This strikes me a very BAD idea. Protesting and mourning by having the handheld equivalent of an outdoor LAN? Exactly what message are they trying to send?

"We are so saddened by the events at Virginia Tech and angered by gamer stereotyping that we're going to get together and... play games?"

Gamers are already seen as a group wholly unconcerned with the world at large because we're too preoccupied with staring vacantly at our monitors/TVs/etc... as I see it, this will only reinforce that stereotype.

You could make the argument that it's about gamers coming together peaceably to show that we're not violent sociopaths... but again, try to see it from the outside: they're going to be playing competitive games, partaking of *entertainment*, likely smiling, laughing, joking around, hurling friendly insults (a fair description of any social gaming event I've ever been to). Does that sound like *mourning* to anyone?

Here's a thought: show your outrage at stereotyping and support for the families of those lost in this tragedy by doing something *other than playing games*. Show the mainstream that you're *not* only interested in gaming.

And I have to say, I'm with Jonathan on the whole "creepy" thing. Looking through the pictures on that Myspace page... I was actually kinda frightened.

The organizer never shows his face, either

It's some weird cult like thing, with "foot soldiers" like Jonathan "Fata1ity" Wendell or whatever his name is and random hot models they refer to as Valkyries. (Tommy Tallarico is their bard...)

What is this shit? It's creepy and it's not going to help out gamers at all.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendI...

Can we take any grassroots effort seriously when its led by a man who legally changed his name to "Triforce"?

@Shoehorn

I think it's too late to avoid the "whacky" label ... Empire Arcadia is led by a weirdo who wears a Nintendo Power Glove all the time. Although honestly he is pretty articulate and smart, he looks like a doofus with that thing. Even when MTV tried to be objective about the way they represented some of the EmpArc gamers, some of those guys came off as being pretty fringe.

Still, good on them for the grassroots effort to make a better name for the gaming community. Also, I applaud them for their work in organizing competitive gaming tournaments, which is no simple task.

[...] This is the first such event I’ve seen to get any (online) press coverage, though I’m aware that the Entertainment Consumers Association aims to be involved in advocating for games somehow as well. There’s also the Video Game Voters Network, of course, which does attempt to mobilize grassroots support, but which is actively led by the Entertainment Software Association, an industry body. [...]

Kyuzo,
I was thinking the same thing just a little bit back.

One advantage is that the protest will be in NY and can more easily be tied to the recent NY Mayor's desire for legislation.

Yet, the protestors should still be prepared for a backlash from the less intelligent anti-video game crowds who will misinform and even use and abuse the recent tragedy to slander and deceive the general public about the protest.

nightwng2000
NW2K Software

I agree with most who say this is bad timing. BUT if they can manage to gather a few hundred if not thousand gamers then it would demonstrate something very important to the gaming community a whole. I've contemplated time and time again about protests here on the west side, namely Los Angeles. I myself, debate the point of protesting since its almost useless when comparing to the marches in the 60's.

None the less, if we prove to ourselves that gamers will come when they are called upon then thats a step forward for us.

This event is going to be like any other event that would of normally went on. Do we cancel those to? Do we stop movies with shootings?

The event isnt going to be a protest its going to be an event before the other 20 or so in the next 3 months to show the world that gamers can be outside in a park playing games among other gamers and show case how many of us are not mental. We have been working with big sponsors to support this and its for only one day.

I understand that some negative sh*t has been going down in the last couple weeks but this is to be positive so please find a way to show up and support the event. No one has the facts and they are blaming video games, no one has had an event like this so again no one has the facts and some of you call this a bad idea.

This is better in my opinion as to watching TV and seeing no names to Phil and JT say "well video games made him do this". I respect everyones opinion I just feel this is a start of a new trend to show the world gamers can unite.

This could turn interesting. Unfortunately, yes, I can see it being turned either good or bad. Basically, it could turn into something uphill. They will have to be very clear on what they want, as said, there will be others who will try to twist it into what they want as propaganda.

I've played against a number of Empire Arcadia gamers in Tekken tournaments over the last few years. Amongst the fighting game community, they've been one of the foremost organizations fighting for respect and recognition of the immense amount of skill and ability involved in gaming, as well as the overwhelming opportunities to socialize and build a community that this relatively new medium represents.

People are focusing too much on the protest angle, here, and not enough on the gathering, itself. It's the gathering which bears the most meaning, here. In the eyes of the general public, serious video gamers are a strange, solitary people who sit in dark rooms and fester in front of a monitor. Empire Arcadia is attempting to show that this is not the case. They're trying to show that gamers are NOT anti-social, as the media would have the public believe. Quite the contrary, we've built up vast communities of players who help and encourage each other-- not only in video gaming, itself, but in all aspects of life.

I know that, amongst the Tekken community, I've met and played against people from all across North America. Some of those people have become great friends of mine. Others have offered to spend their own time and money to help grow the community as a whole. Even when there are rivalries between players, they tend to be well-natured and jovial, and always with the intention of bettering the game as a whole.

That's what Empire Arcadia is doing, here. They are showing that we are NOT just millions of individuals slumped alone in front of a television. We are a COMMUNITY of people.

--Kyuzo

No, this is a unprecedented dumb move. People are going to morn the victims of the VT shooting by standing outside and playing games?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that their intentions are good. But I have a feeling that if this "protest" takes place.; these gamers(and gamers in general) are going to be the laughing stock of every media outlet in the country.

All this "protest" will do, is give the public the perception that gamers care more about their games than they do about what happened at VT.

Bottom line, this is just bad PR all around.

I hope that this does not get reported as some kind of "whacky" video gaming movement. I would hope that there is someone there who will explain that this is being done just to show support and extrend sympathy to the Virginia Tech victims and families, but that it is a response to the vilification of video gaming as a hobby through the lies and rhetoric of special interest groups and vote-grabbing politicians.

There has to be someone who will summarise the situation and explain: Gamers are being portrayed as loners and anti-social, and video games are being blamed for all of these massacres. We are here to show that people who play video games are normal and that this stereotyping is incorrect.

With a bit of luck, that message will be picked up on by any news networks commenting on it and this will not be reported as "Hundreds of people came to a park today to play video games! Oh, those crazy gamers, what will they do next?! Over to Bob with the weather."

[...] Part of the reason he’s explaining this, perhaps, is that Joystiq commenters can be critical of such an effort’s effectiveness. The negative attitude some gamers might have toward such campaigns may be why I haven’t seen much of a grassroots gamer movement to speak of yet. Comments on the previously-linked Game Politics article also indicate some sense of how gamers feel about such a movement: Terminator44 Says: “This is a very unprecedented move. Perhaps efforts to create a gamer grassroots movement are working after all.” [...]