72 hour J!NX sale! Get your Jace Hall Show Shirt NOW!
Friday, 28th May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: cool, elite, Jace Hall Show, jinx, sale, shirt, shirts, todd has huge pecs
Written by: Jace Hall
This just in:
J!NX is having a 72 hour sale, 25% off all products! Stop by and pickup your favorite JHS Tee. Use promo code JHS25OFF during checkout.
STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND GET YOUR SHIRT NOW! PROVE THAT YOU ARE L337 and C00L ‘n Stuff!!
-Jace
Ask Jace: GYM TIP #1
Wednesday, 26th May 2010Posted in Ask Jace, Blog Archive
Tags: Ask Jace, bodybuilding, diet, exercise, fitness, health, Ian Somerhalder, marathon, motivation, powerlifting, Vampire diaries, watchmen
Written by: Jace Hall
A recent message from my inbox that I thought was worth answering in a more public fashion!
Name Mike Rastall Subject Screw the game industry…whats your diet! Message Love the show, your humor, and all that jazz. Sure I’m a hardcore gamer but I’m also an obese american that was grown up on video games and that we all are nerds/fat/freaks compared to normal society. Now I don’t feel that way anymore(26 years old now) but still you give hope to a hardcore gaming nerd with your fitness.
Did you ever post your diet and workout routine anywhere?
Any advice on how to motivate gamers that want to get in shape but lack the proper motivation?
I try to throw out the advice that they should pretend that the gym and real life is a video game like WoW. Each pound you lose or each minute longer you can run is a level gained in life. When you achieve your master weight, strength, endurance(whatever your goal) is when you max out!
Keep it up Jace. Love V but love your show more.
P.S. Is Ian Somerhalder cool like Boone and Damon from his TV shows or is he one of those metrosexual actors that just know how to act like a bad ass? Lol.
Dear Mike,
I have never fully discussed or published what I do for my diet or exercise routines. This is partly because I am not a certified trainer or anything and partly because I don’t really think I have any secrets that aren’t mentioned a million times in different ways all over the internet already.
However, there ARE a few things that I can tell you that may be useful in general – and these are things that for some reason I rarely hear “expert” people discuss. I’ll leave it to you to speculate on why that is…
Insight #1 - You should have ZERO expectation of actually enjoying working out and dieting. I can tell you most definitely that I do not enjoy it. I don’t wake up every morning looking forward to putting myself through unpleasantness, strain, exhaustion and hunger. I have met and know MANY superfit, magazine cover, awesome-smiling, happy-looking, life-must-be-amazing people who diet and work out every day – who absolutely do not enjoy the actual acts of exercising or dieting. What they enjoy, is THE RESULTS THAT COME FROM IT.
Now certainly, there are certain types of people who like pain, discomfort and general self-inflicted suffering of various types, but I am not one of those people and you probably aren’t either. I like to eat BIG and gobble yummy foods and sit around and CHILL. The problem is that if I do that too much, I will not enjoy the way that I physically appear, and I will not be pleased with my compromised physical capabilities.
So when people try to motivate you and say crap like “imagine like the gym is a video game you play” and basically try to sell you on the idea that exercise is fun and easy, just tell them to piss off with that BS. You hate the process, and the fact is they probably do too. They aren’t really being honest.
What is honest then? Well, I think the honest truth is that it is a simple decision you have to make about what you HATE MORE.
If you hate the way you look, or how you physically perform, MORE THAN how much you hate dieting and exercising – then that is all the motivation you really need. Because frankly, you are going to have one or the other.
To make it easier, I would encourage you to develop a viewpoint of dieting and exercising as an unpleasant absolute necessity with no option to avoid. Sort of like going to the bathroom or paying taxes. Learn to enjoy hating the process and hating the fact that you have to do it. Master the art of complaining about it to yourself and make every exercise session that you complete an additional burning ember of internal hatred at the universe for making difficult dieting and exercise the key to the body you want instead of 5 glazed donuts + Super Street Fighter IV every day.
It is important that you believe that this is something YOU HAVE TO DO – NOT CHOOSE TO DO. Consistency is key to progress. When you absolutely do not feel like exercising, TOO BAD, go to the gym and just stand there and look at people then – but GO TO THE GYM. More likely than not, once you get there you will do something, which is better than nothing at all, which is not even an option, because like taking a crap, you MUST do this…
If you can set your expectations in this manner, I promise, diet and exercise will be less difficult to do. This is because you will successfully remove some mental disappointment from the equation. No longer will you be looking for an “easy way” or to somehow “feel good” while doing it. You will know that it sucks and it will meet your expectation every time. Eventually you will learn that the harder and more intense and miserable you make your diet and exercise, the faster you will achieve your goals and the less time you will have to spend doing it (but that is another article.)
