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 Send to email | Video Games Can Be A Rich And Magical Experience [Opinion] in ArtChildrenOpinionParentsViolent Games |  By Mike Fahey
el 11-Apr-2008 |
samaorost.jpg: Paste this image in your site, Myspace, Facebook, Ebay copy this code...
 Several of you have pointed us to an amazing opinion piece by Naomi Alderman at The Guardian titled "If we deny children access to all computer games, we deprive them of a rich and magical experience", a beautifully written response to recent events in the UK like the Byron Review and the banning of shocking Kane & Lynch advertisements. She praises Byron's report for touching on the many opportunities for fun and learning that computer games allow, and how we need to move away from the notion that computer games cause harm, and then points out how the print and television media reacted by warning parents about violent games and monitoring their children at all times. In short, they completely ignored the positive points and focused on the negative. Alderman paints a much brighter picture, though the quote that struck me as the most poignant was this: The world of Grand Theft Auto does contain violence and misogyny; but then, so does The Godfather, or Goodfellas. So, for that matter, does The Iliad. It's exactly the same sentiment we've seen time and time again, honestly, and while I doubt it will have much impact on the bone-headed, brainwashed parents who read it, it is nice to see it in a major news outlet. Alderman uses Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (which she calls GTA 3) as an example in the article extensively. Johnson is trying to clean up his neighbourhood. But as a dispossessed, orphaned young black man, he has no option but to re-form his neighbourhood gang to do so. The makers of this game, like the makers of any movie about gangland, can stand squarely behind the art they have created and say: this represents reality. If it offends you, don't criticise the art, but take action to improve the world around you. A bit of an exaggerated reality to be sure, but definitely based in reality. Of course folks in similar situations to Johnson's were merely made angry by the game, but that's what happens when you hold a mirror up to reflect ugly reality. Instead of trying to improve the reality, we lash out at the mirror, which is so much easier, mirrors being the fragile things they are.
Naomi's most effective point in the whole piece comes towards the end of the article, when she strays from the violent and tries to introduce parents to the more whimsical side of gaming. Don't worry. The gaming world isn't filled only with violence and depravity. In fact, it's mostly enchanting. If you haven't already spent a little time online playing with the sweetly soothing Samorost game, or Eyemaze's whimsical Grow series, or Foon's delightful Hapland, I urge you to do so now. And then share them with your children. I cannot agree enough. Parents need to see the beauty in gaming. They are constantly bombarded by negative images from all sides, when a half-hour with a game like Aquaria could change their minds forever. We don't need to convince parents that violent games aren't bad. We need them to see an industry where violent games are just one part of a larger, more beautiful whole.
If we deny children access to all computer games, we deprive them of a rich and magical experience [The Guardian - Thanks Everyone!]
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Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| A Few Approaches to 'Games as Art' [Art] | | 'Matthew Wasteland' of Magical Wasteland has a thought provoking essay up over at GameSetWatch on how we think of games as art — and why it may not work, or what our current limitations are. His opinion is the more we think about this stuff, the more w [..] Read complete article | | Published 28-Sep-2008 by Maggie Greene in Art Artistic games Culture Game Design Industry Serious Games
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| Yahoo User Interface Blog | Blogger | Is a collection of industrial-grade JavaScript utilities and widgets that enable you to efficiently get the most out of today’s powerful web applications. Yahoo! User Interface Blog News and Articles about Designing and Developing wiht Yahoo! Libraries. |
| Video: Scott Davis on Using YUI with Grails |  Mastering Grails columnist (and author of books on topics ranging from Java to GIS) Scott Davis gave a fantastic talk on using YUI with Grails at the 2007 Rich Web Experience in San Jose. Thanks to Jay Zimmerman and his No Fluff Just Stuff conference team, that talk is now available freely on video from [...] [..] Read complete article | | Published 14-Jun-2008 by Eric Miraglia in Development
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| Yahoo User Interface Blog | Blogger | Is a collection of industrial-grade JavaScript utilities and widgets that enable you to efficiently get the most out of today’s powerful web applications. Yahoo! User Interface Blog News and Articles about Designing and Developing wiht Yahoo! Libraries. |
| Video: Scott Davis on Using YUI with Grails | | Mastering Grails columnist (and author of books on topics ranging from Java to GIS) Scott Davis gave a fantastic talk on using YUI with Grails at the 2007 Rich Web Experience in San Jose. Thanks to Jay Zimmerman and his No Fluff Just Stuff conference team, that talk is now available freely on video from [...] [..] Read complete article | | Published 14-Jun-2008 by Eric Miraglia in Development
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| Fantastic; I Am Rich Video Walkthrough | | You remember the I Am Rich application, right? Of course you do, it’s the one we told you about last week. As horribly lame as it was, it ended up teaching us quite a bit. No, seriously. First of all, it taught us that Apple will seemingly approve any app out there so that it [...]
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| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| Video Games Live Volume One Impressions [Game Music] | | Ever since my initial experience with the concert tour during GDC 07, I've been a big fan of the Video Games Live concert series. The combination of classic video game tunes played by a symphony orchestra and classic gaming imagery, both shared with a couple thousand fellow [..] Read complete article | | Published 09-Sep-2008 by Mike Fahey in Game Music Impressions Original Video Games Live Video games live Volume one
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| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| More On "Faking Quality" And Metacritic [Quality Control] | | Whenever we hear about the travails of a video game company, snark abounds, and ultimately, the chorus cries, "Why don't you just make some games that don't suck?"
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| That's rich!: Less than 1/1000 are rich, according to McCain | | When they were asked how much you have to earn to be rich, the presidential candidates differed wildly:
Obama didn't hesitate. "I would argue that if you are making more than $250,000, then you are in the top 3, 4 percent of this country," he said. "You are doing well."
McCain took a far more discursive approach to answering the question but ultimately settled on a dra [..] Read complete article | | Published 19-Aug-2008 by Thoughts in Policy and Politics
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| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| Industry Apologetics: It's Not Just A Game [Opinion] | | In my last column, I defended Grand Theft Auto IV from allegations of sexism, based on my opinion that it treats everyone distastefully. It provides a sandbox experience, I said, that allows players the opportunity to explore the underbelly of humanity and themselves, reflecting their own [..] Read complete article | | Published 23-Jun-2008 by Leigh Alexander in Opinion Analysis Culture Discussion Feature Original Top
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| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
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