'Games as Porn' Mayor Backs the Industry

[Logan Westbrook]

'Games as Porn' Mayor Backs the Industry

Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino believes that videogames are a vital part of his city's economy, despite having backed a bill to lump mature rated games in with other adult material.

In 2007 Thomas Menino backed a bill, authored with help from the infamous former lawyer and anti-gaming activist Jack Thompson, that would block the sale of games 'harmful to minors' in the state of Massachusetts, a law similar to those that restrict the sale of pornography to children. The bill drew criticism from a variety of sources, and was later deemed unconstitutional.

It seems that this defeat has caused Menino to have a change of heart however, as on Friday he announced two initiatives to boost the industry in the city. The first is an industry networking website called Powering Up Boston [http://www.poweringupboston.com/] and the second is an industry 'steering committee'. This committee will advise the mayor and his staff with the aim of "strengthening the Boston-area game development presence, raising Boston's profile as a global leader in digital media and specifically the game industry."

Boston is the home to a large number of developers, including Rock Band creators Harmonix and Bioshock developers 2K Boston. In total, according to the mayor's office, the Boston games industry contributes over $200 million to the local economy with over 1,500 jobs across 76 companies.

"The creative industries sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in greater Boston, and I'm committed to creating the conditions that will allow this sector to continue to grow and prosper," Menino stated.

Source: Edge [http://www.edge-online.com/news/games-porn-mayor-backs-boston-industry]



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[000Ronald]

What's there to say? Instead of appealing to the masses, he's using his head.

It's all about opportunity, I think.

Apologies Abound

 

[meatloaf231]

Well, he's obviously not an idiot. That's good to hear. He's just got some misinformed ideas about games.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Yay, theres a glimmer of hope

 

[TsunamiWombat]

It has nothing to do with a change of heart.

Money talks, bullshit walks. His anti-gaming bid failed to get him votes or clout. Hopefully this will get him cash at least.

 

[Erana]

Video games are porn...? I saw far worse than I've ever seen in a video game in Watchmen.

 

[DarthHK]

Is it election month? Or did Harmonix and 2K end up paying him more than Thompson did?[/cynicism]

 

[QuadrAlien]

The way the title is phrased doesn't quite fit the idea of the article, I fear... I keep getting the impression from it that the thought pattern is as follows:

"Games are equivalent to porn... Thus, I heartily endorse the gaming industry!"

 

[cainx10a]

Funny part is that the H-games are made and only created and released in Japan. When americans make video games the concept of violence is more acceptable to society so developers will focus on violent conflicts. Japanese society on the other hand is a lot more comfortable with sex and the j-pop culture is perfectly fine with exploring their sexuality in a wide variety of ways while still maintaining the privacy of the self.

That whole amazon Rapelay game was very hard to watch because you say a society comment on another society assuming the game came from america. Even when they said the game came from Japan they were still using their moral structure as the standard.

It is good that the politician knows where the money is right now and that is the video game industry. We won't see any porno games or at least any good ones become available to the masses. However the video game industry is generating so much money that it is the next bubble to pop.

Sex Villa series, yes, I actually -cough- tried it once. Very good 'porn game' or 'porn sim' or whatever the correct term is. Bone Ville(sp?) with Ron Jeremy, apparently is another decent American 'porn game'. And I even noticed a American MMO porn game, didn't and probably won't ever bother to try this one out, although, I must say, the animation and the detail level is not that bad.

Well, adult entertainment, encompass much more than just Porn.

 

[jobobob]

Really theirs a reason theres a game industry and a porn industry and when they combine they make a deformed mutant baby thing that gets thrown down the sparta cliff.
Games with nudity are fine but the one that revolve around it allways suck and im looking at you japan game designers.

 

[stompy]

It has nothing to do with a change of heart.

Money talks, bullshit walks. His anti-gaming bid failed to get him votes or clout. Hopefully this will get him cash at least.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[RebornKusabi]

Nice! I loved Orgasmo, really under-rated movie imo.

On topic, it might just be that he actually got educated on what video games were really like. It's not impossible to consider that in his idiocy he actually had someone come up to him and ask if he really knew what a video game was like. Another percievable possiblility is that he just realizes that the video games industry is a massive gold mine of profits and by backing them, his state could be getting a ****-load of money that, to be honest, any state in the US needs to stay out of a depression. I mean, I get what backing this bill does-I just fail hard at explaining the exact mechanics of how these types of bills work >_>

 

[Pimppeter2]

He still looks like a dumbass

 

[Dommyboy]

He still looks like a dumbass

And that's what truly matters.

 

[Bunnymarn]

It has nothing to do with a change of heart.

Money talks, bullshit walks. His anti-gaming bid failed to get him votes or clout. Hopefully this will get him cash at least.

Precisely, it's all about the money.

 

[Combined]

Make up your mind, will you?

 

[The Random One]

Aw, come on, man. Let's not jump to the conclusion that he just went where the votes are as politicians are wont to do. Just because it's 99.9% likely to be true doesn't mean it is, you know?

Some other likely causes:

1. He was visited by the three ghosts of gaming during All Saint's Eve. (They were practicing to visit Bobby Kotick on Christmas' Eve. Expect great changes this end of year.)
2. We are all part of a Disney move from a parallel universe. He's the villain.
3. A secret gamer cabal kidnapped him and replaced him with a cyborg clone. Look out if he gains a strange fondness for the word 'compelling'.

Etc., etc., etc.