Recently 1UP.com editor John Davison was asked to provide his gaming media perspective to an episode of Donny Deutsch's talk show, "The Big Idea." Davison was told that a number of gaming issues would be discussed, including but not limited to violence. But when taping began, it was quickly apparent that this would not be the case.

It kicked off with Donny holding up a copy of Computer Games magazine declaring that there wasn't a single game in there that wasn't violent, and they then immediately cut to scenes of CJ stamping on a girl until she bled over the pavement in San Andreas. I was introduced as pretty much the bad guy who thinks this doesn't have an effect on kids, and...well...things just deteriorated from there.

When Davidson learned that Columbine student Brooks Brown (who was threatened by Eric Harris and had alerted authorities about Harris's activities) and his parents, it became clear that no progress would be made on this show, and he left the taping.

Davidson was later contacted by Brown (himself a 1UP member) and told that both he and his parents had tried to argue for the gaming industry but were shut down and edited out too. It's a sad state of affairs when reporting becomes nothing more than blocking out any point other than the one your outlet is trying to make.

What's The Big Idea?

-SM

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