Part One: Krug News Reporting
This entire “Hot Coffee” issue brought upon the video gaming universe by Rockstar has really unsettled the dust that had been collecting in the brief period of legal stagnation.
Frankly, I’m not surprised. In fact, it has been far too long since the crosshairs of the media’s loaded gun have fallen upon the video game industry. No, I’m not proud of it. I’m not happy for this attack.
In fact, I believe it to be absolutely ludicrous. The entire situation is laughable.
For that matter, some people have gone so far as to make comics pertaining to this sensitive issue. And for good reason. As I said before, the entire ordeal is laughable.
It is difficult to discern what the issue is even about. Are people angry because Rockstar defrauded society by releasing an Adults Only game under the rusted mask of Mature? If that is truly the case (which I hope it isn’t), then the entire conflict is a matter of semantics. Some things worthy of note is that there is only a one year difference between Mature and Adults Only. Mature is “recommended” for people of 17 years. It isn’t required (barring here on Ontario where Manhunt was banned…and no one cared). Adults Only is ONLY for people of 18 years or older.
My God. My God! Think of how much will change in that one year. All those unsuspecting seventeen year olds will walk through a year of life, and become fully prepared for the pixelated bosoms that await them in this pristine Adults Only title.
The noble endeavors of the comic crusaders at VGCats and Penny Arcade have not been met with a lot of enthusiasm. Noticeably, VGCats creator Scott Ramsoomair has received a string of e-mails from none other than the crazed crusader himself, Jack Thompson.
Here is the string of e-mails sent between the two of them. Please notice how Mr. Thompson, the distinguished Florida lawyer, reduces himself to childhood insults. You might question if it is really him, but Scott checked. It’s the real deal.
After reading the e-mails, one might feel that Jack Thompson has a few crucial components rattling around in the interior. There is the possibility that sanity - in the hope of remaining untainted - has abandoned the lawyer and escaped into the shadowy recesses of El Salvador. Strangely, Jack Thompson doesn’t miss sanity. In fact, he relishes its absence so much that he kicked logic out of his head as well. It was last spotted buying a cottage out in Halifax. It seemed content with the new living arrangements.
Indeed, this whole ordeal has led to a clashing of four parties. The first category encompasses the rationalist gamers. This group ranges anywhere from the guys at IGN to Scott Ramsoomair to myself. We have taken note of the “Hot Coffee” scare, and are doing our best attempts to intelligently push through it.
Moving on both a parallel cause and a damaging course are the irrational gamers. These are the folk of the forums who have been seen spouting strings of “Jack Thompson is a fuckhole”. Of course, there might be leetspeak in some of their insults. Many of them e-mail Thompson and counterproductively threaten his life. Genius gentleman. A perfect way to show the world that video games don’t birth violence in youth. You deserve a round of applause. Morons…
The third group are the “holier than thou” crusaders who have been marshalled into being by Jack Thompson. They consist of the dying breed of religious-type do-gooders who can’t see the world in its true form through the stain glassed “virtue veil” that they all wear. These are the people who cannot see the nitty-gritty parts of the world. They ignore the harshness of poverty, murder, rape, etc and yet still try to “work against it”.You have to know what the animal looks like before you can find it and cage it people. Jaysus.
The fourth group are the politicians. These are the obvious groups on parliament hill who bend and sway according to popular opinion. They seem to ignore research conducted by scientists, that show video games: i)improve hand-eye coordination and ii) encourage creativity in youth. But, whatever leads to re-election.
In this first part (of III), I’ve outlined the conflict between the Do-Gooders and Rationalists. In the next two posts, I’m going to talk about other conflicts between these four enemy camps.
This “Hot Coffee” issue may not end gaming, but it is certainly going to royally screw things up.
- Granite