As a gamer, a nerd, and all ‘round geek, it isn’t a question of whether I play video games; it’s a question of how much.
Thankfully, I manage to exude a certain level of control over how many and how much I play. For example, World of Warcraft, being my game of choice, only gets played 6 months out of the year. I am very proud of that fact.
But my point is this; I am a gamer. I always have been, and most likely always will be.
So it always frustrates me when I see so called experts or news agencies give video games a bad rap, as if they were somehow the 21st century’s anti-Christ.
To start with, over at the Gawker Media website Kotaku, they’ve brought to my attention news of a headline that Fox News decided to run with on their website. While apparently the headline for the actual story reads "Parents of Baby Left Alone in Car Seat for 8 Days Face Murder Charges,” Fox News decided that the front page link should be a little catchier.
“Video Gamers Leave Baby to Die.”
Oh for crying out loud!
The story is actually quite horrible. Apparently a Peoria, Illinois couple decided to leave their 5-month-old baby strapped to a carseat placed inside a crib for 8 days while they were home "playing video games, watching TV, feeding and caring for themselves."
Without a doubt, this is a horrible story, and one that should deserve attention; but not with some headline that seems to have been written by Jack Thompson himself. Mike Fahey at Kotaku refers to his tipster, Orrin, who pointed out that the headline could have easily have read "TV Watchers Leave Baby to Die."
Apparently, Fox’s slogan should read “We Report and Decide” rather than “We Report. You Decide.”
I was doing a crossword with friends just last night, and I was presented with this clue; Misleading Publicity. The answer is easy, and it links directly with what Fox News is doing here, because this is nothing more shockingly than naïve propaganda. This would be in line with a battle enemy dropping leaflets announcing free ice-cream to any willing to switch sides; not only stupid, but obviously false.
It seems that video games are the talk of the town, especially if you are unlucky enough to have been visited by a school shooting.
No doubt many of you have heard the name Jack Thompson. He is, for all intents and purposes, the bane of my existence, and so many others. An American attorney and activist, he believes – I’m paraphrasing now – that video games are the root of all evil. The moment a school shooting occurs, he is on Fox News announcing to the world that, of course, the killer had been playing violent video games.
Do I need to mention that he’s a Christian conservative? I didn’t think so.
February 14 just past saw Steven Kazmierczak shoot and kill 5 people, before turning the gun on himself, at Northern Illinois University. Within hours, literally, Thompson was on Fox News expounding his view that he believed Kazmierczak was a video gamer, and had probably used the “training simulation” Counter Strike.
Let me first say that to so quickly and clearly use a mass shooting as a furthering to your own cause is despicable.
But, more relevant, is this. I have played Counter Strike, it is a fantastic game. But unless I am somehow provided with a mouse and keyboard to operate as I turn a gun on whomever I may so choose, Counter Strike will have been no help to me. In fact, there is not a video game out there that could have provided any “training.”
You don’t hear soccer commentators referring to the months of off-season practice Manchester United players spent playing Fifa 2008 to hone their skills; that would be ridiculous. Video games are no more a visual representation of real life than a fantasy book is of history.
So next time you hear Jack Thompson’s name mentioned on the TV, make sure to switch channels as soon as possible. Or, better yet, go play a video game instead!
A Geek’s-Geek from Melbourne, Australia, Josh is an aspiring author with dreams of publishing his epic fantasy, currently in the works, sometime in the next 5 years. A techie, nerd, sci-fi nut and bookworm.
