Glenn Beck: Video Game Bloggers Are "Losers"
Glenn Beck: Video Game Bloggers Are "Losers"
May 5, 2008
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle... Morons!N'Gai Croal, Brian Crecente, Stephen Totilo... Losers!
So sayeth Glenn Beck, anyway.
Beck exploited the popularity of the Grand Theft Auto IV phenomenon again this evening. It was Beck's second GTA IV-themed segment in the last few days.
GamePolitics readers will recall that Beck allowed Jack Thompson to smear the ESRB and several major retailers last week without once advising his CNN Headline News audience that they were listening to a lawyer facing possible disbarrment.
Dr. Cheryl Olson, co-author of Grand Theft Childhood was Beck's guest this time. She was quite reasonable, but Beck made faces during certain parts of her commentary.
The highlight of the segment came when Beck played the role of the martyr:
I will tell you that all these video gamers... they're bloggers, as well as video gamers - they're writing all kinds of stuff about me [that] I'm the enemy now of video gamers. I could care less about video games. Video game bloggers? They're losers...
UPDATE: Mark Methenitis, an attorney who pens the excellent Law of the Game blog, has written an open letter to Glenn Beck regarding Jack Thompson's appearance.
Comments
Once the misconceptions clear about VG/RL violence (when all the activists die of old age) it really wouldn't hurt to look into it.
Everyone here knows that violent content DOES NOT CAUSE violent behavior. However, there is definitely desensitization, and negative effects on young children. The rating system is not flawed, though.
The other side has VALID POINTS, but they are so hung up on this whole killing training simulation thing that no one can address them.
/caps
//FIRST! :P
HEY, you stole my first! D:
/jk
If you can dodge facts, you can dodge an arguement!
/Dodgeball FTW! :P
My question is..
How do these people get away with calling themselves "news." That term used to require a spot of impartiality..
But I dont generalize people.
On a side note, for a GTA 5, it would be interesting if there was more options like go to church, go to work, post office etc. Almost like the Sims, so then Rockstar can say that you the player have the choice of being a "good" citizen or a "bad" citizen. It would mirror real life almost. Bob can either start off as a low level mob enforcer or work at MacDonalds. If the critics still cry about the game because it mirrors what is seen in the world, they should have a problem more with the world then the game.
yea the man is a hypocrit
I hope your animal-keen senses are failing you...
On a related note, we're finally on Fark's default list of sources!
/breaks out the champagne
Kudos to Cheryl for not taking the bait on his not-so-cleverly leading questions. I thought she did a terrific job objectively analyzing today's climate of parent/child/game relationships, and also pointing out the myth of game violence causing the real thing.
As for GTA IV causing leprosy, it simply can't be true, otherwise his mailbox might be full of "gift" copies by now.
2. He doesn't care what video gamers think of him? Which is why he talked about it out of nowhere? Sounds like someone's in denial ...
3. People are losers because they express their opinion? And it's something negative about him? What a hypocrite.
Glenn Beck: skyrocketing to the top 5 on my shitlist in one day.
This guy is a waste of perfectly good airtime, and frankly, I plan on leaving him some feedback on the CNN feedback page about him.
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?69
I may be a loser but your a wiener
He's not. He doesn't even come close to the level of obsessiveness as JT, who's at the same level as some of the more hardcore Batman villains. He doesn't come close to the level of imfamy among game players. Ask a gamer who they've heard more about: JT or Glenn Beck? They'll say JT.
I think an interesting contrast is Dr. Olson's reaction, or lack thereof when Beck said that video game bloggers were "losers." You can tell she didn't appreciate the comment. Watch her face closely, she gets a little smirk and grits her teeth. She obviously wants to call him out for being an asshole, but she's a professional and knows how to act respectfully.
Ah, okay.
Speaking of contact. Is there some trick to emailing Thompson? I miss my daily laugh at him, sometimes I go days with out seeing him make an ass of himself.
So I've been trying to send him emails that are perfectly civil to see if he'll respond violently. But every time I try it tells me it can't go through.
I know you are, but what am I?
Dear Mr. Beck.
I am a huge fan of your show and enjoyed An Inconvenient Book greatly; I'm a twenty year old Conservative college student living in Greeneville, Tennessee. And I am am glad to see someone championing conservative values on a network typically associated with the liberal media, especially with your sarcastic humor.
