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The headline essentially speaks for itself; the anti-video game crusader has finally seen defeat at the hands of the gaming public.

Gaming sites left and right are reporting on this event, from Joystiq, to Kotaku and even G4. Destructoid also mentions that Thompson’s response to news of his disbarment was ‘go to hell.’

If perchance he should end up there, I am sure that no one in the gaming community would miss him.

Gamepolitics has legal analysis of Thompson’s defeat here, and G4 has a hilarious look at what would happen if his nightmares prove reality. It can be seen below:

All in all, it’s a great day to be a gamer!

In terms of gaming happenings, today proved quite interesting. Prior to my trip to the library, I spent sometime with a PSN demo of the game Echochrome, a game whose goals center on players maneuvering the field to allow the player to progress. Playing this demo caused me to think about perspective, and how it is applied to the world of video games.

This ‘perspective’ is largely derived from games’ negative reputation; this can be attributed to their less than savory portrayals in the media. To most media officials, gamers are nothing more than helpless shut-ins…if you are male, of course. If you are female, you are either unattractive or lack social graces. Interestingly, for female gamers, the worst criticisms tend to come from gamers themselves, a trend that is highlighted by Morgan Webb of G4 below.

However, if articles like this one are any indication, it will lead to individuals having an improved ‘perspective’ about video games.

One person who posesses that ‘improved perspective’ is Lisa Kreutter, the Reference and Young Adult Librarian at the Delray Beach Public Library in Delray Beach, FL. Having spent my summer assisting her with coordinating the Gaming Night, I took my last day to ask her about the origins of her library’s gaming night along with the effects of having video games pepper library landscapes.

Her audio responses can be read below each of the questions that I submitted to her:

1. Could you first tell me how ‘game night’ at the Delray Beach Library started? Was it the idea of one person or a collective group?

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2. Despite video games’ increased popularity and acceptance in society, the concept of their inclusion into libraries is still regarded as a foreign concept. Why do you think this is the case and what can be done to change it?

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3. Do you believe that video games can aid cognitive skills and/or eye-hand coordination? If not, what skills do you think games can impart to children?

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4. Do you think that libraries like yours that choose to dedicate their resources to gaming play a role in dispelling the notion that game playing is ‘counterproductive?’

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5. Finally, in describing your library’s ‘game night,’ what can you recall as the most memorable moment that occurred? What about the least? Also, what do you think can be done to increase this event’s popularity?

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In speaking to her, I really gained a greater insight into some of the crucial inroads that games are making on their way to achieving societal acceptance. I hope there will come a day where games will be able to stand side-by-side with books and be treated with the same amount of respect.

“Society looks down on relevant forms of media as lacking the capability for intelligent and coherent storytelling; however, as soon as a medium takes steps to achieve that form, it is chastised for hitting too close to home.”

This was the single sentence description that I conveyed to my mother in describing a book that I had just completed reading, “The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and how it changed America.” I heard about this book via an interview done my MSNBC.com Games editor Kristin Kalning, which can be found here. The question that she asked, whether or not every generation has a form of entertainment that adults will never understand, resonated through me as I leafed through the books lengthy but fascinating 300+ pages.

The book goes into great detail describing the history of comic books, and it even delves into detail about how some of today’s iconic heroes. It might surprise readers to know what led to the inspiration of Superman; the fact that he has seemingly unlimited power was due to his designers’ intent to portray him as a ‘Christ-like’ figure.

Comic book history aside, what drew me to this book and made me eager to turn each page were the parallels that existed between the evolution of comics and the rise of video games. The book’s early chapters are dedicated to describing how comic books originated and the first character designs; its later chapters then delve into comic books’ increasing popularity and how it made its writers, artists and creators successful. Finally, the book closes by mentioning how authority figures and watchdog groups percieved comics to be a ‘threat to the children’ and succeeded in having them removed from society.

Successful in this case means that comics were burned, it was considered criminal to own one and that comic book workers were actually out of work. While this is a fantasy that Jack Thompson would notably love, along with the people who nominated him for an award, for me it is something right out of Farenheit 451, where books were burned that promoted free thought.

