"games are not art or media": Sen. Deanna Demuzio

[CptStern]

take notice gamers ..our favourite hobby is being attacked by the right-wing nutjobs again:


"The Illinois Senate approved a version of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposed restrictions on the sales of violent and sexually explicit video games to children, even though some senators said the idea is unconstitutional

The sponsor, Sen. Deanna Demuzio, denied the measure would interfere with free speech rights.

"Video games are not art or media," she said. "They are simulations, not all that different from the simulations used by the U.S. military in preparation for war."



source



hmmm didnt know I've been playing "simulations" for the last 20 years


it gets worse: they're trying to intimidate senators into voting:

"Still, even some critics said they would not vote against the measure for fear it would be used against them politically.

"I'm going to vote for this bill, but I'm voting for it for one reason — because this is a political bill," said Sen. Mike Jacobs. "If I vote against it, it will show up in a campaign mail piece."

 

[iyfyoufhl]

"Video games are not art or media,"

oh, it pisses me off so bad, how could she say that? She has no f*cking clue what art is, that dumb bitch, i hate when people say shit about things they don't know

 

[CptStern]

I'm willing to bet she's never played a game in her life

 

[TenaciousPLo]

Tis a sad situation.

 

[CrazyHarij]

I want to stab her with a spade and pee on the corpse.

Or, I want to hack her body with a crowbar.

Or, I want to shoot her with an Instagib Shock-Rifle. (Do they even make those? They must, if UT2004 is a simulation.)

 

[CptStern]

holy shit crazy ..I dont think I've ever seen you upset ...I like it! :E

 

[Gray Fox]

Yeah, but wait the bill just prohibits sales of violant games to kids, why is that bad. I mean shouldn't it been forbidden a long time ago. What is the point of the age rating if kids can buy them like that.

 

[CptStern]

I agree, but that's not the point ..these groups wont stop there. Their goal is to wipe out all offending material ..sanitizing games in the process...do you really want these groups to force developers to curb their work just so they wont be morally outraged? it's happening, they're trying to make legislation that will punish developers if someone commits a crime and their game is linked to the perp. This happened in the 60's with comics ...their were senate hearings and everything ..the eventual outcome was that the industry was destroyed pretty much over night ..comics havent been able to recuperate since

 

[iyfyoufhl]

holy shit crazy ..I dont think I've ever seen you upset ...I like it! :E

no, see, i'm an artist (i paint) and i'm very passionat about art, so statment like that affects me alot

 

[CptStern]

no, see, i'm an artist (i paint) and i'm very passionat about art, so statment like that affects me alot

hehe no I meant "crazy" as in "CrazyHarij" not you

 

[BillyJoBob]

"Video games are not art or media,"

Grrr that makes me mad.

She obviously has no idea what goes into making a game.

 

[iyfyoufhl]

hehe no I meant "crazy" as in "CrazyHarij" not you

oh, i feel neglected

 

[CptStern]

ok ok, you can be crazy too ...that is if your "sensitive artist" persona will let you




before you say anything I'm an artist too

 

[iyfyoufhl]

before you say anything I'm an artist too

oh, yeah, thats cool i didn't know, what do you do?

 

[CptStern]

hehe what dont I do

actually I work as a web designer, but I've also been an illustrator and art teacher


ok back to bashing the right-wing crazies out to destroy our hobby

"down with fascism"!

 

[iyfyoufhl]

hehe what dont I do

actually I work as a web designer, but I've also been an illustrator and art teacher

where can i see some of you work (if you don't mind)
i'll like to share some of my work with you too, so you can give me some healthy critisism

 

[Fishlore]

"The Illinois Senate approved a version of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposed restrictions on the sales of violent and sexually explicit video games to children, even though some senators said the idea is unconstitutional.

Personally I'm all for restrictions on the sales of violent and sexually explicit video games to children. In absolutely no way shape or form do I consider protecting minors from violence and sexually explicit games to be unconstitutional. Are R rated movies unconstitutional? What about restrictions on selling pornography to kids, is that unconstitutional too?

