First, let me start explaining that my two last posts were published before I realized it could have a bad resonance due to the tragedy in Montreal.
I've just read this post by Bogost on Water Cooler Games, in which he makes an excellent analysis of the fact that the press is emphasising that Kimveer Gill, Montreal's tragedy Gunman, used to play lots of games, including Super Columbine Massacre RPG.
As Bogost brilliantly explains, it's obvious that the game can not be held responsible in any way for that man's actions.
If I've previously expressed my concerns about the way we, gamers, often defend our media based on loose evidences, that's because I prefer takes such as Dugan's view on the aforementioned game, or Bogost's latest piece itself.
They provide a more solid defense, but I am not sure they are enough to fight back anti-games press sensationalism. So maybe I was wrong in my last post, and Jesper was right in his comment: It's needed to stress that video games are not to blame. Specially in moments like this.
2 comments:
I think it'd be interesting to hear/do a news story about young people who were moved positively by SCMRPG!, making them feel less alienated.
True. That would be a better counter-balance to those kind of stories.
On a side note, maybe James Paul Gee's book should be more read. I think it promotes the qualities of video games in a deep, non-biased and convincing way.
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