S2020VGBHF Opening Ceremonies - Remain Indoors!

[xyzzysqrl]

There is no E3 this year.

You know, that's probably for the best. This year (of all years) is the year we least need a big Games Industry Spectacle. We do not really need all that much attention focused on Big Money Gaming when things that actually matter are happening in Seattle and all around the US.

(Possibly around the world. I don't get out much.)

Instead of rolling around in the muck of Triple A Gamesoft, why not consider indie gaming as a viable option? The Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is a pay-over-$5 package of so many indie games I can't even name all the ones I've personally heard of.

The money you give to support the NAACP Legal Defense/Education fund and the bail pool for unjustly arrested protesters is more meaningful to actual people in need than anything you throw at a Steam sale or console this year.

That said.
Watching the games industry is kind of my THING. It's what I DO. I've bought that bundle. I've been watching all this unfold with my big bright blue eyes full of hope for a better, less-policed world.

(Have I mentioned fuck the police? Fuck the police, just sayin'.)

I need a break, so here's the deal: Instead of E3, there will be a series of streams and presentations. I will watch at least some of them and liveblog them for your convenience, until I get tired and forget.

I'm your host, a lovable pink fluffblob.
Welcome to the Sqrlmog 2020 Video Games Brand Hell Fiesta.

Comments

[penguinmayhem]

You know, I never stopped to think about the linguistical conundrum that my subculture is simultaneously asking for less police (as in screw the cops) but more policing (as in PLEASE MODERATE YOUR SOCIAL SPACES TO STOP HARASSMENT ALREADY) and it's mildly amusing to me.

Er, random tangent aside, please continue being adorable and excited about vidya gaems the world can always do with more of you.

[xyzzysqrl]

That makes sense to me at least. Community-policing and moderation isn't so much "I am a cop" as "We are taking care of this area because we have standards, and we stand against people who are bringing them down".

I feel it's a difference in approach and tone. Less "policing" and more "curation".

Other, smarter people can probably rouse a better argument than me here.

[kjorteo]

"What if we replace The Police(TM) with community-policing" is literally the discussion at least some corners of society are having right now in current-events world, and appears to be gaining traction in places like Minneapolis. So, you know. That's valid. Like, there are different types of "policing" and authority in general and maybe the problem is that the one we have right now kind of sucks.

Today's EV made a very good point about this.

[swordianmaster]

Yeah. What we need isn't Cops, what we need is trained social workers willing and able to negotiate and deescalate crisis situations. Almost every person will put down a gun if you ask them the right way.

The problem is instead that we gave the guns to the people that won't put them down, and use them to enforce hate.

why did we do that.

[kjorteo]

We were so afraid of the people who won't that we got into an arms race with them even at the cost of the people who will, I guess. "But how would you stop Ted Bundy though" tends to be where a lot of the Defund The Police discourse breaks down for people.

[swordianmaster]

That is what a military is for. The question is always going to be "who watches the watchmen", and the answer is always going to ultimately be that the people at the top should not have physical force but legal and economic power. The president doesn't carry a piece, after all.

Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite of Social Darwinism. That means that it's the path of most resistance for pretty much all of humanity, to the point that instead of having one military, America has two, one of which doesn't have to answer to anyone but themselves because they've convinced themselves that the only "right" is their own. The Geneva Conventions technically only apply in interactions between militaries, or between military and civilians, after all.