An article I’m working on took me to a website called the “Family Watchdog” that, among other things, allows you to create a customized “sex offender” e-mail alert:
Do you have any registered offenders near you today? No? Great. But could they move in tomorrow? Sure. How will you know?
Let Family Watchdog tell you when an offender moves in or out of your area!
One of Family Watchdog’s “partners” is something called Platinum Studios. Platinum Studios just put out a graphic novel called “Gunplay,” described as:
…the haunting, bullet riddled tale of a Buffalo Soldier condemned to roam the Big Empty with a hellish curse slung at his waist - a demonic shooting iron that forces Abner to kill once a day or suffer soul searing pain.
Sounds a lot like a video game. It’ll probably become a video game; it’s probably already the basis for some video game. I don’t know about ya’ll, but I’d wager that video games have done more damage to young people than sex offenders. Yeah, I really believe that. So, I propose a new law: anyone under 18 should be banned from coming within 300 feet of a video game console that’s not an Atari 2600. Exceptions may be made for early model Nintendos.
March 31, 2008 - 2:49 pm at 2:49 pm
cool !!!!! cool !!!!! cool !!!!! cool !!!!! cool !!!!! cool !!!!! cool !!!!! cool !!!!!
March 31, 2008 - 2:50 pm at 2:50 pm
er, that link is to a comic book?
March 31, 2008 - 3:15 pm at 3:15 pm
Gunplay is a comic book, not a videogame. Looks pretty awesome to me.
And you really believe that? That’s crazy.
March 31, 2008 - 3:30 pm at 3:30 pm
Yeah, you’re right. It’s a graphic novel. Looked like a video game at first. I’ve changed the post. And, yes, I really believe that about video games.
March 31, 2008 - 4:14 pm at 4:14 pm
lol, awesome edit. Why let the facts get in the way of a story!
As a games developer I’m saddened that you don’t experience the same joy as I do from games, but your fear of the unknown is not uncommon: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_142/3052-The-Myth-of-the-Media-Myth
March 31, 2008 - 4:27 pm at 4:27 pm
It’s not a story, DC—just an off-the-top-of-my-head blog post thrown together in a few minutes. I have 12 nieces and nephews. Put any sort of video game in front of them and you’re guaranteed that they won’t move from that spot for hours. The article you link to has, as sources, people who have some connection to the gaming industry. There have been plenty of academic studies that show that violent video games have an impact on kids. And, sure, the monolithic “media”—whatever it may be—is to blame, too. And rock music and sugary breakfast cereal.
March 31, 2008 - 5:49 pm at 5:49 pm
I’m sorry, I should have said “rant :-)” instead of “story!” in my post above. I would correct it if I had super awesome editing powers too
I think there are some interesting opinions in that article, but you’re right it has some screwy analysis about “the media”.
btw, how dare you confuse the games industry with the gaming industry (gambling). I feel a rant coming on …
March 31, 2008 - 7:03 pm at 7:03 pm
Oops—my bad. Games. But, hey, aren’t slot machine starting to get more video-game-like?
March 31, 2008 - 8:48 pm at 8:48 pm
The deal is that one of the top execs at Platinum is involved in Family Watchdog. Platinum Studios has the 3rd largest library of graphic novels, just below Marvel & DC. Their collection is mostly Euro based. Their founders claim to fame is “Men in Black”, a comic turned super-smash film. They just went public, with great potential.
April 1, 2008 - 4:45 pm at 4:45 pm
Thanks LABB—interesting info. I should have done my research but all I had for lunch yesterday was an apple and three spoonfuls of veggie chili.