Yesterday, I covered convention floor of the Video Game Expo, which you can read here. This part covers the panel discussions and the movie Moral Kombat.
The first panel was the video game journalism panel, featuring “the Video Game Doctor” Bill Kunkel, Ray Ledda, VP of Ziff Davis and Susan Arendt of Wired’s Game|Life. There was some pretty good discussion of the direction of magazines, game reviews (they are going to be much shorter in future) and how Penny Arcade’s PAX gets the consumer convention right. Even the Q & A wasn’t too cringe-worthy. Got douchechills only two or three times, which is a near record.
After the panel, I had an amazing discussion with Kunkel, who was also the honored guest of the VGXPO, about the gaming biz, which for me was definitely the highlight of the entire experience.
A half hour after the panel, I moved to the theater for a showing of Moral Kombat, a documentary about violence in video games. Unfortunately, the movie was delayed for about a forty-five minutes because, as one staffer said “there was much expense paid and people flown in from all over the country for this and we want the theater to fill up” (there were only 40 – 50 people sitting in the theater at showtime). I took the time to speak with some people, including one guy who had taken a bus from Missouri with some friends to attend. I guess I shouldn’t bitch about the lack of shows in the Northeast. Finally, the movie began.
Moral Kombat, in brief, is a shallow documentary that is about a hour too long. The goal for Spencer Halpin, the film’s director, was to provide a balanced look at the debate over violence in video games. In his quest to maintain the balance, however, his documentary is only composed of a mashup of soundbites from the interviews he conducted. None the statements are analyzed, directly challenged or investigated. As an example, a statement like “there are studies that clearly shows that brain activity in teens is different than adults,” is only countered by “previous studies are inaccurate and we need new studies.” Well, what in the blue hell is the answer? At the very least, present those studies or some empirical evidence to allow the viewer to make some decision, other than “well yes, it looks like there is a point of contention.” Instead, the documentary moves along in its stream of consciousness manner, while bombarding the audience with numerous graphics and animation.
For some reason, while the key players are shown at times, the main visuals of the documentary are a montage of violent acts in video games, with the soundbites acting as voiceovers. For awhile, I thought the ghost of Raul Julia was trying to make me into a super-solider. When the violent images are not being shown, Halpin uses other computer animation, making the documentary look at times like a commercial for Lincoln Tech, DeVry or the Art Institute. After an hour of these images flashing in front of my eyes, I became numb, tired and uninterested in the constant stream of consciousness soundbites that were going absolutely nowhere.
While Halpin defines the battle lines of the video game debate, his efforts to maintain balance results in an unbearably long network nightly news story, without an organization and a complete lack of depth.
After Moral Kombat was the featured event of the VGXPO, a debate between lawyer/activist/(alleged) massacre chaser Jack Thompson and Lorne Lanning, creator of Oddworld, moderated by Newsweek’s N’Gai Crowl. As the debate was in the same theater as Moral Kombat, the organizers asked people to leave the theater so they could set up for the debate. Seeing that I was press and would be seated up front, I took the opportunity to scour the convention center for something to eat (which for me, ask Alex or Devin, is not the easiest thing to accomplish).
Upon my return, there was an excessive amount of security, which I assume was for the protection of Mr. Thompson, and a long line to get in the theater. Thirty minutes later (the standard delay time for the VGXPO), after being searched for weapons (seriously), we were finally ushered into the theater and instructed that video and pictures were banned (setting off a string of people taking pictures).
While I expected the Jack Thompson who has been alleged of multiple courtroom outbursts in recent years, the Jack Thompson on stage was softer spoken and maintained an appearance of civility. But to have the financial success Thompson has had, those qualities are a necessity so I shouldn’t have been surprised. After what was a decently civil debate, which actually allowed the interaction and depth Moral Kombat desperately needs, the Q & A began. That should have been my cue to head out. Basically, twenty five minutes of my life wasted as people stumbled over their questions. As the crowd applauded, I headed out.
In terms of consumer content the VGXPO was disappointing. From what I’ve heard and read, the cost of exhibiting was prohibitive for most smaller entities, which would have allowed the people, who I’ve seen squeezed into small corners of conventions, the space to allow consumers to actually experience their products. Also organization was a colossal problem. Every event began late and not even the invited guests knew what to do. Plainly unacceptable. While the VGXPO events had poor execution, they were rewarding (the movie to a lesser degree). While it was worth the trip for me (I got in for free), if I was one of those guys from Missouri, I’d be screaming bloody murder. Hopefully, the organizers will learn from this year and develop the VGXPO into a true gaming convention for the Northeast.
That’s all for now.