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Outside the White Box

More evidently now than ever before, games are more than just entertainment. Outside the White Box takes a look at the things affecting Xbox gamers on a day to day basis. Every week will feature stories revolving around a selected theme; from advances in technology to political perspective and the study of games as an art form, you’ll find it all right here.

Got something to say to me? You can always comment on my articles or send me an email at DickWard@XboxFocus.com. Your thoughts may be featured in future columns to come.

Column Day: Tuesday

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Columns List

• Debunking the "Halo" Death

  by Dick Ward September 16th 2008 4:09 PM CDT24 Comments

  “TRAGEDY AS KID PLAYS HALO, RE-CREATES ACTION WITH REAL GUN”.
  
  It’s a headline you might expect to see on Fox News, or perhaps read in some ill-informed newspaper, but no. This sensationalist title appeared on Kotaku. As the title states, accompanying this was a blip about how Joshua Nimm, an 11 year old child from Wisconsin, apparently killed himself while "imitating Halo".
  
  Again and again the generally, uninformed media write stories like this without any of the basics of reporting. Facts are completely ignored and wild speculation is reported as truth. Anyone who understands basic logical thinking or simply a person with a decent bullshit detector can see right through it, but sadly, not that many people are graced with such virtues. Sadly, the local paper you'd expect was not the only one guilty of poor reporting, but one of the gaming community’s most beloved sources for news played a role as well.
  
  The following is a response to an article written by the Watertown Daily Times; a small newspaper which reported on the story. Not a huge or reputable paper, I know, but accountability must lie somewhere, and it lies with the originator of the story. I’ve gone ahead and picked out the pertinent parts of this story for your reading pleasure. The same exact inaccuracies can be found in any other article/report on the topic in the media (and yes, even Kotaku), but I am just using this particular one as an example. Article quotes are italicized.
  
  
  
  
  “We are ruling that it is an accidental shooting,” Jefferson County Detective Sgt. Larry Lee said. “The child was getting ready for school and decided to skip school.”
  
  The kid’s eleven, and apparently he decided to skip school? The article seems to indicate that the boy was found by his father (it says with, but that’s just confusing), but doesn’t give any indication of when. Was the father home at the time? Why was he able to skip school after ‘deciding’ to? That's just not normal behavior.
  
  He was playing video games and we found out he had a .22 caliber rifle that belongs to him.
  
  I wonder which one of these was the real problem: the fact that an 11 year-old child was playing video games or that he had possession of a firearm. Really, a rifle that belongs to him? In Wisconsin (where this took place). a rifle can’t be owned by anyone under the age of 18. Giving a firearm to someone under the age of 18 is a felony and their possession is considered to be a misdemeanor.
  
  He had access to the rifle and a magazine was kept somewhere else by his parents. He was familiar with the rifle and had been shooting it a couple of times a month - he lived out in the country, so that was nothing unusual.”
  
  It should be unusual, according to that silly little law at least. Wisconsin law states that no one under the age of 12 is allowed to hunt with a firearm, even if they are accompanied by an adult. Leaving a firearm within the reach of a child under the age of 14 is a misdemeanor in itself, so fault goes to the parents.
  
  Lee said it appeared, following the department's investigation, that after playing a combat video game called “Halo,” Nimm took the gun and tried to recreate some of the things that had occurred in the game.
  
  Like the scene where Master Chief turns a gun on himself? The scene where the Arbiter eats a bullet? Is this some of the new DLC I haven't played yet?
  
  The more concerning thing here should be that someone apparently saw an 11 year old kid playing with a gun and ‘recreating scenes from Halo’ and did nothing about it. This isn’t some Nerf toy or even some “You’ll shoot your eye out” style BB gun. This is a .22, a gun created to kill things.
  
  Anyone that’s taken a firearm course can easily state the first rule of handling a gun: always point the gun in a safe direction. In other words, never point a gun at something unless you want to kill it. If you don’t know this bit, you shouldn’t have a gun (even though an 11 year-old shouldn't have a gun period).
  
  With an automatic rifle, Lee said there can sometimes be confusion over whether it contains a magazine or not, and this confusion likely led to Nimm's death.
  
  This just gets confusing. The kid had a fully automatic .22? Unless I’m mistaken, fully automatic weapons are generally illegal in the US without special permits. So apparently, this rifle that belonged to an 11 year old boy is also fully automatic.
  
