@Pierre-Olivier

No, at least not outright. his comment on it is usually "Moral Kombat will be great. I'm in it" which, well, is where I got that.

@nikolus


not as long as we have the 1st amendment

I enjoyed the video. I think the unbalance is in the number of interviewers for each side. But the way that the video was edited really added the right kind of balance.

The parent child interviews were a nice touch.

[...] Source: Colorado Students Create Balanced Look at Video Game Violence Issues Bookmark it: [...]

And guess who wasn't interviewed? I suppose he's throwing hissyfits right about now. ;)

Golin, though, seems to be parroting exactly everything JT's been saying, which I guess shouldn't surprise me since he's been working with them, no doubt coaching them to say these very things.

"We wouldn't be satsified with 40% sales of alchohol or cigarettes to minors." Well sorry, but it can and does happen. Unfortunate fact of life. We have laws and policies in place for that though just like there are for video games. The difference is, games are not proven to have tangible negative physiological effects regardless of what anyone says, and thus they are not considered to be as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco. As has been pointed out, the laws that keep getting drafted which in effect treat games like these substances (or porn of that matter) is why they keep failing.

I found it amusing that the parents and kids have two totally different viewpoints. Considering that it's the kids themselves who actually play these games, I'm more inclined to believe what they say. The parents (especially the two moms) stuck me as overprotective and a little out of touch.

And again, when we get to aggression, they always fail to state just what do they mean by that? Aggression is not necessarily a bad thing, yet it's painted in a way to somehow mean bad. Is this somehow part of the trend to try and raise a generation of pussies? If video games tought me anything, it's not to be afraid; go out there and take a chance. Don't be afraid to go after someone who's bothering you, or go after something you want. Stand up for yourself. At least that's how it was with me.

All in all, not as good as Moral Kombat, but still pretty decent for a student film. :)

Ehh.. Too much of the video was spent interviewing people who have it in their best interest to make up statistics and claims that support them. Also, improperly citing various bogus studies with claims like, "Well these children say these children are 'more violent' now after 1 year."

Overall, it was a good video, somewhat unbalanced, as everyone else already agrees, though.

Parental concern is a good thing, though. That was one thing that struck me as a fantastic move. Interview the whole family and you see the big picture. The Mother is over-concerned, the father doesn't really mind, and the sister doesn't see any problem at all. Most of the people making a big deal out of this whole controversy are often mis-informed parents anyways.

“We wouldn’t be satsified with 40% sales of alchohol or cigarettes to minors.”

Ignoring the fact that these are controlled substances by law, and video games are not... just like movies are not... Take the metaphor one step further, most of society feels it's ok for a parent to let their kid have some wine on a special occasion, but would cry foul if they handed their kid a cigarette. So even cigarettes and alcohol are not equivalent comparisons...

I thought it was well presented. They balanced it quite well. Talking about censorship, and how it shouldn't be marketed to children, but then mentioning that it can be bought by children. Talking about effects, causing more aggression, but then throwing a wrench into that by saying that you can't really link increased aggression to increased violence.

The parents were a nice touch. Concerned about the content, but not panicky and fearing their child was going to turn into a serial killer, and not defaulting to that "well my child is perfect, but I'm worried about OTHER people's children".

Well done.

@E. Zachary Knight

The seem to act as if anything below 100% is unacceptable and means total failure.

video games do not change your physiology.

@ Jabrwock

Sometimes though, shouting “but those guys are worse” doesn’t help your side, but makes it sound like you’re making excuses. Just a thought.

I am not really a fan of the whole "Regulate everyone equally" debate. I just bring it up as I have looked through most of their sites (CSM PTC NIMF CCFC) and have found very little about the movie side of that report. The most that I have found is the generic review of the FTC Report. They blast them all, then procede to campaign against the video game industry.

I am not trying to scape goat. I am most concerned with the video game industry's numbers as that is the one I am directly involved in. The movie and music numbers don't mean much to me outside the fact that I am a parent that monitors my children's media intake and those numbers are meaningless to me. In fact as a parent the video game numbers are meaningless to me. It is only because I work in the game industry that I am concerned with the numbers.

I'd also like to point out he said 40% of individuals below the age of 18, M rated games can be sold to ppl 17 and up. That may have just been a slip up on his part and the studies could have only included those below 17 but that would be an easy way to skew those numbers.

@ blackice

Noticed that as well. Rather expected JBT to jump at the chance to once again say... well the same things he has said over and over.... hhmm. Now I wonder why he was not chosen for the interviews.... could it be?
Yeah I am sure jackie is irked. Bet being skipped over is as painful to him as his giving birth to an armadillo breech presentation (backend first) such a shame.