Insight #2 – KNOW WHY YOU ARE DIETING AND EXERCISING.
There are two entirely different ways to optimize your time spent on diet and exercise: (1) To improve your health and fitness OR (2) To alter the way that you physically look.
If you are looking to achieve a result as fast as possible, CHOOSE ONE NOT BOTH and orient your exercise and diet program for it.
Now certainly, when you choose one, you will get some positive effect toward the other – but in order to make sure that you aren’t wasting one second of your effort and that everything you do takes you toward your goal, you MUST be clear as to what your priority is – HEALTHY AND FIT? OR THE WAY YOU LOOK? These are very different approaches.
Almost ALL of my knowledge and orientation is focused on the art and technique of affecting the way that I look. All of my workouts revolve around this paradigm, as well as my diet.
I don’t care how strong I am. I have no desire to run a marathon. Who cares how high I can jump…? I don’t. I want to look / appear like the comic book and film/tv action heros I grew up watching and that is the target I head toward. So my diet and exercise follow that pursuit.
Now the fact that my pursuit has had the side effect of making me stronger than the average person, or quicker or whatever doesn’t matter to me. If I cared about that and that was supposed to be my goal, my time at the gym doing what I have been doing would be considered wasted. This is because there are many people who look “smaller” and more “normal” than I do who are faster, can jump higher, and are stronger because that was their primary focus instead of “looking” impressive.
Professional bodybuilders look FAR more impressive than professional powerlifters, yet the powerlifters are MUCH stronger than bodybuilders. In fact, I’m almost positive that the “World’s Strongest Man” title has never been held by a professional bodybuilder. Again, Bodybuilding is about a “look” whereas strength competitions are about power. Two different goals.
My point is that your focus is very important in determining what you should spend your time on.
There are many people who look “normal” that are incredibly healthy and can run 10 miles no problem and feel great. This pursuit of fitness like this is just as valid as looking like a “hero” arch-type. There is no one answer. It is all good.
I could elaborate on this further but the main takeaway on my insight here is that you will get more bang for your buck if you recognize that working out for optimal “looks”is one thing, and working out “to just be healthy” is another. Try not to confuse them together completely.
My 2 cents!
Oh, and yes Ian Somerhalder is a very cool dude to hang out with.
-Jace
Jace Hall Show Update! New episodes coming!
Monday, 24th May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: ABC, CHADAM, david hasslehoff, gary coleman, Jace Hall show new episodes, SSIV, Street Fighter, Super Street Fighter IV, tron legacy, V, world of warcraft
Written by: Jace Hall
Greetings to all.
Very sorry for my absence. Just been super busy trying to get our gameplan figured out!
We are asked over and over again when new episodes of the Jace Hall Show may be coming, and the good news is that Todd and I are going to figure that out this week!
Our discussions with IGN are great and it looks like we will be able to also make the show available to “take with you” via mobile download solutions as well.
We have been brainstorming as to what kind of cool and exciting things we are going to include in these new episodes and the suggestions that we have been receiving from everyone have been very helpful. We definitely read them all and consider them – so please keep them coming!
We have decided to go with shorter episodes, but more of them so that we can keep the show going and going with new stuff. Hopefully people will like the modified format. We’ll see. Please trust that we are doing our best.
As for other things we are doing here at the HDFILMS offices… here is a simple list:
1.) We have been developing FIVE(5) full-scale television show concepts/pitch documents. If you have not had to do this before, believe us when we say that it is a LOT of work to develop just ONE, let alone FIVE. I can’t tell you what these show’s are, but since you know that ABC’s “V” television show was developed here by us, you can rest assured that the shows we are working on are epic and awesome.
2.) We have been working on the AWESOME new Street Fighter ANTHEM song and have begun planning the music video shoot. We want it to be better than the “I PLAY W.O.W” song/video (which is almost up to 1.5mm views on youtube alone btw) and it looks like we are going to be able to pull it off. Fingers crossed. At the moment, Capcom itself is reviewing the song and initial feedback is that they think it is SUPREMELY AWESOME. Stay tuned.
3.) We have been putting the finishing touches on CHADAM which is a completely computer animated film for the internet ONLY that was entirely created in the UNREAL 3 video game engine. I cannot begin to tell you how awesome it is and how it is going to forever change the animation landscape because people are going to really see what a small group of people can do at home with nothing but hard work and a copy of any game that uses UNREAL 3, like Bioshock and etc. This project is going to be put out into the world by our great partners at Warner Bros. so please keep an eye out for information about it. More is coming soon!
