My latest for The Guardian. "No, Mr. Trump, Video Games Do Not Cause Mass Shootings." Pretty much what it says on the tin.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
One major note: the NRA is a gun *manufacturer* lobbyist, whose clients have benefitted enormously from videogaming. For them and their paid up GOP sycophants to now blame games for mass shootings is not only wrong but gallingly hypocritical.
The NRA is trying to work both sides of the street. Conservative culture warriors one minute, while their clients sell licences the next. And all the while the US Military promotes itself through games and VR. Yet they're conspicuously silent on all of that.
Their horrifying suggestions (let's arm teachers! Guns for everyone!) and their hypocrisy on issues like this all make sense when you recall who they represent. Promoting and selling more guns is their overriding mission, no more or less.
You can blame videogames because it deflects from any discussion about the real guns, and then later sell licences to the largest game studios and get *them* to pay *you* to advertise your gun. Win/win. Call them out for it.
As an aside, it does amuse me that the gamer reactionaries are out in full force attacking me and others for... defending videogames. Guys: I didn't support Trump and let my forum become a MAGA fan group. May want to rethink this line of attack? motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/…
There was always a certain naivete in pretending these extreme right wing culture warriors are on the side of gamers and devs. They aren't. We tried to warn you. You got mad about women who love games and critiqued them (or made them in ways you don't like) instead. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Let that sink in. You attacked women/queer/POC devs for *making* games, to support a movement that actually wants to ban them.
In the immortal words of DJ Khaled: congratulations, you played yourself.
In the immortal words of DJ Khaled: congratulations, you played yourself.
And, as always, we have to clean up your mess. So, cheers for that. But, for all its faults I love this medium and nothing, come hell or high water, will change that.
