Joe Biden’s “Violent Video Game Tax” Smells A Lot Like Old Urine
Wednesday, 15th May 2013Posted in Keeping it Real
Tags: joe biden, politics, taxing video games, vice president, violent video games
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Vectigal Urinae.
Translation (from Latin to English): Urine Tax.
In first century A.D., The Roman Emperor Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus sought to raise revenues for his government and subsequently put more gold into his, um, toga. So, naturally, he taxed his constituents’ urine. In the Roman days, urine wasn’t merely flushed away to be forgotten, it was sometimes used as a “chemical” to help clean clothes.
As history tells us, Vespasianus’ son Titus apparently opined to his father that the practice was dirty and shameful. As a response, Vespasianus held up a gold coin for his son to see and asked him “sciscitans num odor offenderetur” (are you offended by this smell?). Continue reading “Joe Biden’s “Violent Video Game Tax” Smells A Lot Like Old Urine” »
Why The World Should Think Twice Before Getting Rid of Violent Video Games
Tuesday, 26th March 2013Posted in Industry
Tags: call of duty, economics, emotional benefits of games, violent video games, violent video games benefits
Written by: Paul Nyhart
It’s a daily occurrence — blogs, newspapers, blogs pretending to be newspapers, crank out opinion pieces clamoring the end of violent video games. All of this has given us pause — what if the critics dream came true and there were no more violent video games? What would be the economic and emotional effects if Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Far Cry or any other video game under the proverbial microscope were ripped off the shelves?
Let’s start with the economics, something often overlooked by those who consider violent games a nuisance to the well being of society.
If you’ve ever been to Irvine, California you know it’s known for two things: sunshine and the home of Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard is the maker of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo series. While these aren’t consistently referred to as “violent” amongst the gaming world, opponents of violent video games often point to WoW, Diablo, and Starcraft as being harmful, addicting, and encouraging violent behavior. Continue reading “Why The World Should Think Twice Before Getting Rid of Violent Video Games” »
This Week in Gaming (Snarky Edition): U.S. Senators Discuss Violent Video Games, Facepalms Follow
Thursday, 31st January 2013Posted in Week In Gaming News
Tags: politics, senator video game debate, us senators, video game politics, violent video games
Written by: Patrick Scott Patterson
I really want to be snarky about something else. There should be plenty there, right? I could talk about the Wii U forecast being lowered like a limbo bar, or all the people complaining about the price of the new Call of Duty: Black Ops II map packs who bought them anyway.
Alas… various Senators and pundits keep opening their mouths about “violent video games” despite not having any real qualifications to talk about gaming.
You can’t learn about video gaming from a trailer or a short play through of a game. If you ain’t lived it, you shouldn’t yammer on about it. Since they continue to do so combined with the fact that I’m more than qualified to talk video games… well, they had this coming, didn’t they?
Atari classic Paperboy blamed Continue reading “This Week in Gaming (Snarky Edition): U.S. Senators Discuss Violent Video Games, Facepalms Follow” »
Statistics Suggest There Is Little to No Link Between Video Game Consumption and Gun Murders [Charts]
Monday, 17th December 2012Posted in Industry
Tags: facts, gun rights, gun violence, statistics, violent video games
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Follow @paulnyhart
In the aftermath of the horrible tragedies in Newtown, Connecticut, a number of media outlets have linked video game consumption to gun violence, but as the Washington Post recently published, statistically, that does not appear to be the case.
The statistics charted below detail the rate of gun murder to video game consumption over ten countries. While the United States has a MUCH HIGHER rate of gun murder per capita, compared to the likes of Germany, Japan and The Netherlands, there is no empirical link to video game consumption — in fact, it shows a DOWNWARD trend.
In the United Staes, roughly 3 people out of 100,000 will be the victim of a gun murder, putting the U.S. ahead of the runner up Canada, by almost “2.5 people.”
Of course the chart does not graph the TYPES of video games being played e.g. violent, sports, RPG, etc. but it is safe to say that OVERALL consumption does not seem to dictate gun violence, or else The Netherlands would be at the top of the charts and would look like this:
ALL aspects relating to gun violence should be explored, which includes the lifestyle of an individual — however there is no DEFINITE link towards video game consumption and GUN violence — in this respect the evidence is to the contrary.
14 Year Old Boy Hangs Himself “After Playing Call of Duty”
Wednesday, 5th September 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming
Tags: bully, bullying, call of duty, controversy, politics, violent video games
Written by: Paul Nyhart
“Parents should ban their children from playing the violent video game”…these were the words of a coroner after a 14 year old boy hung himself.
Prepare yourselves for a story that can only be described in one word: awful.
Here are the full details as we know them via The Telegram, the 14 year old boy got into a fight with his mother after being grounded for “hanging out with his girlfriend too late” the night before. He was sent to his room, where his mother believed he was going onto the computer to look at facebook/youtube/kill time like the rest of us. Continue reading “14 Year Old Boy Hangs Himself “After Playing Call of Duty”” »
Violent Video Games Could Give You A Better Shot…At Someone’s Head
Tuesday, 22nd May 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Keeping it Real
Tags: head shot, Sniper, violent video games
Written by: Paul Nyhart
The following shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but given the endless crees from naysayers who claim video games have little worth, its worth pointing out a study performed by The Ohio State University School of Communication.
The study isn’t exactly in favor of violent videos games, considering it initially set out to determine whether or not video games are indeed “murder simulators.”
From the study: Continue reading “Violent Video Games Could Give You A Better Shot…At Someone’s Head” »
You’re Safe For Now…Red Cross Will NOT Charge Gamers With War Crimes
Monday, 12th December 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming
Tags: controversy, Geneva convention, laws, politics, red cross, violent video games
Written by: Paul Nyhart
In case you missed the news last week, word spread faster than a knife fight in a phone booth that the Red Cross was considering applying the Geneva Convention to gamers playing “war-based video games.” The Geneva Convention in a nutshell makes the humanitarian treatment of prisoners of war mandatory and addresses the humane treatment of individuals across the landscape of the world.
Here was the snippet from the Red Cross:
Exactly how video games influence individuals is a hotly debated topic, but for the first time, Continue reading “You’re Safe For Now…Red Cross Will NOT Charge Gamers With War Crimes” »
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