Obviously, there is more that we have been doing but we can’t give everything away! Just want you all to know that we are doing our best to not only continue the Jace Hall Show and make it better, but also create other cool and awesome stuff for you as well.
More updates soon!
-Jace
Where were you 30 years ago this weekend?
Saturday, 22nd May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: Empire Strikes Back memories
Written by: Todd Roy
If you were like me, you were getting your child brain blown up by the Empire
This is the greatest movie ever made in my book. (well maybe)
Character, imagination, drama, music, special effects, twists, and sacrifice all played out perfectly among our heros. I saw Empire when I was 9. It was the first time in a movie theater, I actually had ominous feeling that permeated the entire viewing. A foreboding for the cast came over me…like nothing ever had before. I was scared for our heros. Seriously! They just kept getting f’d up worse and worse as the movie went on. Pure awesome. Sometime I like to think it would be cool to show my 6 year old nephew the trilogy spoiler free. But with the fricken horrible prequels everywhere, he already thinks stormtroopers are good guys. WTF!!!!@!!#@
Anyways, any Empire memories? - Todd
Wanna see a 5-year old video of me with Cosplayers?
Friday, 21st May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: Fanime, Jace Hall, kung fu, Kwoon, Todd Roy
Written by: Todd Roy
I dont’ want to either really but here it is damn it!
WTF IS THIS?
Back in 1999 I made a kung fu web series, it was a kind of an expensive hobby. For promotion and to try and meet hot chicks, I would go to conventions – even had the series on DVD so I could sell it and make money to buy food. Sometimes I would go to conventions and not even know what the con was about…as with the Fanime convention in the above video. Funny side note, it was during the processes of making these kung fu flicks back around 2000 that Jace found the series online. That is how we met, and now, 10 years later, Jace has brought me here to Warner Bros with him and he gets to see me every day. Kind of a dream come true for him me thinks!
Enjoy – Todd
Ask Jace: How To Break Into The Video Game Industry Tip #1
Saturday, 15th May 2010Posted in Ask Jace, Blog Archive
Tags: Ask Jace, business advice, game design, game development, game industry, game making, game publishing, how to break into the video game industry, how to make games, keys to success, Monolith Productions
Written by: Jace Hall
MO'MONEY MO'MONEY MO'MONEY!
I often get asked how one should go about getting a video game idea they have made, or how to get a start in the game industry. I thought I should just try to answer the below e-mail I received the other day on my blog so that anyone who was interested in asking me this could hear what I have to say on the subject:
Name Mike
Breaking into the Industry Message
First, I would like to start off by saying “Thank You” for the Jace Hall Show. For awhile my only means of video game news/entertainment was the G4 network, which is good for what it is, but the majority of the hosts are not gamers and have not worked in the video game industry, so I feel somewhat disconnected from them on that aspect (But I’ll be damned if some of them aren’t hot!!).
I’ve been a gamer since my first nintendo in 1986, and I’ve played so many games over my lifetime I’ve begun in the past 15 years or so to heavily critique games in the genres I love, mainly RPG and Turn Based Strategy games. So much so that in the past few years I’ve been working on what I would call a “Video Game Screenplay”. Basically I have written down everything I want in a game, and how I would like to have it made. I know it sounds childish to some point since I’m going on 28, but it’s a hobby to me, and one that I enjoy immensely. Which brings me to why I’m writing you. I have basically written an entire video game (story, battle engine, character devlopment, etc.), and I’m wondering how to go about possibly presenting this idea to a perspective company for production. Think along the lines of Final Fantasy Tactics (in my opinion the greatest turn based strategy game ever). I think that many of the greatest games ever will go uncreated simply because most people with the ideas (gamers like myself) don’t know what channels to funnel their ideas through. I understand that companies hire programmers, artists and writers, but how do you produce credentials and a video game creator, the person that decides “THIS” is the game we are going to create. The field has just become so lucrative and expansive, unlike 25 years ago when a person with a good idea could get a game made with minimal prodcution expense compared to today. Will companies take a chance on an idea from an outside source, or is the little guy with big ideas forced to create facebook and flash games?
Any insight that you could provide on this matter would be appreciated greatly (I need something to do with the 100 page binder I’ve amassed over the years).
Thanks Jace,
Mike
Dear Mike,
While I can imagine that a tremendous amount of thought and work has gone into your game design idea, the short answer is that, generally speaking, the video game industry is not set up to easily digest and process “outside pitches” that come from individuals with little to no proven game design/creation experience.
