This Is Just Sad
<div class="IPBDescription">Face it, the media hates us</div> I should probably point out now that by "us" or "we" I mean gamers in general.
The latest news article on <a href='http://www.penny-arcade.com' target='_blank'>penny arcade</a> depressed me quite a lot.
The first section was about the recent article in the New York post (which has already been posted about). I'm becoming used to these sorts of articles so I just ignore them mostly. Or try to.
The last two paragraphs go on to talk about the Child's Play fund which penny arcade set up. If you have been living under a rock for a while, this was basically a fund where gamers would donate either old consoles or money to buy new consoles to be donated to terminally ill children. (correct me if i'm wrong, i'm unsure of the details) The response was awe-inspiring. I can't remember the exact figure for the donations but it was in the region of tens of thousands. And this is just from gamers donating out of the goodness of their hearts.
If you havent already read the page, here are the relevent paragraphs:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The first time the news dumbshits came out to talk about Child's Play, though they were clearly told who was responsible for it they excised one of the people behind it. I consider this a fairly minor issue, but they're still retarded. When they came to the Children's Hospital itself for the toy delivery, there was no reporter even down there with us. A cameraman got some footage and then (I believe) ran away. I thought I heard him say "Ghosts!", but that's neither here nor there. When this footage was aired, I learned something new: that the toys had been donated by a local catholic school, and were valued at nearly a thousand dollars. Understand this. A single bin of GBA SPs was worth four thousand dollars, and we had four such bins. That's above and beyond the seventy GameCubes the other twenty carts of toys, which at our best estimates come to around $175,000. Then there was a check for twenty-seven thousand. Here's where the depression sets in.
What we - this is a grand We, which includes you - what we did was completely amazing. It was worth doing purely on account of its own virtues. But the other part, what we might call the "Secondary Objective," was to promote the idea that we are not freaking murderers. This is an effort to combat media portrayals. Here's the trick, the dark revelation, the Empire Strikes Back which produces our moment of darkness: we need to rely on that selfsame inept machinery to broadcast our new message as well. They're simply not capable of it. I understand that there's just no story in people being good to each other, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened from time to time.
(CW)TB out.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So all that work, all that charity, out of the goodness of our hearts went completely un-noticed. No-one cares when good things happen, they just want to write about the war in Iraq, or celebrity X's facelift.
The thing that struck a chord with me was the realisation:
The media doesn't give a s**t about gamers. And it never will.
If a 13 year old went out, right now, and shot someone dead claiming that they copied it from say, Max Payne 2, it would be all over the headlines. No doubt countless parents organisations with stupid acronyms would try and ban the game (as if enough haven't tried to already).
Anyone pointing out the logical questions "How did the kid get the game?", "How did a 13 year old get a gun?" and "Where were his parents?" would be promptly ignored.
It's so easy to ignore common sense when fiction is far more entertaining to read about; 50,000 gamers organise a protest against the war in Iraq, but that doesn't get in the paper because Celebrity Y had a boob job! (this is just an example for those of you who didn't hear about this fictional protest) Not only did the media ignore the whole Child's Play fund, but they outright LIED about the 10 seconds of footage they took for the news <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->When this footage was aired, I learned something new: that the toys had been donated by a local catholic school, and were valued at nearly a thousand dollars. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So how are gamers meant to improve their image with the media, the silly-acronymed organisations, and the world if every time we try to defend ourselves we are ignored, and every time we do something GOOD, guess what? We get ignored! Or our good work is attributed to someone else.
The sheer futility of making the effort to be nice makes me think "why bother". Why try and convince the world that we're not really all mass-murderers? No-one cares.
I'll probably get over it as soon as I boot up NS for a few rounds but for some reason... this seriously depressed me <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
If you feel this would do better in the discussion forums by all means move it.
*edit* Spelling *edit*
The latest news article on <a href='http://www.penny-arcade.com' target='_blank'>penny arcade</a> depressed me quite a lot.
