One might argue that hitting your elected official in the face with a pie is as close as you can get to living the American Dream, but Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich) , doesn't think it's funny at all. Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was speaking to the Mecosta County Democratic Party gathering when a 23-year old Michigan State student named Ahlam Mohsen began questioning him on his stance on foreign policy issues - with a lean towards the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The end result was a pie in the senior democrat's face.

Oddly enough, Mohsen had mostly nice things to say about the senator afterwards:

"Carl Levin is one of the most respected senators in Congress," Mohsen told local TV station WZZM13-TV. "People tend to blame the war on Republicans, but we wanted to target Levin today to send a message that liberals and Democrats are just as implicated in the violence as the Republicans."

Mohsen got a ride in the party van for his part in the incident, though what he was charged with was not disclosed. Probably a misdemeanor assault one would guess. Read More

Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer didn’t pull any punches when talking about Activision CEO Bobby Kotick at this week’s Develop Conference in the UK.

To be fair, as Crave notes, Schafer’s Brutal Legend game was originally going to be published by Activision before it merged with Blizzard. The game was dropped and eventually published by Electronic arts, which could have contributed to some of the bad taste in Schafer’s mouth.

Among Schafer’s comments on Kotick: Read More

A 30-year old man suspected of stealing an SUV was arrested by police in his home while playing Grand Theft Auto III.

Tampa Bay Online has the story on Michael Ray Ekes of Haines City, Florida, who was busted after the stolen vehicle was found in front of his home. For some reason Ekes was asked what he thought of GTA III. The suspect replied, “It’s a blast.”

Sheriff Grady Judd offered the pearl of wisdom that, “Crime is not a game.” He continued, “Real-life crime has real-life consequences – and I hope he goes to prison for a good long while, where they don't have 'Grand Theft Auto' video games.”

At the time of his arrest, Ekes was free on bail on two counts of grand theft auto and was on probation for a series of other offenses.


Thanks to no one in particular for sending this in

Tongue firmly in cheek, University of Pittsburgh student Ben Korman has penned a column decrying the way turtles are portrayed and treated in Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. series of games.

While the in-game amphibians reptiles in question are labeled Koopas, Korman notes that, “The playful branding of these enemies is semantic at best.”

He continues:

These games, first and foremost, graphically depict innocent, healthy turtles being slaughtered by the hundreds at the hands of human characters. The main character, Super Mario, is consistently rewarded for these atrocities.

Are we really to believe that shelled amphibians were simply chosen arbitrarily as the series’ most pervasive antagonists? Was Bowser, the chief nemesis in the series, portrayed as a belligerent power-tripping-maniac-turtle-thing with no specific message in mind? Is the shelled community simply a capricious victim here?

GP: Excellent satire which shows that we sometimes forget that games are here for our entertainment and that maybe, just maybe, sometimes we take them a little too seriously.

Funny stuff, but what else would you expect.

Looks like Infinity Ward provided some assistance as well.

Apparently well versed in interactive entertainment, a United States Congressman likened the layout and functionality of a government website to an old videogame.

At a November 3rd hearing to discuss the current state of the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) website, Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) told the executive director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Greg Long that, “In the video game world, your website is Pong.”

Ouch!

TSP is a retirement savings plan for U.S. Government civilian employees. Long, according to the FederalTimes.com, said that improvements are underway for the TSP website.

A post on the ChristWire website argues that videogames, along with “nonstop dorm masturbation” and drugs, are among the reasons why our college kids are failing at life.

Author Stephenson Billings previously explored the topic “Is Video Gaming a Threat to America’s High School Jock Culture?,” but believes that the problem is even more widespread in college. Why? “Dorm rooms are like bacteria dishes where crueler and more virulent microorganisms are constantly introduced to breed in a frothy frenzy of poor judgment.”

He continued, “When video gaming is added to a culture of persistent sexual experimentation in a peer group of sex radicals fueled by vast amounts of mind-altering narcotics, reality is the big loser.”

Even more:

Sharp colors and quick movement like you find in Grand Theft Auto make these couch potatoes feel as if they’re really moving through life at a brisk pace while in reality growing obese. It makes them feel important, as if they’re achieving something, while their textbooks sit unopened on nearby desks. It sucks up hours upon hours when these children could be learning business or engineering. Instead of American history, they memorize the satanic rites of Resident Evil, thrill in emotional suffering with Silent Hill or train to be Columbine-style murderers with Dead Space Extraction.

Billings, who bills himself as “an Investigative Journalist, Motivational Children's Party Entertainer and Antique Soda Bottle Collector all in one special, blessed package!,” also tells parents that if their child really loves them, they will submit to regular drug testing.

