Via kotaku.com:
On this site you can read a lot of lecturing about how others should do their jobs. Well, when an elected official shows that he can take [computer] games seriously, instead of personally, he should get credit for that. Unfortunately for Americans, this guy is a member of the UK Parliament. But here’s what struck me about Don Foster of Bath, in his remarks to The Guardian backing the gaming industry as an important part of the British economy:
“I hardly play any games, I’m not from that generation, but because of my job, I had to research the industry. The vast majority of my parliamentary colleagues are always wanting to ban the latest game, but they don’t know the details of the industry. Few people in this country realise how important it is to the UK economy.”
Instead of trivializing or dismissing something he didn’t understand, he looked into it and gave it a fair evaluation. It’s part of being a representative and a leader, and I wish others would practice it more — and on subjects other than video games, of course.
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4 Comments
“Instead of trivializing or dismissing something he didn’t understand, he looked into it and gave it a fair evaluation.”
Which is a perfectly Liberal thing to do 😀 Yay Don!
Not just an economic but a free speech, censorship and privacy issue too. Don can come and play Metal Gear Solid 4 on my PS3 any day……
Top work that man.
2.9 cheers for Don.
Only fails to get the last 0.1 of a cheer for defending the “industry” in terms of its economic importance ratehr than on grounds of freedom of expression.
Real test is wading in heavily – and liberally – on the next mad call to ban a game.
But – goddammit – he may be the first politician to say something this sensible in this area and he’s also our DCMS spokesman so hooray!