There are many reasons for this but here are just a couple of easy-to-describe reasons:
1.) The video game industry is not short on ideas. Go to ANY game company and within its walls you will find individual employees with numerous concepts, ideas, stories, even functional prototypes / proof of concepts that they have built themselves. Ideas are plentiful and a lot of them are great. YET, they do not get made. This is because while the ideas are many, the number of people available on Earth who can actually MAKE THE GAME is incredibly limited.
This is not even a question of money, of which there is plenty of. It is an actual physical limitation of having access to human beings that know how to take an idea and forge it into reality on a Playstation 3 or XBOX 360 (or whatever.) Currently, the demand far exceeds the supply.
One of the toughest challenges that any sizeable video game publisher has to face is how to fulfill and execute on all the ideas they already have. Video games can take years to build, so any decision is not only a big economic one but also one that ties up valuable human resources for extended periods of time. The video game industry is constantly facing an issue that is referred to as “opportunity cost.” If they make this game today, they can’t make that other one tomorrow – they just wont have the capacity. Publishers have a finite number of game development teams.
This is a key differential from Hollywood. In Hollywood, although the production investments can be enormous, generally the physical supply of talent to create film and television programing exceeds the demand of the number of available productions (one of the huge advantages of having a fixed final delivery platform of ”film”, instead of having to literally re-invent everything every 5-7 years when the consoles “upgrade” – but more on that in a different article!) On top of this, the bulk of most film’s heavy spending and en masse team work is measured in months, not years. So key talent can get in and out of a production and be available to work on something else. This creates the opportunity of more and more productions of varying sizes and types and eventually over 80+ years time the need for new ideas wherever they might come from since they have used up every internal idea imaginable and still have capacity.
The video game industry is not there yet. Instead, imagine if Will Smith signed on to a movie and simply could not work on anything else for over 3 years. Key, bankable actors being tied up for 3 years at a time would have a profound impact on the film industry. Some things would be quite limited and different. Welcome to the video game industry!
2.) Given the above points (and many others I don’t have time to articulate) it just does not make a lot of sense for publishers to open the front doors and let inexperienced people come in and pitch game ideas. On top of that there are numerous considerations that must go into a game design that relates to the actual limitations of not only the current hardware technology, but also the particular software technology that an individual publisher uses or has developed and it is very unlikely that an inexperienced designer would know to design with those considerations in mind.
Due to all this, the current business model really doesn’t support the notion of buying random external “game designs” and then doing all the heavy lifting to make the idea into a product.
There are many other factors that I could go into, and I’m sure there will always be some exception to the rule, but I’m going to stop describing the obstacles and now I am going to tell you what you CAN do to possibly make some headway with your efforts.
2 SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN TRY:
Option 1.) One of the points that I made above is the scarcity of competent development resources in the video game industry. Publishers look left and right to find independent developers that demonstrate capacity and promise and they quickly engage them with projects and determine if a longer term relationship might make sense (i.e. BUYING THE DEVELOPER.)
Given this publisher need, you can use it to your advantage – your challenge is to approach DEVELOPERS with your idea/design instead of PUBLISHERS and convince them that you have something amazing. Among many things (like budgeting) a developer will be able to examine your design and if there are technical problems with it (unfeasibility, etc.) they will know what can be done (or not done about it.)
IF you can get a developer to get excited about your design, it will be UP TO THEM to take it to publishers and engage them.
A competent developer with a track record, and an idea they are passionate about will get the attention of a publisher, I assure you. At that point, you will be in the game and have a chance.
Now, I am not sure of the size and scope of your game design, but if you are targeting premium AAA game production as your end result (like GEARS OF WAR), to be honest, most competent developers with worthwhile track records that could do that job, will likely not be interested in speaking with you. They are busy. Forever. Seriously.
So, if you are going to take this direction, aim high, but set your expectations more toward finding a smaller, perhaps somewhat unproven independent developer that is looking to make it big. It is possible that they have been so busy doing grunt-work just to survive as a business that they may not ever have had time to develop a full-super-big game development idea and document. It is possible that you might just walk in and provide the missing piece they’ve been looking for!
You’ll never know until you try.
Option 2.) Build your own game team and make the game yourself. I’m not going to go into the detail of how to completely do this (I’ll save it for my book!) – but basically you need to find other people with the necessary complimentary talents who are as hungry as you are and work together toward the common goal of creating the game. Everyone will need to contribute, everyone will need to sacrifice, and everyone will need to cooperate. They may be inexperienced, or poor communicators, or whatever, but as long as they share your passion to see it through, you will all be successful. I promise. I know this because this is the route I took to enter the game industry. I founded MONOLITH PRODUCTIONS INC. with 4 of my friends when I was 23 years old. The rest is history!