However, this is why it greatly concerns me that you've taken it upon yourself to target Grand Theft Auto 4 in your recent TV programs. GTA 4 certainly has no place in the hands of children, and retailers--and especially parents--should strive to keep it from their hands if possible. However, your calling for the game to have an AO rating was uncalled for and equivalent to censorship. You mentioned that it would keep the game off the store shelves of Wal-Mart and Target. This is true.
What you didn't say is that it would prevent the game from having any console release at all.
Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft all prohibit games rated Adults Only from appearing on their consoles; the only way it could be released for adults to play would be a PC release, which even then could only be downloaded or ordered off the internet (even GameStop does not currently stock AO-Rated games.) It would stifle sales and make it difficult for even mature players to play the game. (I know my computer could never run a game with graphics the caliber of GTA4, so a PC release would be out of the question for me.)
An AO rating is tantamount to censorship, and as a Conservative I am always against it. Censorship is the Left's turf, a strange and foreign ground that I dare not tread.
If the government forced the ESRB to change rating, it would violate the first ammendment, and if the ESRB did it voluntarily, Rockstar would simply cut out the most offensive elements and resubmit it for a second rating. The hookers and most of the violence would still be in the game, as they've been in every iteration of the series since 2001.
I've played every console GTA since Grand Theft Auto 3; I've played Mortal Kombat since I was ten years old, and other violent video games since I've been old enough to handle the controls. Yet in school the only fight I've ever been involved in was breaking up a throw-down between two girls as a high school Junior. I have maintained a 3.9 GPA at my college and hope to soon resume work on my first novel. The only trouble I've ever had with the law was a minor traffic violation. If anyone is a case study as to whether violent video games are signficatnly harmful to an otherwise well-raised individual, I think I qualify. Parents and peers, not media, are the primary factor in how an individual develops, and assuming that some violent fiction can undo that programming is an insult to the work so many parents put into raising their kids. (And the real troubles of the current generation are largely an indictment of parents who have failed to raise their children correctly, not of the trashy media that these teens revel in.)
By all means, remind parents to keep violent and sexually charged video games out of the hands of their children. But please don't call for what amounts to censorship; that's not the Conservative way, nor is it the American way.
A friend of mine made an observation the other day that I thought I'd share with you.
"In Grand Theft Auto 4, it is possible, but not necessary, to pick up a hooker, have sex with her, then kill her and take your money back. In that sense, it is exactly like real life."
Thanks
For every Rush(yes I like Rush,deal),you get a dozen O'Rileys'
____________________
Regarding the Glenn Beck show:
I was disappointed with the uneven coverage Mr. Beck has provided this past week regarding video games (in his two segments on Grand Theft Auto 4). First, his guest last week, Jack Thompson, has just been through a disbarment hearing with the Florida Bar for his abrasive tactics in his "anti-gaming crusade." To bring him on as an expert witness and not once mention this rather glaring fact is a failure to provide Beck's audience with the full truth of the matter.
Secondly, Beck brought Dr. Olsen (co-author of "Grand Theft Childhood") on as a counterpoint guest but seemed completely uninterested in letting her actually discuss the findings presented in her book. Especially paired with the UK's recent Byron Report, "Grand Theft Childhood" makes a lot of gamers - like me - hopeful that our society might finally have the chance to put the sensationalism aside and begin a constructive *dialogue* about children and video games. Beck seems far more interested in preserving the fear-driven status quo than in possibly hearing an opinion that runs counter to his own preconceptions.
Lastly, I feel the need to comment briefly about Beck's quip, "Rated 'M' for Money." The MPAA's movie rating system has at the top of its system an R rating - under 17 requires permission/accompaniment by an adult - and NC-17, which may not be viewed by someone 17 or younger. This system, which is entirely voluntary, is embraced by the vast majority of Americans as effective in helping guide their children's movie-watching choices. The ESRB's system includes T (Teen, ~13 and up), M (Mature, 17 and up), and AO (Adults Only, 18 and up). In fact, the advisories are identical, and their content thresholds for sex and violence are similar (if anything, M is slightly less forgiving than R). Grand Theft Auto 4 includes no more graphic depictions of sex and violence than an R-rated movie; to claim it deserves an AO rating is baseless. More, it is irresponsible of Mr. Beck to misrepresent the ESRB's rating scheme to his viewership, especially in light of everything that organization has done to *help* parents make educated choices about their children's gaming habit.
