Mashing buttons since 1984
I want to stop posting about this guy, I do. I just can’t help myself. This will bring a smile to your face.
Newsflash – Jack Thompson wants to ban AIM Icons!
You see, this AIM buddy icon was posted over at BadassBuddy, a Bolt.com affiliate site. Jack decided this was a death threat and freaked out. That’s correct – an AIM buddy icon. Jack is apparently terrified of buddies.
I disparage Spike TV any chance I get. It’s no secret that I don’t hold the “First Network for Men” in very high regard. (Besides, wouldn’t ESPN hold the title for that?). Anyways, I buzz past Spike TV when I channel surf, stopping only for the occasional Jet Li movie.
Well, that all changed when last Saturday I saw that they were airing The Three Stooges. I love the Three Stooges! I have been watching them for years. When my grandpa went blind (rest his soul) he would only let me watch the Stooges on Saturday mornings because the cartoons would confuse him. I didn’t like it at first, but I grew to love them. Watching my grandpa laugh made it that much better. So I’ve always had a sweet spot for the Stooges. Anytime they’re on TV I’ll be watching them. Your network could have a show about clubbing kittens and baby seals and then host a Three Stooges marathon and I wouldn’t hold the baby animal show against you. A few years ago AMC used to show Three Stooges every evening. Wy wife suffered through them but I loved it. Now I can get them again on Saturday mornings?
I guess Spike TV ain’t all that bad.
Well, I thought something was amiss over at render when there weren’t any new posts in a while. Adam has confirmed that render is no more. That’s too bad, render was one of the first gaming blogs I found that I really liked and it’ll be missed.
The Video Game Ombudsman is no more, as well. Luckily he’s only moved shop and he can now be found over at Video Game Media Watch (one mouthful of a name to another! Amen for acronyms!). The name has changed but Kyle says the content should remain pretty constant. That’s a good thing as the VGO was always a good read.
Looks like it’s time to update the Blogline subscriptions! I’ve been needing to do some housekeeping over there anyway.
Today marks the eighth year the buttonWife and I have been together. I know she doesn’t read buttonmashing very often, but I’ll make sure she sees this one. I hope she knows I love her a bunch!
Happy Anniversary!
MattG at Press the Buttons talks about the emotional responses that video games can evoke. In particular, can a game make you cry? It’s a great piece that is a great read. Check it out.
Myself, I’ve never experienced such a response. I’ve been caught up before in the beauty of games (Wind Waker and Metroid Prime come to mind) but never had the cry response.
Maybe I’m too calloused.
Update: Troy also referred to this question. His story reminded me a game of Age of Kings I was playing back in the day. I was playing as The Turks and was playing against a host of computer enemies. I had fortified my position with a host of bombard towers supported by a bunch of Janissary. One of the remaining enemies was The Vikings. He sent a steady stream of Berserkers into my “Gauntlet of Bombard Tower Death.” I laughed as unit after unit was trashed by 8 inch iron cannon balls. My wife came in to see what was so funny and I explained it to her. She said I was “mean” and that she “felt sorry” for the poor, helpless Vikings. I felt nothing and she felt bad that berserker after berserker lost his life. “Maybe that one had a wife and kids. You’re a heartless killer,” she told me.
Yeah, but I’m racking up the kills, babe!
So again, I guess I’m too calloused to have those reactins.
It’s interesting to compare two studies that have been done on violent video games. In one, published in the June issue of Communication Monographs (which is devoted mainly to scientific and empirical investigations of communication processes. Link.), video games are painted in a good light. From the article:
… researchers found “no strong effects associated with aggression caused by this violent game,” said Dmitri Williams, the lead author of the study.
Also
Nor was game play a predictor of aggressive behaviors. Compared with the control group, the players neither increased their argumentative behaviors after game play nor were significantly more likely to argue with their friends and partners.
While the game in question was Asheron’s Call 2, a fantasy based MMORPG, there is an element of violence in the game. You’re killing monsters, after all. Even if they are helpless giant rats. In the end, the article makes a couple other good points. It says that games and their effects are complicated and that, “If the content, context, and play length have some bearing on the effects, policy-makers should seek a greater understanding of the games they are debating. It may be that both the attackers and defenders of the industry’s products are operating without enough information, and are instead both arguing for blanket approaches to what is likely a more complicated phenomenon.” It also says that kids run home from school, where they are bored, to run home to play games and “solve problems.” There must be something good about that!
