Obruo

One RPG to rule them all,
One RPG to find them,
One RPG to bring them all,
and in the apocalypse bind them.

Bethesda software got it… I’m thrilled.  Mmmm… Fallout 3… ’nuff said.

So far Dr Phil & Jack Thompson have come out blaming video games and violent media for the shooting at VA Tech… I’m sure there will be plenty more religious and parent groups piling onto this bandwagon shortly…

One word: Bullshit.

Some of these people need to do some basic research on video games and violence before they start tossing mud at everything other than the person.

Maybe this ESA Report?… or maybe look up the actual crime statistics yourself and correlate them with the release of the best known violent games and widely popular consoles and systems… like this perhaps.

(Click image to see a larger more readable version.)

Oh wait… so… crime started to drop once doom, the first violent moderately realistic game was released… and continued even faster after the release of the Playstation… the first console that people who weren’t gamers owned and incidentally the first console that had graphics that looked reasonably realistic instead of a few colored blocks on the screen… oh and it kept dropping with doom 2… gta… gta2… gta3… doom3? Wait… could it be that people use video games as a … pressure release?

“I think it’s plain to see the massive increase in violent crime that coincides with the release of these violent video games.” Yah. Right. That sure is a massive spike in violent crime there. Yeap. Nice stuff. Kids stay in and play games more rather than going out and getting into trouble with other stuff is the simple explanation. Adults stay in more. Rather than go into the office with a glock and hose down a few dozen people people go home take a deep breath and play a game. Horrible stuff.

You can pull the stats on violent crime right off government sites, the video game and console release dates are available all over the web. Do some research *YOURSELF* think for *YOURSELF* take responsibility for *YOURSELF* quit blaming the world for *YOUR* woes and problems. Quit trying to find some scapegoat so you can shrink away from your personal responsibilities and blame everything that you dislike for a variety of reasons.

In my life alone, I’ve heard violence blamed on everything from music and movies to video games. No parent wants to accept that their child was sick in the head or that they missed all the warning signs that something was horribly wrong– I can’t imagine the horror of my children killing them self or someone else and then trying to figure out what I could have done differently to have changed things, it’s a what-if game that never ends. The end fact remains the same though, the person– in the end, is responsible for their own actions. When something like this happens it isn’t video games that cause it, it isn’t music, it isn’t the girl who cheated on you, it isn’t violence in the media, it isn’t guns in society (never mind the fact we have more guns available each year and violent crime has been dropping since the early 90s), it isn’t anything but that persons choice and that persons mental dysfunction. Respect each persons choices and the message they choose to send… it’s no ones choice but that persons. Learn from it, listen to the reasons, and leave the blame where it belongs… for any action you do, the responsibility lies on your shoulders… for any action someone else does the repurcussions lie on their shoulders. End of story.

Grow up sheeple, and start using that brain you evolved or were given by the graces of god. Here’s some food for thought too…

Edit: I generally disagree with Rush on many points, but the man made a good point and I think its worth reiterating. The part about gamers is a short distance down the transcript, but a lot of what he has to say in that transcript is interesting really.

Edit2: He didn’t play video games, sorry people… guess you’ll have to wait for the next massacre to blame video games.

Edit3:Another person’s take on the video game releases…

… YTMND, but well worth watching especially if you remember the original “We didn’t start the fire” by Billy Joel

I’ll toss the lyrics here too for the curious:
We didn’t start this Website (by: NeomatrixCTL & Freedrosie)

Harry Potter, Domo-Kun, Ridge Racer, Sailor Moon,
Stephen Colbert, Captain Picard, Attack of the Show.
Technologic, Curb Stomp, New Orleans, Falling Thwomp,
Bell Peppers, Brian Peppers, Myspace is Emo!

Captain Kirk, Oh Snap, Bill Cosby, It’s a Trap,
Connery, O RLY?, Katamari Damacy,
Cuppycake Gumdrop, Spinnaz never gonna stop,
Butterfinger, Lex Luthor, Screw YOU Scientology!

We didn’t start this Website,
It was always twisted,
Since the site’s existed,
We didn’t start this Website,
No we didn’t code it,
But we’re gonna vote it!

