Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Fox News Launching Multi-Front War Against Games
So ... let's see... in the last month Fox News has claimed:
* Mass Effect is a fully interactive, customizeable orgy.
* Video games can trigger flashbacks in injured veterans and cause them to freak out
* Video games are destroying the environment. Yeah, there's been a decrease in outdoor activities while video games have increased in prominence. There must be a causal relationship. During the same time, there's also been a steep decrease in violent crimes. But no, no, there's certainly no correlation!
Lest we think it's only a problem with Fox News here in the U.S., we've got a pop-psychologist TV shrink in the UK effectively writing legislation to restrict video games. And a Times Online article calls the XBox "Crack For Kids."
You know, it's very, very hard to convince myself that this isn't just "old media" lashing out desperately to defend itself against competing new media.
Labels: Politics
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 8:47 AM (Permalink)
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You should read some of the things people said about the novel when it first came out. These are the same people who would have vilified motion pictures, rock and roll, and the waltz had they been around in the proper day and age. They just fundamentally don't understand the appeal, and are arrogant enough to think that it must therefore only appeal to degenerates.
One can take comfort in knowing both that they are on the wrong side of history, and likely to find themselves in their 70s playing Wii3 in their nursing homes, frustrated because those 60-year-olds keep beating them.
One can take comfort in knowing both that they are on the wrong side of history, and likely to find themselves in their 70s playing Wii3 in their nursing homes, frustrated because those 60-year-olds keep beating them.
That's because it is old media lashing out at new media.
We have a similar problem in some homes. Kids need to "stop wasting their time" and/or "get some fresh air". The problem isn't the appeal of video games, it's the lack of appeal of other activities for certain kids. Like me. There are surely plenty of kids who've been consumed by sports, too. Or music.
I think parents just get freaked out by any apparent imbalance towards a single activity. And frankly, they may be on to something, but without attractive alternatives, I don't see that being fixable.
We have a similar problem in some homes. Kids need to "stop wasting their time" and/or "get some fresh air". The problem isn't the appeal of video games, it's the lack of appeal of other activities for certain kids. Like me. There are surely plenty of kids who've been consumed by sports, too. Or music.
I think parents just get freaked out by any apparent imbalance towards a single activity. And frankly, they may be on to something, but without attractive alternatives, I don't see that being fixable.
Yeah - I figure when I'm a grandfather it'll probably be something else *I'm* freaking out about. You think I go off on what passes for RPGs today? Why, in my day, we had REAL RPGs, not these watered down action games kids are playin' these days... oh, wait, where was I?
Oh, yeah, stupid manufactured hysteria...
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Oh, yeah, stupid manufactured hysteria...
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