Government Love and Hate for Video Games

hapwned writes "Jason Della Rocca, the executive director of the International Game Developers Association, unmasks the hypocrisy of governmental interaction with the video game industry. He expounds: 'Why is it that the cultural and artistic merit of the game medium is so hard to accept? Are games simply too complex for digital immigrants to grok? Why can't they see games for the powerful medium that they are? Is the word 'game' honestly so damaging as to demean the entire creative output of the industry, to reduce it to an empty pastime? Or, are the politicos enacting an entirely different drama where the industry is their hapless whipping boy and the sincerity of their intentions to "save the children" need to be questioned altogether?'"

Comments

Huh?

[Otter]

1) Reading "Are games simply too complex for digital immigrants to grok?", I had a mental image of a pompous, prissy jackass -- that almost perfectly matches Jason Della Rocca's picture. Except for the weird facial hair. What the hell is that?

2) There's an odd bit of projection in the essay. He keeps tossing out these pairs of government action where the same government (or members thereof) promote one aspect of gaming and criticize another, and flips out at how they're supposedly saying VIDEO GAMES GOOD!!!! and VIDEO GAMES BAD!!!! Uhh, hello -- _they're_ making the distinction between some games and others. It's Angry Hat Guy who can't seem to grasp that it's possible to criticize, say, GTA but not the industry as a whole.

3) On the other hand, it's the first positive coverage Kathleen Blanco has had in a while...

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you mean, "on the gripping hand..."

Re:Matter of interpretation?

[Idealius]

"Blowing the heads of whores is NOT ART!"

However, a whore blowing your head? Now, that's ART!