybe video games did inspire it somewhat but lets face it happy well-balanced people don't do that, people with serious issues do that and the cause of these issues isn't playing a few hours of doom.

      As a side note it was mentioned on penny-arcade a few days ago that a local news show actually reported the donations were made by a local catholic school, no real point in me mentioning that, just seemed to kind of suck.

      --
      In Soviet Russia Slashdot cliches use you
    3. Re:Violent games by HalfFlat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, that is a bit of a strawman argument. I never claimed that the appeal is proportional to the degree of violence. On the contrary I was making the claim that even very nasty stuff, which one might think would not sell at all, does sell. More accurate would be the statement: publishers believe it will sell, and it would be surprising if they were consistently wrong in matters like this.

      A lot of perfectly good games use violent action, it's just not extreme. Nearly every RTS is based about combat. First person shooters are naturally going to involve shooting. Even most computer RPGs have a large combat element. This doesn't make them evil or bad, I'm just noting that violence is quite common.

      The argument that publishers won't support titles they won't think will sell, still stands.

      Two other points: that there are crap very violent games doesn't seem to be particularly pertinent, unless one is arguing that more violence = more sales. The argument instead is that violence, even extreme violence, has appeal. But even if correlation were the argument, one would have to compare extremely violent crap games against generic crap games with similar marketing budgets, and we all know that there are tragically a very large number of crap games.

      Secondly, a game doesn't have to be a best seller to be successful. If Manhunt gives a decent return on investment, then it ought to be counted as a financial success.

    4. Re:Violent games by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 1

      Firstly, and most simply, age-restriction ratings on video games are having little actual effect. Either they are not being observed by retailers, or they are circumvented very easily in all the traditional ways. How they could be made more effective, or even if they should, is another question.

      Well, the real question is should the ratings enforcement be increased through government action or community pressures on local retailers? Government action would put video games on a level that is reserved for porn in the rest of the entertainment industry, as there are no federal government regulations on movies, books, music, etc. outside of pornography.

      Secondly, and more contentiously, there are indeed some few video games which are incredibly violent in a spectacularly brutal and callous way. Interaction does make for better learning than passive exposure, and it's intuitively the case that a steady diet of this material at young ages is probably having some malign effect on the more marginally sane in the population. This leads to the question: why do game companies and publishers produce such games?

      Having a malign effect on the marginally sane (which is also to say the marginally insane) generally does not bar something from being produced for the completely sane. Every insane or marginally insane person is a little different, and what may or may not set them off is likewise different. Trying to sanitize culture for their benefit is generally the job of those treating their illness. So, more or less, the games are produced for those that can handle them, and it is the job of an individual's caretakers, or the individual themselves, to determine whether or not they can handle the material.

      Video games can certainly be regarded as a form of creative art. And they're fun, too (or ought to be.) But they're also really expensive to produce these days, at least for any major title. I don't think any large publisher is going to pick up a title unless they feel it has a good chance of being a good seller. And so in turn, it must be that violence sells, even really nasty stuff.

      Your last sentence is only true if there is a way of showing a correlation between violence and sales. In the top 20 best-selling games of all time, this is hardly the case, with Mario Bros. games holding most of the top 10 along with Tetris and the Sims. GTA:VC and Half-Life are the only games in the top 10 that could normally be considered violent, and the latter didn't have a public outcry associated with it (while the former is not nearly as violent as people make it out to be unless you choose to play it in a violent manner). GTA and first-person shooters are the rare cases where 'violent games' have managed, on occasion to get to the top of the charts. On the other hand, yes, they do sell as well as other games for many of the same reasons other games will sell well: if they are well-received by the gaming press and/or well-hyped before-hand. The PS2 and XBox combined sales of True Crime were roughly the same as the sales of Mario Kart in North America, despite the latter being released only on what is presented in the US press as the 3rd place console and nearly a failure for Nintendo. Everything in the top 15 in November had over $5 million in sales, which is nothing to sneeze at if you can get your game in there, so long as you don't spend $5 million making the game. 11 of the top 12 were over $10 million in sales (and both the exception in the top 12 and the lowest-by-dollar of the top 15 were GBA games, which sell for less per unit).

