Tag: ComicPop Library

Posted on

Still Outcry on Video Games

More are getting on the band wagon against video games, this time its Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA).  This happened with the comic book medium in the 1950’s.  Excerpts from the article by Betsy Gomez follows:

The Hill reported on Grassley’s comments, during which Grassley mentioned Call of Duty: Modern Warfare specifically because Anders Behring Breivik, the Norway mass shooter, cited the game as a training tool. During his statement, Grassley asked, “Where is the artistic value in shooting innocent civilians?” He further stated that he shared Vice President Biden’s disbelief in manufacturer claims that video games do not have an impact on real world violence.

Scientific evidence does not support Grassley’s (or Vice President Biden’s) conclusion. The Washington Post‘s Max Fisher recently looked at the statistics related to gun violence in the countries with the highest rate of violent video game usage and found that the United States was a statistical outlier in a trend that actually shows a slight decrease in gun violence as per capita video game usage increases. Further, Kotaku examined 25 years of video game research, looking at both sides of the argument in an article that ultimately supports the idea that there is a lack of scientific evidence supporting a link between violent video games and gun violence.

http://cbldf.org/2013/02/another-senator-blames-video-games-for-violence/

Posted on

Soul Sacrifice Trailer

The PlayStation Japan YouTube channel has begun streaming the trailer for the PlayStation Vita game, Soul Sacrifice.  This might be one that you want to consider for your video gaming collections.  It will be available in Japan March 7, North America April 30, and Europe May 1.

Posted on

Gaming Ban in NJ Library

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has signed a letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship to the Paterson Free Public Library in Paterson, New Jersey.  The letter was sent in response to the library banning the play of first-person shooters on library computers.

The letter takes library officials to task for subscribing to the same unsupported views that led to video game bans in Massachusetts, a presidential recommendation and proposed bill mandating research on video games and violence, and the fallacious claim by one senator that video games are a “bigger problem” than guns. NCAC writes in their letter:

The library has not offered any sound justification for removing access to specific games. Instead, according to published reports, librarians are taking this action to “prevent our kids from learning these behaviors.’’ This assumes that viewers will simply imitate behaviors represented in fictional settings without any independent mental intermediation, a proposition that is palpably false and that the library implicitly rejects by offering access to all sorts of internet sites and maintaining a varied collection of books, magazines, videos and other materials.

The letter further points out that the library is not allowed to selectively ban access to printed materials that are protected by the Constitution, so they cannot do so with video games. Further, library officials are not allowed to remove protected materials simply because they do not like them.

Further, the ban applies to patrons of all ages, including adults, thus violating their First Amendment rights.

Follow the link below to the full article and letter that was sent by the National Coalition Against Censorship:

http://cbldf.org/2013/02/cbldf-signs-letter-protesting-video-game-ban-in-nj-library/

 

Posted on

Y.A.L.S.A. Top Ten Graphic Novels

The YALSA 2012 Top Ten List is:
  1. My Friend Dahmer (Abrams)
  2. Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atom Bomb (Hill and Wang/FSG)
  3. Anne Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller (Disney/Hyperion)
  4. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol. 1 (Marvel)
  5. Friends With Boys (First Second)
  6. A Flight of Angels (Vertigo)
  7. The Silence of Our Friends (First Second)’
  8. Stargazing Dog (NBM)
  9. Drama (Scholastic)
  10. Daredevil Vol.1 (Marvel)
Posted on

Sickness in the Air

For all of you that noticed that the updates have been few and spotty I apologize.  The flu hit our house and we are still recovering…..Logan has had it for a month now and I am starting my third week of the flu.  To anyone else that is sick out there….May we all get well soon!

Posted on

Ep 1 of ComicPop MiniCast: Ginger and the Ghost

Hello everyone and welcome to a ComicPop MiniCast.  This recording was during Episode 30, but we had to drop it from the show due to time restraints.  Therefore, we are putting it up as a MiniCast.

In this MiniCast the ComicPop Crew received an e-mail from Caitlin Pasko, of the MuseBox.  The MuseBox has been keeping our blog appraised of indy music artists and the product they are producing.  Caitlin asked the Crew what we thought of a particular artist they represent, Ginger and the Ghost.

The ComicPop Crew gives our feedback on Ginger and the Ghost’s “One Type of Dark”.  The intro and outro for the MiniCast features another of Ginger and the Ghost’s songs “Where Wolf”.

 

Ep 1 of ComicPop MiniCast: Ginger and the Ghost

 

http://themusebox.net/ – website for the MuseBox

https://www.facebook.com/gingerandtheghost – Ginger and the Ghost’s Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ComicPop-Library/135675669828474 – ComicPop Library’s Facebook Page