After 18 months on LiveJournal, GamePolitics is sporting a new look.

As of this past Monday, our new site was up & running. You'll still find us on the web at www.GamePolitics.com. The new site uses WordPress for the blog portion, and has lots of new goodies...

For you LiveJournal die-hards, the bad news is that I'm not going to be updating the LJ any more. However, I will leave it active indefinitely as an archive.

Nor will I be unscreening comments. The need to do that was a big reason for the move.

The new site has an RSS feed as well.


No, Ace. I think you are...
....


Jack Thompson Lawsuit to be Filed in Albuquerque

We're all going to have to learn to spell "Albuquerque."

That's because we're going to be hearing a lot about the New Mexico city, since Jack Thompson's promised video game violence lawsuit is going to land there today. As reported by the Albuquerque Journal Thompson and a local attorney, Steven Sanders, will file a wrongful death suit based on the July, 2004 murders committed by Cody Posey, 15 at the time.

Posey, 15 at the time of the killings, was found guilty early this year of murdering his father, stepmother and stepsister. Sentenced as a juvenile, he will be held until he turns 21. The defense maintained that Posey was severely abused by his father.

The video game connection is not yet clear.

Safe Sex Game

Hot Coffee it most definitely is not.

As reported by Joystiq, the University of Connecticut is soliciting proposals for a "safer sex video game."

According to UConn bid specs, the goal of the project is "to test the feasibility of using a PC-executable game (non-Flash) format to change the safe sex practices of an otherwise hard to reach group – urban emerging adults."

The University wants vendors to make the game "fun, motivating, and efficacious." That last one's not a dirty word, by the way.

If trials are successful - and no, GP does not know where you go to volunteer - the game will be distributed "broadly." As Joystiq notes, Europeans are already ahead of us in using game tech to teach safe sex.

Proposals from game developers are due back to UConn officials in November.

GP Server Switch on Monday

It looks like GP finally will move to our new format and new server tomorrow. If you'd like, you can check out the beta of the new look.

So, we will definitely have some amount of downtime, depending upon how smoothly the transition goes.

Forums will also go down at the time of the switch. I expect them to be back up later in the week.

Finally, LJ comments are disabled during the transition.

Keep your fingers crossed...

Editorial Roundup: Longing for Pong, Games as Societal Scapegoat

This week's editorial/opinion roundup takes us to Canton, Ohio and San Francisco.

In the Canton Republic columnist Tom Martin writes, "When I was a kid, spinach was good for you and video games included neither murder nor sex. What a difference a few decades make."

"...I had Pong. I knew Pong. Pong was a friend of mine... I know Ms. Pac-Man ate a lot of those gremlin things... but as far as I know she didn't pop a cap in somebody's keister."

"I've seldom been one to wax poetic about yesteryear. Yesteryear often comes back to us with the blemishes airbrushed out... playing Pong didnt make me aspire to play pingpong, tennis or another racket game in the real world. So maybe no one will want to join a street gang after playing 'The Warriors.' But making sport out of theft, murder, prostitution and senseless destruction seems wrong on every level. Maybe our spinach isn't the only thing tainted"

Inside Bay Area columnist Tom Leupold writes about the public perception of games:

"...despite evidence to the contrary, games are still seen as the sole providence of teenage boys, at least by the mainstream media. I asked (Prof. Dmitri) Williams (seen at left) why..."

"In his research, titled A Brief Social History of Game Play, Williams recounts that video games began as an adult pastime, with the earliest arcade machines appearing in bars and nightclubs... In the mid-'80s, the collapse of the video game industry virtually wiped games off the map. When Nintendo revived the hobby in the late 1980s, it marketed its machines as toys... That solidified the perception in the minds of the public that games were kids' stuff."

"...Williams, 34, said those under 38 have a different view of games than their elders. Most have grown up with games and, like television for the previous generation, games are embedded in their culture..."

"As Williams points out, every new medium has been condemned by the older generation when it was new... As the report states, 'Often, focusing attention on the medium is a convenient way of assigning blame while ignoring complex and troubling problems... blaming an external force like media provides an excuse to ignore the primary risk factors associated with juvenile crime and violence, which are abuse from relatives, neglect, malnutrition and above all, poverty."

Australian Official Thinks Bully Rating Too Lenient

Some politicians in Australia are taking issue with the official government rating given to Rockstar's controversial Bully, or, as the game is now known outside of the North American market, Canis Canem Edit.

The West Australian is reporting that New South Wales Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt is concerned about what she considers an overly-lenient rating given to Bully by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). Ms Tebbutt urged parents to keep the game out of the hands of their children, and has requested that the country's Attorney General review the classification.

"I'm concerned that its message for violence is undermining what we're doing in schools to counteract bullying," she said. "I also want (the A.G.) to assure me that everything that needs to be taken into account has been taken into account in this classification process."

Even before the ESRB assigned Bully a "T" (13 and older) rating, the Australian OFLC rated the game "M" for "Moderate Themes, Violence, Sexual References", which, under the Australian system means the game is recommended for players older than 15. No legal restrictions are placed upon its sale, however.

