Comments on: PopCap And Anne Diamond Versus The Waistlines

By: A Delicate Balance

A Delicate Balance — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:15:36 +0000

This is the first I’ve heard of Diamond (never heard of her when I lived in the UK and managed to miss her apparent recent rantings by living in Canada).

However she clearly uses the same polarised attitude towards things she does not understand as people like George W Bush or the old woman who came into the computer store I worked at in Somerset – she took one look at a Voodoo 5 box on a top shelf with a flaming CG face and started ranting about how games were evil and how that box art proved it.

“Sure, ma’am, that box art kills children. Can I help you with anything else?”

People like these exist in our reality, but don’t seem to be interpreting that reality in what we would describe as rational way. Those same people would probably be the first to call us loonies (we who appreciate a fine game – or other artifice – for what it is, it’s merits and faults, violent, sexual, provocative or otherwise).

They’re the kind of people who think they know what they’re talking about, not merely without having experienced it for themselves, but without even having seriously researched the topic, yet still feel they have a birthright to spout their mouths off.

You might claim I’m doing that right now – sure I’m spouting my mouth off – but I do feel I know games fairly well, they have formed a significant part of the influences that have shaped my life and I don’t get called a psychopath too frequently. In fact the reason I am “spouting my mouth off” is because games have given me much and led me to be passionate about the artform.

For all that there may be studies done on Bejewelled and losing weight, I don’t need any studies further than my own senses to tell me that games have improved my life.

When I have felt isolated or depressed (losing weight isn’t my issue), great games, like other great art have given me a place of strength. I’m an atheist, so I don’t believe in the power of God to save, but I do believe in the power of inspirational fiction and understanding the human condition through art. I have gained comfort, a sense of reduced isolation, like-mindedness, amusement, entertainment, mental stiumlation, stress relief and spiritual meaning from reading Iain M. Banks novels, watching A Scanner Darkly or listening to Feist, but the same could be said of Deus Ex, Max Payne, Sim City, Civ IV, Eve Online, Counterstrike, Left 4 Dead and many, many other titles.

Games have taught me to think in ways I would never have done otherwise – creative problem solving, teamwork, quick reactions, precision, attentiveness. None of those benefits specifically comes from casual gaming, of which I have done a little; Bejewelled, Peggle, Flash games and a variety of other enjoyable, but fairly forgettable experiences.

What irks me is the insinuation in some quarters, as seems to be demonstrated by the idea behind this unholy gaming alliance, that “casual” games are completely acceptable, while “violent” games are the produce of the Hadesoft Inc’s 9th Level Studios.

So we’re back to black and white thinkers. I don’t know about anyone else, but I find it much more of a multicoloured spectrum of possibilities than a binary choice, I’ve “casually” played “violent” games for hundreds of hours, providing some of the most memorable moments, not just in my videogaming travels, but in life itself.

These are, I reiterate, some of the very same positive developmental and theraputic influences which, had I been denied could have led me down a much darker path in life.

To conclude, I join the rest of you in laughing heartily at the idea of a genuinely useful, objective clinical trial under these circumstances and I regret that we have not reached the point where games take their rightful place in culture and society alongside other great works of the human mind.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:28:34 +0000

Much as I like PopCap’s games, I can’t help but hope – at least a little – that their pet scorpion turns right back on them after getting addicted to Peggle or something.

By: Bobsy

Bobsy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:28:07 +0000

“Irrelavent commentator makes irrelavent comments on hotbutton scapegoat topic”

Or:

“Diamond wails on fat kids”

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:55:17 +0000

I didn’t find the new Bejeweled to be inferior to the preceding titles. I had to wrap my head around the new gameplay but it’s starting to come naturally now. The graphical presentation is quite excellent and I was surprised to see it support 1920 x 1200 resolution. Best of all, the music (by Peter Hajba aka Skaven, and Phillipe Charon) is mindbogglingly phenomenal.

And oh yeah, the topic. I dunno who this Diamond broad is but she sucks.

By: The right to arm bears

The right to arm bears — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:14:19 +0000

Like James G above, I find it somewhat questionable that the results of said study will have any scientific merit. The sensation of “food cravings” (hunger?) are a rather subjective outcome measurement, and when you have a subjective outcome measurement you absolutely must have your study be well-controlled, randomized, etc. I suppose it deserves its fair shot, and one would have to see the study to be certain, but I would guess that this study is pants. Did I say that right, UK types? ;)

By: Scundoo

Scundoo — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:54:27 +0000

Who is that old bag and why should anyone care?
But i guess this article is for the.. 5 brits that pay attention to this kind of nonsense?

p.s. yeah, i think someone answered my first question above, but I still don’t see why we should care.

By: Iain "DDude" Dawson

Iain "DDude" Dawson — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:20:12 +0000

I think John, that all of us in ignroance were having a hard time watching our weight and going to the gym, and as a result you want to ignore this glorious new discovery with talk of “control groups”…

This is the future!

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:52:49 +0000

Clearly there’s a high degree of overlap between the readerships of RPS and Bad Science.

“She’s basically the equivalent of a Good Morning America host who hasn’t had a morning show since 1996-odd.

Basically, Joan Lunden but orders of magnitude less famous.”

Maybe so, but I did have a bizarre crush on her when I was very young. The shame!

By: jonfitt

jonfitt — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:39:03 +0000

I feel I must explain Anne Diamond to our American readers.
She’s basically the equivalent of a Good Morning America host who hasn’t had a morning show since 1996-odd.

Basically, Joan Lunden but orders of magnitude less famous. If she wasn’t talking about games she wouldn’t have made the news.

What I’d like to see is an Anne Diamond/ Dominic Diamond face-off debate!

Sorry, for our American readers, Dominic Diamond is too hard to explain.

By: Fede

Fede — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:20:33 +0000

People at PopCap have a strange way to do marketing.

By: bengoldacre

bengoldacre — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:14:49 +0000

i’m slightly moved by the fact that i just sat down to look at my email, and three separate people have sent me this guff already.

By: James G

James G — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:49:10 +0000

How will you have a placebo I wonder, then again, I’m tempted to say Peggle is the sugar pill of gaming anyway. I mean you come away smiling, but its hard to actually identify any active game-play ingredients. (Bejewled on the other hand is a bit more substantial)