I agree that she's wrong to say that games are simply simulations. I disagree with that statement. Games are media by their very definition. If I was a Senator I'd vote for this as well though. I guess to a progressive Canadian that means I'm a right wing nut job. If that means I take an interest in what games my kids are playing, then I'll wear that moniker with pride.

 

[CptStern]

where can i see some of you work (if you don't mind)
i'll like to share some of my work with you too, so you can give me some healthy critisism

cant reveal the work I do ...anyone would be able to find out too much information on me


most of the work I do is extremely boring web site maintanace crap for a medical distribution company

 

[The Dark Elf]

oh noes, this effects us all


. this much

I mean come on, who's really gonna listen to a stupid babbling bitch anyway, apart from parents but they think the whole worlds problems are doom's fault anyway (until you mention Cuba, WW1, WW2 etc. then they kinda shut up and tell you to go to your room)

 

[iyfyoufhl]

cant reveal the work I do ...anyone would be able to find out too much information on me


most of the work I do is extremely boring web site maintanace crap for a medical distribution company

i meant like illustrations and such, i'll post my work as soon as i get the cam (this week) and i'll pm about it to you

 

[CptStern]

Personally I'm all for restrictions on the sales of violent and sexually explicit video games to children. In absolutely no way shape or form do I consider protecting minors from violence and sexually explicit games to be unconstitutional. Are R rated movies unconstitutional? What about restrictions on selling pornography to kids, is that unconstitutional too?

I agree that she's wrong to say that games are simply simulations. I disagree with that statement. Games are media by their very definition. If I was a Senator I'd vote for this as well though. I guess to a progressive Canadian that means I'm a right wing nut job. If that means I take an interest in what games my kids are playing, then I'll wear that moniker with pride.

well that's not why I think you're a right wing nutjob

I too agree that we should keep violent games away from minors but where do we draw the line? I mean if that was enacted globally our community would probably consist of about a half dozen members ..not that that justifies it ..actually i would rather that games were the same as movies ..you cant watch a movie that is rated "R" ..yet that doesnt apply to renting it at a local blockbuster ...I think parents should take the respionsibility ..but since they're not doing it groups such as this will do it for us ...I firmly believe this will lead to game censorship in the not so distant future

 

[CptStern]

i meant like illustrations and such, i'll post my work as soon as i get the cam (this week) and i'll pm about it to you

hehe the last illustration I did was a drawing of a woman's uterine wall ..not exactly stuff I'd post here

 

[<RJMC>]

how old is that bitch?

 

[JellyWorld]

If there was a similar Bill where I live I would never have played Half Life 2 since I'm 4 years underage (its 17 right?). It's odd that you mention Canada, I have a few R-rated dvds (not porn, mind you) lying around, my cousin brought them back from Canada hehe. All the R-rated stuff sold here is censored.

 

[CptStern]

hate to say this but you're the reason why this legislation was introduced in the first place. Try to be honest: but do your parents know what types of games you play? do they know the level of violence in hl2? I ask because you're only 13 (right?)

 

[StardogChampion]

It'll be good in 30 years time when all these monkeys have been filtered out, and the game-playing generation are in high positions.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Oh no my...my life is...over. Or something.

 

[CptStern]

I dont know ...hang out in the politics forum every now and then ...you'd surprised at some of the attitudes some of the young people ahve ...I thought some of those attitudes died out a long time ago but I now realise they're still here

 

[Tr0n]

Lets all go postal!

 

[kirovman]

But of course flight sim is a simulator. However it's not really a game, although you can play mini-games within the simulator.

How about stimulators? You can get that force feedback going around your crotch when playing HL2, that'll stimulate anyone.

 

[Dalamari]

Does that mean that Conker's Bad Fur Day is a simulation of squirrels and their habits with feces? I swear, pretty soon video games and black tar heroin will be in the same category

 

[Lemonking]

Hurentochter ey....

prepation for war....that Hure is probaly a supporter for Iraq.......
I hate the US sometimes really bad...it pisses me off
when move there in summer I will try change them at least my dad
he belives everything FOX says

 

[PvtRyan]

Hehe, so that means I've been training in simulations for:

1) Intergalactic wars

2) World War 2 (hey, history repeats itself, I'm sure another WW2 will come some day again)

3) Putting an evil fascist regime out of power which houses in a huge tower in an eastern european city

4) Beating up Orcs with my sexy new 50 dps 2h mace.