New Zealand rated the game "R13" with the descriptor "contains violence", which means it's sales are restricted to those 13 and up.

-Reporting from Canada, GP Correspondent Colin "Jabrwock" McInnes

America's Army Begins "Real Heroes" Campaign

Sports games endeavor to include accurate player rosters and game adaptations of movies try to use real actor voices and likenesses whenever possible. So it should come as no surprise that the U.S. Army is using real soldiers as characters in its America's Army game.

"The America's Army Real Heroes program puts a face on some of the exceptional Soldiers who are at the forefront in defending our freedoms. With Real Heroes young adults can learn about the accomplishments of some of the heroic men and women that make the Army the world's premier land force," said Colonel Casey Wardynski, Project Director.

Players who download the latest version of the free online game will be able to interact with four such Heroes during training missions and while exploring an interactive Virtual Recruiting Center.

The first batch of soldiers to become Real Heroes are Sgt. 1st Class Gerald Wolford, Sgt. Tommy Rieman, Maj. Jason Amerine (pictured), and Sgt. Matthew W. Zedwick, the later two of which GP editor Dennis McCauley had the chance to meet at this year's E3.

"It was cool," said McCauley. "I'm a big admirer of the troops."

Additionally, players (or anyone with an internet connection) will be able hear the stories behind these soldiers via videos available on the America's Army website.

More soldiers honored for their service in Afghanistan and Iraq will be added in the coming months and a line of Real Heroes action figures will be available at retail soon.

-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen

Jack Thompson Ready to Drop Another Game Violence Lawsuit?

Jack Thompson has been teasing a planned lawsuit which he says will be announced Monday.

On Friday GP was treated to a subject-line only e-mail which read, "So, Dennis, you going to my big news conference Monday?"

Not if you don't tell me where it is, Jack.

Later, GP and GameSpot received a similar message, saying only, "Big news conference by Jack Thompson Monday. Hooah!"

Hooah, indeed. This morning the anti-game activist dropped a little more news in the comments section of GP's The Political Game column on Joystiq. Thompson wrote:

"On Monday, September 25, Thompson will journey to another state and announce, with his co-counsel, the filing of what will likely prove to be hugely significant wrongful death action against Sony and Take-Two..."

So, it's a GTA case...

"One thing Thompson will talk about at the news conference are the ways in which the industry has targeted him and his family for harm in retaliation for his appearance on 60 Minutes... One thing that is useful in what is going to occur Monday is that the prosecutor of the kid who killed in this instance actually called Thompson and asked him to bring this lawsuit..."

GP has requested clarification via e-mail, but received none. We could speculate on a few cases, but it's probably best to wait for Monday's announcement.

GP on Joystiq: Will Jon Stewart Save Gaming?

Oops!

Forgot to mention yesterday's The Political Game column on Joystiq, wherein GP concludes that only one man can save video games from political craziness...

Having Trouble with Audio of Utah Video Game Hearing? GP Can Help

A number of readers have expressed difficulty with trying to listen to the audio of Wednesday's video game hearing before the Utah legislature.

If you are still having issues, GP has thoughtfully placed it on the web for download in MP3 format. Click here.

It's a 56mb file, so be patient.

And if you're playing catch-up, click the link for all GP coverage of Utah's game legislation efforts.

Regarding the Controversy Over Monday's APA Study & Game Violence Article

On Monday of this week, GP carried an item, No "Direct Causal Link" Between Games & Violence in APA Report.

It sparked a bit of controversy. It was suggested in certain quarters that GP ignored the views of Dr. Brad Bushman (left) of the University of Michigan, a member of the APA committee which issued the August, 2005 resolution.

That's not at all correct. In raising a particular question we turned to the two listed contacts for the APA study, Dr.Elizabeth Carll, committee co-chair and Dr. Dorothy Singer of Yale. There were a total of six committee members involved in the report. Dr. Bushman was among them. Not feeling the need to contact all six, we went to the two that the committee itself suggested.

The question Monday's GP article raised was, in retrospect, perhaps too narrow. But a very damning - and very narrow - interpretation of the APA study has been bandied about in recent times. GP wanted to pin the assertion down and see if it was accurate. We've heard it said or seen it written (and not by Dr. Bushman, by the way) that, "The American Psychological Association last year found a direct causal link between violent video games and teen violence." (emphasis GP's)

While the APA study was indeed very critical in regard to game violence (as we dutifully reported last August), that particular sentence seems to draw a straight line between violent games and real-life violence in the same way that a straight line is drawn between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer. However, as GP - admittedly, a layman - interpreted it, the APA report just didn't seem to say that there was a "direct causal link." In fact, searching the APA resolution, that term does not appear anywhere. Nor do the words "causal" or "causation."

But we're not afraid of industry-critical views here, and we like to think we present the news as factually as possible. To that end, we did indeed reach out for Dr. Bushman for a clarification. He in turn advised GP that he was working out a response between himself and Drs. Carll and Singer. Dr. Carll was kind enough to send that response along on Thursday night. GP promised to reprint it verbatim. Here it is:

"Brad Bushman forwarded to both myself and Dr. Singer the comments you sent to him regarding the content of the APA Resolution on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media. I also forwarded to Dr. Bushman your original email to Dorothy Singer and myself, which is below."

