What is Digg?67 Comments
- robox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i think the real problem is being overlooked. anyone can see the correlation between the substance of what most would consider mainstream games (violent shoot 'em ups) and subversive advertising to the people who mostly buy video games (eg children). now i'm all for free speech, make whatever kind of games you want, but let's face facts: sex and violence make great profit. censorship, nor esrb can change this. it's the media culture we live in. we have no one to blame but those who control such outlets.
- Gringo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Isn't it funny that she isn't mad about the violence of the game just the sex. Us Americans somewhere along the way we decided it was ok for our children to watch Rambo wipe out an entire village than see nudity. I know this game is a cartoon of sorts but the point is the same.
By the way, since this guy just did her research for her. What is going to happen to the $90 million? - pxabstract, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Honestly, Hillary Clinton has to be one of the biggest phonies I've seen this side of Oprah Winfrey. She will say just about anything and take any side on an issue that furthers her career. She's all but openly admitted that the only reason she stayed with Bill after Monica was because doing so helped her become a senator. She probably hadn't even heard of Rockstar Games or Grand Theft Auto until one of her handlers brought it to her attention as a hot-button issue she could use for brownie points with the bible thumpers. Anyone want to guess whether she's even seen the game in action? I bet she hasn't. I really hope she fades away soon.
- alexhhhh, on 11/28/2008, -0/+1His points seem very similar to uhhh this guy.
http://gr.bolt.com/articles/violence/violence.htm - jamsea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"...Kids don't get physical exercise when they play a video game, and indeed the rise in obesity among younger people is a serious issue. But, of course, you don't get exercise from doing homework either."
It's Geography rather then GTA that's giving us fat kids! :) - flapjack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I mostly want to know where all this "video games are bad" came from, GTA is not the first, by far. Why now? Hot Coffee was a relativly small thing, does ANYONE HONESTLY THINK that has harmed ANYONE? I mean, has one person, anywhere in the world, at any time, been harmed or influenced in such a way as to harm, by Hot Coffee?!?!? JFC.
The reason it is so big is people like us. We go to the internet, rant and rave for or against it, in places like this. If people are interested, the media will cover it. And then eventually the politics come in.
There are LOTS of things out there that cause harm, and are not being dealt with. - redwire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I like Dvorak's comment on TWIT about the whole thing, "My kids may play Grand Theft Auto, but that doesn't mean they are going to go out and steal cars. BUT if they ever did become car thieves, they'd be damn good at it."
- larriveejp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is his blog:
http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/ - Allanon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't think he spent enough time opposing the $90 million dollar aspect of the study. Demarcates are always against giving taxes back to the people because they think they know how to spend the money better but spending $90 million on a video game study seems like they are just throwing that money away. Lets say the study concludes that violent video games are bad for children then what? We are left in the same situation that we are in now only out $90 million dollars.
- vodkagimlet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Hero? That's strong language. I, too, think this investigation business is overblown, but this article doesn't really blow the top off, so to speak. The football analogy is questionable and underdeveloped, and the statistics he uses are not well-cited, which, I would say, really hurts his ethos.
As gamers and citizens that want to be taken seriously by those who question the merits of the industry, I think people need to assume a higher standard for the messages and banners their willing to stand behind.
Do you really expect Clinton to take that letter seriously? - bacon_skoda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc ("After this, therefore because of this"). lots of these fallacies in this article. Which any good research would answer.
i.e. "The national carjacking rate has dropped substantially since "Grand Theft Auto" came out. Isn't it conceivable that the would-be carjackers are now getting their thrills on the screen instead of the street?"
If it is conceivable, we would never need research. And if this is fact then if GTA goes away, car-jacking will substantially rise. Hilary made a claim and is using money for research to back it up or disprove it. If Steve or Rockstar wants to make their own claim, then provide research to prove this. not just conceivable. - m.sandstorm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have a question...why do people hate oprah? I've seen 2 or 3 refs to how Hillary worse than Ms. Winfrey.
