Video Game Extravaganza (In easy to swallow capsules)

Typically I probably would have waited another week or two before updating again (you know, supply and demand, keep them wanting more). But I just couldn't after discovering a great website for any fan of entertainment media who also has an interest in politics. It's called, strangely enough, Game Politics and concerns itself with the legislative and societal aspects of video games. I discovered it thanks to GGA.

There is a new hubbub in the entertainment world after Jack Thompson wrote "A Modest Proposal" of making a violent video game where the goal is to kill people who make and sell violent video games (this is only the beginning I assure you). Jack Thompson, if you don't know, is a famous Florida lawyer who makes his living suing people. If there was a model of the evil greedy ambulance chaser, he is it. This is not to say that some of his arguments are invalid. On the contrary, there is something to be said about the violence in video games, the interactivity required to carry out violence, and the availability of violent games to children.

In his modest proposal he promised that if anyone made his idea into a game, he would donate $10k to the favorite charity of Take Two Interactive President Paul Eibeler. Take Two owns Rockstar Games, the makers of Grand Theft Auto. Then, after some video game modders created the game he asked for, he withdrew his charity, saying that it was only a satire, not a real challenge. So, the boys at Penny Arcade, which I frequent, decided to put their money where his mouth was and donated $10k to the Entertainment Software Association's Charity Foundation. Ironically, Jack Thompson then wrote to the Seattle Police Department suggesting that the Penny Arcade bandits be arrested. This was in response to them making fun of his antics. If you'd like to discover the whole story, search for "A Modest Video Game Proposal" in Google, or go to Game Politics and find "Jack Thompson".

In other gaming news, the coolest thing I found at Game Politics, and the real reason I now love it, is a link it had to an article that appeared in the Washington Post. The article is about various video game projects aimed at educating people on foreign conflicts. One game's goal is to broker a peace between Israelis and Palestinians. And MTV is having a contest to come up with a video game that fights genocide in Darfur, Sudan. One game, created by the UN, I actually downloaded and played. It's called Food Force and, while not terribly entertaining, teaches players about how the World Food Program reacts in a famine crisis. It is quite wonderful to see the things that rot your brain are becoming the things that lift you out of ignorance. That's a general "you" of course, not you specifically. You're great. Everyone thinks so. They do.

That's quite a bit of links, but if you like video games, or you like the idea of people learning about the world, then take the time to check them out. And I will continue to search for reasons why I should play more video games.