censorship
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Power to bloggers
This ain't strictly gaming related, but there's no doubt that the decision last week by a California appeals court to grant bloggers the same First Amendment rights that are afforded to traditional journalists can be a good thing for gamers. In a nutshell, the ruling means that we can't be forced by some wicked company to divulge the source of leaked information that we post on the blog. That means that information Joystiq sources send to us (either directly or via our anonymous tips form) and that we subsequently publish is generally protected under the First Amendment. This matters, because it improves the quantity and quality of information through us to you. Of course, company insiders who are considering divulging information to an online or offline writer of any sort still need to consider whether they can trust the writer to whom they intend to dish. The basic rules of relationships still apply, but this ruling should at the very least remove worry that those who publish online are somehow less protected than those who publish on dead trees.
The great divide: UK vs US censorship
When listing the differences between the UK and the USA one usually thinks of spelling, gastronomy and driving on the wrong side of the road, rather than film and game censorship. However, this fascinating post at Terra Nova (along with its thriving comments thread) delves into the differences between the BBFC and MPAA, as well as cultural factors, to try and establish why American consumers are less happy to have age restrictions on games.The whole thread gives an international perspective to current debates over the censorship of violent games. While sexual content in games can be treated as pornography, the lack of existing US legislation covering violence across other media means that singling games out is plain unfair. In the UK, however, ratings of violent and extremely realistic games fall under the Video Recordings Act, which covers any recorded video media.We have to wonder when games will get a category of their own and stand alongside more established media such as film and TV. In the meantime, to find out more about international game classification, Wikipedia's a great place to begin.
Paris Hilton as an E3 booth babe
The press release arrived with a subject line that screamed, "DON'T MISS THIS E3 CELEBRITY APPEARANCE." A split second away from hitting the delete hotkey, I paused when I noticed that Paris Hilton was the celeb who'd be making an appearance. But this will be no typical Paris Hilton gaming appearance. This time, Ms. Hilton will be working the chubby hordes who visit the West Hall to snag her signature and maybe check out the game that will bear her name, Paris Hilton's Jewelry Case. (No joke.) Paris will be hanging out (and we do mean hanging out) at the Gameloft booth (#2200) on Thursday for two hours. We wonder if she'll have to abide by the new E3 booth babe rules, which state: "Material, including live models, conduct that is sexually explicit and/or sexually provocative, including but not limited to nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms, are prohibited on the Show floor, all common areas, and at any access points to the Show." Break the ESA's rules at your own risk, Paris. No sexual provocation, or we'll have you bounced. Be a good girl, got it?
Verizon, Cingular whitewash mobile content [update 1]
If you were hoping to download saucy content (games, ringtones, music, videos, text) of any sort from Verizon, forget about it. The company has created ultra-conservative new internal guidelines that ban a variety of edgy content, most of it having to do with sinful body parts or sinful acts of human procreation, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed the documents. But Verizon's got competition in the race to become the network of choice for old people, conservatives and other fuddy-duddies. Cingular has also developed content standards that far exceed broadcast standards. For example, Cingular bans the words "lesbian," and "condom." In other words, forget about an educational video game having to do with contraception, or about game dialogue that uses common English to describe what must surely be (in the view of censors) filthy and unnatural homosexual relationships. Cingular also bans the word "pee pee" and any video game rated "Mature" or "Adult," in addition to T-rated games that include anything more than "mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes." Hopefully Verizon and Cingular are also working on a way to eliminate naughty words from appearing in the text messages sent by their users. (You might think that's crazy talk, but there's precedent for it. The Bloomberg terminal -- at one time widely used by the finance community for zipping off fast, quick emails -- bans all naughty words from the proprietary network, even those sent from one adult to another via Bloomberg email. Guys named Dick were not too happy that they were unable to sign their own emails when the ban was implemented.) Verizon's not above using sex to sell themselves to gamers, but heaven forefend that gamers try to download any racy Joanna Dark photos to their Verizon phones. [Update 1: updated post to include link to free access to WSJ content]
