Apparently, quests that involve “moral” choices are bad because this Brazilian judge thinks Brazilians are too primitive to understand that they are in the context of a game. Counter-Strike I can understand, it involves guns and military themed things. It’s a lot easier to rationalize that. But Everquest? I was totally expecting the judge to say, “it’s too addictive for our citizens,” which would be a lot more acceptable to me than saying that the quest choices can cause psychological problems…

Read more at Kotaku.com.

So he started by writing an awful, ridiculous article about Mass Effect being marketed to underage teenagers. Penny Arcade ripped on him. Then, he wrote another one, responding to the outcries from the “Gamer-Nerds”, condemning the ineffectiveness of the ESRB rating. In the finale of the trilogy, he apologized for not getting his facts right, and realized that the ESRB rating does do something.

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From the blaming-everything-on-video-games department:

• Supposedly murder because of stupid drunk teenagers imitating Mortal Kombat
• Soda companies blaming video games for child obesity

All I have to say is… /sigh Can we find some other scapegoat? Like D&D, rock and rap music, media violence, internet? Oh wait, those have already been blamed. For all you parents out there, you are supposed to be watching what yours kids are doing. If your 12 years old are playing GTA and get screwed up in the head, you are to blame because you didn’t catch him/her doing so, and provide proper guidance/parenting.

Also, I think the number of accidental gun shot deaths in households is way higher. In 1999, in 3,385 firearms-related deaths for age group 0-19 years, 214 unintentional were unintentional. Pardon my old numbers, I can’t find any newer ones, but with guns more and more common today in US, I can only imagine that number being higher. Let’s fight more worthwhile fights, shall we?

GamePolitics.com posted an amusing article about the ongoing of attorney Jack Thompson’s lawsuits against the Florida Bar. Thompson filed 13 different responses to a single “show cause” order. Judge Adalberto Jordan’s had it. The whole article is too long to repeat here, so just read it on their excellent website. My favorite of it all:

Despite what Mr. Thompson may think, this case is not a war with the world regarding the state of its moral standards (if it is, I clearly do not have jurisdiction). Therefore, he cannot continue to use this case as platform to battle everything in society with which he disagrees.

In which Thompson responded:

The day that Thompson thinks that the federal judiciary is either the repository of morality or an authoritative arbiter of moral standards is the moment that Thompson really does need the mental health examination that The Bar illegally demands.

Jack Thompson is a jackass and a menace to the video games industry, but you gotta admit reading stuff about him is very amusing.

At least for one particular Chinese MMO called King of the World, operated by Shanda. From the WTF department today, they decreed that only actual females can play female characters. All those who wish to play a female character must provide a webcam pic of a girl…

Shanda (Nasdaq: SNDA) subsidiary Aurora Technology has frozen game accounts of male players who chose to play female in-game characters in its in-house developed MMORPG King of the World, reports 17173. Aurora stipulates that only female gamers can play female characters in the game, and it requires gamers who chose female characters to prove their biological sex with a webcam, according to the report.

It’s unclear whether females can play male characters or not, my guess is yes. This comes after skeletons being “covered up” in WoW. I understand there’s cultural differences. Afterall, I am Chinese. But if China wants the respect they want so bad from the western worlds, these kinds of things are exactly the opposite of what they need. Not to mention this is totally moronic and can be worked around so easily (”hey mom, can ya come sit here for a sec”).

Oh, and they recently outlawed reincarnation too.

Linden Lab has released an official statement that they will now actively enforce a ban on online gambling activities, in an attempt to be compliance with various gambling laws around the world. It’s a bold move but one I am not sure can be enforced properly. It’s like trying to yank copyrighted materials from YouTube. We will see how it goes.

As reported by GamePolitics.com, the American Medical Assosication has backed away from a previous initiative to classify video game addiction as a medical condition similar to sustance abuse, citing:

There is nothing here to suggest that this is a complex physiological disease state akin to alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders, and it doesn’t get to have the word addiction attached to it.

I am no expert myself, and I don’t know if it should be classified as a medical disorder. Pathological Gambling is currently classified as a mental illness. Is video gaming different? I certainly believe that some people need help, when their video gaming habbits turn their lives upside down. Though interestingly, Pathological Gambling actually has biological bases (lack of norepinephrine). Is it the same with playing too much video games? Only time can tell, and AMA is doing the right thing by saying they need more time to investigate the matter before it gets blown out of proportion.