The first section was about the recent article in the New York post (which has already been posted about). I'm becoming used to these sorts of articles so I just ignore them mostly. Or try to.
The last two paragraphs go on to talk about the Child's Play fund which penny arcade set up. If you have been living under a rock for a while, this was basically a fund where gamers would donate either old consoles or money to buy new consoles to be donated to terminally ill children. (correct me if i'm wrong, i'm unsure of the details) The response was awe-inspiring. I can't remember the exact figure for the donations but it was in the region of tens of thousands. And this is just from gamers donating out of the goodness of their hearts.
If you havent already read the page, here are the relevent paragraphs:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The first time the news dumbshits came out to talk about Child's Play, though they were clearly told who was responsible for it they excised one of the people behind it. I consider this a fairly minor issue, but they're still retarded. When they came to the Children's Hospital itself for the toy delivery, there was no reporter even down there with us. A cameraman got some footage and then (I believe) ran away. I thought I heard him say "Ghosts!", but that's neither here nor there. When this footage was aired, I learned something new: that the toys had been donated by a local catholic school, and were valued at nearly a thousand dollars. Understand this. A single bin of GBA SPs was worth four thousand dollars, and we had four such bins. That's above and beyond the seventy GameCubes the other twenty carts of toys, which at our best estimates come to around $175,000. Then there was a check for twenty-seven thousand. Here's where the depression sets in.
What we - this is a grand We, which includes you - what we did was completely amazing. It was worth doing purely on account of its own virtues. But the other part, what we might call the "Secondary Objective," was to promote the idea that we are not freaking murderers. This is an effort to combat media portrayals. Here's the trick, the dark revelation, the Empire Strikes Back which produces our moment of darkness: we need to rely on that selfsame inept machinery to broadcast our new message as well. They're simply not capable of it. I understand that there's just no story in people being good to each other, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened from time to time.
(CW)TB out.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So all that work, all that charity, out of the goodness of our hearts went completely un-noticed. No-one cares when good things happen, they just want to write about the war in Iraq, or celebrity X's facelift.
The thing that struck a chord with me was the realisation:
The media doesn't give a s**t about gamers. And it never will.
If a 13 year old went out, right now, and shot someone dead claiming that they copied it from say, Max Payne 2, it would be all over the headlines. No doubt countless parents organisations with stupid acronyms would try and ban the game (as if enough haven't tried to already).
Anyone pointing out the logical questions "How did the kid get the game?", "How did a 13 year old get a gun?" and "Where were his parents?" would be promptly ignored.
It's so easy to ignore common sense when fiction is far more entertaining to read about; 50,000 gamers organise a protest against the war in Iraq, but that doesn't get in the paper because Celebrity Y had a boob job! (this is just an example for those of you who didn't hear about this fictional protest) Not only did the media ignore the whole Child's Play fund, but they outright LIED about the 10 seconds of footage they took for the news <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->When this footage was aired, I learned something new: that the toys had been donated by a local catholic school, and were valued at nearly a thousand dollars. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So how are gamers meant to improve their image with the media, the silly-acronymed organisations, and the world if every time we try to defend ourselves we are ignored, and every time we do something GOOD, guess what? We get ignored! Or our good work is attributed to someone else.
The sheer futility of making the effort to be nice makes me think "why bother". Why try and convince the world that we're not really all mass-murderers? No-one cares.
I'll probably get over it as soon as I boot up NS for a few rounds but for some reason... this seriously depressed me <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
If you feel this would do better in the discussion forums by all means move it.
*edit* Spelling *edit*
Comments
I hate people. I really do. And it's for reasons like this.
Saves them having to actually ask anyone questions which would take up valuble time they could be spending making up stories about more interesting things.
That whole bit about PA getting no credit, that's just **** depressing.
Anyone pointing out the logical questions "How did the kid get the game?", "How did a 13 year old get a gun?" and "Where were his parents?" would be promptly ignored. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Want me to try it? I'm 13 <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
But yeah, I guess you're right on that, it looks like media is always trying to find a way to push the gamers back. What have we done?