      All of that being said, Mario Kart was at the top of the November charts, and only (at that time) sold just under 528,000 units. Compare that to the number of units most other popular media sells. The reason this is such a big business is because each of those units sells for $50 instead of $20 or $30 and in many cases cost less to produce. The game publishers never bet on a 100% success rate with the titles they produce, either. Many of them

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    5. Re:Violent games by ScarletEmerald · · Score: 1

      Firstly, and most simply, age-restriction ratings on video games are having little actual effect. Either they are not being observed by retailers, or they are circumvented very easily in all the traditional ways. How they could be made more effective, or even if they should, is another question.

      Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought videogame ratings were supposed to be for informational purposes only- they weren't meant to be enforced, just to let parents know what they were buying for their kids.

    6. Re:Violent games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
      The problem is it's easier for parents to blame video games for all our problems and fight that instead of trying to figure out why people really go into a school and shoot half their class. maybe video games did inspire it somewhat but lets face it happy well-balanced people don't do that, people with serious issues do that and the cause of these issues isn't playing a few hours of doom.

      I never understood why people could not figure this out in about 2 seconds. Imagine this.

      You are a kid. In school. You have a couple friends, way more enemies, and a mass of people who couldn't care less about your problems. Every day is spent trying to get through your classes so you can pass, but at the same time it is a warzone. You need to avoid the wrong people. You might get beat up, picked on, humiliated. You probably will. If not today, tomorrow or the day after will bring it. Every day you can count on at least mean looks, insults followed by giggles, etc. You are completely powerless. Any attempt to stop it only makes it get an order of magnitude worse, and it isn't just temporary. None of the other students try to stop it. Some will even watch, finding it entertaining. The teachers do nothing. Rarely they will give the trouble makers a detention, if they did something serious and happened to get caught. The detention is meaningless and only makes it look like the administration is doing something.

      5 days out of 7, this is life. Your entire existence. Anything beyond school is just a dream you have given up on. Even after going home from school, there is no escape. Memories of what happened that day flood through your mind. Anger, blood boiling. Helplessnes. Why do they get away with this? They aren't any more, I'm going to stop them!

      As we all know, life gets better after school. People still in school don't always know that. Still, there is no excuse for what goes on in schools today, and people who blame it on video games need to turn their brains on. They might get a kick out of using tragic school shootings to further their anti-violent-videogame(or ad&d/heavy metal/whatever) agenda, but it is so horribly wrong. You can't save lives by ignoring the problem. If someone is making life hard for another student, they need to be taken care of. They don't deserve to go to school with the rest of the students if they can't be nice. These are the real problem. These people are the action that cause the school shooting reaction. Making sure that kids that get picked on don't wear black t-shirts or play doom is completely braindead.

    7. Re:Violent games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Well yes kids can tell video game violence is fake, but how about after watching Cops and then WWE wrestling while his father and mother are laughing the whole time. Then after they send him to bed he sneaks out to see them checking out the newest action/thriller on DVD.

      Might this be confusing? Is anyone to blame? The parents, the media, the kid's curiosity (which will later be treated with Prozac), the school bully?

    8. Re:Violent games by sindarin2001 · · Score: 1

      I thank you sir.

    9. Re:Violent games by Kwil · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Two other points: that there are crap very violent games doesn't seem to be particularly pertinent, unless one is arguing that more violence = more sales. The argument instead is that violence, even extreme violence, has appeal. But even if correlation were the argument, one would have to compare extremely violent crap games against generic crap games with similar marketing budgets, and we all know that there are tragically a very large number of crap games.

      What a non-argument that is.
      Everything has an appeal to someone.

      The person you were replying to was making the point that violence does not sell games, even if publishers think it will. The amount of violence or non-violence in a game is completely orthoganal to the game's likelihood to sell.

      So why are violent games made? Not because they sell any better, but because they're easier to conceptualize and easier to market.

      Violence is a very easy thing to conceptualize. You against the other thing, and if you don't succeed, you die or are hurt. Everybody understands the idea of hurting or dying. It's a lot harder to conceptualize a game where if you don't perform better than someone else you receive a more nebulous penalty, and more difficult to make the choices the player makes in the game feel like they matter or have significant impact on the player's experience. (eg, explain what the game is in Unreal.. now try and explain what the game is in "The Sims")

      Violence is easy to market: People understand what's implied by a picture of a guy with a rifle. People have a more difficult time understanding what a game would be if it has a picture of say Gallileo sitting at his desk writing letters.

      So it's not a case of publishers choosing violence for the sake of being violent. It's a case of them choosing violence as a convenient, easily understood mechanism for game-play.

