Politicians Loathe to Admit That They Game

September 3, 2010

A UK journalist attempting to write a story on videogames in 2006 sent out an “informal” email to a string of fellow journalists, civil servants and MPs requesting some feedback on what types of games they played, and failed to receive a single response.

National Videogame Archive co-founder Iain Simons was penning an article for The New Statesmen at the time, and, as detailed in GamesIndustry.biz, took the non-replies to indicate that “to be identified as a gamer (in 2006, at least) was incompatible with being a 'serious' civil servant or member of the Westminster set - be that journalist, MP or whatever."

After sending a second email offering anonymity, Simons stated that, “…this time lots of them got back in touch and came 'out' as gamers."

Simons added:

If the industry can get over its paranoia, and the 'establishment' can get over its often irrational reactionary standpoint toward games and gamers - we could start exploring the real value of the industry's contribution over and above what it brings to the GDP.

Posted in Gamer Shame Games & Culture Politicians Who Play Politics & Legislation U.K.

Comments

Re: Politicians Loathe to Admit That They Game

Submitted by DJRBK on Sat, 09/04/2010 - 19:36.

Back when I played MafiaWars, I had my state representative in my mafia, (he was even my Mastermind for a while.) Which made it really bizzare the day I checked my FB feed and it said "You have received a 'Crooked Politician' from..."

Re: Politicians Loathe to Admit That They Game

Submitted by Andrew Eisen on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 14:07.

“…this time lots of them got back in touch and came 'out' as gamers."

Great, so what types of games do they play? Any trends? If it's mostly Japanese dating sims, perhaps that's why they've been less than forthcoming.

Andrew Eisen

Re: Politicians Loathe to Admit That They Game

Submitted by Neeneko on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 13:45.

Ahm... what 'paranoia' would that be?

Shout box

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

Uncharted NES: Germany Says It Won't Sign ACTA [Update: ... Yet]- http://tinyurl.com/7r2twrg02/10/2012 - 11:21am

Andrew Eisen: Damn. Double Fine's Kickstarter fund has already passed a million dollars.02/09/2012 - 8:16pm

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

Andrew Eisen: Toki Tori has been added to the Humble Bundle for Android.02/09/2012 - 5:11pm

james_fudge: Thanks for the heads-up DorthLous02/09/2012 - 4:33pm

DorthLous: Will do, my apologies.02/09/2012 - 4:14pm

Andrew Eisen: I appreciate the heads up but please keep typo alerts to the specific article's comments or PMs.02/09/2012 - 3:33pm

DorthLous: The title says 30, but in the article, the developer says it's like a 20% net tax http://www.gamepolitics.com/2012/02/09/developers-call-facebook-currency-transaction-fee-thirty-percent-tax02/09/2012 - 2:43pm

Uncharted NES: If they actually release Final Fantasy XI for PlayStation Vita, then I will consider buying one.02/09/2012 - 12:13pm

Uncharted NES: Customers Petition Apple to End Worker Abuse with 250,000 signatures- http://tinyurl.com/6vpuom202/09/2012 - 11:28am

Uncharted NES: And in non-BREAKING news, Kotaku commentators can be real jerks.02/09/2012 - 11:22am

Andrew Eisen: Huh, saw that in the paper last Friday (or possibly over the weekend). Sad to say but people missing that long usually turn up dead. Sure hope that isn't the case.02/09/2012 - 2:12am

Andrew Eisen: I don't believe so. As I hear it, it's just a week-long promotion.02/09/2012 - 2:10am

Uncharted NES: Nintendo Employee Reported "Missing"- http://m.kotaku.com/5883562/nintendo-employee-reported-missing02/09/2012 - 1:50am

Uncharted NES: @andrew Hopefully it's the permanent price, though I'm not planning to upgrade anytime soon.02/09/2012 - 1:44am

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