Bad stuff sells more then 'good stuff', face it. And to add to that, gaming is relatively new, and i think stuff like comics and the like faced some of the same problems as gaming do - im not old enough to be sure of this. someday it will prolly be over though.
and btw there are good articles about games, some doctors have said good things about it.
But yeah, I guess you're right on that, it looks like media is always trying to find a way to push the gamers back. What have we done? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
We've commited murder countless times in a simulated environment "almost indistinguishable from the real thing" which a thousand times worse than the rape of young boys according to the New York times.
And as for doctors saying good things about them, I think this is far outweighed by those inciting cases of RSI, eyestrain and epilepsy.
I can stand being called a murderer.
I can stand taking all the heat for kids killing people even though its not our fault.
But when you freaking lie about where the donations came from for something like this, that just freaking TEARS it.
I seriously think that all of us- not some, but ALL of us- need to start organizing things to change the way gamers look in the media, and thus- our parents' eyes.
I mean, a whole frickin revolution. And if we can find someone to fund us, we could start doing "Truth" like commercials.
Anyone wanna help me? I'm already organizing it now.
Please do. I'll try to get you a plane ticket to New York. Anyone wanna provide cab fare to the New York Times building? We'll also need a shotgun and, if any military types out there were to be ever so kind, an M-16. Plus ammo.
What we need to do, is try to organize a humongous nationwide thing. Like shutting down of the most active corners in your town and the such, making sure NOTHING gets through it.
oh wait, I stoped caring. There is really nothing anyone can do about it. Becuase if gamers around the world did 100,000 amazing, nice, things it only takes 1 fool to outshine them all.
Seriously though the media is corrupt, name me a single day when the media hasn't said anything related as goodnews, none; they feed on others missery and pester others to the edge, even suicide, like the Dr.Kelly case in England. Wonder what happens if i was murder someone and blame it on rap music, think they would go after that ?
Seriously though the media is corrupt, name me a single day when the media hasn't said anything related as goodnews, none; they feed on others missery and pester others to the edge, even suicide, like the Dr.Kelly case in England. Wonder what happens if i was murder someone and blame it on rap music, think they would go after that ? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
only if the jugde actually believes you, good luck with that.
also i think its a lot about reputation, and games got a bad one...
<!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Oh people would just plame it on Grand Theft Auto even if you dropped a piano on the guy.
Oh people would just plame it on Grand Theft Auto even if you dropped a piano on the guy. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Piano? Hmmmmmm...
It doesn't prove any such thing.
If you want the popular press to stop blaming games for violence, try doing what has worked for a hundred years: be patient, ignore them, and they will go away. The press blamed comic books for child violence in the 1890's. They blamed radio in the 1920's. They blamed TV in the 1980's. They blame games now. They'll blame something next year. Don't be myopic.
I'm inclined to agree, actually.
I do feel it's a bit, well, ridiculous that they're getting their panties in a bunch because their generosity has gone unmentioned. What they organised was truely a great thing, but on the other hand, what charitable deed isn't a good thing. Also, no matter if it seems like small potatoes, $170,000 worth of stuff is way better than $0 of stuff.
Although, to sort of contradict myself, i do believe that if the media is going to get involved, they could at least <i>try</i> to get their facts straight before going to print.
But besides being disturbed by this, you guys have to understand that we shouldn't do free service for others expecting glory and vanity in return, right? I understand where the guy is coming from, but if this was an act out of pure heart then no one should be truly angry. As long as the kids are enjoying the donations, all is well. I hope you get my drift.
That could have been me. I used to chew on the cord while I played NES as a youngun.
It doesn't prove any such thing.
If you want the popular press to stop blaming games for violence, try doing what has worked for a hundred years: be patient, ignore them, and they will go away. The press blamed comic books for child violence in the 1890's. They blamed radio in the 1920's. They blamed TV in the 1980's. They blame games now. They'll blame something next year. Don't be myopic. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
wonder when they'll start blaming things like guns and knives?
yet another example of yellow journalism (spewing crap to boost sales)