Sunday, May 11, 2008
I'm talking to you, politicians. Andrew Ian Dodge agrees: Stop Picking on Video Games - and Video Gamers
Politicians are always looking for an edge to be seen to be doing something; especially if it involves children. Never is it more likely that during an election year or the lead up to a general election. Politicians all over the Anglosphere are eyeing the video game industry with ill intent.
US government leaders examining slapping extra taxes on game transactions, justified by the supposed link between video games with violent behavior - which also bolsters the cries for censorship. The latter is occuring despite the fact there is evidence that video games do not lend themselves to encouraging bad behavior. There is a recent study shows that video game paranoids are completely off base...
Damn right they are. So, anyone playing anything interesting out there? I downloaded Trackmania Nations through Steam a couple of weeks ago. It's a free racing game. Nifty graphics and a very short learning curve. Good for jumping online for a quick run or two. Before that I was playing STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl -- graphics are getting a bit dated, but it's a pretty cool RPG/shooter in a setting that has the playing dodging radiation and mutants in a futuristic Chernobyl forbidden zone.
Too bad Counter Strike isn't as big as it used to be. I can imagine getting together on a server full of horrid war bloggers for a little CT (and T) action. Also too bad Armed Assault: Combat Operations never really caught on, since I can imagine the same thing there as well.
So many good games: IL2 1946 for WW2 flying in all theaters, Lock On for modern air combat, Combat Mission: Afrika Korps for PBEM WW2 tactics, Medieval II: Total War for strategic and tactical medieval combat, Battlefield 2 for easy modern combat...on and on and on...most have real-time voice communication built in and allow for the use of a little brain power. I doubt any of them will turn an otherwise even slightly off-balance personality into a psycho killer.
Hey, there's nothing wrong with a little Mario Kart for the Wii, heck, I just rented a copy, it's fun for the whole family, but let's have some games with a little verisimilitude, too.
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