Ironically, in the book’s closing, it is mentioned that comics only became relevant when they stopped tackling serious issues and just focused on fantasy.

It takes me back to my above quote; people complain when the media fails to tackle intelligent issues, but when it does, it draws controversy. Once I closed the book, I silently hoped that games do not follow the same path to ruin that befell comic books.

For anyone who wants to gain a greater understanding about the changing roles of media in our society, I highly recommend this book.

Those are my two cents.

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to interview the owner of Kezins.com, a blog dedicated to gaming and technology news. I originally did this for a writing course that I am taking, but I felt that the content was rich enough to post on my blog. I know that it is a bit on the long side, but I hope you enjoy it regardless!

The Kezins Files: My interview with Will Snizek (WS)

By Jason Townsend-Rogers (JTR)

For those individuals who enjoy playing video games, having the opportunity to work at an association dedicated to promoting and expanding your craft, would be a match made in heaven, equivalent to completing a speed run of the original Super Mario Bros, or even conquering Ninja Gaiden on the Master Ninja difficulty level.

Will Snizek is one who had such an opportunity, as he was a news editor and marketing assistant at Ziff Davis Media, known for being the owners of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine and its online subsidiary, 1up.com.

I recently had the chance to interview Mr. Snizek and find out his thoughts regarding his time at Ziff Davis Media. Having resigned from the company to form his own gaming and technology blog, Kezins.com, we discussed his opinions on the state of gaming journalism and how the industry could better police itself against negative influences.

(JTR): What made you decide to pursue video game journalism, and did you see yourself running kezins.com during that time?

(WS): Initially I never planned on getting into game journalism. At the time I started, I was working heavily with photography and a model friend of mine had a boyfriend who ran a small game blog. Knowing I was interested in video games, they asked me to help out and the rest is history. I never really had plans to run my own website, but blogging is certainly addictive and I don’t think I’ll ever find myself not writing in the future.

(JTR): Interesting, my next question is this: prior to kezins.com, you were the news editor and marketing assistant at Ziff Davis Media, if I am reading the site’s bio correctly. What was a typical day like serving in that capacity?

(WS): That’s correct. The typical day usually consisted of spending several hours researching topics and then I’d have to post anywhere from 5-10 articles in a working day. On the marketing end, I spent most of my efforts spreading news about the site in forums and also on social bookmarking sites like Digg.com

(WS:) I guess it varied from day to day, but I usually put anywhere from 5 hours to 12 hours of work in on any given week day.

(JTR): Interesting, do you ever miss working at Ziff Davis? What was your favorite/least favorite aspect of working there?

(WS): I do miss working there. My main reason would probably be that when Daniel and I were hired on, Gaming Today (news.filefront.com) wasn’t a very well known site and needed tons of work. So we were able to turn it into a very popular site in less than a year. So I guess I feel half responsible for the success of the site, but it’s no longer something I can control.

(WS): The things that I do not miss would be article quotas. I always felt like quotas detracted from the value of articles. I always felt quality of articles should be the way to go, but it’s simply not like that in the corporate world. They tend to see numbers only, so I definitely don’t miss the corporate aspect of things.

(JTR): What was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, or in your case, the point where you finally decided to leave Ziff Davis?

(WS): The breaking point was really when my paychecks started bouncing when ZD first filed bankruptcy

(WS): I had already been thinking about leaving, because I wanted more freedom to write about a wider range of topics and I guess that event gave me my reason to finally leave. I’m typically a very loyal worker and hate to leave a job unless necessary

(WS): When it comes to writing about games, I guess I really wanted less restrictions and the ability to communicate anything I wanted

(JTR): That is very interesting; based on my experiences with reading about games and observing gaming publications, both on and offline, freedom seems to be a pretty strong word

(JTR): I mean, just recently, Konami was limiting what people could and could not say in their review of MGS4

(JTR): The game still got near-perfect scores though

(WS): Yeah, and that’s more common than people want to admit, but Konami did take it further than most companies do

(WS): I think the Konami situation is bad for gaming journalism, because readers are losing faith in the knowledge of the writers, along with losing faith in how true reviews are… or at least it raises an eyebrow.

