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The Political Game: Pax Jack? Don't count on it
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Can Jack Thompson lead the video game industry out of society's doghouse and into a peaceful co-existence with its critics?Sure, when pigs fly.Earlier this week, everyone's favorite game-bashing attorney grabbed a few headlines by extending what some news outlets interpreted as an olive branch to video game publishers. In an e-mail to departing ESA boss Doug Lowenstein and ESRB president Patricia Vance, Thompson suggested that the game publishers warn the game retailers not to sell M-rated titles to those under 17. According to Thompson's plan, if retailers failed to comply, the publishers would simply stop shipping games to the offending stores. And then all of this nasty video game legislation would go away.Brilliant! ... except for those oh-so-annoying realities.
The Political Game: The 2006 Political Mix
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:It's game over for 2006, the craziest year ever in video game politics. And that's saying something, given the Hot Coffee hoopla that plagued 2005. Here are some of the major political stories that rocked the video game world in 2006: Jack Thompson's failed Louisiana video game law: the controversial Miami activist attorney convinced the Louisiana legislature that he had crafted a piece of video game legislation that would withstand the inevitable industry legal challenge. The reality was, he hadn't – not even close - and things got ugly between Thompson and the Louisiana attorney general's office by the time Federal Judge James Brady tossed Thompson's bill onto the scrap heap of history.Minnesota's nutty "fine the buyer" law: The Minnesota legislature must have been suffering from a collective case of cabin fever when it passed State Senator Sandy Pappas' bill, which called for $25 fines against underage buyers of violent games. That would be the same Sandy Pappas who told GameSpot that, "Legislators don't worry too much about what's constitutional." Obviously, since the bill survived for about three seconds once Federal Judge James Rosenbaum got his hands on it. By the way, His Honor tried out Jade Empire on his clerk's Xbox while considering the case. Pretty cool for a guy who wears a long black dress to work.
The Political Game: Censorship in Beantown
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:I don't much care for Grand Theft Auto.Aside from occasional review duties, I don't play Saints Row, either, or Reservoir Dogs or Scarface. Crime games are just not my thing; however, I don't dispute your right to enjoy those titles.In Boston, though, political pressure has forced the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) to agree that it will no longer carry ads for GTA or any other M-rated game. This came about after an organization known as the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood objected to subway ads for GTA Vice City Stories on the MBTA's Green Line.Faced with a politically tenuous situation, the transit authority folded, deciding that it could ban M-rated game ads under the same rationale by which it refuses ads for X-rated movies. This is the games-as-porn approach that failed so miserably in Louisiana recently.
The Political Game: Don't worry, be happy
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:If you haven't caught this week's edition of Time Magazine, put down EGM or PC Gamer or whatever gaming mag you read and be sure to pick up a copy.The cover story, "Why We Worry About the Wrong Things" isn't written about the raging controversy over video game content, but it easily could have been. As I read through Jeffrey Kluger's terrific article, I was reminded over and over again about the current political battle surrounding games.How so?
The Political Game: It's the Economy, Stupid
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Canada gets it. The Canadian government is offering grants and a contest to support emerging game developers. The program is called the Great Canadian Video Game Competition, and ten small firms will receive funding. The best of their game projects will be recognized at next year's GDC. The overall winner will receive a half-million dollar award. Okay, that's Canadian dollars, but still. Why is Canada doing this? To help create Canadian IP and Canadian jobs. So why do American politicos expend so much time and energy on futile video game content laws instead of helping grow the industry and work to keep the jobs it creates from going to New Delhi or Saigon or even Montreal? It's baffling. Like moths to a flame, U.S. elected officials waste incredible amounts of time and energy each year on video game laws that aren't worth the paper they are printed on. In Utah this week, the legislature decided to once again consider a "games-as-porn" bill in the upcoming session, against the advice of the state's Attorney General. The Utah pols also chose to ignore the fact that a very similar bill has been blocked by a federal judge from taking effect in Louisiana.