  “He took the magazine out and forgot to eject a round that was in the chamber. He probably thought the gun was unloaded,” Lee said.
  
  Again, we go back to the rules. “always treat a gun as if it is loaded.” It’s a pretty steadfast rule that anyone allowed near a gun should know. I’m not saying it’s the kid’s fault, I’m just saying he apparently had no idea how to take care of a weapon that was reportedly his. You really can't expect someone so young to know so in the first place.
  
  Sgt. Larry Lee said the incident shows the need for extreme safety with firearms. “The safety issue with weapons is so important. People should always treat them like they are loaded,” he said.
  
  See? The cop says so too.
  
  Nimm was a student at Johnson Creek Middle School. Funeral arrangements are pending at Hafemeister Funeral Home in Watertown.
  
  
  
  
  Here's the dark reality: a child is dead because was in reach of a gun, with a complete lack of education and security on handling firearms. Parental neglect certainly took a front seat in this one. Not only was Joshua left alone from school, but he was somehow able to access a fully automatic rifle as well as ammunition for the gun.
  
  Additionally, if there were indeed no witnesses, then the Halo link is one of two options. The first is that this link is mere speculation, having absolutely nothing to do with the story and was just brought up by a bad reporter for no reason. This is the best possible option: propaganda is the media's bread and water these days.
  
  The second and worst, is that the parents may have known of the child’s propensity to ‘reenact Halo’ with a real firearm and apparently did nothing about it. This is the thought that makes me sick to my stomach.
  
  Obviously, this situation is bad: a child is dead and it’s a horrible tragedy. His family and members of community must be reeling from this, and certainly should be. This is a terrible occurrence, one that should never, ever, have to happen. None the less, this isn’t an excuse for journalistic integrity to go out the window though.
  
  The article didn’t outright implicate games in the accidental death, but they mentioned them enough for people to make the link. People like Luke Plunkett of Kotaku, who should really know better, picked up the story and reported it as a Halo related death. Garbage like this can cripple our industry. and spits on journalism. If gaming sites post this stuff up, then how far can the mainstream keep going?
  
  Rest in Peace, Joshua.
  
  
• Your Influence on Developers

  by Dick Ward August 18th 2008 3:34 PM CDT2 Comments

  To hardcore players, this question may sound ridiculous, but do game developers have too much fan feedback? Obviously, there are many that don’t, and won’t, take any of it seriously. For others, it’s their main source of feedback. While some may consider this new trend to be a perfect example of exactly what the industry should be, maybe in some cases the fans have just a bit too much influence.
  
  With the release of Too Human, a lot of the attention that should be going to the game is instead going to the very outspoken president of Silicon Knights, Denis Dyack. He’s got views on everything and he’s not afraid to share them, but there’s much speculation that Dyack’s rants and social experiments may have done more harm than good.
  
  Dyack seems to find the time to respond to any and all criticism that his game receives. He not only speaks out about the state of review and preview coverage of games, but against the way fans judge games as well. For those that aren’t familiar, Dyack’s diatribes, while often a bit convoluted, are really interesting reads, and I highly recommend finding them. If he were a journalist or just a message board dweller, he certainly wouldn’t get the kind of press he does for his posts, but he wouldn’t get in the same problematic situations either.
  
  
  
• HD Elitism

  by Dick Ward August 13th 2008 1:26 AM CDT2 Comments

  If anything was revealed at Microsoft’s E3 press conference, it’s that no market is going left untapped. From the casual to hardcore, and with the coming price drops, every economic level is being tapped as customers for the Xbox 360. But are developers shooting themselves in the foot by excluding those that haven’t made the HD jump yet?
• Fighting Evolution

  by Dick Ward August 5th 2008 6:20 PM CDT1 Comments

  Videogames are easily the most rapidly evolving form of entertainment available today. Movies from 2003 are pretty much the same as movies from 2008, but with staggering generational leaps in all aspects, games from five years ago just don’t hold up. Not only is the graphical difference staggering, but gameplay, online capability, customization and even storytelling have changed drastically. Why is it then that fighting games have failed to evolve?
  
  Don’t get me wrong, I love playing fighting games. I remember in high school I’d invite my friends over and get into a sort of mini tournament. We’d get some Cokes and a few pizzas and have a ton of fun, especially if I managed to squeeze out a victory. I’m not in high school anymore though, and though I can toast my friends in Team Fortress 2 without any problems, and we can still play Starcraft, there’s not a fighting game available with satisfactory online play.
  