(JTR): I agree, with your time at Ziff Davis, have you noticed any changes in the company since your departure? Also, if they wanted you back tomorrow, would you go?

(WS): I haven’t noticed too many changes. I do know people are getting paid right now lol. For the most part, you can’t really discuss inner workings with people at the company. Once you are out, you’re out of the loop. And I can be general about the stuff I knew when I was there, but still can’t give out company secrets or anything. I think if they asked me to come back, I’d probably do it but only if they allowed me to keep working on Kezins.com

(WS): I made the mistake of giving up projects in the past and then when I was back out on my own, I had to start from scratch and I really don’t want to start from scratch again. The reason for that is they have you sign a contract stating you will not do similar work for other sites

(JTR): I would like to ask you about the state of your site, but I would also like to know your opinions on the current state of video game journalism.

(JTR): If you were to assign it academic grades right now, what would you give it, and why?

(WS): Currently, we’re still in the process of trying to develop our goals and define who we are. As for video game journalism, if I assigned a grade, I’d probably say a D+, as most of what I read practically falls into the category of plagiarism. However, as things progress, I am hoping more and more sites will work harder on publishing original thoughts. At the same time, it’s not possible to always be original, but it’s very evident that most sites swipe ideas back and forth

(WS): I guess I could say the problem is that right now it’s a race to see who can get things out faster and a race to get your articles on Digg.com. There’s not a huge emphasis on quality

(JTR): These are very interesting points, it leads me to my next question; I have noticed that gamers have shunned getting their information from ‘established’ publications and have sought their news from smaller sources. I get the impression that sites such as Giantbomb.com and other smaller venues have more credibility than sites like Game spot and IGN.

(JTR): Is this a valid assessment and what do you think can explain it?

(WS): I’d have to say that the smaller sites (the good ones) are more credible and more honest. They aren’t in bed with any of the publishers and really don’t have a corporation restricting their actions at all.

(WS): The only problem is that the smaller sites don’t have the same resources; also, the difference between a regular writer on Game spot, 1Up, IGN and some of the writers on the smaller sites is very small. The smaller writers aren’t making the same paychecks, but they’re often just as knowledgeable about gaming

(JTR): My next question regards how games are being portrayed in mainstream media, what do you think video games, and the industry as a whole, can do to improve their societal image?

(WS): I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of the negative images entirely, because negativity is what sells news these days in the mainstream media; also, places like Fox News etc will always rather interview a wacko like Jack Thompson who is going to make off the wall and shocking statements than someone who has a more academic approach to things.

(WS): I really think the best way the industry can improve their image is to simply continue publishing game blogs and get the information out there. The smart people will do their research and discover what’s real and what’s media spin. Another thing I have noticed over the past few years is an increase in video game research from the academic community. I think as research continues, gaming will be seen in a more positive light

(WS): On another note, I do think the game companies need to make a stronger stand against minors getting their hands on “M” rated titles. That is a big issue now, and the only way to reverse the public image of this would be for game companies to start taking a stand against children playing the real violent and adult games.

(JTR): Speaking of companies taking a stand, what is your opinion on the actions of the ESA as of late, it seems that since Gallagher has assumed the position of president, restructuring has taken place everywhere, and not for the better.

(WS): I have always been a big fan of the ESA and I’m just hoping they are going through growing pains right now and will come out shining in the near future. However, I have always wondered if Gallagher was too politically connected for the position though. It’s also interesting how major companies are dropping out of the group lately and that certainly does not look good at all.

(JTR): If you could devise a solution to the disarray around the ESA and its constituents, what would it be?

(WS): At this point, I’m not really sure. I wish Lucas Arts and others had explained their reasons for leaving more in-depth. I don’t think I have enough information on the situation to solve it. I do think they will need either a leadership change or Gallagher needs to evolve quickly

(JTR): What do you mean by ‘Gallagher needing to evolve?’

