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Gamers Gain Political Voice
GameDailyBiz has a rundown on the just-announced Videogame Voters Network. The network has been established by the ESA with the intent of organizing gamers into a political force. Will Wright: "Computer and video games represent one of the most important new media developments of this generation. Unlike many other forms of entertainment they offer players the opportunity to explore, be creative, learn through interaction and express themselves to others. It is vitally important that we protect and nurture this new art form so that it can reach its full potential. Like most new forms of artistic expression that have come before (music, novels, movies), the primary critics of video games are the people that do not play them."
Is giving gamers such a voice really a wise idea? They'll only use it to say "lol" and "i pwned you bitch haha".
EpiAdv - if you like Pokey the Penguin, try this comic!
An industry that listens to and supports its customers?!?!? What'll they think of next?
Mr. Universe: "They can't stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."
This should be interesting. Granted there was the hue and cry (and plenty fun made) over remarks made by Jack Thompson, but other than rattling a pretty brittle man's cage, will this prove more of an effort of herding cats?
What about the dark and sinister people who come up with some of the really good (and controversial) games? Isn't there the opportunity for, just like we whine and bitch and moan about lobbyists in Washington DC making whores out of our representatives, for these people to manipulate us, the game playing public?
Honestly, I would feel pretty let down if I was in there pitching for Rockstar and then found thy put some thing in the game, as a joke, which undermined my other positions.
introducing the honorable Senators Gabe and Tycho of the great state of Washington
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
This sounds like a good idea from the perspective of trying to protect the gamer's "rights" but in the end it will do nothing for the average gamer and everything for those who seek to control gamers. Lobbying groups and voting groups only have power as a minority unless they have the money to get real attention from Congress. This group won't raise anywhere near what is required to move Congress to act.
When Congress does act, it will always act in ways to make itself powerful. Laws that seem to help the masses really only help a select few, with the masses losing more of their rights. I'm a firm believer that the interstate commerce clause was written to give power to Congress to just keep the states in line in not usurping the rights of the people. Nowadays, most people think the clause gives Congress the power to do anything it wants to do.
If you really believe we're supposed to live freely, you have to leave the gaming market to the competitive market -- developers aren't going to make games that people don't want to play. If even 5% of the entire nation decides to buy a game, that's stil 15 million people. Yet 15 million people is a minority in voting -- if 95% of the nation is against a particular game, why should 15 million people be shut out?
I'm also anti-voting as I feel voting is what causes the minority decision to be criminalized. The best voting is voting done with your dollars -- each and every action you make to buy something or to refuse to buy something creates the rules of the market. These are rules that change every day as the buying decisions change to reflect what consumers want.
The end result will be more rights lost as the voting group gives up a little bit in order to gain a little bit. The problem is that no one gains anything when it comes to Congress, except for the preferred few. What you really think you're gaining is something you had a right to all along, until you decided to give up some of those rights in exchange for protecting some other rights that never really needed protecting. In the long run, the slippery slope rule says you'll lose all the rights as those in power taste more and more of that power.
I must say, I wonder how effective a lobbying movement of computer gamers will be against the coordinated efforts of family groups who want to ban "improper" video games. The family groups are more prone to vote, contribute, and be active in the political arena in general. I know there are exceptions, but I think Will Wright's just angling for some publicity for the cause...not a bad goal, but I hope nobody's hopes are raised too highly by this.
Tags != Comments, and -1 (Troll) != -1 (I Would Respond Angrily To This Poster So They Must Be Trolling)
Yes, we liberals enjoy blowing each other's brains out in a nice game of Unreal Tournament.
Right, because the free market is never the cause of violence, censorship, or suppression of others' rights. And if it ever is, why, all the folks with money will voluntarily fix it by "voting with their dollars." After all, it's not like we've ever seen people with money act against the interests of those without.
Of course, I suppose those without money have no right to express their interest in society. If they want to, they can just go get some money, using the free and equal access that all Americans have to education, employment, housing, and medicine. In, you know, the fantasy world where the colluding interests of the moneyed powerful can be countered by the spending habits of the earning class.
