Wednesday, March 16, 2005

What, Were the Guys Who Made Custer's Last Revenge Not Available?

The Washington Post decided to write an article about developers and video game violence. That's fine. And they generally make an effort to move beyond knee-jerk, reactionary stories that entirely miss the point. Also fine.

The developers they decided to interview about video game violence, though, are the guys who made Postal. Postal. So the asshats from Running With Scissors are in the Washington Post, ostensibly speaking as some kind of subject matter experts on games and violence.

Here's the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7202161/.

Great. There's nothing better than talking to the developer equivalent of arm-farts to get penetrating thoughts on a complex issue. The article's author is Arianna Cha, and let me just say this to you, Arianna: don't be expecting the Pulitzer Committee to be calling anytime soon.

Here's a great quote from Vince Desiderio:
"So many people these days are obsessed with vulgarity. Sure you have a gun and sure you can kill, but that shouldn't be the point," adds Vince Desiderio, 51, the company's co-founder.

Dude, people obsessed with vulgarity are your target market. You wouldn't be making your shitty little games if those people didn't exist.

Then there's this:
The success of Postal spawned a new generation of games, one whose goal according to psychology researcher Douglas Gentile is "to basically be a sociopath..." Success, though, depends on pushing the envelope.

Please. These guys don't push the envelope--they pee on it. They make a whoopee cushion look like Shakespeare.

The only plausible explanation I can find for this article is that every other developer on Earth was contacted and absolutely refused to discuss the issue.

Dear Famous Journalists Who Read This Column,
There is a legitimate discussion to be joined concerning the First Amendment rights of content creators versus the negative effects of repeated exposure to violent content. The discussion is not furthered, however, by interviewing asshats. Thank you.

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