Now I personally don't care much for Oprah, my mom loves her, but I could care less. I would, however, like to know whats so bad about her. How can you go wrong when you give away free stuff!? (0_0) - garretble, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2We need more people like this guy who'll take the time to be for gamers and video games in general. It's not easy getting people to listen to our side (I've emailed Jack Thompson five times and got one short, unresponsive reply) because the truth will make them lose potential votes or whatever their agenda might be for hating the video game industry. Clinton would never say the truth (that 99.9% of the time it's the parents' fault for what we see in the headlines) because she might lose the vote, instead she's willing to throw away $90 million on a study that will prove what we already know. There has been a drastic decline in my want to stay in this ridiculous country as of late.
- stingthebee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Personally, I'd like to see a study. I work with young people and while they do seem smarter, they also seem lazier, fatter and have a huge sense of entitlement. I don't think this has much to video games per se. Also, I have no idea how you measure things like caring, drive, and entitlement. I think it has more to do with our culture in the swing like it was in the 80's. Glorifying the rich like the MTV culture of Paris Hiltons, Jessica Simpson, etc. Hopefully we'll swing back like in the 90's when real people seemed to be more glorified.
Who knows? Is Hillary being self serving? Sure. Do you know why? 80% of you won't or can't vote. - motionblur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've seen and read far better arguments against the "video games are destroying our youth" point of view than this article. It was mostly fluff and out-of-context concepts without good arguments to back up his points.
In fact, this guy was on The Daily Show pimping his book and Jon Stewart completed owned the guy over the subject.
Hilary is still a complete tool though. - gamerzworld, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hillary just got OWNED! If I could I would give this story 99999999+ DIGGS!
- peak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's too bad that he forgot to mention "america's army" a highly realistic war game put out by the united stated military. whats good for the goose is good for the gander
- MrCobaltBlue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1He is my hero.
- VickieDavis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Lots of people seem to miss the point that folks like Hillary are upset about the "sex" but not the "murder, carjacking." What's up with that?
- ModernTenshi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This was a very well written article, in my opinion. Hillary is just trying to develop a platform for herself, but she's not doing a very good job of it in my opinion. I think the other problem lies in the fact that adults think video games are intended for children, so they disregard the rating system. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it all boils down to piss-poor parenting.
- fuzzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0go steven go
- RpgActioN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"or the $90mil can conclude that vidoegames aren't a cause of violence and then verifies everything this guy said, except with sources and done scientificly."
Do you really think that somebody who has spent $90 million on a study would release the results before throwing another couple million on it as needed to prove that they are right? Especially if they are in politics? - |ant|, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yes!! Way to go Stevie, you harshly ripped her a new a-hole, and well deserved at that!! and hey nytebytes...you must be a flaming democrat, I wish Hillary will crawl in a hole somewhere and become a hermit.
- omgwtfbbq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I must say strangely all of these political entities simply refuse to blame themselves,their society,and most of all parenting as the real cause for violence in children.Politicians merely find something that is popular with the youths of America and attack it to defend any and all cases that will make them look good for the majority of voters (i.e. most voters are parents and older people).I must say though Mr. Johnson's article may not have had reliable proof, he still brings about interesting points. If you who are skeptical would like an article that DOES have proof, then read back close to the beginning of the posts.Someone posted a link to a very well written article on the assumption that video games are the direct cause of violence in children.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0what's GTA?
- NyteBytes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've beena gamer for quite some time now, and I've played violent games more than any other kind. And in that realm, I've killed A LOT of people, aliens, etc.. Despite all this violence, I've never harmed a human being.
But I have to say that as a gamer, I really get tired of our knee-jerk defensiveness anytime anyone questions anything about gaming. Why do we always fly into a tizzy and have little hissy-fit tantrums anytime anyone dares to look into whether or not SOME of these violent themes and images are harmful to children?
Sure most of us play these games [supposedly] with no ill effects. But not everyone is like us. Sometimes these excessively brutal games, with negative themes like having sex with hookers in vans and then killing them for their money... just MIGHT be harmful to some people who only need 200 extra pushes to cross the line. But the knee-jerk reactions I see to any questioning of gaming makes me wonder how benign our hyper-aggressive pass-time really is.