This country needs dialogue, not finger-pointing, if both sides of the argument are ever going to come to an understanding. I'm still waiting for a reporter brave enough to rise to that challenge. Beck, having already dismissed all online gaming journalism personalities as "losers," is clearly not that reporter.
-Dan J
All of those things are perfectly within the M rating.
It is how extreme these things are portrayed that determins the difference between a M rating and AO rating.
So therefore, this guy is only just exagerating if he has not even played GTA yet.
I was happy to know that at least the author of Grand Theft Childhood had a chance to tell the audience about her reaserch and her findings that was based on talking to kids who have played GTA and it was really positive how she pointed out that you don't need to access all the bad things like Prostitution in order to win the game.
She should also could have talked more about the general missconceptions of GTA, but by the way Glenn Beck was looking at her thinking that he did not believe what she was talking about, it looked like he would not chance his mind because he had been perswayded by Jack Thompson
Also calling Videogame Bloggers and generalising them as loosers and saying he could not care less about Videogames is just not really professional journalism.
M rating is for Money????
Another deeply negative generalisation... not all M rated games sell heaps of copies of games, or else Nintendo would have gone bust right now.
Nintendo has made heaps of money from their success and popularity of their Wii games and DS games, but have they made any M rated ones???
Thus, this is the reason why the Videogame Industry needs people within the industry to stand up and defend Videogames, because no one will listen to the game bloggers who are perhaps the most informed people because gamers are the people who do play the Videogames, but not many would listen.
So if you put all the things together, he is saying they are downgrading society in a way I guess. I don't see why thats unreasonable. I think he has a point. But I think most of the blame is with the doctors who put everyone on drugs.
Doesn't anybody else think it's funny that he makes a point about saying this when he says he doesn't care?
The only problem is I doubt Rush knows or cares much about the games debate since he usually spends his time on the broad strokes.
And I don't think anybody cashing in on the GTA scare should be throwing around the term "loser." Come on, at least come up with your own material and have the decency to listen to your guests without pulling childish faces. Most of us got over that phase when we were in kindergarten.
/GTA4 reference
"Gamers? Losers?! Inconcievable!" :D
I didn't watch the broadcast and I'm not going to watch the YouTube video. From what I've read here, Beck reacted exactly the way I expected him to. To actually see it played out would only serve to infuriate me.
I'd say spam, troll and otherwise Zerg rush the sucker to the point where we make his life miserable. But Nightwing is right; emailing him would be about as useful as emailing JT. You can lead a horse to water and all that. The guy's mind is already made up and if that's the case, all the emailing in the world won't change it. Sometimes it's best to let an ignorant jackass remain an ignorant jackass. He's in the minorty, and despite whatever he and JT may say, our side has been steadily gaining traction.
This is a war, and once in a while the enemy is bound to get a few hits in. That's a given. But slowly and surely, we are winning, and time is on our side.
Yep. All the old people are starting to die off. Time is definitely on our side.
Unfortunately it made us look like a bunch of psychos.
That was rabid and uncalled for. You're the kind of gamer moron that those like JT use to 'prove' their point. That sort of hate is exactly the same thing that motivates Thompson.
Glenn Beck is not an irrational jerk like Jacko, He's just got a strong and very misguided opinion. We may not be able to change his mind, but we can at least force him to rethink his viewpoints by throwing the facts at him.
The gaming world thinks you are a hack..just leave us alone..shoo shoo shoo!!
Wow, thats is a whole new kind of despicable
lol M for Money, its funny because its true
I think Jack Thompson said something similar to that.... didn't JT tell a kid to go get good at a suicide game?
Oh no... gnome, you're turning into a Wacko-Jacko!! Quick, go take 20 large doses of GTA and drink 3 cups of Mortal Kombat. That'll fix you up.
And on a side note I noticed that the Announcer in GTA IV's radio station WKTT sounds remarkably similar to Glenn, both in tone and speech, go figure.
I prefer Jon Stewart's old joke about the M rating
'Many people feel the M for mature rating is too vague and totally inaccurate in describing anyone who plays video games. Future rating suggestions include D for drop-out W for wastoid and CTMB for child trapped in man's body ... that would be me.'
Yes he said (possibly paraphrasing) "Go play a suicide game and get really good at it."
