Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of a Gamer Himself

July 4, 2008

It was widely reported this week that Minnesota would reimburse the video game industry $65,000 for legal fees incurred fighting the state's 2006 "fine the buyer" video game law in federal court.

Oddly enough, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who signed the bill into law after it was approved by the Minnesota legislature, is apparently a bit of a gamer himself. That news comes from a passing mention buried within a lengthy 2007 profile of Pawlenty in the Weekly Standard. We just happened upon it this morning. Here's the gaming bit:

Growing up, Pawlenty played hockey. He is still a rabid NHL fan. The first website he visits each morning is hockeyfights.com, which shows combat highlights from the previous night's games. He plays the ESPN hockey video game in his spare time, often taking on one of his two daughters.

Okay, so Pawlenty doesn't necessarily keep up with the latest releases. The last ESPN-branded hockey game was ESPN NHL 2K5, released in August, 2004, nearly three years before the Weekly Standard article appeared. Still, it's always nice to see a politician who games, even a little. And always troubling to see one who legislates games. With Pawlenty, you apparently get both.

The Minnesota Guv, by the way, is rumored to be on John McCain's short list of VP candidates.

Posted in Game Decision 2008 Minnesota Politicians Who Play Politics & Legislation Republicans

Comments

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by TheEggplant (not verified) on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 00:06.

I miss Jesse The Body/The Mind Ventura. He ain't got time to sign asinine legislation

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 17:14.

Everyone knows those aren't real games.

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by BlackIce on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 13:50.

"The Minnesota Guv, by the way, is rumored to be on John McCain's short list of VP candidates."

Oh shit..

~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by TheMyst (not verified) on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 13:19.

You need to have another hyppocrate vote Dennis.

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by NinjaMan (not verified) on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 12:45.

sure, just games that politicians plays always end up hurting someone!

http://ninjaplanet.blogspot.com

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by Rodrigo Ybáñez ... on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 11:45.

Why I don´t believe him?

The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by Aliasalpha on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 09:43.

Would a Hockey Fights game be elevating games or denigrating hockey fights?

Re: Minnesota Guv Who Signed Failed Video Game Law is a Bit of

Submitted by StealthMaster86 (not verified) on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 07:11.

Hang on, Hockey Fights is better than Video Games?

Shout box

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DorthLous: SONY new CEO says Hardware is important, but the future lies in content and service: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/414925/incoming_sony_ceo_hot_gadgets_aren_t_enough_anymore02/13/2012 - 12:27pm

Andrew Eisen: That article is over five years old, Uncharted. A fun blast from the past though.02/12/2012 - 10:47pm

Uncharted NES: Critics: 'Left Behind' game glorifies violence- http://tinyurl.com/wu64s02/12/2012 - 4:34pm

Zen: I felt Brutal Legends was a funny & beautiful look at the world of rock from Double Fines point of view. The only parts I wasn't hot for were the RTS bits as it felt forced. Otherwise fantastic.02/12/2012 - 1:34pm

DorthLous: Passed 1.5M$. And I'd also say that Brutal Legend is far from being a bad game. I just think it was a few levels under what people expected from the people working on the project.02/11/2012 - 8:25am

Technogeek: Brutal Legend wasn't bad so much as "marketing had no idea how the game actually played", causing it to suffer accordingly.02/10/2012 - 10:38pm

RedMage: It looks the CIA's website has been DDOS'ed. Anon?02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

RedMage: Brutal Legend.02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

ddrfr33k: Has anything Tim Schafer ever made been of crap caliber? I'm struggling to think of one...02/10/2012 - 7:37pm

Guamish: I think it is in good hands. Tim did a game for the GDC award show and that was fun for how short it was.02/10/2012 - 12:22pm

Andrew Eisen: It'll be tragic if the game ultimately sucks.02/10/2012 - 12:17pm

james_fudge: $1.3 million02/10/2012 - 11:32am

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Andrew Eisen: Audrey didn't quote the sassy parts. Here's IGN's article: http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1218359p1.html And here's my original post: http://tinyurl.com/7y68a3902/09/2012 - 7:50pm

james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Hey, neat. IGN quoted a blog I had writen only two hours earlier. I certainly timed that one pretty well.02/09/2012 - 7:38pm

All shouts

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