Tags != Comments, and -1 (Troll) != -1 (I Would Respond Angrily To This Poster So They Must Be Trolling)
Playing a game doesn't.
Man, you really need that seminar!
Education has nothing to do with income -- I barely graduated high school and I do fairly well considering most people in my fields have MBAs or Master's Degrees and I never attended college.
Employment "rights" have been slowly destroyed by the law, not made better. Minimum wage laws have made it very hard for the young, the uneducated and the minorities to find entry level work that teaches them responsible work ethics as well as a trade. The Americans with Disability Act has made it much harder for the disabled to get jobs, and it has made it much harder on employers to even interview someone with a disability. Business licensing and regulations have made it difficult for the common man to start a business -- just trying opening a restaurant or a small retail store today. In the past you could open either with very little income compared to what you need to pay today just to get an occupancy permit.
Housing prices have been put out of reach of millions by government currency inflation (which is the sole cause of housing and consumer price increases in the past 20-30 years). On top of this, the housing and rental market is made more expensive by ridiculous property tax increases which make it near impossible for the poor, elderly and uneducated to live near opportunities to make good money.
Medicine was available to almost every poor person until the HMO Act of 1974, which created a trap for those without insurance. Up until the early 70s doctors made housecalls and charged very little -- once insurance was nearly mandated by government (either as a required benefit or used to circumvent tax laws for employers), the price of medicine skyrocketed. It is directly the fault of government that health care is outrageously expensive.
Government is to blame for each and every situation you laid out above. I just returned from a tour of Europe and Asia -- I visited some of the most impoverished areas. What did I see? People trying to make a living by entering the business market themselves. Sure, I saw a lot of low quality businesses, but they were backed up by a real drive and a desire to do well for themselves. In the U.S., the average person has to get a 9-5 job because doing anything else requires too much money to overcome the costs government has enacted and enforced and continues to increase.
The primary critics of video games are the people that do not play them.
Yeah, and how many propenents of video games don't have kids? Exactly.
I know plenty of gamers who think GTA goes way over the top for something targeted at kids (ratings aside, they know their primary audience). They also think parents aren't educated enough, or are too fucking lazy, so we all end up suffering for the sake of the fuckup parents.
Gamers tend to become elitist snobs to anyone who brings up regulation of video games. That's the wrong way to affect change. Maybe this political party will smack some sense into more than a few people and realize some of these games are violence porn (How many opponents of videogame regulation would buy their kid a Hustler? Raise your hands high! Thought so.)
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
Voting can't and will never work again in the country. Unconstitutional violations of our freedom of speech (such as the McCain-Feingold incumbent reelection reform law) keep authoritarians in power and prevent the ability of anyone outside of the authoritarian parties from having a chance. Even if a "libertarian" got elected, the taste of power would quickly destroy any freedom desires they'd have.
That's the reality -- Congress and the Federal government have gone out of control. The framers intended the federal government to be very tiny -- so tiny they could do their job in weeks instead of all year long. The intent of the Constitution is to keep big laws like this one in the hands of the individual states and even just in the hands of the people. By keeping the biggest laws at the state level, people like me could vote with our feet -- the ultimate vote of freedom.
Sure, you can say "just move if you don't like it" but the idea is we're supposed to be free in this country, and 95% of slashdot readers don't want that -- they want an all powerful federal government instead of an all powerful state government that competes with an all-freedom-loving state government. The socialists can live in one state, the fascists in another, the Christians in a third, the green-lovers in a fourth -- the idea of the Republic was to give people the ability to congregate with others like themselves instead of trying to force the entire nation to be exactly the same.
Voting is worthless as the power of the Fed is too big, too strong, and too tempting.
Gamers need a voice the same way that homosexuals need one. After all, much like homosexuality, being a gamer is soon to become a disease for no reason other then political ones. Wouldn't YOU want a voice now, before you get labelled a sick person who better be locked up for his own good?
History has shown us that some entertainment industries are willing to censure themselves in the face of opposition. Look at the destruction of the "Golden Age" of comics after WWII, as the medium moved from "kids" stuff to WWII vets returning to the states and looking for the same comic entertainment they had as a child - but now with more "mature" storylines.