  
  
• Five Wanted Xbox Originals

  by Dick Ward August 1st 2008 2:23 PM CDT3 Comments

  Say what you will about Xbox Originals, but I absolutely love them. Getting to play the greatest games of the console’s last generation without having to jump on eBay or give my money to Gamestop is fantastic. There’s something missing though. Well, five things, and big ones too.
• Debunking Anti-Game Propaganda

  by Dick Ward July 29th 2008 11:30 AM CDT1 Comments

  Recently a news station, Local 6 out of Orlando, posted a story on their website that they claimed linked games and pedophilia. In fact, it claims that there are games in which children earn points through sending naked pictures of themselves to adults. The article has been written without evidence or actual fact, merely strung together quotes to prove a point, and is clearly without merit. Regardless, I'm going to go ahead, take it and break down piece by piece.
• Xbox Focus Best of E3 Awards

  by Dick Ward July 22nd 2008 12:37 AM CDT2 Comments

  

  
  E3’s over and what was only days ago a manic rush of activity here at Xbox Focus has returned to work as usual.  Still fairly manic of course, but with a hint of sadness that the largest event in gaming has past by and been so, well, uneventful.  Surely there will be reflections later this week about the state of E3, where it is and where it should be, but let us not mourn for fire breathing booth babes, let us instead celebrate what E3’s really all about.   I’d like to present the Xbox Focus “Best of E3 Awards”.
• Live Blog from E3: Day 2

  by Dick Ward July 15th 2008 12:42 AM CDT2 Comments

  
  Well, semi live anyway, since Nintendo decided not to give us any wifi for the show. Honestly though, you didn't miss much. They announced a lot of stuff that everyone knew was coming and while they really seemed to impress some of the people in the audience, I'd call the press conference a dud. The only thing interesting is that the Wii is finally emerging into the online age with Animal Crossing. Live online chat? Welcome to 2005. Keep checking back for hands on reports of the latest from Sega and THQ as well as summaries from press conferences and the show floor throughout the day!
  
  Met with Warner Bros first thing in the morning and was really impressed by what they had to offer. Lego Batman improves greatly over the earlier games by offering not only a new and exciting IP to work off of, but by introducing a wide range of heroes and villains each with their own unique special moves. The Joker has a joy buzzer and twin pistols, Mr. Freeze has his freeze gun, and The Riddler can hypnotize enemies. Batman may have the coolest of all with the addition of the Batarang.
  
  Using a simple targeting system, players can select multiple enemies and objects to map out its path. I was given the opportunity to go hands on with this one, so I’ll have much more later on.
• The Finer Points

  by Dick Ward July 14th 2008 8:09 PM CDT1 Comments

  
  
  
  So by now you've read/watched/heard all the coverage of the Microsoft press conference. You know about Final Fantasy XIII, and you've seen the Fallout and Gears videos. I'm going to go ahead and break down some of the more overlooked points of the conference to try and offer a bit of insight as to why they matter..
  
  The overall theme of the conference was one of "Something for Everyone", and Microsoft was quick to state that just because the casual audience is getting bigger doesn't mean that the hardcore crowd won't be satisfied too. The whole affair was constructed very well, and made sure not to alienate anyone. It's this kind of forethought that shows how much Microsoft's core demographic means to them. They started with the long awaited sequel Fallout 3, showing a lot of respect for gaming's traditional successes.
• Live Blogging from E3

  by Dick Ward July 13th 2008 3:01 PM CDT56 Comments

  
  July 14th 2008 will either go down as a great day for Microsoft, or as a major dissapointment. At 10:30 AM PT, the official Microsoft E3 Press Conference begins. Though there have been many information leaks running wild, Microsoft promises surprises for the Xbox community. Could we see some new Halo game, or will Microsoft unveil the long rumored motion? Dick Ward will be there at Los Angeles, LIVE, and blogging from the show. Stay tuned!
  
  
  Schedule
  
  -10:00 AM Pacific Time: Live blogging begins
  
  -10:15 AM Pacific Time: Pre-conference predictions.
  
  -10:30 AM: Press Conference Begins
  
  -Stay tuned for Dick's blog, right here!

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