      --

      That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze

    10. Re:Violent games by AvantLegion · · Score: 1
      Nearly every RTS is based about combat. First person shooters are naturally going to involve shooting. Even most computer RPGs have a large combat element. This doesn't make them evil or bad, I'm just noting that violence is quite common.

      OK, but are you going to apply the same scrutiny to every other entertainment medium? Looking at games in this light is akin to looking at Lord of the Rings as a "violent movie". It's missing the point, and giving undue focus to the wrong thing.

      The argument that publishers won't support titles they won't think will sell, still stands.

      This sentence can be applied, unaltered, to every other entertainment medium. You're not saying much of note.

      The argument instead is that violence, even extreme violence, has appeal.

      Are we talking about Kill Bill? Oh no, still talking about games. My point here is that your point really is not unique, or even more valid, for video games, and does not deserve to single out games.

      Secondly, a game doesn't have to be a best seller to be successful.

      No, but my point is that Night Trap was not successful. Manhunt's success has been limited. Guess what? The success of these games, and many like them, is roughly equal to the actual quality of the game. Manhunt's quality is maybe average, and sales reflect this. Night Trap was trash, sales reflect this. GTA was superb, sales reflect this. You're trying to show a link, if not necessarily a direct relationship, between violence and sales, when variable amounts of violence show little influence on sales.

  6. Anyone find it funny... by bskin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The author gives a detailed description about the child's play project, telling about how touching the effort was, etc. And they mention penny-arcade.com many times. Yet they don't seem to have any clue about the content of the site, even saying that the readers of the site are 'apparantly gamers.' Perhaps they should've checked out the site a little more...I suspect that the content of certain strips could possibly offend people who would regularly read a column written by a 'child advocate.'

    --
    hot foreign sheep.
    1. Re:Anyone find it funny... by Worminater · · Score: 1

      lol, for the lack of mod points i am with at the moment, haha. But seriously, what owuld this be classified as?

      Insightful or funny? I find the fact that the didnt bother to peruse the sight in the least highly ammusing, but also it shows how the lack of research done in his article points to just how superficial and narrow the original article aws.

      haha, screwt, i woudl give a +1 funny just cause its too good.

    2. Re:Anyone find it funny... by TwistedGreen · · Score: 3, Informative

      Or maybe this one:

      "I did punch a baby once... in anger. In my defence, the baby was being kind of a dick." :)

    3. Re:Anyone find it funny... by Godeke · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I was thinking the same thing... I worry about when some of these people "contact" penny arcade while the artists are in a mood, and are presented with four letter words, decapitations (probably in a homoerotic setting) and the whole "vibe" that Penny Arcade gives off.

      I think that Gabe and gang did an excellent thing, and I love the comic. I do however doubt they are the *best* group to try to distract people from the negative images of gaming when they are the type of comic that my (no very easily offended) wife won't read.

      --
      Sig under construction since 1998.
    4. Re:Anyone find it funny... by mraymer · · Score: 1
      Not only that, but he refers to Tycho as "an unamed author." It's not that difficult to call him Tycho, or look up his real name which I'm sure is on the site somewhere... both their last names are at the bottom of the page. "1998-2003 Krahulik/ Holkins."

      So yeah, looks like this guy didn't do anything more than glance at the site.

      And on the subject of video game violence, their very third comic touched on the issue. Interesting to note how much Gabe's hair has grown. That spike goes down almost to his chin in today's comic. Heh.

      --

      "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

    5. Re:Anyone find it funny... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was another one. Tycho and Gabe were apparantly babysitting some kid.

      Mom: "I'm home, honey, did you have fun?"
      Kid: "Mommy! Mommy! I made punk bitches suck it down!"
      Tycho: "Kids say the darndest things."

    6. Re:Anyone find it funny... by op51n · · Score: 1

      Yes. And if people who are writing condemning articles about violent videogames come out having a problem about strips like that, it not only goes to show they don't understand gaming, or sociology and psychology, but that they have no fucking idea about sarcasm.

  7. We should take what we can get and go for more by orthancstone · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It sounds like guy has turned around some (he says he's reading books and is learning about the culture some).

    In the meantime, seeing a positive article, where an author actually admits he was initially wrong, is a BIG step. If we could get more people to admit they are wrong (getting them to learn may be another, more difficult step) in their assumptions, we'd be in the midst of amazing progress.

