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Search results for Vitka violence
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June 6, 2005 Link to this post
The Videogame Violence Issue, revisited
Remember that series of articles on CBS Gamecore, written by William Vitka, in which the various viewpoints about videogame violence were put on display? Looks like 1UP.com is following suit - a few months later. Same guy on the 'ban 'em' side (Jack Thompson, a lawyer looking to sue the gaming industry for murders he says are attributable to Grand Theft Auto), and another familiar name on the 'games can be good for you' side (Henry Jenkins, who's been involved in the debate for quite some time). It's a good read. And while you're on the subject, check out this article at the New Hampshire Union Leader, found by Wiggum - an interesting viewpoint that suggests that the legislation banning sale of M-rated games to minors might be, in fact, the impetus that spurs more of these sales. (Louis Wu 19:54:24 UTC)
March 25, 2005 Link to this post
Videogame Violence Feedback
William Vitka posted another piece today in his GameCore series about videogame violence - this one is a collection of email feedback he's received on the rest of the articles. It's interesting that more than one of the letters involve interaction with Jack Thompson, the lawyer who suggests that videogame violence drives our children to murder - and in each of those cases, polite requests for clarification were met with curses and vulgarity. Says a lot about the guy, doesn't it? Go read! (Louis Wu 20:57:43 UTC)
March 16, 2005 Link to this post
Gaming - from a retail perspective
William Vitka's Violence in Videogame series at CBSNews.com continues with an interview with Hal Halpin, president of the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association. This one's a little different than older ones in the series - the questions aren't the same, but the idea - to explore the effect of violence in videogames on our society - hasn't changed. Halpin's professional stance is predictable - after all, he represents game retailers, so it's not surprising that he opposes legislation that would ban the sale of videogames in certain markets - but he makes some interesting points.
Games that are marketed as violent and with gratuitous sex or violence in order to sensationalize, typically aren't good games and wouldn't sell if it weren't for politicians and the media hyping the title.
I wonder if the politicians understand this? Go check out the piece - it's an interesting read! (Louis Wu 20:21:22 UTC)
March 9, 2005 Link to this post
My own views on violence
Whee - tooting my own horn! The next installment of the CBS News 'Violence in Gaming' series has been posted - and it's me answering the questions this time around. Remember - as is true with all pieces in this series, the questions were answered without reading any of the other respondents' replies. This is starting to feel like a 'Pile on Jack Thompson' collection... but that wasn't the intent at all. (I didn't even know he was among the people interviewed when I answered these questions.) As always - discussion on our forum is great... but please stay away from general politics; limit the discussion to this topic (violence in videogames), in order to keep the flames to a minimum. Thanks! Update: oops, seems I lied. The last half of the second-to-last question WAS in direct response to Mr. Thompson's piece; it was added after the original interview, from an email exchange I had with William Vitka. The REST of the questions, however, were answered 'in a vacuum', with respect to other interviewees. (Louis Wu 19:34:39 UTC)
March 8, 2005 Link to this post
Videogame violence - the discussion continues
Spenser noticed the next installment of William Vitka's series on video game violence at CBSNews.com - this interview is with Scott Ramsoomair, of VG Cats. This one's a bit more 'off the cuff' - someone who doesn't take the issue quite as seriously as say, Jack Thompson. And for those who think that discussion in THIS community is reactionary and thought-free, you should read this post by SPARTAN-01110101 - he makes a point that certainly opened MY eyes a little... Update: I'm a little behind, so I'm just noticing a link to a pretty interesting Thompson rebuttal on Friday's Penny Arcade news page. Lots of good points in there. (Louis Wu 13:30:25 UTC)
March 6, 2005 Link to this post
GameSpeak: Video Game Violence
William Vitka is a columnist with CBSNews.com - we mentioned his very first piece, a look at the power of Halo 2, back in November. Recently, he began publishing a series of interviews focused on the issue of violence in videogames; a series of questions was sent to a variety of people with opinions on the subject. The first installment was with Jack Thompson, an attorney who's been one of the most outspoken critics of video game violence; several of the claims he made were so outrageous, I chose to hold off on publicizing the series until some counterpoint material was online. (There's no faster way to incite a flamewar on our forum than the material produced by Mr. Thompson.) Last week, it was Tim Buckley, the artist behind the webcomic Ctrl+Alt+Del, in the spotlight... and I understand that this week's entry will be my own responses. I'm willing to allow discussion on our forum about this, under a few conditions: people stay civil, people refrain from ad hominem attacks (if you don't know what those are, look it up), and (maybe most important), people do NOT send nasty notes to those who've expressed opinions they don't agree with. There's no better way to vindicate a viewpoint than to show that those opposing that viewpoint need to resort to crude or vulgar language; if you disagree with an opinion, explain WHY in reasonable terms. I'll post again when my own series of answers gets posted. (Louis Wu 21:54:16 UTC)