He concludes his article with a special note to his “young readers”:

The foundation of modern morality so necessary for the next generation to lead is not something you children will get sucking on the end of a filthy bong while yanking a joystick around the streets of San Andreas, gunning down minorities and looking for “Hot Coffee” as some mysterious classmate from Art History oils your tensed-up pecs.* This might seem fun now, but it’s truly destroying your soul.

The site bills itself as offering “Conservative Values for an Unsaved World.”  Other articles include Parent Alert – World of Warcraft and Cosplay Will Destroy Your Child, Teens Use Facebook To Support World of Warcraft (WoW) and Denounce American Values and The Golden Girls: How One TV Show Turned A Generation Of American Boys Into Homosexuals.

GP: It’s like The Onion, except it’s not. Wow.

Tuesday afternoon, Jack Thompson sent me his press release announcing that he was suing Facebook “for posting “Jack Thompson Groups” that call for his death and physical harm.”

Thompson sent three faxes to Facebook’s CEO demanding the immediate removal of the offending groups but after five weeks had received no response and the groups remained where they were.

I asked Thompson if he had tried simply clicking on the Report Group link (found at the bottom of every Facebook group) or emailing abuse@facebook.com.  According to the Facebook Safety page, complaints submitted via these methods will be addressed within 24 hours and those who email will receive a response within 72 hours detailing what actions, if any, were taken.

He responded by calling me a “total moron.”

So, I browsed Facebook and found about 80 Jack Thompson groups.  Most were of the “I Hate Jack Thompson” or “Jack Thompson is a Douche” variety but I did find three that condoned violence towards the man.  I picked a group called “I will pay $50 to anyone who punches Jack Thompson in the face” and clicked the Report Group link.  Unsurprisingly, the group was removed less than a day later. (Old link to the now deleted group)

Incidentally, this particular group turned out to be the first of four cited in Thompson’s complaint. 

So, you’re welcome, Thompson. 

Glad I could help.
 
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Senior Correspondent Andrew Eisen...

Anti-piracy marketing campaigns are sometimes creepy (such as this video which suggests that your mom will be manhandled by the police if you engage in file sharing).

But the Business Software Alliance, which primarily watches out for abuse of productivity-ware, has come up with an antipiracy ad that is actually fun to watch. The parody of Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series features a would-be pirate humorously caught in a sting. BSA exec Peter Beruk commented on the video:

It uses comedy to convey what is a serious message. It’s experimental.

Via: Wired's Threat Level

Earlier this month GamePolitics reported on a study which suggested that excessive video game and T.V. time may be contributing to reduced vitamin D levels in children.

Funny man Stephen Colbert, however, may have the answer. In the clip at left, Colbert recommends using the "VaxBox 360" to play Tan Theft Auto, thus soaking in gobs of vitamin D-producing UV rays.

Okay, so it's funnier when Colbert says it...

If you want to skip ahead to the game-related bits, they begin at about 3:45 into the clip.

Via: Kotaku

Apparently taking note of recent reports that video game sales are in the midst of a four-month slide, Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien dropped this one on the audience recently:

Experts say the video game industry has been dramatically hurt by the economic downturn. Which explains the popularity of the new Nintendo game, ‘Wii Job Interview.’

Source: Political Irony

FPS fans will appreciate this one...

Via: boingboing

GameSpy has a whimsical, multi- (really multi-) panel cartoon depicting the great circle of life as it pertains to games.

Click here for the full cartoon.

GP: Thanks to sharp-eyed GamePolitics correspondent Andrew Eisen for the tip...

Does watching Muppets commit acts of wanton violence lead to aggressive behavior?

Maybe someone could do a study on that.

In the meantime, check out these old black-and-white TV commercials for Wilkins Coffee. SuperPunch explains:

In 1957, Jim Henson was approached by a Washington, D.C. coffee company to produce ads for Wilkins Coffee... From 1957 to 1961, Henson made 179 commercials for Wilkins Coffee...

 

The ads starred the cheerful Wilkins, who liked Wilkins Coffee, and the grumpy Wontkins, who hated it. Wilkins would often do serious harm to Wontkins in the ads -- blowing him up, stabbing him with a knife, and smashing him with a club, among many other violent acts...

in October 1958, the company offered vinyl puppets... The offer on the [coffee] can said, "Hey Kids! I'm Wilkins -- he's Wontkins -- you see us on TV!" Obviously, Wilkins Coffee and Henson knew that the Muppet characters had kid appeal, although this doesn't seem to have had any effect on the use of violence and terror in the ads.

