Fuck! I know that this will probably be defeated by a higher court, and that if it does get to the Supreme Court it will likely be struck down with extreme prejudice, but that pisses me off. To say that the stories told by video games--stories that make me cry, stories with characters I love and that inspire me--to say that those stories are inconsquential and not forms of artistic expression is just infuriating. Not an hour ago I was crying over Breath of Fire IV. The story I cried over is not an irrelevant piece of drivel, it is heartwrenching, and emotional, and its characters--like many game (or RPG at least) characters--fascinating and full of depth.

I mean, think about this. People who play games, especially RPGs, invest huge amounts of their lives into them. Like is said at the end of that piece, why would people invest so much time if the story meant nothing to them? The story is the whole reason I invest time. A perfect example of this would be, of course, Okage--its gameplay is subpar, but its story is so good that I deal with it. Not that I don't love fun gameplay, but the story is the center of why I love most video games so much. Stories told by games can be so much more meaningful than stories told by movies, and sometimes even by books, because of the level of time and interactivity. You spend hours and hours and HOURS of your life with these characters and their problems. If you don't love them--if you don't feel a connection--then you wouldn't do that. To say such things about these stories is insulting both to the games and to the players. It is a despicable insult, and I for one am not only angry but deeply offended.

Many of the characters I've met in video games are complex, layered characters, who are dynamic and round (to use the literary terms). They are intricately designed, interesting in both their appearance and personality, and they capture the imagination with much more ease than a great deal of characters I've encountered in other forms of free speech, like movies and books. These stories not only reach me on an emotional and intellectual level, they're INTERESTING. They leave me wanting more, and they encourage me to play until the end to find out what happens next. That a story can be entertaining as well as emotionally and intellectually stimulating is, to me, the mark of a TRUE masterpiece. It is what I seek to do as a writer, in fact, and what many video games achieve.

As for the other issue here. When are people going to stop blaming the media for the actions of lazy fucking parents? I get some dirty, appalled looks whenever I reveal that I never want kids. People, I know that I'd never be able to make the kind of sacrifices needed to raise a decent human being. I believe that to be a parent you must give up yourself. You must live for your child, and you must ENSURE that he or she does not become a crazy motherfucker hellbent on killing people! So many parents today are so fucking selfish. I don't understand why they procreated when they clearly don't care enough to recognize that something is wrong with their damn children. If anything, violent games help PREVENT this kind of thing. I like violent games (OK, so my games aren't that violent, but RPGs today are still pretty bloody) and loud music, but I'd never kill anyone. I could never do that to anyone. But playing those games, involving myself in those good stories and listening to that angry music, relieves tension. It gets out those emotions and channels them safely. I don't see how this is so difficult to grasp. Ugh.