I'm just feel so bad I don't have a respectable job like you - I just keep multi-millions of dollars of production going each day, that your silly network would fall apart without. While you are a talk show host!!!
So perhaps I'm a loser - but I'm a happy loser, content with myself and life.
We already have seen the power of the blogger/VG voices. Instead of doing anything rash that reflects poorly on us, please send polite and civilized emails and comments to Glenn Beck.
He will probably just ignore it, but make sure that you don't make him out to be 'an enemy of the VG community'.
Because if he wasn't before, he certainly made it easier...
I'm just glad he didn't accidentally slip the word "whore" into her name when he announced it.
That is all.
"Glenn Beck Ratings" - it says about all that needs to be said.
*Tries SOOOO hard not to bomb...*
*Knows it will only hurt us in the end...*
*GRHHHSshhvhsvk*
1. Trash GTA
2. Bring on Thompson
3. Double Trash GTA
4. Insult video game fans and bloggers
5. ???
6. PROFIT!!!
Seriously, Beck is doing this for the instant extra few thousand viewers because almost no one bothers to watch Headline News let alone his show, because all he is trying to be is a slapstick version of Rush Limbaugh on a traditionally liberal network. He knows insulting popular culture will incite hundreds of people to come rushing in defense of it because this generation is protective of it's new culture and the prior generations don't understand it, and refuse to.
Beck will be old news soon enough. I prefer to be playing Mario Kart Wii.
I pointed that out in the last article that was posted about this moron. I guess my statement still stands, huh?
To wrap up my little rant I believe Glenn Beck is a joke. Not that I'm comparing him to other news programs but I am comparing him to the very idea of having an informative news talk show program and also to a decent human being. Both of the things I'm comparing him to he tends to not match up closely. I don't really think these things I say are a result of me just disagreeing with the man but rather the because I think he is a 'loser' himself.
To put it in nice little package that both makes me happy and nicely sums up this entire post here is a message for Glenn Beck: “You’re an ignorant douche and your show sucks.”
Also didn't KSTE cancel your ass?
Where the hell was his coverage on Video games when Halo 3 was released and broke all sales records?
The answer is simple, it only had violence and language, it didn't have sexual themes in the game at all, talk about a double standard.
"Wow, I would have expected this from Fox News, but CNN?"
Every village has its share idiot(s), I guess.
"Every village has its share of idiot(s), I guess"
The best thing you can say about him is that he isn't calling Obama "Huissien Obama" or bringing up his pastor constantly.
But praising him for those things is kind of like saying "Well he stinks like ass, but at lease he doesn't stink like a horse's ass."
He's no Wolf Blitzer, nor Walter Cronkite.
CNN wanted in on some of the sensualism dollars that Fox 'news' rakes in. So they hire Glenn Beck to talk his mouth off like an imbecile. Why? Because your watching CNN and not Fox 'news'. Why is that important? Cus of the commerials!
If we want to watch Journalist show their professionalism, then, shut Mr. Beck off.
ie. "This is CNN, and this is what Conservatives actually believe! LULZ!"
WHO'S THE LOSER NOW, ASSHOLE?
Going one further, he forgets that the US was not founded to be a Christian, Catholic or any religion country. And all the God stuff was added in the 1950s.
Family friendly Wal-Mart? So many things with that, besides selling of guns which is ookay for them but not in GTA IV.
Sorry, I've just got in to Uni and this isn't the best thing to watch
But thankfully, like aany 'lock, Beck's "Fear" spell suffers from diminishing returns.
Are you serious? Every news channel has people who blame video games on it. It's easier than doing research, and they know there are plenty of irresponsible parents out there who need an excuse for why their kids are acting like animals.
I'm one those that used to like Glenn, but I can't stand how he blames the stuff that kids do on things like movies, television, "evil" heavy metal music, and, of course -- video games.
When I was growing up and I did something wrong, I got in trouble for it -- I got blamed for it, and that's all there was to it. I learned to be responsible for my actions because of those (sometimes painful) lessons.
I think that's why so many kids run around and do such crazy things, because they know they aren't going to get blamed for it in the first place. There are so many parents out there who won't blame their kids (their little angels) when they do something wrong, that the kids know they can do whatever they want and get away with it.
