Which Windows 7 is right for youConservative commentator George Will slams gamers
Probably doesn't own a Wii.
In a bizarre aside shoehorned into his most recent column, conservative writer (and self-professed baseball fanatic) George Will takes a swipe at video-game-playing adults.
Seventy-five percent of American "gamers" -- people who play video games -- are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote.
The actual thrust of the column is about a much more serious threat to the fiber (no pun intended) of our country -- people wearing jeans. He calls it "the plague of that ubiquitous fabric, which is symptomatic of deep disorders in the national psyche."
The latest demographic data on gamers is always readily available from the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group for the video game industry.
The group's latest stats show that only 25-percent of gamers are under 18, and that the average gamer is 35 years old and has been playing for 13 years.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan.
Former radio DJ turned
journalist Dan Ackerman grew up in the Bronx and now lives in
Manhattan. He’s covered music, technology, and video games for
more than 10 years. His latest album, Tales Out of Night School
is available now. 
Joseph Kaminski,
when not juggling the dual demands of parenthood and HD gaming, is a
life-long Manhattanite and can be found testing the latest tech in
CNET’s Lab. 
Julie Rivera grew up
and currently resides in Brooklyn. When she's not deejaying,
bartending, or fixing gadgets for friends on the outside, you'll find
her testing, troubleshooting and developing benchmarks for laptops in
the "fish bowl" known as CNET Labs. 
Scott Stein, CNET's
newest laptops editor, was born in Queens and grew up a Long Islander -
and is now raising a kid in NYC. In addition to covering games and
tech, writing screenplays, and performing improv in seedy downtown
establishments, he's also a die-hard, season-ticket-holding Jets fan.
Will - this is what I have to say to you... "FORK YOU" (since that's the only weapon we'll have left when his breath runs out)...
-ghostapha
Democrats don't want your weapons. Hell, how else are we gonna prevent Republicans like George Will from taking our games and jeans away from us?
Thank you all for ruining any attempt at comedy by discussing comedy itself. Thank you so much.
If you want to dissect those last two sentences I used a comedic tool called sarcasm. You see, I am not actually thankful for your attempt to ruin comedy but quite the opposite. See what I just did there? It is ironic that I am doing the same thing that I dislike you for doing, another tool of comedy.
But seriously, idiots like this guy and the majority of politicians should not be allowed to comment on technology. They should have to take a test first, then their opinions maybe heard. I think dinosaur politicians trying to legislate technology are FAR more dangerous than issues like gun control.
asilvera4 - "This guy is no doubt a complete tool'? Obviously, you have never heard of George Will, and have no idea how influential he is. If we took the very advice you give, your "proficiency" would have you relegated to the silent masses.
If the very same comments were mentioned by a walking bucket of vomit like Al Franken, do you think Ackerman would have prominently put the word "liberal" int he story title? Do you think he would have even written it? Ackerman is a hack who writes opinionated pieces disguised as journalism, but it doesn't bother anyone when he does it. George Will does NOT write journalism. He writes partisan political commentary based on his own opinion. He doesn't try to tell anyone that what he says is journalism. Ackerman does not yet understand that distinction. It probably wasn't a job requirement at Blender.
If you want to see a REAL combover, look at Dan Ackerman's picture. You can't make fun of George Will and then say Dan Ackerman looks "normal".
I think the "shut down video games" crowd has been shouted down by the masses, leaving old-timers to lament the decline of Western Civilization, when they've merely been passed by by technology.
But if we want to apply logic here, one could argue that he wastes just as much time on a game (baseball) with just as little redeeming value. Seriously, what about the insanity of delusional sports fanatics spending hundreds of dollars to show up like children in their little hats and t-shirts to root for a group of strangers making millions of dollars off of them? Oh, and remember the congressional hearings over steroids in baseball? It is a form of social insanity.
Point is, games are just games, and anyone can take any game too far.
We should ship them all off to a remote island where they can fight the "war on terror" without bothering the rest of the world.
I love the way you so effectively put quotes around "war on terror". CNN and The New York Times have trained you well, young padawan.
a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations
Thus, the quotation marks around "war on terror" are correct. The last time I checked Terror was not a sovereign state, so the quotes points out the improper use of the term.
And remember, the Jedis are the good guys.... good apprentice...
I mean, did anybody read the article? this guy is full of it. Just wants attention...
he'll come up in Larry King Live saying, "You know what really grinds my gears? That people don't understand the analogy of Senator Ted Stevens ..."
lol, go back to school man....
"In their undifferentiated dress, children and their childish parents become undifferentiated audiences for juvenilized movies (the six -- so far -- "Batman" adventures and "Indiana Jones and the Credit-Default Swaps," coming soon to a cineplex near you)."
I'm having trouble reading through the horrible syntax, and I would advise that doing so isn't really worth the trouble.
I wear jeans when I take your daughter out on a date to Lookout Point! :)
Well it's a good thing I didn't vote in this past election...not that I wasn't of age, I was, but I think it's my right to not vote
Second, one could argue that Nick's conscience is clean. It is just as valid a statement to protest the vote given the sorry state of our political system.
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by leifur3
April 16, 2009 1:52 PM PDT
- people like him make me glad i call myself a liberal
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