Demonizing Gaming

I've been reading AMNY on my way to work every morning for a couple of weeks. There is a nice man outside my subway station who always hands it me with a smile. It's a decent read, less dense than the NY Times, more insight than the Post. Occasionally, the Opinion pieces fire me up but this one took the biscuit. Hit a little too close to home. Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote about the videogame "JFK Reloaded" as "Worse than Despicable." Since I can't link to the article (There's a PDF of the newspaper here, http://www.nynewsday.com/other/special/amny/,, article on page 8, but it will probably be gone after today) I'll try and summarize it here. He basically touts the banner of moral judgement saying that his thesaurus doesn't have enough adjectives like "reprehensible, abominable, detestable" to describe the game. Pitts goes on to comment how Ted Kennedy would be affected by this representation of his brother's murder and compare his own sister's feelings of having her husband shot and killed and dramatized in the same way. Before I get angry and start spouting off, I'll just post the letter I sent to the editor.



Please put down the thesaurus and learn to research before you blast something. I doubt that Mr. Pitts downloaded or even read a review of the "game."



Why does respect require silence? Mr. Pitts' argument is for putting the nation's head in the proverbial sand. By not looking at evil, by shoving it away, he thinks the world will be a better place. The "game" is an attempt to look closer, to study, much like the recent network TV documentary which used computer animations and rifle tests to determine whether the shooting could actually happen. Pitts also argues that the event happened too recently for such investigation. Perhaps if such a "game" was released another forty years later in 2043, we'll have graduated past Pitts' brand of muckraking. See, I can use a thesaurus too.



The funny thing is, no one would notice this "game" if it weren't for morons like Mr. Pitts. Traffic's "game" is targeted at the audience of Kennedy Assassination enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists. Your average gamer (myself included) would not play or even know about a game like this because of it's niche audience. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for marketing reasons) the game has piqued the media's attention because it puts the player in Oswald's shoes.



This is another attempt to demonize the videogame industry and gamers for being godless heathens. I frantically await the day when the mainstream media and the Christian Right realizes that not every one of over 145 million Americans who play games regularly throw rocks at cars or shoot their schoolmates. Videogames are as much a part of our culture as books, movies or television. It's time for them to be free of the stigma of "The Corruption of Youth" that these other forms of media have.



I think that sums it up. Let me know what you think.

More Contests

I am applying to the Hollywood Screenplay awards today for my screenplay called "Work." I wrote the script over the summer but it came from an idea I had over 8 years ago. The first 2o pages I think were written back then and I've just now pushed forward and finished it. This is the first time that I've entered contest so heavily. This will be the 4th Contest I've entered it it in. I'm trying to get it out there.



Anyway, Here's some of the crap in the application. You might interested or you might steal my idea. It's protected by the WGA so BACK OFF.



Title: Work

Synopsis: In 1994, a high school graduate, Brad, begins working at two summer jobs, an affluent beach club and a summer stock theater, in order to pay for college. At the same time, Brad begins seeing two different girls, a sexy blonde named Heather and an earthy tom-boy, Amanda. As the two jobs and the two girls begin to conflict for his time and his sanity, Brad must take his stoner friend’s advice and choose one girl and one job before he goes to college and/or loses his mind.



And here's a little blurb about me I put in the comments section:



I was trained as a playwright and have written 3 full length plays and several short pieces which have been produced in New York and Connecticut. Through my theater and film production company, Cofounder, I recently produced a short film called, “The Barista” shot in Brooklyn detailing the life of a coffee shop worker. We are currently in post-production. In September, I was in residence at the Edward Albee Foundation’s Barn in Montauk where I finished writing and fine-tuning “Work.”



Shameless, I know, but if I don't plug myself, no one else will.



Off to the Post Office of Fame!!!!

A gamer's lament

Just posted this on the World of Warcraft forums:

All I think about is WOW.



I wake up, take a shower and think about what

quest I was working on when I went to sleep (last night was a failed Shadowfang

run).



I get dressed, thinking about how long it will be

before I can log on (9.25 hours).



I ride the subway thinking how I'd like to take

the Tram someday (i'm Horde right now) after release.



When I get to work, all I do is read these forums,

check out thottbot for anything I couldn't figure out last night and maybe post

something here. Literally, that's what I do all day.



I get home and before I even take off my coat,

I've double clicked WOW and entered my password.



Then I take a deep breath, satisfied, knowing that

I'll have 6+ hours of uninterrupted WOW time. That is, until the wife calls me

to bed.



And this is only the beta. What will it be on

release? I'm going to have to figure out how to install WOW at work. Or I'm just

going to have to quit.

Falwent, Level 21 Undead Rogue, Test Server 13

It's funny cause it's true.

I love Eugene O'Neill

Apparently from the entry fee check being cashed in my checking account, Eugene has seen fit to accept my application to their little shindig. Seeing as I didn't send it out until Nov. 1st (the deadline was Halloween, how freaky is that?) this is very gracious of them.



It would be really cool to go to the conference and work on Creation Play.

Stoner

That last post was at 4:20 dude!



I am so excited to go home and smoke some illicit drugs and play World of Warcraft. it's the open beta and I am going to open STONED.

I post, therefore I am.

I started a new job today.



I sit at a computer, looking at invoices for car services. Then I go through these invoices and correct any information that may be missing/wrong. It is endless mouse button clicking and copypasting. There are women chattering around at all times and an seemingly unending supply of candy and chocolate.



Oh, and I have a college degree.

I am never going to speak of politics ever again.

I think the subject says it all. In New York, even almost a week later, there is a feeling of defeat and despair on every face I see.



It should never have happened. We will feel the repercussions of this polarizing of our nation for years to come. Soon, the US will be a religious state not unlike the nations of Islam that we regularly antagonize.



But forget it, I don't want to talk about it. I will ignore the pain like I ignore my irreversible mortality or that nagging pain in my left side or my addiction to cigarettes. If I don't recognize it, the pain will eventually go away.



Hilary in 2008.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Get out and fricking vote. Right now. Leave work and do it. Kill your boss and rape his children then vote. It's the right thing to do.



But seriously, if I get one more email forwarded to me about my duties and rights as a voter, I'm going to puke. If I get one more condescending question today, "Did you vote? Did you vote?" I mean, jesus, we're preaching to the choir a little bit. I live in New York. Most of my peers are Democrats, most of them are active ones too. So the emails and the condescention are all going to waste because, duh, you're not going to sway democrats to go MORE democratic.



Mephistopholes and I were going to get up early today, vote together, then have breakfast together. I snoozed for about eight 9 minute intervals until it was actually the time I had to get up to go to work. I struggled down the subway stairs and made it to work only five minutes late.



My wife and I: Democracy In Inaction.