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Politician Takes Enlightened Stance on Gaming
GamePolitics is reporting that one Australian would-be politician is taking an enlightened stance on gaming in general, and especially with respect to censorship. "Censorship is odious because it removes community choice. Censorship says that the thought is the action; that the common person can't distinguish between depiction and actuality... Censorship says, 'Let me decide who talks.' And games are talking. They're talking very loudly, to a great many people, in strong and clear voices. They're speaking in places that have never read a newspaper and in houses which have never listened to politicians. It's okay to be worried by what games are saying. It's okay to disagree. But it's not okay to stifle those voices. It's not okay to kill the game."
On the one hand, you're in Australia, where that really needs to be said. On the other hand, you're in Australia, good luck getting the ratings board there to listen to you.
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...whatever you do, DO NOT USE HIS NAME. Quote him if you must, but again DO NOT USE HIS NAME!
It's Greg Tannahill, btw.
Remove would-be, replace one with many and Australia with America, and I will be happy.
... next they will say hes soft on drugs/porn/violence/demon worship because the supports the sale of video games. He would never get elected again if he lived in the US. I wish him luck though.
Ah, so it's an "enlightened" stance when it happens to agree with your viewpoint?
Gimme a fucking break.
It sounds like he's taking the opposite view of the people in power down-under. I guess he's hoping that people will vote for change, enlightened or not.
And if you are wondering, he is a level 27 gnome Frost Mage on the Anetheron server. His account was banned after some in game threats to a Blizzard dev.
I will bend like a reed in the wind.
Well, Greg Tannahill seems to be saying the Australian government shouldn't really hate the player, either, just disagree disagree (but not limit) what he or she chooses to play.
On a side note, I never realized Kotaku has gained the level and size of organization that they have localized "editions."
Censorship says that the thought is the action; that the common person can't distinguish between depiction and actuality...
Respect for the individual? He'll never get elected in today's political climate.
from a minister this weekend. When he was a boy he lived in a rural part of Kentucky. There wasn't much to do around there, and video games weren't invented yet, so his brother used to "playfight" in the woods with some of his friends. They would take shotguns and shoot towards each other, making sure they were either out of range of the shotgun, or behind a tree. His brother was "playfighting" when one of his friends misjudged his distance. The results were similar to those of Harry Whittington after hunting with Dick Cheney. The injuries weren't life threatening, just very painful.
Upon hearing that story I decided that violent video games probably prevent more injury/death than they cause.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Respect for the individual? He'll never get elected in today's political climate.
People who actually give a shit about individual rights don't seek power over others. By trying to become a politician, he's just another Boromir who thinks he can do good by taking the One Ring.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
I don't see why most games can't give users the tools to self filter. At that point, it's the parent's responsibility.
a war on terrorism? How can we end a war on a method?
to the day when a sitting president, senator, or representative will have grown up using the internet and playing computer games for his or her entire life. Until then, it's going to be the rare person who tries (much less succeeds) in understanding what all those young whippersnappers are on about.
Please note that I in no way endorse game censorship of the sort that Jack Thompson advocates.
However, I do think that Video games should be handled differently than books movies and television. Videogames are more than just a depiction of an action or narrative. Videogames are an interactive immersion in an action or narrative.
It is one thing to portray a torture scene in a TV show such as 24. But to put the control of those actions in the hands of a player is different. It is not such a stretch to think that what may be acceptable in a movie may not be acceptable in a game as a result of the presence of the aspect of choice.
END COMMUNICATION
Not with "real" guns, but a "friend" of mine used to play this game:
Get two friends and two bb guns. Put the guns on a table (pumped to maximum pressure) then play odds & evens: On the count "three," put out one or two fingers. If all three players put out the same number, the round is a draw. If one of the three is different, he (or she?) runs away from the table while the other two grab the guns and try to hit him in the back.
Oh, hours of fun.
I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.
The candidate's name is Greg Tannahill he maintains a gaming blog and a political blog.
Gaming blog: The Dust Forms Words
Campaign blog: Greg Tannahill for Canberra.
... that he's standing for the Democrats; they're one of the saner parties out there with real, considered positions, but their voter base is 1 - 2%, going on the results of the previous election (2007).
Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
The candidate's name is Greg Tannahill he maintains a gaming blog and a political blog.
Gaming blog: The Dust Forms Words
Campaign blog: Greg Tannahill for Canberra.
The big problem being addressed here is specific to Australia - in that they do not have an 18+ or R rating. If a game is not suitable for a 16 year old - it's canned on that basis by the censors. Poor.
I personally think that anyone who is prepared to take on the system from within is engaged in a noble cause, whatever might happen to him inside.
I personally distrust anybody with a "noble cause". Experience has shown me that the more noble the cause, the more ignoble the means used in service to the cause.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
I agree. The best way to test whether or not chucking a government into a volcano will help is to actually do it. Let's start with Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF cronies.
I write sci-fi for metalheads
You know, when I was a kid and wanted to buy video games, my parents would actually read the content on the box! Gasp, what a novel idea! Now the politicians want to rally around soccer moms who blame the industry for producing what its (paying) audience wants to buy. Look out, soon no one will be allowed to produce R-rated films because some parents did not feel they could be bothered to make sure they knew what their kids were watching. It is good to see someone drawing attention to the public's right to choose its own forms of entertainment and exercising this right at its own discretion, even briefly.