The Political Game: Going negative
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:It's obvious to anyone who watches T.V., listens to the radio or gives a second glance to their junk mail: political campaign ads these days are almost exclusively of the negative variety.The just-completed 2006 mid-term elections saw video game issues raised more than ever before. In the run-up to Tuesday's Democratic sweep, a number of campaign commercials either touted their candidates' positions on regulating video game content or attacked opponents for failing to do so.U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Rick Santorum both had commercials that mentioned video game content issues. She won, he lost.In Indiana, incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Sodrel's campaign ran a nasty attack ad bashing his opponent, Democrat Baron Hill, for voting against a 1999 amendment to a juvenile crime bill that would have placed restrictions on video game sales.The dramatic ad featured a black screen with audio of young boys, apparently playing GTA, and saying things like:"Hit the hooker with the tire iron!" "Steal the old lady's car." "Shoot her first!"
The Political Game: Can you create a gaming city?
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:At the vgXpo in Philly last weekend I was asked to serve on a panel discussing how to make Philadelphia into a video game Mecca. Tough question. Among life's imponderables, that's right up there.At first blush it seems like a mega-long shot. Sandwiched between New York and Washington, Philly has a long-standing municipal inferiority complex. And even though it's the nation's fourth largest metropolitan area (behind NYC, Los Angeles and Chicago), this Rodney Dangerfield of a town seemingly gets no respect.Although Philly area people are avid gamers, from a game development standpoint, there isn't a whole lot happening in or around the City of Brotherly Love. A suburban company, eGames, cranks out some nice casual fare for the PC crowd. Majesco, more familiar to console and handheld fans, is headquartered in New Jersey, closer to New York than Philly, truth be told. Maybe the most happening thing in town right now is Newgrounds.com, the Flash portal operated by Tom Fulp, who also designed the indie hit Alien Hominid.
The Political Game: The Bully bash
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Is the Bully controversy overdone?When was the last time a video game got the attention of British Prime Minister Tony Blair? Name another game title which spawned multiple protest marches, or got tagged as a "Columbine simulator?"You can't, because it never happened. Not until Bully came along.Calling the game a "Columbine simulator," of course, is pure, unadulterated nonsense. It's just a slogan, designed to be memorable and help drive an anti-game agenda, much like "Hello, Moto" was created to pitch you a mobile phone.But setting aside the game-hate coming out of Miami for just a moment, let's focus on the rest of the world. Frankly, no one should be surprised by the negative reactions to Bully among non-gamers. There are several factors at play here.
The Political Game: Do game laws help or hurt candidates?
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:There's a guy who posts on GamePolitics, the website I run. Good guy, works for one of the big three console makers. He has a user icon that says, "Vote Pro-Game."Nice idea. But would you? Vote pro-game, I mean.When you slip into the voting booth in November, you'll have a lot of other things to worry about, like Iraq, Iran, Al Qaeda, and North Korea, not to mention jobs, healthcare, the environment and net neutrality. So would you vote for or against a candidate strictly on the basis of where he or she stands on video game legislation?Me neither.Between two roughly equivalent candidates, however, that could be a decisive factor. So let's take a look at the political fortunes of game legislating politicians in this election year. And if you just want the executive summary, here it is: game legislation doesn't seem to be hurting politicians.
The Political Game: Video games made me do it
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Ladies and gentlemen of the Joystiq jury, I direct your attention to Independence Day, 2004. On that morning, Cody Posey, just an average 14-year-old boy, picked up a gun, walked into his home and gunned down his stepmother in cold blood.The video games made him do it.Cody's dad, Delbert, a caretaker at ABC newsman Sam Donaldson's New Mexico ranch, heard the shots and came running. Cody shot him dead, too, along with his 13-year-old stepsister, Marilea. Sam Donaldson actually discovered the crime scene and called the police. The adolescent killer was arrested, tried, and sent away. Cody Posey, average American teen, had become a homicidal maniac.The video games made him do it.