    I like Penny Arcade's response to the article, though. Especially this:
    The next time someone starts talking about how bad Vice City is, as though it were the only game in existence, as though game consoles were only capable of that single experience and nothing peripheral to it, I really do want the opportunity to ask them - please, name another game. Name one other game that you know about. No, it's not a trick question. Well, it is, if by "trick question" you mean "question designed to make you look like an idiot." I wonder if they even know that far, far from Vice City, past even the Vice suburbs, that the same machine can allow a father and son - separated by three hundred miles and thirty years - the chance to play a round of golf together, for no good reason other than its being Tuesday.

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php3?date=2004-01 -14
    Let's hope the progress continues...
    1. Re:We should take what we can get and go for more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      a father and son - separated by three hundred miles and thirty years - the chance to play a round of golf together
      That's some ping time there...
    2. Re:We should take what we can get and go for more by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 1
      "where an author actually admits he was initially wrong"
      He didn't really apologize though. Sure, he said it was an apology but look at what he said: "Certainly many gamers read my column as a statement that I believe that they are bad people. For that impression I am sorry. I did not and do not believe that." The only thing he is sorry about is that people missed his point. His point wasn't that video game players were bad people but that there was a link between video games and violent behavior and that someone playing a violent video game would have his mind warped to the point where violence seemed like a good idea. It was a nothing apology with no credibility. Every "apology" issued in the media these days is rarely a real apology. "I'm sorry. I was wrong." is an apology. "I'm sorry if you were offended." or "I'm sorry if you thought I said something other than what I said." places the problem squarely on the reader/viewer/whatever, not with the asshole that made the ignorant comment to begin with. Bill France knows nothing about video games and continues to deserve nothing but disrespect.
      --
      I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
    3. Re:We should take what we can get and go for more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's some ping time there... what a terrible terrible pun you should be ashamed of yourself

  8. Let's introduce PA to kids! by AvantLegion · · Score: 4, Funny
    Quote the article: If your children play video games, and even if they don't for that matter, I encourage you to know about Penny-arcade.com.

    Great recommendation. Now next Christmas, every kid will want a Fruit Fucker 2000

    Wow, this broad just likes writing articles that she has to apologize for, eh?

    1. Re:Let's introduce PA to kids! by Cap'nMike · · Score: 1

      Um, the author of the article is named Bill. Why do you just assume that it was written by a "broad"?

      --
      Celebrities are like ads, if we all ignore them, they'll just go away.
    2. Re:Let's introduce PA to kids! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, this broad just likes writing articles that she has to apologize for, eh?

      Why does everyone keep referring to this writer as a woman? His name is Bill, for christ's sake!

    3. Re:Let's introduce PA to kids! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The whole article just screams bored/paranoid christian mother with nothing better to do. He clearly copied something written by one for his first article.

    4. Re:Let's introduce PA to kids! by AvantLegion · · Score: 1
      We all recognize a pen name. :)

      On the order of "Ellis Bell", I say.

    5. Re:Let's introduce PA to kids! by Yaroslavna · · Score: 1

      Just because someone's bitchy and biased doesn't mean they have to be female. :) Men can be just as fanatical as women. This guy used to be a director for what looks like a Lutheran children's center, according to his bio at the bottom of the page, so it's more than just ovaries fueling his indignation. I also found him quoted in this article: http://www.fnfvcv.org/news/news2.html that lists him as Bill France. Unless that's him writing that article too, under another pen name. :) Seriously: Cut out the Nurse Ratchet implications. We are not all ball cutters. We have a definite interest in our men keeping their balls.

  9. Unidentified? by arb · · Score: 3, Informative
    From the article:
    An unidentified writer wrote, "If you are like me, [...]

    Unidentified? Gabe's name is right there - smack bang on top of the bit of text this guy quotes. Can't he even acknowledge the people behind the Child's Play effort by using their names? Even the smallest amount of research would have revealed the "unidentified writer". After all the Penny-Arcade guys have done, only 3 news reports on their efforts, and one of them attributes the effort to an "unidentified writer." Sheesh! Adding insult to injury or what?

    1. Re:Unidentified? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate to tell you, but his name's not really Gabe.

    2. Re:Unidentified? by arb · · Score: 2, Informative

      I hate to tell you, but his name's not really Gabe.

