UK Politicians Positive on Video Gaming: Vaz Misses Point
Dear old Keith doesn't quite get it.
What about those Space Invaders, eh???
A recent debate on Internet and Video Games saw some quite reasonable things being said by UK parliamentarians about the video game industry.
Yes - read that again.
Then, of course, our old friend and refuser of interviews, Keith Vaz MP marched in and missed the point.
During the debate, Edward Vaizey (Shadow Minister, Culture, Media & Sport; Wantage, Conservative) pointed out to John Whittingdale (Maldon & East Chelmsford, Conservative) that, "when we talk about harmful video games and films, we are talking about a small minority... when they talk about video games, that we have a most successful video games industry in this country, which employs thousands of people?"
Mr Whittingdale responded, "My honourable Friend is entirely right. The video games industry is increasingly important and generates more money than the film industry. It is something that we are very good at. We are a creative nation, and many of the most successful games were developed here. We strongly support the games industry's efforts to ensure that it remains strong in this country and is not poached by other countries such as Canada, which is attempting to attract it there."
Crikey! Then in comes good old Keith and proceeds to entirely miss the point, ready? Here goes
"Let me apologise to you, (chairman of the debate) Mr. Bercow, and to the hon. Gentleman for missing his earlier remarks."
Good start. But it gets worse:
"The fact remains that some of those games, even though they are a minority, are very violent. The hon. Gentleman and I have both commented on the video internet game Kaboom in which people replicate the activities of a suicide bomber.
"It cannot be right that the makers of those games should choose such storylines to provide entertainment, especially on the internet, where our children and under-18s can access them more easily than if they were going into a shop to buy them, as with non-internet games?"
Now, the game in question was posted by a US citizen as an independent piece of rubbish to an independent website several years ago.
Maybe MPs aren't as aware of this as we gamers are. What did Whittingdale have to say?
"This is a very difficult area and Kaboom, which has been around for a little while, is an interesting example. It is a remarkably crude, cartoon-type game and is not in the least realistic, as many games now are.
"It is undoubtedly tasteless and might be offensive to a large number of people. I suspect that it is probably distressing to anyone who has suffered a bereavement as the result of a suicide bombing. Does that mean that it should be banned? I am not convinced that it should, because it is so crude, and other games pose greater concerns."
Polite man that Whittingdale. Edward Vaizey was a little more to the point, however, saying:
"May I make a point to my honourable Friend? In his response to Keith Vaz, he has implied that Kaboom is somehow a legitimate video game that breaches the boundaries of taste, but it is not.
"It was created by an individual in his bedroom. To say that we should ban Kaboom is, with the greatest respect to my honourable Friend, slightly missing the point.
Kaboom is not subject to any legal constraints. It cannot be submitted to a regulator to be classified, because it is made by an individual, effectively illegally, outside the mainstream, just as violent pornographic films or child abuse photographs are. It is not at all part of the mainstream video games industry."
Goodness gracious. An MP who appears to understand what he's talking about.
Source: Theyworkforyou
Yes - read that again.
Then, of course, our old friend and refuser of interviews, Keith Vaz MP marched in and missed the point.
During the debate, Edward Vaizey (Shadow Minister, Culture, Media & Sport; Wantage, Conservative) pointed out to John Whittingdale (Maldon & East Chelmsford, Conservative) that, "when we talk about harmful video games and films, we are talking about a small minority... when they talk about video games, that we have a most successful video games industry in this country, which employs thousands of people?"
Mr Whittingdale responded, "My honourable Friend is entirely right. The video games industry is increasingly important and generates more money than the film industry. It is something that we are very good at. We are a creative nation, and many of the most successful games were developed here. We strongly support the games industry's efforts to ensure that it remains strong in this country and is not poached by other countries such as Canada, which is attempting to attract it there."
Crikey! Then in comes good old Keith and proceeds to entirely miss the point, ready? Here goes
"Let me apologise to you, (chairman of the debate) Mr. Bercow, and to the hon. Gentleman for missing his earlier remarks."
Good start. But it gets worse:
"The fact remains that some of those games, even though they are a minority, are very violent. The hon. Gentleman and I have both commented on the video internet game Kaboom in which people replicate the activities of a suicide bomber.
"It cannot be right that the makers of those games should choose such storylines to provide entertainment, especially on the internet, where our children and under-18s can access them more easily than if they were going into a shop to buy them, as with non-internet games?"
Now, the game in question was posted by a US citizen as an independent piece of rubbish to an independent website several years ago.
Maybe MPs aren't as aware of this as we gamers are. What did Whittingdale have to say?
"This is a very difficult area and Kaboom, which has been around for a little while, is an interesting example. It is a remarkably crude, cartoon-type game and is not in the least realistic, as many games now are.
"It is undoubtedly tasteless and might be offensive to a large number of people. I suspect that it is probably distressing to anyone who has suffered a bereavement as the result of a suicide bombing. Does that mean that it should be banned? I am not convinced that it should, because it is so crude, and other games pose greater concerns."
Polite man that Whittingdale. Edward Vaizey was a little more to the point, however, saying:
"May I make a point to my honourable Friend? In his response to Keith Vaz, he has implied that Kaboom is somehow a legitimate video game that breaches the boundaries of taste, but it is not.
"It was created by an individual in his bedroom. To say that we should ban Kaboom is, with the greatest respect to my honourable Friend, slightly missing the point.
Kaboom is not subject to any legal constraints. It cannot be submitted to a regulator to be classified, because it is made by an individual, effectively illegally, outside the mainstream, just as violent pornographic films or child abuse photographs are. It is not at all part of the mainstream video games industry."
Goodness gracious. An MP who appears to understand what he's talking about.
Source: Theyworkforyou
People:
Keith Vaz
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