The Escapist recently had an article on this here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/35/17.
Back then, comic book stores rolled over. Perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of patriotism - after all, their government leaders wouldn't do the wrong thing, right? It took comics decades to crawl out of that "kids only" hole - and now, the industry is dominated by Japanese manga which didn't have such restrictions (all jokes about tentacle hentai and schoolgirl panties aside).
This time, I think the game industry "gets it", and luckily, they're forming a group to handle it. If done right, it can be something like the recent Anti-Broadcast Flag that I participated in last year. Gamers, when certain bills are under debate, can be organized en masse to send personal phone calls, emails, and letters to their local congresspeople with the same message: we support protecting children, but not at the expense of giving up 1st Amendment freedoms. Laws saying selling Mature games to minors is fine - laws saying no mature games at all or no mature games allowed in stores is not.
This would be the most powerful way to combat some of these silly laws. Some of them are well meaning - people upset and confused at a new medium that is "untraditional", and all they see is the bad and not the good. Others, I believe, are using the issue to promote their own agenda or pocketbook (and I think we know who I'm talking about here). By making massive communication movements in the media and politics when pressure is needed, politicians will have to really think about what they're doing, and if it's worth the political effort when there are other more important issues to deal with. (Such as, I don't know, hunger, homelessness, medical coverage, retirement issues, security, campaign finance reform - oh, wait, nevermind, the latter is a pipe dream.)
This organization has a lot of potential, and it's a group that I believe we should all support. It might not make a lot of difference in the short run - laws under consideration will go on. But we can either do what many in the comic book industry did - go down without a fight, or we can drag political leaders kicking and screaming into the modern age while exercising some discipline of our own and behaving like adults.
Of course, this is all just my opinion. I could be wrong. Either way, I've signed up, and I'm ready to pick up the phone and put in some dollars when needed.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
"So now sitting down on your ass all day and watching a screen is art?" - television
"So now slapping on a bunch of colours onto something is art?" - painting
"So now saying a buncha words is art?" - poetry
"So now being able to form sentences for a few hundred pages is art?" - books
Explain to me how checking a box on a piece of paper is A: coercion or B: being coerced.
~ Wizardry Dragon
Over time, the platform will have to evolve with planks on most issues for it to survive, else it'll be a "we're here too!" party like the Libertarians that make a lot of noise but never do very much. (Sorry guys, but that's not a flame. I was one of the 98 Lib voters in CT back in the '92 race).
I can see it now: The GNP (Gamers National Party) Platform of 2008:
* 9r0 1s7 4/\/\d/\/\3n7!!! (1ee7 (c)4u(c)u$!)
* Pro 2nd Amendment/Anti gun control (Shooters caucus)
* Pro free market economy (Civilization caucus)
* Pro death penalty (Undead caucus)
* Pro NASA (Orion caucus)
46. The Hobo smiles, his eyes glaze over, and he burps. "Beware the man who has lived longer than the Wasteland."
"Education has nothing to do with income -- I barely graduated high school and I do fairly well considering most people in my fields have MBAs or Master's Degrees and I never attended college."
Congratulations on having a personal experience outside the norm, but not everyone is so fortunate...in fact, most are not. Claiming that education has nothing to do with income is like claiming that starvation has nothing to do with poverty...it sounds and feels good, but has nothing to do with actual data examining life earnings correlated with educational attainment.
"Employment "rights" have been slowly destroyed by the law, not made better. Minimum wage laws have made it very hard for the young, the uneducated and the minorities to find entry level work that teaches them responsible work ethics as well as a trade. "
Are you honestly trying to say that workers had more access to a safe work environment and non-discriminatory hiring practices in the era before the government enacted regulation enforcing such things? Where exactly was this happening?
"The Americans with Disability Act has made it much harder for the disabled to get jobs, and it has made it much harder on employers to even interview someone with a disability."
Ah yes, I recall that prior to its passage, employers were falling over themselves to hire former mental health patients, the wheelchair-bound, and deaf folks until the nasty government made them stop. Oh wait; actually, the complete opposite happened.