Subject:

Nice done overall. Seems to be a fair cross-section and none leading questions. Yeah the adults were... well not in the loop.

@ Jabrwock

You summed it up well.

The parents were a nice touch. Concerned about the content, but not panicky and fearing their child was going to turn into a serial killer, and not defaulting to that “well my child is perfect, but I’m worried about OTHER people’s children”.

There are all to many adults/parents that are like that. Wonder how long one can live in denial. "No no not my child, he/she is perfect... your child though." Those are the parents that buy the games for the kid just so they do not need to deal with them then turn around and blame society for putting the games in the hands of the kids.

2 Todd
yeah, thats right, RTS does improve logical thought and quick, and correct managerial decisions, whereas FPS increases spatial awareness and immediate responses. these cannot be denied to be good things.

@mybad4990

Pretty good since he considers himself the sole reason for seeing Moral Kombat

Kinda short but it was decent.

hm...balanced, fair, and not a thompson in sight

excellent work!

The real question that should be on everyone's minds is "How long until this video gets a DMCA take down notice?"

a bit one sided but it does a good job of explaining that the studies only say that kids who play violent games are only more agressive on paper but wont go blow some ones head off in the street

to the study that was done on 5th graders...dont do studies on 5th graders do studies on humans who have fully developed their brain so they are more level headed

a good ending statement would be to tell parents to be responsible for their kids and not to blame it on video games cause they are the ones who let their kids play the game

The love of my life would never align himself with such filth!

Hey everyone, I'm one of the filmmakers who made this video, and I'm very grateful for all of your feedback. Even if you didn't like our video, I'm very glad that you watched it.

Dennis, thanks again for posting this.

@Jake
You guys did a good job and got to interview people who care about the issue. It is good to see kids like me actully care about this issue. Althought most of the people seemed anti-game, but it seems balanced. Keep on doing great work like this and you could be great players in this big debate of violence in games.

I would love to be one of the Jack Thompson debaters at a debate if it was held at either the First Mariner Arena or the Baltimore Convention Center, both are in Baltimore, MD. Yes, video games do cause aggression. I am 23, and my girlfriend tells me when she thinks that I am playing Counter-Strike or Resident Evil 4 too much because I start to get grouchy when I have played them for too long. I had bought a copy of Super Mario Bros. DS at Target last week to calm my nerves after playing ultra violent games.
Ben

Hey guys, I'm Katie and I worked with Jake and Maxine on this documentary.
I agree with Jake; even if you didn't like the video or thought it wasn't balanced enough, I appreciate the fact that so many people have watched our film. I also really appreciate all the feedback. Thank you.

Thanks for posting this Dennis.

we are losing.

simple as that

by 2012 videogames will be heavily restricted. and games like halo 3 will be unable to even be produced in the united states.

@nik

in 2012

We wont even be allowed to think of outer space. The Borg will assumilate us. We must resist, no mater how futile it is.

Feelings will be banned, anyone who feels will be a sense offender and burt alive.

@JT

I'm using my real name. So you can't call me a coward. Feel free to harass me, though, since that's obviously the reason you're demanding the other users use their real names.

But be warned: I don't live in the United States.

I found Paul Levinson’s personal email address in under 30 seconds.

You know, just so I wouldn’t have to go through a third party if I wanted to offer to debate on his campus or something.


Andrew Eisen

That last comment is most definitely NOT him, for the simple fact that it didn't get held up by the moderation settings.

As for the other two comments... brainless, as usual. Crawl back under the rock you came from, and don't speak unless you have something useful and on-topic to say. If you want Dennis to look at another FRIVOLOUS filing you made, mail him, don't clutter the comments with it.

@Black Manta

Trying to remind Jack Thompson of something is waste of time. The Virginia Tech affair proves it.

I said it before and I'll say it again: he a incompetent lawyer can only remember his name because every gamer and Florida bar lawyer is yelling it in anger.

And, JT, I'm using my real first name. I usually only disclose my full name to those I trust and I DON'T trust you. And even if I DID told you, you couldn't be able to use it: I live in Canada.

And I'm sure that the lastest JT comment is bogus. Even JT on his best day couldn't wrote it. That's the sort of hyperbole you write on purpose.

GP IP bans commenters who pose as Thompson...Dave.


Andrew Eisen

Yeah, right name, Andrew. ^^

I know Dennis IP bans posers. Just stating a fact.

