The Buzz: Dear Star Now
Our new columnist flies straight into the 'Nintendo killed my son' argument
Of all the matters that make The Bee raged, the violent video game argument is the most reliable. It sends The Bee angry to read of the same arguments over and over many times, as nobody gets it right.
Who is The Bee? I am The Bee. I am busy with the video gaming industry. My name is private so I am The Bee!
The week before last week, Dr Tanya Byron brought a report advising that the English government to make it more hard for children to play on violent games, and of course it went up in the blog o' sphere. Boom!
On one hand, journalists of games were defending games to be violent, and on another hand journalists of fascist newspapers think Ms Byron's report isn't far enough.
Retired television Ms Anne Diamond wrote critic "just reviewing these games, made my hair stand on end." To punch a computer character is "immoral" said the Telegraph Ms Jenny McCartney. To play with a game is like take "smack", said The Times Mr Giles Whittell.
I have remembered chasing one dragon, but his name is Spyro!
The highest part of the furore is when on last week blog writers uncovered that a talent service Star Now published a question: "Did computer games make you turn to a life of crime?" Star Now added also, "A national newspaper wants your story and will pay hundreds of pounds to the right person."
The Bee owns many eyes, and therefore I have accepted the emails that were sent at Star Now from a secret mole. His name is Alan. Here is a crossed section of those emails for you to read that the violent video game argument is berserk. I've left them at you until I write here again in a week! Bye!
Dear Star Now, I entered a raffle last year on holiday. When my number came up over dinner I was delighted. I had won a Nintendo DS, which is a machine for playing electronic games from Japan. Unfortunately, after five hours I still hadn't finished the first level of New Super Mario Bros. My wife Olivia called me to bed, but I was obsessed, and her call stung me like jeers. Mario mistimed another jump, and died. Come to bed, Olivia said. I was on her like a terrier, the DS in shards on the floor save for one, which I held at her throat. If you ask me, Nintendo has blood on its hands, but I'm the one in prison! I ask you! Can I have hundreds of pounds?Lunatic tunes!
Dear Star Now, For many years I've been volunteering at a homeless shelter, and in my spare time I play a game called Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey for at least three hours a day on my Nintendo Wii (an electrical computer machine from China). A couple of months ago, I switched on my Wii to discover that my husband had been playing Resident Evil 4. I was already sitting down, so I thought, "what the hell!" and gave it ago. I went to the shelter that evening, but I didn't serve any soup. Instead, I marched round there and gave those homeless people a jolly good hiding! Do I win several hundred pounds?Absolutely crazy!
Dear Star Now, I wood like to tel you about my violence, wen I plyed halo I went angry and went mental, I smakked my bruv coz he says u r crap at halo can I hav hunderds of pounds plz!?!!!At least with English!
The Bee is an industry insider who has fed on the nectar of over three decades' worth of gaming. All opinions expressed are the author's own.