      No shit Sherlock? Next you'll be telling me that my real name isn't arb. Fer fuck's sake - do I have to point out that Gabe is just his nickname, and the name he chooses to use on the site, but if you look closely at the comics, you'll see the name Mike Krahuik.

      Oh and Tycho - you know, the other guy who writes that stuff? His name is prolly Jerry Holkins, but everyone still refers to him as Tycho.

    3. Re:Unidentified? by Ayaress · · Score: 1

      Tycho made the comment.

    4. Re:Unidentified? by arb · · Score: 1

      Tycho made the comment.

      Did he? I thought seeing how it was in a box with Gabe's avatar and email address at the top with "by: Gabe" that Gabe wrote that piece. I guess I was mistaken... (Hint, click the link I gave and scroll down to the last item...)

    5. Re:Unidentified? by hambonewilkins · · Score: 1

      Right, which is why -because they use nicknames- the author would actually have to get permission from the real Gabe (Mike) that he wrote that. Otherwise, it's a whole can of worms. Hence the "unidentified"

      --

      God Bless America. Why? Did it sneeze?
  10. Sexy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought this article was about a sex simulation - you know, like the "child-spawning game" mentioned in the writeup.

    1. Re:Sexy by FauxReal · · Score: 1

      I thought this article was about a sex simulation - you know, like the "child-spawning game" mentioned in the writeup.

      I was trying to figure out what kind of "spawning game" they could make for kids and why would it be so great?

      Simulated salmon farm? frogs? rabbits?

      --
      Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
  11. Re:Wow. AN article. Colour me whatever. by ScarletEmerald · · Score: 1

    That's not too surprising when you consider that there's one Penny Arcade's Child's Play but thousands of violent video games.

  12. Re:Wow. AN article. Colour me whatever. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately you have to clearly label yourself as a gamer when doing something good (like with the child's play thing). Otherwise "normal people" (as opposed to "gamers") get credit for your kindness (since you weren't actually playing a video game at the time of said goodness).

  13. No, Gabe did. by Jammer@CMH · · Score: 2, Informative
    From Penny Arcade 2003-11-24 (hint: scroll down the page):
    Child's Play

    Mon, November 24 2003 - 11:50 PM
    by: Gabe

    If you are like me, every time you see an article like this one, where the author claims that video games are training our nations youth to kill you get angry. The media seems intent on perpetuating the myth that gamers are ticking time bombs just waiting to go off. I know for a fact that gamers are good people. I have had the opportunity on multiple occasions to meet hundreds of you at conventions all over the country. We are just regular people who happen to love video games.

    With that in mind we have put together a little something we like to call "Child's Play". Penny Arcade is working with the Seattle Children's Hospital and Amazon.com to make this Christmas really special for a lot of very sick kids. With the help of the Children's Hospital we have created an Amazon Wish List for the kids. It's full of video games, movies and toys. Some of these kids are in pretty bad shape and just having a Game Boy would really raise their spirits.

    Please take some time to browse the Wish List. Maybe all you can afford is a package of batteries or maybe you want to go in with your entire office and get the kids a GameCube. Every single contribution will help out the Children's Hospital and the 190,000 kids they treat each year.

    All the toys and games will be delivered to us and we will in turn deliver them to the Children's Hospital. As soon as the toys start arriving I'll set up a web site and post as many pictures as I can. We will be making a trip over to one of the hospitals next week and we'll bring you back stories from some of the kids along with more pictures.

    Penny Arcade has a readership of something like 150,000 gamers across the world. We are arguably the largest community of gamers on the internet. The important word there being community. This isn't IGN, this isn't Gamespy, we are not a faceless corporation, you are not just a number tracked by a database and then relayed to hungry advertisers. You guys have proven yourselves to be a powerful force when stirred into action. Here is your opportunity to use that power to do some real good.

    Let's give these kids the Christmas that they deserve and let's give the news papers a different kind of story to write about gamers.

    -Gabe out

  14. Re:Wow. AN article. Colour me whatever. by SuperMo0 · · Score: 1

    Tycho bitches about the lack of coverage towards the bottom of this newspost.