Had one weakness, Third Reich, Zelda, Nigga stole my bike,
Lindsay Lohan, Sonic, Hassan, NEDM,
Joshcube, Camping noob, Internet’s a big tube,
Hax, Max, Horsedick, Stapler, Tiny Tim!

What is Love, Dew Army, Safety isn’t guarenteed,
VinnyWeapons, CloudSong, Mastersitsu, Donkey Kong,
Conan, Cyberman, AsiaCopter, GMan,
Dinghis Kahn, Pokemon, People raiding eBaum!

We didn’t start the Website,
Though we didn’t start it,
Made it look retarded,
We didn’t start this Website,
No we’re not the smartest,
But We’re still called artists!

Willy Wonka, Virgin Nerd, Didn’t say the magic word,
Best day ever, Michael Moor, Holy crap a Dinosaur,
Spiderman, Barrel Roll, Batman Stares into your soul,
Had it with these F’n snakes, Punch the keys for gods sake!

Darth Vader, Bill Nye, Razor Gator, Homer, Pi,
Lazy Town, Gay Fuel Pride, Syncan’s gonna break my stride,
Eon8, Soylent Green, Never ending ball machine,
Shoe on Head, Violin, Stingray killed Steve Irwin!

We didn’t start the website,
We may be inventive,
But we’re not attentive,
We didn’t start the website,
No we didn’t make it,
But we’re here to break it!

PS3 vs Wii, 64 and DBZ, Russia, A-Ha, World of Warcraft drama,
Very Greedy Sea Gull, Chunk is Indestructible, Burger King,
Racial Slur, Pranking Telemarketer, Chuck Norris, Chocolate,
Jesus and a Fishbiscuit, Kool-Aid, not Afraid, Dr.Leet is getting laid!

We didn’t star the Website,
They may call us losers,
but there’s lots of users,
We didn’t start this website,
Much more than a blog,
Cause we’re the men now dog,
now dog (repeat)

Edit: The history and CORRECT lyrics ;) … Unfortunately this site didn’t exist when I sat down and listened to this three thousand fucking times :P

A game called “Super Columbine Massacre RPG” was made about the columbine shooting where you are the shooters, you wander around the school and do largely what they did. They were entered in the slamdance competition which is pretty much a small developer/indy comp… they were finalists until they got canned because the corporate sponsors didn’t like that they were in the competition and threatened to pull support and the president caved in. Since originally being reported however, the president of Slamdance says he pulled it on moral grounds. right. There’s a bit more available at rocky mountain news.

Since then, 5 others have quit the contest in disgust over the practice, even if they didn’t agree with what the game stood for and was.

The first contestant to quit was Braid, followed by fl0w, then in quick succession 3 more dropped– Everyday Shooter, Toblo, and Once Upon a Time.

All of them basically have the same thing to say, but I suggest you read each site, they all have slightly different views and insights. Maybe download the games and give them a go, because their creators show integrity and it’s a rare thing to see in the gaming industry these days… or in people in general.

I hope they all get massive amounts of publicity and they each deserve an award for integrity when they could have viewed columbine being disqualified as making the odds of their own game winning better. If they want to exclude something from entering, but do it upfront, it’s dirty and underhanded to do it after the fact when someone you don’t like is a finalist regardless of the reasons.

If I had a game… I wouldn’t enter it in Slamdance– they can’t be trusted to be fair.

EDIT: Sponsors and other contestants (Book and Volume) have pulled themself from the contest also and even some of the judges are up in arms. Baxter (president of sd) commented… it wouldn’t be so bad if they hadn’t actively TRIED to get SC* to compete in the comp.

EDIT2: Even wired is in the act.

EDIT3: The final edit, no one got an award this year the rest of the contestants that still went or were forced to go declined the award. Good for them!

Over at gonintendo you can see the new thicker straps coming out for replacement when you break your strap.  Nintendo really responded pretty well and quick on getting heavier straps since people are swinging the wiimote hard enough to break the previous strap.  I’ve gotta wonder what the previous strap was rated at… I’ll bet it was fairly sturdy to begin with and people are just swinging obscenely hard (I’ve seen some people play ddr *twitch*)  Still stalking a Wii personally, either strap will work fine for me… I don’t get that energetically into my video game experience.