Let's pass the hat for poor State Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla. The Florida Republican, whose video game violence bill, SB 492, was shelved last week when colleagues decided it might negatively impact on Elmer Fudd, just can't catch a break.

GP readers may recall the report in the New Times which enumerated two arrests as well as numerous traffic tickets and license suspensions in Diaz de la Portilla's past.

Then there is some nasty business with the Florida Elections Commission, which levied a $311,000 fine against Diaz de la Portilla for 1999 violations of campaign laws - the largest such penalty ever assessed in Florida. But Diaz de la Portilla appealed, and got the fine reduced to $17,000. Then, saying he still couldn't pay, he appealed again, and succeeded in lowering the fine to $8,750, an amount he still hasn't paid, for violations which occurred seven years ago.

Sadly, it seems the greatly reduced fine is just too much for the powerful State Senator. Despite his claimed poverty, Diaz de la Portilla owns two homes (including one valued at $800,000); drives a leased Lexus; maintains an investment account; and made a $15,000 personal loan to an aide.

Now the Palm Beach Post brings word that despite Diaz de la Portilla's claim that he is too poor to pay his election violation fines, he shared the cost of a chartered jet trip to the NCAA finals with seven other legislators. The newspaper reorts that his share of the bill was at least $1,335.

The senator said he saw no connection between the money he swears he can't afford to pay the Elections Commission and the big bucks he dropped on the basketball trip.

"One thing's not related to the other," he said.

But, hey, at least he's concerned about the children.

Politics has taken more than its share of swipes at the video game industry in recent times. But what happens when games bite back?

Socially- and politically-aware games are becoming increasingly common online, the most recent being Molleindustria's McDonald's Videogame, a multi-tiered sim satirizing the process by which Mickey D's tallies up its millions served.

According to Paolo Pedercini, spokesman and founder of Molleindustria, the McDonald's Videogame was inspired by books lik Jeremy Rifken's Beyond Beef: The Rise & Fall of the Cattle Culture and Naomi Klein's No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies which deal, respectively, with the cattle industry and the emergence and persistence of brand-based culture.

"We have often claimed that video games have the potential to make complex systems such as the economic and social easy to understand," says Pedercini, "so we tried to give a practical example."
( Read more... )

Is Alex Diaz de la Portilla, sponsor of Florida's pending video game legislation, a man of his word?

GamePolitics has previously reported on some of Diaz de la Portilla's past baggage. Now comes news that the powerful State Senator claimed he is too poor to pay $8,750 in fines levied by the Florida Elections Commission for 1999 violations of Florida campaign law.

Despite Diaz de la Portilla's claim to poverty, he owns two homes (including one valued at $800,000); drives a leased Lexus; maintains an investment account; and made a $15,000 personal loan to an aide.

"No reasonable explanation has been offered for his ability to maintain his lifestyle," wrote Administrative Law Judge Jeff Clark. "(Diaz de la Portilla's) net worth will allow him to pay any fine appropriate for the 17 violations of (election) law."

I don't personally know Dan Hsu, editor of Ziff-Davis' Electronic Gaming Monthly, but I admire his guts.

Hsu caused quite a stir recently by letting readers in on a dirty little secret: magazine covers and editorial space are for sale at some other (non-Ziff) publications. Hsu didn't name names.

This is important stuff, as Hsu points out:

"...even though (the other publications) are competitors, they affect my business and my reputation. Why do so many mainstream newspapers and periodicals command respect? Because they don't act like the idiots I referred to... But how will gaming journalism, a relatively new field, gain any credibility when certain prominent outlets or even entire publishing groups whore out their editorial integrity... ?"

GP: No idea which publications Hsu means, although the universe of large commercial gaming mags and sites isn't that large. I do remember thinking one print publication had a very obscure cover a few months back. The game publishers have to accept some blame here as well. It has become pretty clear to GP that, in general, the industry would prefer a compliant "gaming press."