(WS): I think he needs to find a way to fit into the situation better. It’s always been my opinion that his actions are politically motivated. It’s fairly obvious that’s he’s in bed with Microsoft and George Bush. I think he needs to evolve in his role and do what’s right for the organization and industry. Will that actually happen? I doubt it, but it’s possible

(JTR): Back into the topic of gaming journalism, where do you see it headed, and, if you could plot its course, where would you like it to go?

(WS): I’d honestly like to see the focus go away from being corporate controlled and sees writers and game journalists get the same freedoms that newspaper journalists get for example. I’d like to see an end of the 1-10 rating scale for games and less article recycling. I think more sites need to separate themselves from others.

(JTR): EGM has used an A-F system, so at least they are trying in that respect

(WS): By separate, I mean most days if you read one or two game sites, you’ve read them all because the stories are the same. I guess I just prefer giving facts and opinions to gamers and letting them decide; the 1-10 score is just outdated and really impossible to get right.

(WS): People will spend more time arguing about the number score than actually discussing the content of the game

(JTR): My last question is this: for individuals interested in getting into games journalism or the gaming industry, what advice would you give them?

(WS): The best advices I can give are for them to actively blog and participate in various community sites. For the most part, you don’t send in an application to get jobs. You get jobs writing about games through people you meet and if you get noticed. Unlike many other jobs, people will come to you with offers in this industry. An example of a community site would be what they do on Destructoid.com. If you start a community blog on there and get enough comments and followers, there’s a good chance that will get you noticed.

Be sure to check out Kezins.com after you read the interview! Also, to see the Kezins.com interview pick-up, go here!

Kotaku.com has some great videos of popular female celebrities promoting the Nintendo DS portable system. The individuals featured are Carrie Underwood, America Ferrera and Liv Tyler.

Here they are below:

Carrie Underwood’s videos

America Ferrera’s video

Liv Tyler’s video

Ads like these can only be good for Nintendo, and for gaming as a whole. It certainly does its part when balanced against negative press like what is written here. Personally, I think that you can achieve in video games, while it may pale in comparison to several real world achievements, games make me happy; that is a victory in itself.

Games are also profitable too; though I have commented on that in previous posts, this report is noteworthy as well.

Also, I have mentioned in a previous post about the efforts of the ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association) to promote gamer activism. They are now supporting the creation of chapters throughout the U.S. More can be found here. If you are interested, go to their site to find out more.

On that note, I would like to end this post with some humor; this article points out some of the silliest lawsuits involving video games that exist.

Chris Baker of Wired Magazine teams up with Chris Kohler to give their opinions on Grand Theft Auto 4. The video can be seen below:

Their key observations of the game consist of them saying how the problems in this new iteration are virtually non-existent. Other than that, their comments are fairly positive.

Moving on to positive gaming news, Game Informer has an excellent article about how video games are becoming a part of our daily lives in terms of education and exercise. They describe their time at the Games for Health conference at the Baltimore Convention Center which can be read here.

Events like these show that games are slowly but surely becoming a part of our daily lives. Of course, the public’s opinion on games still needs work in order for them to be regarded as ‘acceptable’ entertainment.

Maybe NASA can give the public a hand; they believe that games are not responsible for causing violence, and that they can actually be key to learning. The Truro Daily News has the report here.

I agree with this article not only for the obvious reasons of being a gamer. Prior to being exposed to the systems that I am now familiar with, some of the first video games I played were Alge-Blaster 3, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego and SimCity. To improve my typing skills, I even played Mario Teaches Typing. The game is not that bad…if you give it a chance. Long story short, I can see what NASA is attempting to do.

Will their efforts work? I for one hope so…of course, as I stated earlier, as long as Jack Thompsons and Hillary Clintons exist, public opinion has a long way to go.

Great post here on Destructoid.com about how one person uses games to cope with bad situations. It can be read here.

1up.com has a very interesting piece that outlines five things video games can teach you, besides the obvious aspect of eye hand coordination. The article can be read here.