"To clarify, the APA Resolution on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media stated that there was an increase in aggressive behavior as a result of playing violent video games. The Resolution did not state that there was a direct causal link to an increase in teen violence as a result of playing video games, rather an increase in aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, and a decrease in helpful behavior as a result of playing violent video games." (emphasis GP's)

"The statement in your email of 9/19/06 to Dorothy Singer and myself refers to "teen violence" as opposed to aggressive behavior, which is why Dorothy Singer and I responded as we did. While violence is an extreme form of aggression, the body of research of which the resolution speaks is about aggression."

(GP: Yes, "teen violence" was the specific issue asked about, because that's the specific assertion which has been made in certain quarters. And Drs. Singer and Carll are in agreement on their answer, which was accurately reported in Monday's article.)

"In the interest of accuracy for future articles, it would be helpful to state that the APA Resolution on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media reported an increase in aggressive behavior as a result of playing video games, rather than only reporting that there was no causal link to teen violence. Reporting that there was no causal link to teen violence without reporting that there was an increase in aggressive behavior, as a result of playing violent video games, may be misleading to the reader."

(GP: Point taken, Dr. Carll, although reading Monday's article clearly shows no intent to mislead. While not outlining the specifics of the aggression angle, GP did note, "The 2005 study was quite critical of interactive violence... Violence in video games appear to have similar negative effects as viewing violence on TV, but may be more harmful because of the interactive nature of video games." Monday's article also linked to the full APA resolution for those readers who wished to learn more about the APA's findings.)

Dr. Carll continues:

"The specific paragraph in the APA Resolution on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media states: 'WHEREAS comprehensive analysis of violent interactive video game research suggests such exposure a.) increases aggressive behavior, b.) increases aggressive thoughts, c.) increases angry feelings, d.) decreases helpful behavior, and, e.) increases physiological arousal'"

"Hopefully this has helped clarify an important distinction. Thank you for your interest."

And GP thanks Drs. Carll, Singer and Bushman for investing their time in clarifying this issue.

Bottom line? GP stands by Monday's article.

Online Game Lampoons Airport Security

Air travel hasn't been much fun since 9/11.

Fear, heightened security regulations, long waits and inconvenience are standard features of flying commercially these days.

Fortunately, a new online game may give you a chuckle next time you're queued for the metal detector. Prof. Ian Bogost and his Persuasive Games studio have released Airport Security, a satirical take on ever-changing regulations for air travelers.

In the game players must remove prohibited items such as toothpaste and shampoo from passengers' bags before they reach the security checkpoint. New regulations appear randomly, prohibiting, for example, pants. It only takes a mouse click to remove those as well. You character may be reduced to its underwear, but at least he - or she - will be allowed to pass through security.

Airport Security is chock full of clever touches. Instead of the usual "easy, normal, hard" difficulty levels, for example, players must choose among "fickle, arbitrary and knee-jerk," presumably the security employees' attitude du jour. The airport loudspeaker references the random prohibition of clothing articles with announcements such as "Security fashions are chaging daily. TSA stylists are available for consultation."

On Water Cooler Games, Ian Bogost explains that Airport Security is the first product of a new partnership between Persuasive Games, Shockwave.com and Addicting Games. We look forward to future efforts.

Play Games, Advance Science

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it." - Agent K, Men in Black

And, as Rob Goldstone, director of Indiana University's Group Experiment Environments, might add, "Collective behavior is potentially more controllable than isolated individual behavior because of the strong influences among the individuals' behavior." Goldstone's research uses video games to "observe, explain, and computationally model how groups of people behave."

The game experiments are available online and open to the public. Goldstone's design goal is to have more than five people playing at any given time. But until the project gains more popularity, AI bots fill in for missing human players. At game's end, players can read a thorough explanation of the group behavior modeled and what the experiment results can mean to the real world.

Group Path Formation is one experiment/game that rewards participants for reaching target destinations but subtracts points for each step. Fewer points are deducted if a previously established path is followed so players must strike a balance between the shortest distance and following in the footsteps of others.

"At a broad level, the best grounds I can see for being optimistic about the future of humanity is that sometimes people will shun well-trodden roads and forge their own paths," said Goldstone in an email to GamePolitics. "But once they do, it turns out that they are attractive paths for other people to follow. In this way, humanity can be both flexible and efficient."

"The alternative method of crowd control suggested by our work is to change the structure of the environment such that certain navigational behaviors are facilitated while others are indirectly hindered. Even without instituting physical or abstract barriers, it may be possible to indirectly control collective behavior with considerable efficacy..."

"To this end, the Active Walker can be used to guide policy decisions. For example... if you want a group of people to create path networks that minimize the total amount of trail needed but still connect a set of destinations, it is best to have people's steps wear away quickly... because rapid decay of paths allows the group to create new paths without being strongly constrained by the original..."


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