Game Politics reported on an article on an extremely small fitness website that suggested that warning labels linking video games to obesity be placed on each game’s packaging. I have two problems with this story.
First up, the concept of adding warning labels to games because they cause obesity is absurd. Games don’t cause obesity, a lack of exercise, and bad dietary habits cause obesity. The article in question suggests that the video game industry should follow the standards set by the tobacco and alcohol industries, and label games as causing inactivity and obesity. The argument holds no water. Consuming tobacco can can lead directly to health problems such as lung cancer, and consuming alcohol can lead directly to liver and kidney problems, as well as making out with people you wouldn’t normally be attracted to at parties. There’s a direct cause and effect relationship between the product being consumed, and the dangers the label warns of. There’s no direct link between video games and obesity. Gaming is just one of many activities people enjoy when they could be working out. If you want to label video games as causing obesity, then here’s a list of other items that should also carry an obesity warning.
- food
- chairs
- TV
- books
- cars
- productivity software
- web browsers
- couches
- DVD’s
- beds
My second problem with this story is the high level of attention Game Politics is giving this story. The blog in question currently has an alexa rank of over 3 million, meaning that they likely get less than 20 hits per day – in other words, until GP drew attention to them, no one was reading their nonsense. By drawing undo attention to their argument, GP has given it weight. As a respected site in the video game community, I expect better from GP than to publish the opinions of any uninformed douchebag that happens to mention video games in their writings. Journalistic integrity is not limited expressly to printing the truth, and only the truth. Journalistic integrity also means that you know which stories to run with, and which ones are just inflammatory for the sake of being inflammatory and NOT running them. GP dropped the ball here, and I sincerely hope the gaming community doesn’t let them off the hook for it.
My second problem with this story is the high level of attention Game Politics is giving this story. The blog in question currently has an alexa rank of over 3 million, meaning that they likely get less than 20 hits per day – in other words, until GP drew attention to them, no one was reading their nonsense.
I just notified them after seeing this article ridiculing them
I think you’re over-conflating the amount of effect that GP has. They’re not Slashdot. I get linked every now and then from GP, and I’ve never had more than a couple hundred page views from it.
It’s not so much the traffic they’re giving the fitness blog (though a couple hundred hits is many times greater than their previous daily traffic), it’s more about GP giving merit to their opinion by publishing it. No government body, nor consumer watch dog group is calling for obesity warnings, this is just the opinion of a small time fitness blog. By publishing their words in a light that implies they have merit, GP is giving weight to them in the gaming community. It’s irresponsible of GP to post that blog’s opinions – by doing so they’ve given credit where no credit was due.
“No government body, nor consumer watch dog group is calling for obesity warnings,”
I suggest you look here:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/category/topics/obesity
While there is not a direct call for obesity warnings, there are plenty of government bodies and watchdog orgs making the connection between games and obesity.
I think the article in question is just part of the first wave of public outcry over the games cause obesity efforts.
“My second problem with this story is the high level of attention Game Politics is giving this story”
No offence but you wrote about 4 times more then GP did on the same story.
You know, I thought for a good long while about whether or not to even write anything about this. Ultimately, I decided that if GP was going to drag the topic out into the light, then I had a reason to address it. I still disagree with their decision to quote that fitness blog, but once something gets picked up by one major gaming site, it spreads to the rest, and becomes “news”, whether it deserves that title or not.
aqian100127
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