Now, contrast that to a study that is constantly touted by super-lawyer Jack Thompson, by researchers at Indiana University. (Can we really trust a university that employed Bobby Knight for decades? I kid, I kid). Anyway, this study’s subjects were, “aggressive adolescents diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD)”. It would take a super genuis like JT to use a study of “aggressive adoloscents” to prove the point that violent video games have an effect on them. That’s like doing a study of thirsty people to find out if hydrogen dioxide dihydrogen oxide dihydrogen monoxide (thanks, Bobster thanks, Good Chem Student) made them feel better. The study proved that aggresive kids’ brains react differently to stimulus than “normal” kids do. This may not be obvious but it seems to logically follow that kids who already suffer from “disruptive behavior disorder” would of course be excited by violent media. The study doesn’t really do much to prove that violent media has negative effects on “normal” kids.
I find it interesting to see what sources of “proof” each side of the violent video game argument uses.
(This was also mentioned on GGA here)
Related Posts:
Cranial Menus
GTA should have been rated AO
Parents just have to be better parents
Bad News for Rockstar
This settles it
MSNBC reports that Devin Moore, the “GTA made me do it” Cop Killer, has been convicted of murder. (Seen first at Evil Avatar)
Jack Thompson’s crusade just took a mean one right on the chin. But it shouldn’t be about that buffoon. It should be about a mentally unstable young man who took the lives of 3 people. Hopefully justice will be served.
Related Post:
Cranial Menus
This NY Times article is the latest in a long line of both EA bashing and bemoaning of sequelitis that is rampant among major video game publishers. This passage is getting the most attention:
By year’s end, Electronic Arts plans to release 26 new games, all but one of them a sequel, including the 16th version of N.H.L. Hockey, the 11th of the racing game Need for Speed and the 13th of the P.G.A. Tour golf game. The company also relies heavily on creating games based on movies like the James Bond and Lord of the Rings series, rather than developing original brands.
The article focuses on the cash cows that are EA sports games. The father of a gamer planning to buy Madden 2006 had it right when he said, “If it wasn’t for free agency, Electronic Arts wouldn’t be doing so well.” Very astute. Sports games do lend themselves to sequels but it’s easy to complain about sequels to other games. But why are we picking on EA for doing exactly what Japanese developers do just as blatantly. We have like, what, 83 different Final Fantasy games? Aren’t there like 27 Dragon Warriors? No one seems to care when those games get a “roster update.” But that’s not my point.
The article got me thinking about sequels. What would happen if sequels weren’t so successful? What would we have missed out on? The first game that came to mind was Super Mario Brothers. The first one is undoubtedly the quintessential video game. A million Marios followed. Super Mario Brothers 2, on the otherhand, wasn’t as great as its predecessor. So what if Nintendo decided it didn’t want to continue with sequels of SMB? We’d never had the pleasure of playing my favorite Super Mario game, Super Mario Brothers 3. And let’s not forget Super Mario World, Mario 64 and a host of other excellent Mario games.
There have been plenty of other sequels that were heads and shoulders above the games to which they are sequels – Diablo 2, Warcraft 2 (did anyone even play the first WC? I did for about ten minutes), Age of Kings (Age of Empires 2), Halo 2 (which I’m sure some would disagree with), and many others. Sequels can be a good thing! A very good thing!
Of course, as gamers, we’d like to see developers augment their library with sequels, not depend on them. New franchises like Pikmin, Viewtiful Joe, and Katamari Damacy would never have seen the light of day if sequels really ruled the roost. While it is apparent that sequels are where the “sure” money is, games like Viewtiful Joe can be a pleasant (and profitable) surprise.
So let’s not be quick to dismiss a sequel. They are an integral part of the video game spectrum. Don’t forget, too, that sequals can tank. There’s probably just as many bad sequels as there are good ones. But that’s another topic for another day.
As an exercise for the reader, what other games would have made you sad if there never was a “2” or “II” after their name?
Update: There’s a rather lively discussion over at Slashdot about this exact topic. I didn’t read all the comments, but this one caught my eye:
Not to make light of this sad story, but this quote made me smile:
Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported after interviewing former work colleagues and staff at the Internet cafe.
Like I said, a gamer until the untimely end.
n0wak has noticed an interesting trend on Xbox Live.
Except for an occasional Halo 2 game, I haven’t been on Live for months. I’ve heard that NCAA 2006 is fun online but I have yet to give it a try.