"Business licensing and regulations have made it difficult for the common man to start a business -- just trying opening a restaurant or a small retail store today. In the past you could open either with very little income compared to what you need to pay today just to get an occupancy permit."
I'm sure that the prevailing economic conditions in the modern market, which require massive amounts of initial capital investment to set up a business that can keep costs low enough to price out smaller competitors, has nothing to do with this.
"Housing prices have been put out of reach of millions by government currency inflation (which is the sole cause of housing and consumer price increases in the past 20-30 years). "
This is either a hilarious interpretation of the data, or an unfounded assumption, seeing as homeownership has continued to rise steadily through the latter half of the 20th century. Perhaps the rise in housing costs is the result of a middle class demanding larger and better-equipped homes, thus insuring that there is less profit incentive to create low-income housing. In fact, this would jibe with the fact that the rising cost of new homes is largely a factor of building styles and rising material costs.
"On top of this, the housing and rental market is made more expensive by ridiculous property tax increases which make it near impossible for the poor, elderly and uneducated to live near opportunities to make good money."
Because if there's one thing keeping the poor, uneducated, and elderly from making money it's property taxes. Lack of access to education has nothing to do with it, so we should slash property taxes in order to defund education, because that'll really help all those poor and uneducated. Oh, and BTW, since when are the elderly supposed to be "making money?" I always thought that went against the concept of "retirement."
"Medicine was available to almost every poor person until the HMO Act of 1974, which created a trap for those without insurance. "
OK, now you're just talking out of your ass.
"Up until the early 70s doctors made housecalls and charged very little"
And provided nowhere near the level of healing ability as a modern doctor, and certainly did not provide this service to everyone.
"once insurance was nearly mandated by government (either as a required benefit or used to circumvent tax laws for employers), the price of medicine skyrocketed.
Tags != Comments, and -1 (Troll) != -1 (I Would Respond Angrily To This Poster So They Must Be Trolling)
Novels that promote promiscuous (see: antisocial) behaviour need to be banned; maybe you should've been on the jury when "Lady Chatterly's Lover" was on trial.
Remember that society is just "the way things are now", and that "slippery slope" is the same as "logical fallacy".
Having said that, and I apologise if I came across as offensive, I do support clearer labelling for games and educating parents about the danger a violent game presents to a young psyche. Banning, however, has never been the solution to any media-issues. Prevention is for crimes and crimes alone, where I define crime as a malicious act that affects a non-consenting person.
"Like most new forms of artistic expression that have come before (music, novels, movies), the primary critics of video games are the people that do not play them."
Aside from the we-all-know-what-they-mean, this is actually a bit ambiguous. If they mean critics of certain games, then gamers definitely count, so that can't be right. If they mean critics of games as a whole, then... wouldn't it go without saying that those who don't like it won't do it?
What they describe is a lobby, not a voting bloc. What are the core values of gamers? "We like games?" "We don't like Senator Clinton?" Plus the added difference that a huge portion of the group CAN'T EVEN VOTE. And among those that can, many aren't involved in the political process or care, anyway.
But you know, whatever! Big mean government says violent games are bad! Gamer mad! Gamer smash!
Yes... as much as portraying the exact same thing in a movie, novel, song, play, or painting is art.
Most people consider Shakespearean or Dickensian portrayals of murder and warfare (which were written for the enjoyment of the unwashed masses, no less) to be art, so why is it so different when essentially the same story is told through modern media?
Of course, the average game may not be good art, but then again, neither is the average novel, song, movie, play, or painting.
Gamers will just end up voting in some 'badass' woman with huge breasts, tattoos, ridiculous 'mega cool' body armour and holding three massive guns.
'Rad'.
Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
You run retail stores, which you apparently shut down to spite the IRS, despite claimed "record sales",
No, actually my retail stores were shut down by the local taxing agent over fouled paperwork filings. We had record sales for the industry at the retail level, and everyone at the taxing body was shocked that we were forced to close for 2 weeks as we were one of the top earners in our field, for the state. After that closure I lost faith in the ability to continue earning, and voluntarily left the retail market forever so I'd never have to charge sales tax again. All retail I'll do now will be e-commerce oriented, outside of my state.
a record studio
Which isn't opened yet and is is not really a business as it will run at a loss for me. The studio is a need of mine personally to advance my political goals through capitalism, not force, and I have received financing from private donators who also want to see it succeed. Of course, without it being open, I can't prove anything, and I'm having problems opening it due to licensing problems at the local level, so we're looking for other locations. Funny how government keeps me from proving that I don't need government.
IT
My IT business has been around since 1987 provably, coming directly from my BBS which hundreds if not thousands of users have memory of (as well as proof on the various BBS archives). The Melting Point was a favorite of Chicago BBS users for years, and it was directly the reason I entered the IT field and continue to do so today. Plus the fact that I'm quoted in various contracting magazines as an IT consultant (just Google my name for at least 2-3 quotes in various contracting magazines).
while all the time writing multiple books which no one else seems to have read or heard of,
One which was published under a nom de plume and which will be republished this year under my real name after being edited, and one which was a self-published book outside normal distribution which I am currently converting to a free e-book to be published in April. See my blog where I am re-developing it as a Q&A book. Sadly, selling a few thousand copies over 10 years doesn't make one famous. Happily, those who own a copy or have read it have the knowledge the needed to add value to their lives.
multiple blogs and newsletters
Which are updated almost daily, not including the two print newsletters which are updated monthly.
and posting and engaging in numerous long running slashdot debates
Which I do 100% on-the-road in between projects. I am currently at a church right now working on a contract to do their signage and bulletins and checked my e-mail (and slashdot) before I close up the laptop and head home.
yet only making enough to have a rundown, I believe camary(sp?).
I previously drove a Land Rover and was a huge Subaru geek (had 3 Subarus at one time), yet I learned that I can't preach living a downsized life unless I did it myself. I actually love my Corolla (96 Toyota Corolla with 50,000 miles or so) as I save almost $2000 a month in gas and maintenance over my Land Rover Disco2. Do I miss my truck? Often. Am I happy that I was able to work $30,000 ($24,000+taxes) a year less and still have the same amount of income? Absolutely. I highly recommend to anyone who is trying to keep-up-with-the-Joneses.
As those who know me in person, I sold all my property and all my cars, moved into a nice trailer home and found myself with more time and a better standard of living before. In fact, it was specifically because I downsized my life that I am able to write, travel (at least once a month if not more) locally and internationally, and help others to find stability and peace in their lives without the need for forcing others to do things against their will.
You don't have to believe me, admire me, or even agree with my opinions. All I ask is that you contemplate your premises and look at what you consider a
I burned my mod points here just to reply that your response was excellent.
Please stop APK.. you're only hurting yourself.
ESA = European Space Agency. Me confused...
"Civis Europaeus sum!"
I am aged 18, and this post will contain exactly 1 (one) instance of the word "lol"-there.
First, I cannot give support to a group who makes a claim against legislation without quoting the legislation; in this day and age, they should link directly to the bill, or at least the press release. I have this same issue with the NRA, MoveOn, Michael Moore, and just about every other "grassroots" organization.
That aside, the main point of the Video Game Voters Network as it stands appears to be the defeat of The Family Entertainment Protection Act* (Wiki), whose main purpose is Government enforcment of ESRB ratings. I, for one, support (mostly) the ESRB ratings, and do not believe that 12-year-olds should have access to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. And yes, I have seen 12-year-olds purchase GTA at my local Gamestop (pre-Hot Coffee). I informed the manager that I would never again purchase a game at their store, left, and have never again set foot in any Gamestop.
The problem with the Gaming industry isn't the fear of Government regulation or "oppresive" laws, which don't even punish the developers or gamers, but retailers, and Clinton et al aren't out for the total abolishment of The World As We Know It(tm), but rather out to protect the children of their constituencies. Thus, the Video Game Voters Network shouldn't be out to oppose this legislation, but instead, should be organizing boycotts of EA for re-releasing every Sports games with questionably "better" graphics and AI, much less their employer-practices.