Games as a method of teaching; while that idea may appear crazy to some, it is increasingly gaining credence in academia. G4 has the story here.

While it remains to be seen whether or not elected officials will take these tips seriously, it is refreshing to see some that at least try to enjoy video gaming, such as the Dallas, TX mayor showing some aptitude with Guitar Hero.

Maybe more elected officials can learn from him.

Speaking of elected officials, there are more reports of them tackling the video game issue, with some of them handling it better than others.

The media, on the other hand, always seems to report ill-informed stories on video games and their effect on society; while most of them can be easily dismissed, this report by Boston TV is interesting, mainly because they report the industry’s problem with self-regulation. Personally, I think that games have ratings for a reason, and it is a choice on whether or not people choose to adhere to them.

Some of my favorite sites for tracking video game trends are listed below:

• Gamespot.com
• IGN.com
• Gamepolitics.com
• 1up.com
• Gamepro.com

Each of these sites has their own unique method of chronicling gamer affairs; for instance, Gamespot is more specialized in its focus, while IGN profiles movies, music and celebrities in addition to the gaming scene. 1up profiles gaming news and reviews, though their tone is a bit acerbic at times. Gamepolitics is unique in that it focuses on how games and politics intersect. It is one of my favorite sites and I make sure to visit it frequently.

One reason that I enjoy the Gamepolitics site is because they make a conscious effort to highlight the positive contributions made by video games to common society, one such example can be found here. This approach has allowed them a respected place in the gaming community, and various websites are taking notice.

Sadly, most of Gamepolitics is dominated by news of elected officials and various individuals issuing negative opinions of video gaming. Jack Thompson is an attorney based in Florida who is known to attribute youth violence to video games. An example of this attribution can be found in this video below:

Conservative commentator Phyllis Schlafly is one of the latest figures to decry video games, in an article that she wrote questioning the legitimacy of their First Amendment protection.

After reading her two cents, I was naturally ready to dismiss her comments as mere ignorance; Countless cases involving violent video games have been taken to the courts, and they have failed due to the basic notion that games enjoy first amendment protection. An example of this in action can be found here.

As I was browsing the internet, I happened upon an article which chastises gamers for their apparent lack of connect with reality. I found this piece interesting because it does a good job at highlighting the relative infancy of the gaming industry. While it is fortunate to have this form of entertainment eclipse the likes of Hollywood, it should not come at the expense of a lack of understanding concerning issues that affect the greater world.

Articles like that always remind me that I should do my best to define gaming; I should not let it define me.

As I read the NPD report on Gamespot.com which stated that the majority of the U.S. population enjoys playing video games, I felt a sudden surge of pride flow through me. Growing up in my hometown, I often remember the reaction to my interest in video games as ambivalent at best, or at worst, mocking. I have heard it all, from people regarding me as a bit of a nerd, to others wondering what possessed me to pursue such an apparently pointless avocation.

My mother, though supportive of my wishes, has at times also expressed ambivalence towards my interest in gaming. I even have one of her quotes in my room: “I regret the day that I purchased that Nintendo for you.”

Analyzing the NPD’s report, the percentage of individuals who play video games actually improved from 64 percent the year before. The fact that the percentage is even at that level is comforting for me, even as video games continue to be chastised as a valid entertainment medium.

The report continued by citing the Xbox 360 as the console of choice for on-line gaming, with 50 percent of players taking advantage of the Xbox Live service. This amount pales in comparison to PC gamers, with 90 percent of them engaging in online activity. Interestingly, 3 percent of gamers play on-line via cellular phones, showing that a market does exist for that avenue of internet-based expression.

According to the NPD though, offline gaming retains a larger majority of the gaming market. Anita Frazier of the NPD noted “Despite the buzz in the industry regarding online gaming, it is still relatively small compared to offline gaming.”

The report concluded by stating the majority of online game players are over 25, with 40 percent being under 18. Moreover, online players 18-24 only comprise 10 percent.

With news like this, I hope that the perception of video games as a ‘waste of time’ will finally evaporate…or maybe not, as long as we have politicians willing to do or say anything for votes.