Who is the Gamer’s Advocate?

By Jeremy Yerby | November 6, 2008

It seems that any cause worth debating over or fighting for has some form of advocacy; whether it be an individual, a committee, or interest group, there is somebody out there willing to defend whatever it is they believe in. There are many mainstream misconceptions about the interactive entertainment industry and the consumers who support it. Some of these misconceptions are grounded in legitimate concerns, such as violence or sexual content in video games, but are often exaggerated or stretched to tall-tale proportions as a result of faulty information being fed to and regurgitated by an uninformed media. However, quite often the misconceptions are grounded in some fantasy alternate universe, such as the claims of extremist Florida Attorney (now disbarred) Jack Thompson.

Regardless of the claim or the source, it seems that in general people are slow to rise and defend the industry. We are often seen as a caste, which, in some extremes, is compared to a form of counter-culture. There are people out there who believe that video games are toys for children. Additionally, the media tends to illustrate all gamers as some form of social misfits who play video games instead of contributing to society. The reality is that gamers are everywhere, and we are not singularly defined by our affection for video games. Gamers can be doctors, lawyers, writers, or anything else. It is not an incurable disease in which victims are transformed into a basement-dwelling greaseball.

The media tears every aspect of gaming apart. If there is a shooting or tragedy it is somehow the responsibility of either a game maker or a game player. If children have low test scores in school it is because Halo launched that year. If some crazy guy kills somebody in the same room as an Xbox, he is now labeled the “Xbox Murderer.” It really is ridiculous how thirsty the mainstream media is for these types of stories. “Child goes missing in Canada after parents take away Xbox.” It is truly sad when a child goes missing, but it would hardly make the local news much less international news if not for the golden nugget: the parents believe the child met somebody online while playing Call of Duty and that’s why he’s gone. Let us not dare question the parenting of these people – it is of course much easier to believe that the evil video game industry addicted him to gaming to the point of obsession. Or how about the now world-famous Alabama police officer shootings? This guy shoots and kills three police officers, and the highlight of the story is some stupid remark he made about how “Life is a video game, we all gotta die some time.” People who murder other people are not known for their stability; so then why was so much emphasis placed on what he said? If he had said “Hotdogs made me do it” would we raise the Torch and Pitchfork to Oscar Meyer? No, we would just say he is crazy which is the proper assessment in both examples. However, somehow the sham of a lawsuit against Walmart, Circuit City, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Sony, and Take-Two Interactive led by the lovely Jack Thompson was allowed to proceed much further than it had any right to, as if these companies killed the three Alabama police officers. Fortunately logic prevailed and these cases were ultimately dismissed, but the fact remains that at least a few dozen people really thought it was a good idea to sue all those retailers and the makers of a video game in response to a triple murder.

What I am getting at is that somebody has to step forward and be our advocate. What’s the problem with that? Nobody who has a voice that could be heard and respected wants to get involved. And who can blame them? When the sensationalists can take comfort in blaming video games for nearly everything, who wants to step in the line of fire and prove them wrong? These people do not want to be corrected; they take much pride in having “figured out” that video games are the waste product of society. The only people willing to take up the mantle are often video game journalists, but, comparatively to the mainstream media, their reach and their voice is relatively small. It is sad when insanity itself has an advocate (Jack Thompson) but we can’t muster one up for ourselves.

So if we do not have a single knight in shining armor to step up to the media and call them out for their misrepresentation of our hobby, what are we to do? I know its silly to think that people should band together to defend something as trivial as gaming, but people band together for things like cat shows and sporting events all the time, and last time I checked, nobody out there in the media is trying to abolish either. However, there are those out there who would love to fill the minds of the people who do not know any better that we are a bunch of murder-simulator enthusiasts with no value in society. The truth is if you enjoy playing video games you shouldn’t take this crap. Nobody is going to do this for us so we have to do it ourselves.

Please, take down your profanity-riddled petition and stop leaving death threats in Thompson’s email box. I’ve always found that there is an appropriate reaction to any circumstance, but the problem with gamers is we tend to choose the wrong one. Somebody writes up an article about how their son sold their Xbox 360 to GameStop to buy a PS3, and then sold the PS3 back to get another 360… doesn’t make much more sense to battle lunacy with logic as opposed to battling it with more lunacy? If the comments hadn’t been locked down I would have asked her why she was doing such a cruddy job of parenting that boy. No, instead, the gaming populace floods the blog with threats and profanity, making us all look bad.

What I am saying is that if you are reading these words you probably care about this hobby more than most do. Be the shining example for us. Show the world that all of us do something else but we also just happen to enjoy video games – and that it is no more a detriment to society than watching a movie or reading a book. I’m not here to argue for or against the theory of violent video games invoking violence, but I will no longer tolerate the mass media grandstanding at our expense.  Don’t let sensationalism spread. I can recall an occasion when someone told me that 9/11 wouldn’t have happened if not for Microsoft Flight Simulator. I asked where she had heard this information and she replied “It was on CNN.” I then simply asked “Do you really believe that product, which has been made for over a decade prior to September 11th, was designed with the intent of training terrorists?” to which she had nothing to say. “Sounds pretty silly to you now doesn’t it?”

The truth is that this industry is made up of many companies who employ some of the most creative minds in the world. Video games are not the by-product of chanting or dark ceremony; people dedicate a good chunk of their life to a singular vision of creating a product that other people will enjoy. The very basic concept is something that is often overlooked in the media. There are dedicated, educated professionals who simply want to give us another way to have some fun on a rainy day. If we as gamers can stop shooting ourselves in the foot in front of the spotlight then perhaps someone such as a politician or TV personality will call the media out when they try to treat everyone involved in this industry like a form of scum or criminal. We are all something else other than gamers; all I ask is that you use your influence in whatever it is that you do to inform those around you when the media goes off talking about something they do not know anything about. Be our advocate.