Gizmondo Execs land at Xero Mobile
Whenever a company asks us to modify anything on the site, we always conduct some research to determine if the item that offends the company is in fact false. Early yesterday morning, Xero Mobile asked us to remove a reader comment that was, in their view, incorrect. The comment suggested that Stefan Ericksson -- the now-jailed exec who totalled a million-dollar Enzo Ferrari and multi-million dollar games company Gizmondo -- still held an executive position at MVNO Xero Mobile. We removed the comment from Joystiq because we could find no proof that it was true. However, in doing this research, we did turn up information about Xero Mobile's connection to Ericksson's now-defunct Gizmondo. The most reliable source we could find on the subject was the venerable Financial Times, which states that "Peter Lilley, who headed up Gizmondo's Smart Adds business unit, David Levett who was formerly chief software architect at Gizmondo, and Rich Clayton, US producer for Gizmondo, are involved in setting up a new company called Xero Mobile, based in Beverley Hills." Plenty of others (Sean Ryan, Om Malik, Moco News, The Inquirer, to name a few) have chimed in on the linkage between the companies, and have further noted the similarities between Gizmondo's "Smart Adds" technology and the business model of Xero Mobile, which will provide free cell phone service to users who are willing to watch or listen to advertisements in exchange for that service. In short, we could find no link between Ericksson and Xero Mobile, though ample linkages exist between Xero and Gizmondo, according to multiple sources, some of them quite reliable.
Leland Yee @ GDC: a missed opportunity
We attended the GDC panel entitled "Murder, Sex and Censorship: Debating the Morals of Creative Freedom." The panel was notable for the presence of Leland Yee (pictured above), Democratic candidate for California State Senate, and notable anti-game crusader who passed a law that makes it a crime to sell to minors any game in which a player kills, maims, dismembers or sexually assaults an image of a human being. Yee's fellow panelists included Brenda Brathwaite, Jason Della Rocca, and James Paul Gee. For the most part, though, the audience had assembled to hear Yee defend his position on games. I'll cut through the niceties and get to the meat of it: this panel was a missed opportunity. Jason Della Rocca, who should have been able to ask Yee some good questions, behaved petulantly and unprofessionally (at one point, he loudly sighed into his microphone while Yee was making a particularly nutty point). I expected more of the Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). Get him some media and debate training, stat!
What's a true gamer?
Being a true gamer isn't: a huge gamerscore; a closet full of retro game-themed t-shirts; a huge library of games; owning every console ever released; 10,000 posts to your name on the IGN message boards; your own games blog; raiding 40 hours a week in World of Warcraft. It is moving from mere consumption to hobby advocacy. It's telling your friends about games; being a games evangelist; being politically active and voting against politicians who would interfere with developers' constitutional rights to produce content for gamers of all ages. Certain ambitious politicians are determined to make games an election 2008 issue. While most gamers sit merrily twiddling their joysticks in blissful ignorance, their hobby is under attack. Games are an attractive target because gamers generally can't watch TV news and game at the same time. This gives politicians free reign to vilify video games on national television in a bid to appeal to conservative voters.
Censorship at E3
Say goodbye to booth babes; this year's E3 is putting restrictions in place to clean up the show floor a little. The exhibitor's handbook apparently includes the following rule:Material, including live models, conduct that is sexually explicit and/or sexually provocative, including but not limited to nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms, are prohibited on the Show floor, all common areas, and at any access points to the Show. ESA, in its sole discretion, will determine whether material is acceptable.This is an interesting, and worrying, development; as Brenda Brathwaite points out, the censorship means that showing adult games or games with partial nudity won't be allowed. Will The Sims 2 be turned away because of the shower scenes? Will World of Warcraft be denied access because you can dance in your undies?It's unlikely, but it looks like a line will have to be drawn somewhere. Also, while we applaud the removal of scantily-clad models from the show floor, we wonder which other techniques companies will stoop to to grab the attention of passers-by. Last year's Anti Booth Babes attracted a lot of publicity, but exhibitors will have to find new tricks this year.