When I was growing up, my brother and I were wrestling around in the living room, and, well -- my brother got hurt. Mom knew the inspiration for our antics came from watching wrestling on television, but the interesting thing is, she didn't blame the wrestling show for what WE DID, she blamed the two stupid kids who thought they could do what those wrestlers were doing, and we learned to be responsible for our actions because we knew we would be held accountable.
If you put a disclaimer before JT's speech you are using the logical fallacy of argumentum ad hominem - attacking the person, not the argument.
Anybody who listens to JT will conclude that something isn't quite right with his hamster upstairs, but will listen to his argument, because it is capable of standing by itself.
Of course, if you just want to hate on the man, well - I can't stop you - go ahead if you must ...
1) Halo 3 -- Rated M17+
2) Wii Play -- Rated E (Everyone)
3) Call of Duty 4 -- Rated M
4) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock -- Rated T (Teen)
5) Super Mario Galaxy -- Rated E (Everyone)
6) Pokemon Diamond -- Rated E (Everyone)
7) Madden NFL 08 -- Rated E (Everyone)
8) Guitar Hero 2 -- Rated T (Teen)
9) Assassin's Creed -- Rated M
10) Mario Party 8 -- Rated E (Everyone)
Most of the games on the list are for everyone, and only three adult games made it to the top ten.
It makes sense, PG-13 movies make more money than R rated movies because they are accessible to a wider audience, and games that appeal to a wide age range sell better than mature titles.
"'Anybody who listens to JT will conclude that something isn’t quite right with his hamster upstairs, but will listen to his argument, because it is capable of standing by itself."
... forgive me while I die from laughing. when has ANYTHING JT said been capable of standing by itself? lol =P
Anyway back to topic: I say that all us "loosers" stop watching CNN, Im pretty sure all bloggers are video gamers and majority vis versa, and that makes up for a large percent of the popluation. Ratings will drop and so will Beck. ^_^
Yeah I know it may make us look like a bunch of psycos... but you know what. They already think that? Why not keep on honest rep lol. But he is not just insulting us, he is insulting the gaming industry as well.. which is a very powerfull industry. The gaming biz makes close to what hollywood makes. So obveously alot of people play games. This means he is insulting alot of people. Especially when he talks about a top selling game like grand theft auto 4.
Im pretty sure alot of hardcore gamers are bloggers... This is not a good thing for him to do. I hope something happens. You know what I would like to see?
I would like to see a debate on hardball. That would be entertaining. And it would be fair because they would have someone for the games and against it.
And to think, Maddox had Glenn Beck pegged two years ago:
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=911_morons
Anderson copper is ok,love Lou dobbs but news media,or I should say entertainment news just grinds on you after awhile.
Mr. Beck loses all credibility as any kind of journalist the minute he gang rapes GTA IV with the lawyer everyone loves to hate Jack Bruce Thompson. Pretending to know all about a game he has not even played and GB chimeing in with his oh so witty remarks (M for money, classic... but not really though), and then going out and generalizeing game bloggers as losers. Pretty clear what side of the fence he is on but instead of educateing people and parents about the content of the game he bashes it and takes a few of the worst pieces and makes them much worse than they seem.
For example here is a quote from the show "You can take a chainsaw and cut a cop in half,". Truth is there is while you can kill cops in the game there is no chainsaws and no cutting peoples arms legs heads or any parts of the body off. A parent hearing his "facts" about the game would be worried about thier children doing that when it is absolutely not true.
How can you have a debate on the show when everyone is agreeing with eachother about how evil the game is and yet not a single person has played it. This is mud slinging at its lowest level and by all rights Take Two interactive should sue for slanderous remarks about thier products. If a BK advertisement says Mcdonalds makes you mensturate and grow breasts they should be held accountable for the backlash and so should Mr. Beck. An apology is all that is required and an attempt to set the record straight and tell some truth for once.
He talks about murder and cop killing, yeah try killing anyone one the street and see how fast the cops are on you. Yeah One Star, easy to get away, two a little tougher but still manageable, three they begin to swarm like locus, four and up you are screwed. The game doesn't let you kill random people and get away with it, the consequences usually cost you your life in game.
Beck is a hack. I don't know how many times I can say this. He's an O'Reilly wannabe.
Just watched his interview with Ben Stein over "Expelled"... If the man kowtowed himself any more, he'd be licking Ben's shoes...
He might as well be advertised as CNN's resident preacher.