Some other skills I've learned through gam... errr simulations:

1) I can mine the rarest metals from random spawning veins with a mining skill of 300

2) I'm the best marksman in the world, games teach you how to fire properly with a weapon. Even with science fiction laser/plasma weapons.

3) I learned how to jump high by launcing a rocket at my feet. Of course, games also taught me how to handle a mobile rocket launcher.

4) Making 100m jumps with a car

*sigh*

Dumb f*cks, why is it always the retards that get into power?

 

[CptStern]

the community fights back:


Lowenstein: ‘The US is under attack’



"Doug Lowenstein has hit out at the ‘virulent attacks’ on video games Stateside, blasting the proposals to change state laws as “unconstitutional infringements on creative expression”.

Speaking exclusively to MCV at E3, the president of the Entertainment Software Association has highlighted the “unprecedented wave of proposals in the states to ban the sale of violent and/or sexually explicit video games” as one of the key issues facing the US interactive entertainment industry over the past 12 months.

He told MCV: “The industry has been under siege as never before as politicians virulently attack video games for endangering youth and making parenting more difficult. While we have defeated many of these proposals, some appear likely to be enacted, thus triggering ESA lawsuits."

 

[Steve]

Well, I don't care. I'm not a kid (at least not in the legal sense of the word) so I've got nothing to worry about. Little kids ought not be playin' them dizzity dang violent games anyhoozle. Not without their parents knowing, that is.

 

[iyfyoufhl]

i woundn't about gaming industry too much, they are making too much money, and if something is making money in America, they will never do harm to it
like Jon Steward's show, a lot of people want it off the air, but he is making too much money for the network, so he stays untill his ratings will drop

 

[el Chi]

<Sighs>
Don't worry folky-poos, the same hot-bed of denouncement happens with almost all new forms of media. Modern, challenging art, for example. When cinema first introduced the idea of feature films, crtics denounced the idea saying that it would draw people away from reading (right, to an extent), and that such a way of conveying a storyline was essentially a fallacy. Conveniently over-looking the fact that films are not entirely unlike plays, with more room for scope and that the theatre had not stopped people reading.

...and so it is with games. A new medium for entertainment - in its fledgling years, but still coming on faster than most - with the potential to convey brilliant stories in a way that has never been before.
Some people are going to rail against it, but these people lack the foresight and grand vision. They also lack the connection, as they haven't made an informed decision; the idea of playing games hasn't appealed to them, thus they don't play yet still decry it. Yeah, that makes sense.
The one argument I'd say does hold is that for most games, our interaction with the environment, and thus the trigger for progression through a plot, is a destructive one. We may solve some puzzles and save some allies along the way, but for the most part, we merely destroy (as Dr. Breen observes in a moment of meta-gaming, if you'll permit me to coin a phrase).
But f*ck it; it's fun. And the resulting storylines are satisfying and beguiling. With games, we cannot be gven a passive role as we get in cinema, thus the events must be more involving, which is why games full of dramatic pauses like some minimalist play from the Theatre of the Absurd simply wouldn't work. We need some form of action or interaction (beyond moodiness for moodiness' sake) to justify our place there.

Either that, or we can look forward to a computer game of Satre's No Exit. I can't wait.

 

[ríomhaire]

"They are simulations,

Video games are simulations! OMG so gang wars are as easy as in GTA, she has opened my eyes, thanks to her I shall be the most feared ganster ever MUHAHAHAH....

 

[Ennui]

/me explodes

 

[Feath]

take notice gamers ..our favourite hobby is being attacked by the right-wing nutjobs again:

Oh, it's one of those Right-Wing nutjobs that's actually a Democrat? http://www.ilga.gov/Senate/Senator.asp?GA=94&MemberID=1078