  15. More than $150k by totalnubee · · Score: 2, Informative

    The controversy eventually spawned the Child's Play charity fundraiser, which ended up raising almost $150,000 worth of toy/game-related donations for the Seattle Children's Hospital

    Almost $150,000? Try over $200,00. Significantly over. I guess nobody here actually reads the Penny Arcade comments:

    'The first time the news dumbshits came out to talk about Child's Play, though they were clearly told who was responsible for it they excised one of the people behind it. I consider this a fairly minor issue, but they're still retarded. When they came to the Children's Hospital itself for the toy delivery, there was no reporter even down there with us. A cameraman got some footage and then (I believe) ran away. I thought I heard him say "Ghosts!", but that's neither here nor there. When this footage was aired, I learned something new: that the toys had been donated by a local catholic school, and were valued at nearly a thousand dollars. Understand this. A single bin of GBA SPs was worth four thousand dollars, and we had four such bins. That's above and beyond the seventy GameCubes the other twenty carts of toys, which at our best estimates come to around $175,000. Then there was a check for twenty-seven thousand. Here's where the depression sets in.'

    --
    "Even when I say nothing it's a beautiful use of negative space." - Indelible, "Fire In Which You Burn"
  16. Perhaps I'm more jaded than you... by orthancstone · · Score: 1

    I'm willing to take this apology. Face it, in today's world most people who get public attention like this (be it a writer, politician, athlete, etc.) will die before admitting they were wrong.

  17. So I'm lazy, Ok? by Ayaress · · Score: 1

    Since when does Gabe ever make top-posts in the news? Except for the time Tycho was on vacation, this is the only time. I just see the top news post, and I figure, "Oh, Tycho wrote this."

  18. Permission to use the name... by orthancstone · · Score: 1

    I think the reason he says Unidentified is that he probably didn't have explicit permission at the time of writing the article to use the names. He probably hadn't contacted PA to ask.

    1. Re:Permission to use the name... by arb · · Score: 1

      He probably hadn't contacted PA to ask.

      Which would have been such a difficult task... He needn't have said "unidentified writer" and could have said something along the lones of: "A message posted on Penny-Arcade..." The fact is, the author of the message was identified, even if that identification was by way of a nickname. Attributing the quote as "unidentified"is not only sloppy reporting, but somewhat insulting.

    2. Re:Permission to use the name... by orthancstone · · Score: 1

      Something about journalism for you:

      Typically you have a deadline sometime in the early evening for the next day's paper. I'm going to assume he didn't have the time to try and get permission by email before the article was due at the editor's desk. Furthermore, for all we know, the editor may have changed it to say this.

      Sure, he could've but it a better way...but the way it is now sure as hell is not as insulting to PA as you put it.

  19. What will it take? by shuz · · Score: 1

    What would it take to make the liberal media aware of Gamer's in a good light? For that matter do gamer's want recognition in the first place? Unfortunatly the media has the ability to twist minds regaurdless of the facts because the majority of the world trusts the media. Penny-Arcade is a comic strip and that is probably how the media saw it. A comic, not to be taken seriously and something that little boys look at. In any case there is a serious problem here and it needs to be addressed in a positive manor. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on where to start?

    --
    There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
    1. Re:What will it take? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Give up and become a drone like everyone else. Have you not noticed the high level of rhetoric on every news broadcast? The US is now a vast wasteland devoid of any rational thought when it comes to any kind of public policy. Both sides of any issue debate by pulling heart strings or insulting each other. Give up and enjoy life as the country sinks all the way to the bottom.

    2. Re:What will it take? by shuz · · Score: 1

      Ya and that line of thought only accelerates the problem. It would be more interesting if there was some kind of movment like womans right's movement or human right's movements in general. We need to start a Geek, gamer's rights movement. I think the bigest problem is that a game is looked at as being just another form of entertainment. The personality and lifestyle difference of an avid gamer never comes into the public light. Of course if it ever did it would be to a negative light. This is the same reason that stereotypes have hindered many minorities in the united states.

      --
      There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
    3. Re:What will it take? by wickedj · · Score: 1

      Maybe violence would work?

  20. virtue is its own reward? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The PA guys and all the gamers who helped them did an incredible thing, but it sure sucks that the media ignored/misrepresented it as they did. I sincerely hope that gamers can rise above the ignorance shown by the media and continue to support good deeds like Child's Play and Extra Life for Kids even if the good deeds go unrecognized for a time. Sooner or later people will wise up and take notice. At the very least, when the next "videogames and those that play them are evil" discussion comes into play, we all have some solid examples to debunk that myth. Bravo Gabe and Tycho - keep fighting the good fight and screw what other people think.