Zen Of Design

The design and business of gaming from the perspective of an experienced developer

Category: Social Justice Stuff (Page 10 of 11)

The Least Downloaded Patch In History

August 11, 2005 /

On the day that Rockstar is downloading what may be the least downloaded patch in history, which will ‘fix’ GTA:SA so the Hot Coffee mod will no longer work for it, it’s pleasing to note that a jury of our peers has rejected the claims of an Alabama man that GTA made him kill 3 cops.

While the judge barred jurors from hearing testimony linking the 2003 shootings to the game, defense lawyer Jim Standridge reminded them that Moore, after his arrest, told police “Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime.”

But don’t worry, the victims are still going to try to sue Rockstar. Nice position to be in – BOTH sides try to blame you.

Hot Coffee Panel

August 10, 2005 /

Tonight I did the Hot Coffee panel. I think it went well. I was smart enough to get one panelist who clearly wanted to agitate – which was a good thing. Nothing’s more dull than watching a panel with three guys who agree with each other. Still, I think there were some people in the crowd who were shocked that a game industry professional under the age of 40 would be preaching the need for social responsibility. Continue reading

Collection of Hot Coffee Links

August 7, 2005 /

I’ve been collecting links and whatnot related to the Hot Coffee Incident for my own research purposes, and to share with others who may be looking for a cohesive timeline and some of the more coherent analyses on the subject. If anyone has any good links, or compelling points in the timeline I missed, noting them in the comments would be dandy. Continue reading

The Rise of Manga in America

August 3, 2005 /

I found this article about the emergence of Shoujo Manga in America to be a fascinating read. The general thesis is that Manga is taking the American girl market by storm, largely because American comic book producers simply refuse to make content for that market. Sounds like another industry I know. Relevant quote:

Speaking for myself, the straw that broke the camel’s back fell during this year’s Emerald City Con in Seattle. I’d stepped out to smoke a cigarette and was watching the passersby. I noticed a family leaving the convention — a Mom, a Dad, and a little girl no older than eight years of age. The girl was decked out in a beautiful, elaborate kimono and clearly distressed by what she’d just encountered. “But they didn’t hardly have any manga at all!” she said as they walked away.

When I was done with my cigarette, I went back inside and relayed this story to an acquaintance prominent in the art-comics publishing scene. “I hate to say it, but good,” was his reply. Indeed, I told the story several more times that day, to both indy-comics and superhero-comics professionals, and the reaction was more or less the same each time. A young reader disappointed by the selection offered to her? Good. The future of comics walks out the door, unable to find what she wants? Good. I left the convention early, lost in a foul mood. I swear: I love the comics art form with a passion, but my utter contempt for the American comics industry grows like a cancer with each passing day.

Continue reading

Hot Coffee Talk

July 24, 2005 /

Needless to say, the Hot Coffee incident has now gotten everyone to pitch in their two cents. It’s impossible to link them all, so I’ll just link the good ones I’ve found.

Ron Gilbert points out a Game Revolution article that discusses the overall trends in violence and teen violence. He mentions the same data that I off-handedly mentioned earlier (that teen violence has been steadily decreasing since 1993 and is at it’s lowest point ever), but sorts through it more carefully, and provides helpful charts to illustrate it. Money quote:

If I may quote directly from the D.O.J. report, “Recently, the offending rates for 14-17 year-olds reached the lowest levels ever recorded.” In other words, the Playstation era has, in fact, produced the most non-violent kids ever

Continue reading

Clouds in my Hot Coffee

July 21, 2005 /

So the ESRB has officially pwn3d Rockstar. ABC News pinged me this morning to ask me some questions about the Hot Coffee circus sideshow (I wonder what they googled to find me). So far, on the blog I’ve been avoiding much more than being snarky on the whole Hot Coffee thing, but I noticed that most other devs have wanted to retreat from saying anything more concrete than ‘this whole situation makes me sad.” So I thought I’d actually post some opinions on the topic. You know, for posterity. Continue reading

Other Good Stuff Out There

July 18, 2005 /

There’s a handful of nice pieces that have been posted lately in the blogosphere.

Jamie Fristrom talks about how much fun it is to websling in his Spider-Man 2 – and wonders whether rewarding the activity more would be good or bad for the game.

Game Girl Advance has an article comparing media depictions of women who game with Lipstick Lesbians – invariably sexy, sassy, and beautiful. An interesting read, although I note that almost everyone on TV is sexy, sassy and beautiful. Am I supposed to think that men on TV who play games, such as Snoop Dogg, are supposed to represent me?

Aggro Me has Shakespeare as told in EQII.

Virtual Villain Virtues for Real-Life Villains

January 13, 2005 /

I’ve been extremely busy the last couple of days, so I wasn’t going to post, but this is too good to pass up. J the Yellow points out that the Florida Department of Corrections has a website which mentions (fairly glowingly), the ideals and principles set out by the Guardian from Ultima — you know, the Orwellian state run by the megavillain? “John Hosie” sounds like the name of a great philosopher, but it turns out, he’s just one of the biggest Ultima Wonks of all time, filling the web with Ultima Fandom under the name Houston Dragon.

Academics and Ant-Farming

December 13, 2004 /

I’ve never fully embraced the academic side of our field as others in the industry have. I’m an intensely practical person, and academics, frequently, are not. So it was with some interest that I read Mark Barrett’s indictment of game academia. He starts off with an illuminating bit of background:

In college I took a run at academic criticism, including semiotics. I spent time studying films and writing them, studying fiction and writing short stories, and studying theater and writing plays. The most surprising thing I learned in my criticism classes was that most of the people sitting in the chairs beside me had no interest in making anything. They were there to learn how to talk about the medium they loved, not how to better create in the medium they loved.

MMOs, due to their shiney new nature, their social aspects, and the insights they can offer on sociology, psychology, economics and social network theory among other things, attract more than their fair share of observers, more than willing to give you their two cents about what you’re doing wrong.

Continue reading

« Older posts Newer posts »

Find me on Mastodon

© 2024 Zen Of Design

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