Personally, I'd rather Hillary spent that money looking into why in the frick the president's father is making millions of dollars on a war his son started, and why we're allowing him to continue to get paid for every destroyed American military vehicle in Iraq, while Rumsfeld refuses to ARMOR THEM for OUR troops.
At the same time, what is more important than the emotional health of our children? So let people study it. That's what any mature society does anyway. They look at the things that influence it, and how they influence it. If we're too scared to "allow" that, something is wrong.
Meanwhile, how about we get upset about our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters getting sent back home in flag-draped coffins that our fearless leader won't allow to be seen? And how about we get upset about them losing their lives over a war whose sole purpose is to make the family of the idiot in office even wealthier?
By the way... Patriot Acts I & II are greater threats to our freedoms than a study. We'd better wake up and smell the sulfur. - george@CASE, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0witty.
- Tullamore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Great story, too bad we can't show our support in a meaningful way.
- h4lofourt33n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Does this guy have a website or blog?
- henri, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I thoroughly enjoyed this article, and I hope more like it will appear in mainstream publications. Most people simply do not hear this side of the argument and instead blindly agree with their Senators. As long as the public stays un/misinformed about the subject matter, we will have more 'Hot Coffee' situations. So whenever someone blames the "moral decline of our youth" on video games, have them refer to Steven Johnson's article, and tell them that the next time they want to share their informed opinion, they should maybe try and actually inform themselves.
- crankx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Steven really put that down on paper for her not that it matters she will never read it.
- m.sandstorm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Now this is what I'm talking about! Showing the FACTS instead of the BS these politicians spit in your eye to make them look good.
Keep up the Good fight Steve!! - mdmoya, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I was thinking about buying his book before, and after reading that I am going to buy 5 copies.
- hecatomb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0+10 diggs (in my own little world... too bad digg doesn't have a karma option)
A very good article indeed... too bad Hillary will never see it, or will completely ignore it... - burnside, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0genius article, should run for president.
- sbasund, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0she got served
- C_Prime, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I think I can sum it up for everyone when I say: PWN3D.
- tratch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"or the $90mil can conclude that vidoegames aren't a cause of violence and then verifies everything this guy said, except with sources and done scientificly."
They want the numbers to show that video games r teh bad, so that's what will happen. They'll skew the statistics, fudge the numbers, or outright lie to prove their point and get people to join the witchhunt. - brewer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I just emailed the link to her.
- billiam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0hilary just got pwned
- kday, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Damn, I hate Hilary more than Oprah, and that's a lot of HATE! Democrats and Republicans both suck. Learn to follow your own beliefs instead of someone elses.
- modeps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I consider myself a democratic voter after being raised in a republican house, due in part to the absolute horrendous job GWB has done in his disasterous terms. However, I can't in my right mind even think for two seconds that Hillary Clinton should be in any sort of office at all, let alone the White House simply because of this idiotic witch hunt she has brought about.
It's something that government should not be getting involved in. Take Two does not have a monopoly, sweatshops churning out games, or are they producing anything dubbed 'illegal' in nature. - innternal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0this post needs 1000 diggs.
- digit9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0When I was a kid we use to play war and cops and robbers. We'd chase each other around the neighborhood with toy guns and "kill" one another.
I think Hilary and the rest of congress should focus more time and money keeping our neighborhoods safe and free of pervs. I won't let my daughter out of my sight when she is out playing. So maybe if our neighborhood were safer and they'd castrate the pervs we as parents would be more inclined to get our kids out of the house and away from the TV and video games.
Good article by the way, he hit the nail on the head. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0That's the best thing I've ever read.
- Draconiko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This dude has my full support.
- Phineas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0For Him: 4 letters H-E-R-O
For Her: 5 letters B-I-T-C-H - tw_gk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I couldn't have said it better myself. Steven, you da man!
- diciodoins, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0IM DIGGIN THAT
- optigrab, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I've heard a few opinions similar to this. Great Idea of course I'll read anything taking on Hiliary anytime.
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