Earlier in the week there was a US Congressional hearing on virtual worlds. I’ll review this when I can, but it’s worth noting the links for later – TerraNova has the links, and some comments. The hearings appear to have had a focus on Second Life in particular, which also seems to be the case whenever I mention virtual worlds. Although I spend a lot of time working in Second Life, I find that I have to remind people that it isn’t the only virtual world out there…
Learning Games Learning about games, games about learning
Games, politics and media
April 3, 2008 — DanielOver at ScottishGames.biz, Brian Baglow has some prime examples of media and political distortion around games, crime and violence. First, a member of parliament who continues to assert that Manhunt had a role to play in a murder, even though the police claim there was no link (and the game was owned by the victim, not the killer). And not one, but two stories about how the media works to get the evidence it wants to write sensationalist stories round games and violence.
All these stories point to challenges in establishing serious and informed debate over the benefits and risks of new media, with the sensationalist undeniably winning in mainstream media column inches.
