Chinese MMOs Go After Tibetans ... Er, 'Drug Smugglers'

House Introduces Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act, Virtual Rape Fans Worried

Obama Name Checks GTA, Says Video Games Are Raising Our Children

Guardian Warns Politicians, Columnists: Gamers Are Taking Over, Deal With It

Richard Bartle, co-author of the original MUD, as MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo was kind enough to remind us, has a warning for UK politicians—and, we assume, the other silver haired no-funster luddite types—that their wrinkly old asses are about to be in the minority. That is, the minority of the population who have grown up with computer games in their lives. The best part, according to Bartle? "They aren't addicted, they aren't psychopathic killers, and they resent those boneheads - that's you - who imply that they are addicted and are psychopathic killers," he writes.

Bartle smugly namechecks Tanya Byron's level-headed report on the plight of raising children in a digital age, with access to realistic, sometimes violent video games. He finally warns "Gamers vote. Gamers buy newspapers. They won't vote for you, or buy your newspapers, if you trash their entertainment with your ignorant ravings." Yeah! Get 'em, Rich!

We've won: get over it [Guardian]

California Senator Warns Parents: Don't Buy GTA IV For Your Kids!

California senator Leland Yee—an outspoken critic of violent video games and the ESRB and author of a bill that targeted ultra-violent games—has a reminder for parents—don't buy Grand Theft Auto IV for your kids. Yee, doing his best by-proxy parenting, says that Rockstar Games and Take-Two "have a history of deceiving the ratings board and the public on the true content of their games" and that the game "glorifies violence, is extremely realistic and designed for adults only." Duh!

Yee's press release then reminds parents with some questionable wording that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was "found" to have "graphic scenes of oral sex, nudity, and simulated intercourse" and paints a dire picture of ratings enforcement.

In related news, I issued my own warning to parents, urging them to, you know, look at the four guns on the cover and the girl fellating a lollipop and think for a second if their kids should be playing that. And that the answer was no, moron. Only Senator Yee's press release is after the jump, though.

Gaming Leads to Less Tree Climbing, Which Leads to Weak Children

In 2006/07 - the latest year for which data is available - 1,067 children under 15 needed medical assistance for tree falls. In 1999/00 the figure was 1,823.

Why the Term 'Gamer' Does Not Need to Go

Last week, Douglas Wilson made an impassioned argument for why the term gamer needs to go; this week, Rene Patnode, a fellow soldier in the grad school trenches, responds with his take on why the term gamer does not need to go the way of the dodo:

... change to the fan sub-culture appears inevitable, but yet so are reactionary responses from the fans. But those responses are soon swallowed up by the progress of the sub-culture on the whole. Given this inevitability, is there reason for concern?

After all, the course of history has already begun to unfold. In the same way we gaming old-timers may look down on PlayStation fanboys (for the record, I'm a Nintendo man), those same gamers who cut their teeth on the PS2 may denigrate the n00bs who are just learning to waggle their Wii-motes. Wilson's critique may in fact stem from his own nostalgia for the good old days before a series of tubes became the internet we now know and love, and flame wars became easier to ignite.

Si, Ceci Est Un Gamer [GameSetWatch]

'The Church of Gamers': Why the Term 'Gamer' Needs to Go

Obama Monotonously Bangs Game Drum

In a race for the Democratic nomination, Obama hasn't made any passionate speeches about video games with the fervor he has addressed health care, the war in Iraq or Hillary Clinton, but he has continued making jabs at games with little concern. In a recent speech at Wilkes Hall in Pennsylvania, he urged the public, "...turn off the television, turn off the video games..." in a similar rhetoric to just last February when he urged the public, "...parent better, and turn off the television set, and put the video games away, and instill a sense of excellence in our children..."

No doubt, video games are easy fodder when speaking about "family values" for all the stereotypical reasons. But to lump all games together is a dated philosophy, ignoring—aside from what I'd argue could be familial benefits—their huge potential to revolutionize education through their ability to capture attention spans and motivate success...let alone the current ways they tacitly instruct the scientific method, resource management and spacial reasoning.

Barack Obama: 'Parents should clamp down on games' [MCVUK]

British Press Offering Cash For Lies About Gaming Crime

Hillary's '3 AM Call of Duty: Mission Bosnia'

With Hillary Clinton's admission that she 'misspoke' about her experiences in Bosnia with snipers, you knew the game parody version wouldn't be far behind. And it wasn't — Bill Maher presents Hillary Clinton's 3 A.M. Call of Duty: Mission Bosnia. It's slightly funnier than the plethora of terrible flash games that have sprung up during these campaigns. [via GamePolitics]

Read The Byron Review Yourself

Byron Review Released, Much Ado About Nothing

Government Denies Gaming/Violent Behavior Link

The classification of Manhunt 2 is a matter for the BBFC and the Video Appeals Committee... It is important to note that there is no conclusive evidence of any link between playing computer games and violent behaviour in real life. Our concern is to make sure that inappropriate material is kept away from children.

GTA Critic Governor Spitzer Quitzers

Like all parents, I know it is increasingly difficult to protect our children from negative influences... We have learned that when self-regulation fails, government must step in... We must do more to protect our children from excessive sex and violence in the media... Media content has gotten more graphic, more violent and more sex-based...