The Political Game: Who will save gamers? [update 1]
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Despite an uninterrupted string of constitutional defeats, politicians continue to seek ways to legislate video games. In state capitals from Salt Lake City to Albany, political Captain Ahabs are poring over court opinions, seeking the Great White Legal Loophole. Elected officials and culture cops are tweaking the legalese and experimenting with new tactics – such as equating violent games with pornography. For all their bluster, however, they haven't yet been able to pass even a single law that has survived judicial review.And they probably never will. The First Amendment, it's a powerful thing.
The Political Game: The blame game
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Wednesday's tragic shooting spree at Montreal's Dawson College has prompted yet another media feeding frenzy over violent video games. Word that 25-year-old shooter Kimveer Gill played Super Columbine RPG, a non-commercial game design, was enough to push the video game angle into lead paragraphs in newspapers from London to Washington, D.C. to China. Hell, it even made the Drudge Report.To be sure, the clearly unbalanced Gill was no stranger to games, especially first-person shooters. His blog on VampireFreaks.com names Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R. and Call of Duty 2 among his favorites. He also played some of the commonly-cited poster children for game violence, including Manhunt, Postal and the GTA series. Gill also played less controversial titles like Warcraft III, Need for Speed Underground and Command & Conquer Generals. But Super Columbine RPG is the sound bite here, and it's no surprise that the media has jumped on that angle with both feet. Think about it -- a game based upon a horrendous school massacre being played by a lunatic who then commits his own deadly school shooting. If you're writing headlines, it's practically irresistible.
The Political Game: The Virtual Candidate
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Is it youthful and hip -- or just geeky and weird -- for a major political candidate to shake hands with a furry or kiss a baby avatar in the virtual world?We'll find out in 2008.When presidential hopeful Mark Warner visited Second Life last week, it represented a milestone for both online gaming and American politics.For the online game community, the former Virginia governor's Second Life stop was a definite boost. Most notably, it marked the first time anything but negative political attention -- violence! addiction! -- has ever been paid to an MMO. Moreover, Warner's visit was a tacit admission that there is something worth tapping into within the Second Life space -- that, despite the game's virtual landscape and offbeat avatars, SL is a real place, populated by gamers with genuine concerns, and, most importantly, gamers who vote.
The Political Game: Anti-game candidate works the crowd
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Picture a crisp Saturday morning in early November, 2006. Elections are only three days away. A flatbed truck draped in red, white and blue bunting cruises slowly through the parking lot of a busy shopping mall. A four-piece brass band, its members seated on bales of hay, belts out John Philip Souza tunes from the back of the truck. Signs on both doors read "Mike Hatch for Governor."It's a campaign stop. A middle-aged man dressed in a pinstripe suit works the crowd of shoppers near the mall entrance. He is the candidate."Hi, I'm Attorney General Mike Hatch and I'm running for Governor of Minnesota.""Hi, Mike, my name is Dave and I'm a gamer."
The Political Game: The circus comes to Louisiana
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:If you think back to this time last year, you'll surely recall the State of Louisiana being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Traumatized residents there are still trying to rebuild their lives. These poor souls need all kinds of help - loans and subsidies, jobs and infrastructure repairs. So the Louisiana legislature gave them a video game law. Just why a state that is best known for its annual, drunken, boob-flashing street party felt squeamish about, of all things, video games has never been clear. But Rep. Roy Burrell, a Louisiana Democrat, harbored strong feelings about the issue. Apparently frustrated by the failure to get his first effort passed in 2005, Burrell called in a legal gunslinger from out of town: Jack Thompson.
The Political Game: A brief history of video game legislation
Each week Dennis McCauley will contribute The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:A well-known philosopher – I think maybe it was Doug Lowenstein – once said, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." How true. Since this a brand-new column about the politics of video games, it seems like a good idea to kick things off with a short history lesson on video game legislation in the USA. That way, if I get canned, some geek can collect these columns for the Wikipedia and they'll have a logical starting point (today's column) and a logical ending (a future Joystiq e-mail with the subject line, "You're fired"). So, pay attention. This means you, Jack Thompson.
