The Sandbox

This article at CNN points out something that most gamers have known for a long time, that games can be great ways to connect with other people, that they can foster good social relationships, instead of being the tools of isolation that they're accused of being.

On the heels of Rob's post about the possibility of a DSM classification for "video game addiction", Destructoid recently found an article on the research of Oregon psychiatrist Jerald Block which concluded that the denial of violent games to teen killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold was a catalyst for what became the Columbine massacre.

As someone who has worked on several FPS games, I completely understand this conclusion. FPS games are widely misunderstood in the popular media.

CBS will, at noon today, be broadcasting the 2007 World Series of Video Games. Featured games will include Guitar Hero II and Fight Night Round 3, games that can be simply watched as if they were musical performances or traditional boxing matches respectively. I would go so far as to say that some folks would reasonably be able to tune in to see FNR3 and not immediately know it was a video game, the graphics being as good as they are.

But what does this mean for games? Or CBS? Anything?

Everyone's favorite crank Jack Thompson spent the day defending himself against disbarment. As a developer, I think of him as a boon to the industry: he sells games, and garners a lot of free publicity. Controversy does wonders, and mediocre games do much better than they deserve when he castigates them. So he helps guys like me continue to make games.

But I also know the toll he takes on our system of justice, the abuse he vomits forth on anyone and everyone he comes in contact with who doesn't share his particularly vivid paranoia. Gamepolitics.com endures a lot of abuse from him, as well as anyone who attracts his attention at all. He files frivolous lawsuits, plays "Media Circus" with cases involving real pain, real emotion, real torment, and as far as video games go, doesn't win, and often just escapes by the skin of his teeth from actually suffering the conequences of his grossly inappropriate actions.

But maybe, this is it. No more lawyering, he'll have to go on the Xtian talkshow circuit, and cavil against the grand conspiracy against him for the rest of his days. Man, I hope that happens.

Found on Boing-Boing, this article quoting McDonalds UK CEO Steve Easterbrook diverting blame for obesity from McDonalds to video games, and the general sloth of people these days.

And he's half-right.

More categories for this article than I thought possible... it's about everything.

Leigh Alexander is very much worth reading, when you're in search of thoughts on the game industry. Two recent articles are the case For and the case Against this new world of entertainment media convergence. Is this intertwining of games, web, movies, television, cell phones, GPS, fresh baked bread, and the fat pipe connecting your checking account to media producers' coffers, is this good for games?

Leigh gives the definitive maybe. I mostly agree.

The gaming world is rejoicing in yet another victory over Jack Thompson, who has been recommended by the reviewing judge to be found guilty of 27 misconduct charges. The weird thing here is how a process like this points out the disconnect between the reality of the law, and a lay person's understanding of the law, because really, it seemed like it was incontrovertible, that Jack Thompson is a fruitbat.

Here is the summarized list of judgments against old Jack. As an overall, "let's strip this guy of his right to practice law in Florida" motion, the layperson would say, "Um, obviously?" So why this stuff goes on for review after review, with appeals and so forth, it's beyond my non-lawyerly mind to understand. Obviously the accused need protection against abuse by the state, but there is always a situation like this that makes one wish that you could just cut to the chase, because it's so apparent that this person is abusing the system.

The good news here, one hopes, is that Jack will be able to free his time up from his busy ambulance chasing schedule, and devote himself full-time to promoting games. Stirring up controversy around games is the main service he provides me, and that he can spend more time on it, that will help me and my colleagues immensely.

Found on Kotaku, Disbarment with Extreme Prejudice, that's the recommendation by the Florida Bar, for Jack Thompson. OK, "enhanced disbarment" is the term, but whatever, I'm a violent game designer, and I am trying to immolate your very soul with my overtly destructive vocabulary. Rawr!

So it goes to the Florida Supreme Court, for review on September 2nd: mark your calendars, I'm sure it will be a colorful countdown come late August. It doesn't look good for Thompson, who declared that the reviewing judge did not have the authority to rule over him and walked out on the hearing. "Do too," she said, unecclesiastically.

[via Raph's blog] Dmitri Williams has just published his mammoth study of MMO players, specifically EQ2 players, by analyzing terabytes of data provided by SOE. Some of the results aren't what I would have expected.

Where do videogames go to die? If they're in the UK: the National Videogame Archive. Gamasutra reports on this new initiative from Nottingham Trent University and the UK National Media Museum, which one scholar describe as "an important resource for preserving elements of our national cultural heritage. It will not only be a vital academic resource to support growing disciplines in videogame studies but will also be something that the general public can fully engage with."

The UK has been at the forefront of ludology - the academic study of videogames, and it's nice to see this latest initiative to preseve game art and culture.