In celebration of 6-6-6 day I thought I’d make mention of several new apocolyptic Bad Day LA videos which can be downloaded here.

The one titled “Traffic” shows the cataclysmic opening scene from the game. “Subway” and “Hospital” are also pre-rendered cinematics from later in the game. These videos serve to tie together the action between the levels and generally set up the next disaster the player will encounter.

I don’t know who named these files. I would have named them “terrorist attack”, “train wreck”, and “meteor storm”. Not sure how compelled people will be to watch something called “hospital”. Snore. Anyway, boring names aside, the videos are fun to watch.

PS, here in Hong Kong we already lived through 6-6-6 day. It was pretty uneventful, although there were scattered reports of Apocolypse Ponies eating Chinese villagers.

So it turns out that last week’s news report on Islamists using US video games to recruit and train new terrorists was complete bunk. The supposed recruiting tool was in fact a video made by a US game player using existing voice over from the movie “Team America – World Police”, among other things.

The really scary thing about all of this that the media and Washington officials were so willing to fall for this story. When reported last week it was treated as absolute fact. A Pentagon official named Dan Devlin was quoted, saying:

“What we have seen is that any video game that comes out… (al Qaeda will) modify it and change the game for their needs.”

I’m curious what Mr. Devlin has to say about the issue now. He makes a blanket statement regarding “any” video game being used by al Qaeda. Does this mean that terrorists trainees are at this moment doing reflex training to Dance Dance Revolution in the middle of the desert?

No. Really. At this very moment, terrorists all over the world, are modifying video games into murder training simulators, and conditioning themselves to attack you.

Islamists using US video games in youth appeal
SAIC executive Eric Michael said researchers suspect Islamic militants are using video games to train recruits and condition youth to attack U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.

I was going to get all pissed off about those pesky Islamists subverting video games for use against the US until I read this:

Churches Use Violence to Develop Warriors for God
There is currently a nationwide movement to use pop culture to bring teens to God through use of a video game called Halo 2.

“What?!” you say. Well, clearly boys and girls, what we have here is the making of the first Global Interfaith Deathmatch Showdown: Jesus vs Allah vs. Muhammad Vs Buddha vs Shiva. Shiva the DESTRUCTOR! Sunday Sunday Sunday! It’s Monster Deity Demolition MADNESS! Be the first to watch from a distance lest you get too close and lose a soul.

Someone please call the Cyber Athlete League and tell them to get working on setting this up right away. Seriously, this is the solution to all the world’s problems. Think about it: Cyberwarriors from Iran to California duking it out ONLINE in Halo2 deathmathes. An end to war. An end to violence. Brilliant!

And all this time I thought video games were all bad.

Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – After playing a violent video game, young men are more likely to think it’s OK to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol, raising the possibility that exposure to violent media could negatively affect health-related behavior.

Really. Are these people serious? It seems that “researchers” will go to any lengths to demonize video games. And whoa, look at the “evidence” compiled by the study:

1. Playing the violent game boosted young men’s blood pressures…
2. … young men who had played the violent game were less cooperative and more competitive in completing an assigned task with another person …
3. … more likely to have permissive attitudes toward alcohol and marijuana use …

Ok, so playing video games raises your blood pressure. I took a brisk walk to the doctor the other day and that raised my blood pressure. Do we then assume that any activity that raises a person’s blood pressure is evil? Since when did elevated blood pressure have anything at all to do with a person’s intent to behave in a violent manner? A lot of things can raise a person’s blood pressure: watching the evening news, sex, winning the lottery, riding a bike, playing poker, a fatty diet, etc.Perhaps the government should track people who take medication to lower their blood pressure… surely they are a legion of terrorists and murders in waiting.Video games are exciting, like many other things in life. If they weren’t then we wouldn’t play them. Exciting things tend to increase your heart rate, which in turn will raise your blood pressure. I really wish that “researchers” would stop using the body’s natural response to exciting stimulus as some sort of proof that video games are evil.

On to the “less cooperative and more competitive” statement. Again, a lot of things can put a person into this state. Games are by their very nature a competitive event. When doing these studies why don’t researchers do side-by-side tests of other competitive activities such as sprinting, playing golf, bowling, or even playing chess? I would imagine that after such activities we’d see the same results. Video games are doing nothing different than other competitive activities, yet they are painted black because… can we say “political agenda”?

Finally, “permissive attitudes toward alcohol and marijuana use” as a result of playing video games. How on earth did we get here? If this isn’t a clear example of intent to demonize video games by any means, I don’t know what is.

It used to be that music was the culprit, causing kids to smoke pot, drink, and then commit mass suicide. Then it was violent “gangster” movies. Now, somehow, a parent’s worst fear, that their child might do drugs and drink, is being manifested by the latest entertainment bad boy: video games.

It seems all too convenient to me.There is a pattern here. A machine is at work to turn video games into a scapegoat for all of society’s problems. Aren’t there enough real problems in the world already? But then, maybe that’s the point: We live in a time of make believe news and make believe threats. While real atrocities are committed in the real world, politicians and the media focus on fictional issues, hoping that you will be overwhelmed and unconcerned. Which you probably are.

It’s enough to make you want to smoke pot and get drunk.

And so it is, after 10 weeks of hair pulling, floor pacing, and cat rubbing (what? it helps me think!), I am at once and finally finished with writing the first draft of the Oz script. Wrapped in a red ribbon it is sent flying through The Internet to land on the desks of anxious (or so I hope) producers in Hollyweird. Have I succeeded? Will they like it? Are there enough “blow shit up” scenes? Only time will tell…

Already thoughts of a “Red” movie are bouncing in my skull.

Meanwhile, I pack my bags and flee to Thailand! Flee I say!

Expect pictures and stories when I return. Don’t burn the house down while I’m gone!