Video Game Voters Network

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Mar 132006
 

I think that this is probably long overdue.

We as a gaming community cannot rely solely on the industry lobbies to make the case for games to Washington. We need gamers to be making the case.

  12 Responses to “Video Game Voters Network”

  1. Mike's News Page says:
    March 15, 2006 at 12:01 am

    Raph’s Website DeflexionVideo Game Voters Network On Trust, Part III The Sunday Poem: Housebuilding Near Montague Farm Hail in San Diego PowerPoint Presentation – Putting the Fun in Functional Shaping perceptions Midnighters Another prescription/crystal ball

  2. Darniaq says:
    March 13, 2006 at 1:36 pm

    I feel like this could go either way. It could either be an objective voice for gamers aligning fans for common cause. Or it could become just another pit of anger against “The Man”.

    I personally feel the ESA has been doing a pretty good job over the last year, overturning the legislations of certain states. Now, I could be totally wrong because, of course, I’m only getting the information from others who are reporting it. But I feel like in order to truly ensure our “rights” (defined by whoever) are upheld, one needs a powerful body with the sort of money that can bring lawsuits, send attorneys all over, and so on.

    Would a thousand gamers have been able to sue Illinois for example?

  3. Raph says:
    March 13, 2006 at 1:40 pm

    No, of course not. But a large part of the power of a lobby lies in how many voters they can bring to the table to trigger bloc voting, publicity (positive or negative), and floods of letters or demonstrations. Basically, the more people the lobby seems to represent, the more powerful it will be in Washington.

  4. vortexala says:
    March 13, 2006 at 4:43 pm

    It’s about time, really. Hopefully this will actually be worthwhile, as long as the gamervote isn’t as apathetic as the rest of the general voting public.

  5. Morgan says:
    March 13, 2006 at 9:54 pm

    One of the reasons I don’t spend any more time involved with the IGDA is the community’s narrow focus on Jack Thompson. Michael Russell of Ritual Entertainment has the right idea. The Video Game Voters Network takes that right idea a step further. Finally, an advocacy organization that doesn’t focus on the wrong controversy.

  6. Michael Chui says:
    March 14, 2006 at 12:40 am

    I actually get the feeling that, if you bring the issue close enough to them, gamers would actually be more perceptive of the weight their vote can have. That’s mostly a hunch though, and I can’t defend it.

  7. Ladnar says:
    March 14, 2006 at 5:31 am

    If the majority of major retailers already ask for IDs then what is the harm in making a law banning the sale of mature rated games to minors? If the belief is that a law such as this would stifle the creativity of the game makers, then that makes me think that the game makers are creating games with what “might” be considered adult content all the while knowingly targeting a younger audience.

    As an adult game player it shouldn’t matter to me whether there is a law regulating the sale of mature or adult content games. As a responsible parent it shouldn’t matter either way. Law or no law, it is up to me to control to the best of my ability what my child watches or plays.

    Using the figures here the vast majority of parents already monitor what their children rent or buy. I guess that means that there isn’t that big of a problem with children under 18 getting hold of Mature rated games without parental consent. If this is true then there really is no need for a law.

    I let my 16 year old play GTA and I played it with him. My 10 year old I wouldn’t let play. It’s a maturity judgement call I make.

  8. chabuhi says:
    March 14, 2006 at 7:35 am

    I guess that means that there isn’t that big of a problem with children under 18 getting hold of Mature rated games without parental consent. If this is true then there really is no need for a law.

    Precisely.

  9. Raph says:
    March 14, 2006 at 8:54 am

    Ladnar: The issue with there being a law at the retail level is that until now, that treatment has been reserved for pornography, cigarettes and drugs. It would effectively classify games as a harmful substance, rather than as a medium of expression deserving of First Amendment protection.

    Also, you’re citing figures from the ESA — that’s our industry lobby. 🙂 Those are not figures that have widely sunk into the public consciousness. The point of having this organization is so that people like you can make the case you are making to the politicians, using data like that.

  10. Amber Night says:
    March 14, 2006 at 8:59 am

    Oh goody, lobbyists

    Politically motivated gamers.

  11. Darniaq says:
    March 14, 2006 at 11:40 am

    You know? I saw this entry yesterday, but hadn’t gotten a chance to go through my GameDaily brief yet. I just did and saw this entry:

    http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8488

    The video game industry trade body the Entertainment Software Association has announced that it has helped to facilitate the launch of the Video Game Voters Network, a new “grassroots political network for gamers”, whose website was officially launched today

    So, yes, I’m a nob 🙂 That this comes from the ESA, in my opinion, makes moot my initial point.

  12. Michael Russell | Blog: March 2006 says:
    January 24, 2007 at 1:55 pm

    […] I’ve had a few posts by an commenter bringing some of my stats into question, so I thought I’d lay out how I measure my traffic.I use AWStats to track visitors to this site. The stats update about once every 12 hours. I use AWStats because it shows me not only who is visiting and when, but how they enter the site, where they come from, what they were searching for, etc.I average between 4,000 and 5,000 unique visitors per month. Of these, ~600 are aggregators…people who only subscribe to the Atom feed.I get about 2,700-3,000 links from Google and other various search engines per month. So far this month, the top queries have been:8004022awhatipmichael russellhandcufft teenblgwindows media centersharpziplibquake4 fontffdshowThe top 10 pages on my site this month have been:The main page of the blog;A post about the different types of “Quality Bars;”A semi-humorous post about Yoko Ono killing my Zen PMC; (Side note on this one…most of the backlinks seem to be from an accidental link from an Asian porn company)A post on how to fix Windows Media Player 10 error 8004022a;A comment about the .NET Framework on the Xbox 360;My October ’05 archive page;The WhatIP? web service interface;A diatribe about how the gaming community’s single-minded focus on Jack Thompson could be hurting their cause;A tutorial on how to do a clean installation of Windows XP Media Center Edition on an HP Media Center PC; andThe human-usable version of WhatIP.The remainder are from a variety of sources. To be honest, most people tend to refer to me in other people’s comments.I don’t include traffic from people hotlinking to my images, although there is some of that going on. I don’t include traffic from spiders, or from aggregation services.Do I get a lot of comments? No. I average about 5 new comments on the blog a day. I generally get three legitimate comments, one troll, and one piece of blog spam. I delete the blog spam, but I leave the rest. After all, if a person thinks strongly enough about me to take time out of his or her busy schedule to insult me, that’s generally a sign that either something I’m doing needs to be addressed or that someone has issues with me personally. Either way, it’s better to have it out in the open. […]

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