Coffee... now there's something that makes me aggressive!

Via: BoingBoing

This week's announcement that California would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of its 2005 violent video game law did not escape the notice of Woody Hearn, who draws GU Comics.

At left is Hearn's rendition of California State Senator Leland Yee (D), the driving force behind the contested legislation. There's also mention of a mysterious man named "Jack." Who could that be?

Click here to view the full comic.

Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln may have been great American leaders. But whose faces would appear on the side of Mt. Rushmore if it was being built today?

To make things even more theoretical, what if the mountainside's chiseled countenances were those of video game characters?

Pwn or Die explores the issue and replaces the four presidents with Master Chief, Mario, Lara Croft and Sonic.

Interesting, but does Pwn or Die miss the point of Mt. Rushmore? The towering South Dakota sculpture is the quintessential American monument. No disrespect, but do Mario and Sonic, the products of iconic Japanese game companies, belong there? Ditto for Lara Croft, a monied Englishwoman.

To put it another way, would you drape a Homer Simpson banner on the Eiffel Tower?

With that in mind, what American characters - or, at least, characters from American companies - would you select? Drop us a comment with your picks.
 

The Onion skewers the video game violence issue in this faux news report which celebrates the launch of Close Range, a new game which features an "immersive, richly-detailed world where players shoot people in the faces with guns."

To see the video, click here.

Current TV's Ben Hoffman has some fun with gamers who lined up to donate blood and steal a pre-release peek at Resident Evil 5.

The Capcom-sponsored event took place in Los Angeles last week.

Via: Joystiq

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) may have suggested that executives of public money sink AIG commit ritual suicide, but animation artist Joaqin Baldwin's approach to the new icon of corporate greed is far more diabolical. More fun, too.

AIG Exec UFO Catcher is Baldwin's AIG-themed take on those coin-op claw machines that one finds in arcades and the lobbies of greasy spoon diners. You know, maneuver the claw to grab a small stuffed animal.

In Baldwin's vision, however, players use the claw to collect AIG execs who are partying on the taxpayers' dime. Trillions of dimes, actually...

Entertainingly, things just don't work out so well with the claw feature.

Although the game is a bit NSFW, AIG hate is so rampant at the moment that even the most prudish of bosses will probably look the other way. After all, the boss is a taxpayer, too.

Via: GameCulture

It has been a rough week for frenetic financial guru Jim Cramer, host of MSNBC's Mad Money program.

Having been pilloried on several recent episodes of The Daily Show, Cramer opted to appear as a guest, apparently in an attempt to explain himself to host Jon Stewart. Bad idea: Cramer's Daily Show appearance was a disaster.

Financial site The Big Money lampoons Cramer's media woes with Crashteroids, a fun little Asteroids knock-off:

Avenge Cramer’s disgrace at the hands of Jon Stewart by blasting his smug grin into space dust. Defeat Business Insider’s Henry Blodget, a man who once called Cramer “a chair-throwing, self-aggrandizing clown.”

 

Protect Cramer from Fox Business, a network that sneered, “[T]he last thing you need is Jim Cramer.” Shred Barron’s magazine, a publication that has tried to prove Cramer gives crappy investment advice. And, of course, keep the grizzly hordes of bear-market economists at bay.

Via: The Business Insider

As GamePolitics has reported, the City of San Diego is honoring the 10th anniversary of the publication of Everquest by declaring Monday, March 16th as Sony Online Entertainment Day.

Today's edition of GU Comics has some fun with the news.

To see the punchline, click here...

I thought I knew my classic games pretty well, but somehow I'm drawing a blank on this particular Atari 2600 cartridge.

In fact, Technabob has uncovered an entire series of parody 2600 carts. Most aren't political, but they are definitely worth a look - and a laugh.

Via: Examiner.com

GU Comics asks a very legitimate question concerning some Australian gamers' plan to march on Parliament in costume to protest the lack of an R18+ rating Down Under.

As GamePolitics reported yesterday, the "Cosplay for a Cause" rally has been scrubbed. A new event in which gamer protesters will wear everyday clothing is being planned.

GP: Thanks to GamePolitics correspondent Andrew Eisen for catching this one...

From Barely Political comes a new Obama Girl video.

This time around, Obama Girl plays Wii Sports with the likes of the Prez, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Dubya and Sarah Palin.

Humor site The Onion asks whether violent games are doing enough to prepare our children for the coming Apocalypse.

Given the number of post-apocalyptic games, it may actually be a reasonable question...

