Game Politics

The United States Senate yesterday passed S1902, the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA).

The bi-partisan legislation was proposed last October by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) along with Sens. Clinton (D-NY), Brownback (R-KS), Santorum (R-PA), Bayh (D-IN), Enzi (R-WY) and Durbin (D-IL).

As reported by AdWeek, CAMRA mandates the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Academy of Sciences to establish a research program that will examine the impact of media on the social, cognitive and physical development of children.

"No one is looking out, in a systematic way," said Lieberman, "for the cumulative impact of today's newer electronic media on our children. The questions about the effects - positive or negative - of media on our children's health, education and development are too important to go unasked and unanswered."

CAMRA-funded research will focus on the effects of electronic media including T.V., computers, video games and the Internet. Studies would examine factors such as the media format, length of exposure, age of users, degree of parental involvement, and the venue in which media is used.
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"The world, as usual, is more complex than we'd like it to be," said Georgia Tech Ian Bogost, addressing concerns that an amateur video game based on the Columbine massacre inspired a 25-year-old man to go on a shooting rampage in Montreal on Wednesday.

Bogost, interviewed by CTV, added, "Certainly, (the shooter) was using media of all kinds to culture his antisocial fantasies. Should we hold (this game) responsible? Clearly, these are overly simplistic explanations."

Bogost has much more on the Dawson shooting on his Water Cooler Games website.
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Did an amateur video game project push a 25-year-old man over the edge, leading to Wednesday's shooting rampage in Montreal?

Danny LeDonne, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG, was interviewed by Canoe Live about Wednesday's tragic events at Dawson College. Toronto Sun reporter Mike Strobel provided counterpoint.

LeDonne said that he felt no guilt over the incident.
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It's Friday, and that means GP's "The Political Game" column is up on Joystiq.

Today's rant is about the media's rush to link video games to the tragic shooting rampage at Montreal's Dawson College. You know, the one committed by Kimveer Gill (left) a 25-year-old, heavily-armed, insane person.

But probably it was caused by the video games...

Check it out here.