Gary is a screenwriter, author, journalist and video game enthusiast. He is best known for writing the screenplay to the motion picture "The Book of Eli" and being the editor in chief of both the US and UK publications of the popular magazine PC Gamer.
" Wait, he wrote Book of Eli? Now I feel awkward for hating that movie. "
You feel awkward now? @GiantBombSquad just tweeted a link to this thread to him. Wait until he reads your comment. :) "
Not to make this even more awkward...but I am GiantBombSquad.
@gwhitta: Man I so want me a sweater vest right now... "
Well, damn. It is true, though. I can't stand that movie. Mostly due to the Christian overtones, which has more to do with my own falling out with religion than anything inherently wrong with the movie itself. The Fallout-ness of the movie was pretty cool, though.
I will never understand people like you who are so sensitive to religion that they can't enjoy good media. Oh well, more fun for us regular people.
Maybe if Book of Eli were good media, you'd have a point.
It's not, and you don't.
If you have legitimate reasons for not liking the movie, then that's one thing.
But if your entire criticism is "oh no Bibles!" then yeah, you're being fucking stupid.
David Grossman needs to just crawl in a hole and die. Thank you Gary for trying to set the record straight. Now I am not going to ever let a 6 year old play Doom, but WTF, Nintendo being a Military contractor... :| I bet you Kirby's Epic Yarn was based on Kosovo... :|
I. Hate. Condescension. That colonel really needs a slap to the face. Just look at it as Gary's having his monologue about games there. Superiority, condescension, passive aggressiveness. GAWD!!
As virtually every other argument I heard from every other journalist during that time; realistic viewpoint with an actual thinking mind. I'm so glad the hysteria died down after awhile.
Well... I'm not going to get into this, but Gary Whitta is actually (partially) wrong here.
It has been proven that kids do imitate violence. I don't think video games are any worse than movies though, and I do not think that video games make somebody more effective at killing. I think the big thing to keep in mind is that kids should be watched and regulated (BY THE PARENTS) when playing video games or watching TV.
Well... I'm not going to get into this, but Gary Whitta is actually (partially) wrong here. It has been proven that kids do imitate violence. I don't think video games are any worse than movies though, and I do not think that video games make somebody more effective at killing. I think the big thing to keep in mind is that kids should be watched and regulated (BY THE PARENTS) when playing video games or watching TV.
Yeah, kids only imitate violence when they are offered or see a reward in it. Unless somebody is handing out candy everytime they get a headshot, we're safe from little murderers =P
David Grossman is an honest guy... and I think the points he raises are completely valid.
Some video games are "murder simulators".
They simulate murder. There. That's it. It can't be argued anymore. You shoot things that were alive, and kill them. You use your skills of precision and reaction to kill things.
HOWEVER, the point about Japan's crime rate and the proliferation of video games there cannot be ignored. Comparing the two countries, it becomes evident that the problem is with United States culture (specifically, how children are raised) , and not necessarily video games.
Well, damn. It is true, though. I can't stand that movie. Mostly due to the Christian overtones, which has more to do with my own falling out with religion than anything inherently wrong with the movie itself. The Fallout-ness of the movie was pretty cool, though.
But the movie doesn't have anything to do with Christianity, not even overtones, the book is just a symbol for knowledge and belief regardless of content.
@Hailinel said:
@Meowshi said:
I will never understand people like you who are so sensitive to religion that they can't enjoy good media. Oh well, more fun for us regular people.
Maybe if Book of Eli were good media, you'd have a point.
Wait a minute, was Lt. Grossman talking about the light scope when he said that Nintendo "patons weapons?" Oh, video game controversies, what have you NOT been arguably claim to desensitize?
Wow that was painful. I'd like to think that Fox has shaped up the tadliest bit since that story first ran, but maybe I'm just being stupid. Kudos for bringing up this Whitta post again, amigo.
Whitta is awesome and if he's reading this: Bring back the nextgen.biz/Game Theory podcast or anything new resembling it, that was by far the best gaming podcast ever.
Wait? Was it Gary that was behind Game Theory? I loved that podcast! But I found it late so I never got to familiarise myself with the crew on it.
@Fattony12000: If the argument is "Did Nintendo make a military M16 murder practice simulator for the US government?" sure, absolutely you are right. Nintendo did not make that particular piece of software. But I don't think the argument was "WHICH developer created the military genocide tools?" but rather "Is there a video game based training tool used by our military to train soldiers how to shoot?" and the answer to that is absolutely yes there was.
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