Fake Jack... the real one actually has good grammar.

You realize, Jack, that the more you ask for people's real names, the higher chance you have of being sued for harassment... Black Manta actually has the legal grounds to do such a thing, but chooses not to, while you on the other hand threaten to sue everyone who doesn't agree with you... so who's the bigger man.

@Fake JT: Grow the hell up, you bloody troll.

More bullshit from some of the anti-video game camp, who repeats the same thing over and over again.

Anyway, I find the woman "Brigitte Baehre" incredibly uninformed. The choice quote that got me was :"...except how to shoot the person better."

Good thing she's not talking about actual pistols and rifles, or even something like a crossbow, because if THAT was the insinuation, she's got some serious reality checks to make at which I'd question her ability to be a parent.

She'd probably be a Leland Yee supporter if I didn't know any better.

@ BLAH

No.


Besides, I don't have a high horse...I have a throne.

@ TheTrueMrJack

Nah, those last two posts are already gone, pushed into the filter by Dennis. While it's sad how easy it can be to emulate his behavior, the real Jack is never, ever, quite as blunt as those fake posts.

@ BLAH

By your response, you must be the fake Jack that loves him some ban hammer. That is what happens when you impersonate anyone on GP. Even John Bruce himself.

So deal with it.

Yeah right, because it's SOOO hard to get around IP bans *sigh*

Keep trying Dennis. When you ban this proxy, I'll just switch to another one and sort forth. It's impossible to keep me out. I was just having a joke around, so really Dennis, get over yourself.

sorry that was off topic, but i had to get that off my chest.


i'll be good, now.

You would have to be extremely gullible to actually think Jack would seriously pursue a case against a site for allowing someone to jokingly impersonate him via three or four comments on the internet. There would be absolutely no point because such a thing would be laughed out of the court room before sunrise. The hypocrisy on GP is baffling; Dennis and rest of you harp on about how much of a joke Jack is yet you seem to take his petty, childish "I'm gonna sue for everything" mentality seriously time after time. For crying out loud grow some balls and just ignore him for once in your life. You wonder why he never shuts up, Dennis? Because he knows you actually do take him seriously and so long as he knows you take his threats seriously he'll continue to run around thinking he can sue everybody for the most ridiculous things. For god sake I didn't even know impersonating the almighty Jack carried a life time IP ban. How can you expect people to abide by invisible rules? Not everybody reads your articles like they're the bible, my friend.

Oh DaveCube, what are you going to do to make me? This is the internet genius, you can't do squat.

"You would have to be extremely gullible to actually think Jack would seriously pursue a case against a site for allowing someone to jokingly impersonate him via three or four comments on the internet."


You really don't know Jack very well.

As noted by many others already, aggression does NOT equal violence.

An increase in aggression over a school year in...what were they, fifth graders? They're starting to go through puberty. They're getting fed up with school and the other kids that they find annoying. It's getting closer to summer.

All of those are excellent reasons for kids to become more aggressive over the course of a school year. They didn't say how they knew what kind of games the kids played, or how violent the games were. Were the games Realistic Violence? Fantasy Violence? Cartoon Violence? I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they were actually ESRB rated to have some kind of 'violence' as a content descriptor.

That's interesting. I just looked up Madden, and they're all rated E for everyone with no content descriptors...despite football being a very violent game.

Anyhow, back on my original topic... there's all sorts of reasons for kids to get more aggressive over the course of a school year. Just because there's a LINK does not mean it is a CAUSAL link.

Everyone seems to forget that part. I bet more than half of the violent people eat Cheerios, but is that a CAUSAL link to their violence? *probably* not. (I mean, yeah, there's always a CHANCE that somebody'll be set off by a bowl of Cheerios...) There's also a link between reckless drivers and people who play high speed driving games like Burnout. Does that mean people who play the games then BECOME reckless drivers? Well, that's a question mark right now. But PROBABLY no, PROBABLY the people who are likely to drive recklessly are drawn to the games where they CAN drive recklessly..and may in fact get rewarded for it.

In a few years, when the kids who watched Finding Nemo get into high school start shooting up the place, will the onus still be on video games? Or will they blame the Disney Corporation? Because obviously they'd all watched Finding Nemo and the like...there'd be a definite link between Finding Nemo and violence. People will realize for that however, that it's not a *causal* link.

Sigh.

[...] From GamePolitics comes news of an interesting documentary created by students from the Denver School of the Arts.  It’s pretty balanced and well produced.  I congratulate the students and look forward to more level-headed pieces like this. [...]