Via: Kotaku

From the Federal Trade Commission to Entertainment Consumers Association President Hal Halpin, there is a sense that End User License Agreements are increasingly problematic for consumers.

But a woman named Anne Loucks has found an entertaining - if legally suspect - solution. But then again, EULAs themselves seem a bit legally suspect.

When presented with a EULA, Loucks has her cat, Simba, agree to the terms. She has even created a rudimentary physical apparatus for Simba to employ in the EULA acceptance process:

As Simba is not a legal entity, I don't really know how kitty's agreements would stand up in court, but I like to think he would be responsible for any breaches of contract, assuming the agreement is even enforceable. After all, he is not even of legal age, at least in human years.

First, we must create a way for Simba to push the button. I created a cardboard platform with a long thin protrusion for pressing the spacebar, which is sufficient to activate most onscreen buttons after you TAB to place the focus on them.

Success!! He presses the button of his own free will. Admittedly, he was coerced and rewarded, but really, nobody forced my cat to step on the button and become party to a software license agreement. At the very least, we know he was not under duress.

The download begins and I have personally agreed to nothing.

Via: Slashdot

FULL DISCLOSURE DEPT: The Entertainment Consumers Association is the parent company of GamePolitics.

Stephen Colbert and freshman Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) play the Rock Band version of Colbert's own Charlene (I'm Right Behind You).

Chaffetz, who has previously leg-wrestled Colbert, earns a disappointing 24% score for the song's guitar track, while Colbert racks up a perfect score on vocals.

Still, credit to Chaffetz where it's due. How many Congress types would be willing to try Rock Band on national TV?

Via: Layton Shumway, games guru of the Deseret News

UPDATE: Glen Warchol of the Salt Lake Tribune finds Chaffetz's antics "excruciatingly mortifying:"

Is there a[n] information medium that freshman Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz won't exploit?

Besides Twittering and participating in a CNN reality show on life as a rookie congressman, Chaffetz allowed faux political pundit Stephen Colbert to humiliate him in leg wrestling, Rock Band and even subject him to a facial. Warning: Watch at your own risk. It is so excruciatingly mortifying, you may want to crawl under a chair for C[h]affetz.

Last week, GamePolitics reported on the case of an Indiana mother who complained that her daughter's Baby Pals Nintendo DS game uttered the phrase "Islam is the light."

Our exclusive follow-up with publisher Crave Entertainment explained how developers added the game's audio files and why the "Islam" line is little more than an auditory illusion.

Now, the Penny Arcade crew has waded into the controversy in their inimitable way. Hit the PA link for the full cartoon...

GP: Big thanks to longtime reader CyberSkull for the tip!!

It's only January, but Illinois Rep. Robert Pritchard (R) already seems like a lock for Clueless Politician of the Year.

Pritchard, who absolved guns and instead blamed violent video games for last February's shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University, has outdone himself by attempting to amend a video game content law which was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge more than three years ago (i.e. - it no longer exists).

For an ironic humor bonus, the defunct law which Pritchard seeks to amend was originally pushed through by ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), who was ousted today by the Illinois State Senate for corruption in office.

Longtime GamePolitics readers will recall that Blagojevich spearheaded his state's ill-fated attempt to legislate video game content. The big-haired Guv signed the game bill into law in July, 2005, only to have it ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly in December of that year.

No one has given much thought to the Illinois game law since then - except, apparently, for Rep. Pritchard, who inexplicably sought to amend the Blago bill yesterday. Pritchard submitted language designed to shield minors from sexually explicit video games. From Pritchard's amendment:

Provides that the exhibition to or depiction to a minor of a sexually explicit video game is a petty offense in which a $1,000 fine may be imposed.

Nice sentiment, but embarrassingly bad execution.

How awesome is your gaming rig’s sound system?
 
Hopefully it’s a little quieter than that of an unlucky 21-year-old Copenhagen man and his friend.
 
According to a report on QJ.net, the two gamer buddies were playing an unspecified PlayStation 3 title with the sound cranked up to 11.

A concerned neighbor called the local gendarmes in the belief that the sound of gunfire coming from next door was the real deal.  Perhaps thinking that a full-scale war had broken out, a Danish SWAT team was activated. The cops used a megaphone to order the men to come out and surrender.
 
The noisy gamers wisely put their controllers down without a fight and were arrested on suspicion of mayhem. They were soon released after a search of their apartment uncovered no firearms.
 
Thanks to: GP regular Shadow D. Darkman
 
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen isn’t sure what game his neighbors are playing but it’s definitely rated AO…