I know this is not an all encompassing answer to your questions – but I hope it helped a little. In the end, I can tell you that there is no single way to break into the games business, but it all starts just by making the attempt – which you have done by sitting down and writing your game design document – KEEP GOING – try anything – define yourself by what you CAN do and not by what you CAN’T.
-Jace
Awwww! A New Pogo video is up!
Friday, 14th May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: Pogo
Written by: Todd Roy
Don’t know who or what Pogo is? You are in for a treat! Basically he is this kid in Australia that takes movies sounds and voices along with his own base lines and …well makes magic! Click here to see his youtube channel. Yes I am a fan. This latest video of his is a bit different. He uses real world sounds and his moms voice – a mothers day gift from a very talented young man.
Check out the one he did for HOOK Movie!
Part of the reason I love this stuff so much is that here is a kid, that is creating a new art form that 5 years ago, might not have been as possible (it certainly would not have reached millions of folks it has to day then) This kid has had access to cheap powerful computers, software, HD cameras and world wide distribution via youtube, tools that he essentially grew up with. It never occurred to him that this can’t be done – it was obvious. Now, me on the other hand, well I’m up there in the years and creative innovation like what this kid is doing would be harder for me to see, which is also part of the enjoyment I get out of watching his videos.
Please let me know what you think, I would be very curious to hear from first time viewers of his content!
THX Todd
Executive Producer Jace Hall’s “V” TV series gets a Second Season!!!
Friday, 14th May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: ABC, anna, elizabeth mitchell, Jace Hall, laura vandervoort, logan huffman, morena baccarin, renewed, second season, TV series, V
Written by: Jace Hall
This just in…
After solid ratings gains this week (14% in the adults 18-49 demo), V is being renewed for next season. Lizards rule!
http://www.deadline.com/2010/05/primetime-pilot-panic-abc-renews-v/
For those that are unaware, I am one of the Exectuive Producers of the show “V” on ABC and actually was the primary person (along with Jamie O’brien Moore) who re-imagined the franchise and championed it through the entire sales process – so it is very rewarding to see the show make it to a successful second season and also see so many other people get great opportunities with this show.
It is also just awesome to make something like this and know that an audience is enjoying all that work! That really is the point of it all when it comes right down to it. YAY!
-Jace
Facebook’s Fail Privacy Timeline
Sunday, 9th May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Written by: Todd Roy
Lately I have been adjusting my online diet to reduce Facebook time. Mainly because I am tired of getting emotinally involved with cute single girls only to find out they are big fat men pretending to be cute girls. As if that was not reason enough, I came across this article with a timeline of Facebook’s Bad Polic
PEOPLE LIKE SECRETS DAMN YOU FACEBOOK!
How many of you have gone through the privacy settings in your facebook and found out that there were things set up in ways that you might not be to happy about? Please do share…or just share your Facebook horror stories!
- THX Todd
The Fap is High with this One
Tuesday, 4th May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: boobies, Hot Bloned Chick. Vagina weight lifting, Jace Hall Show, Todd Roy, Yoga
Written by: Todd Roy
Every day I discovery many cool new things on the internet that I never thought possible or even heard of – laser jackets, out of controld satellites ,stories about amazing awesome people. Then I found this video!!!
Must Not Fap!
Until today, I didn’t know this was possible! In all my experiences, this never occured to me. I see now that I limited my imagination in a highly critical key dimention of my life. You see, I think of myself as creative and inventive, (an aspect of this process can be seen in The Jace Hall Show I like to think) but by coming across this video demonstrating a technique that until now never crossed my mind reveals to me that I do have creative blind spots. Every day is indeed an adventure of self discovery and my universe has truly expanded – Thanks internet! And thank you hot blonde chick in the blue silky pants that I guess must be crochless! I hope YOU read this and find me on Facebook!
KTHXBYE,
-Todd
New Jace Hall EPISODES??? HERE’S THE SCOOP!
Monday, 3rd May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: dvd, episodes, I play WOW, IGN, new jace hall show episodes, newbie, noob, noobs, suggestions
Written by: Jace Hall
OK – We’ve been getting A LOT of requests for more Jace Hall Show Episodes.
Here is the latest:
We are in discussions with IGN as we speak in regard to how and when we are going to bring more episodes to you.
IGN wants them, we want to do them – and so it is merely a matter of figuring out the best way to put them out in the world for maximum exposure and ease of access.
In the meanwhile, rest assured that a number of things are happening at the Jace Hall Show temporary offices and at events which we currently try to capture with our cameras and we also have some very good ideas that we want to include in future episodes.
Also, we are contemplating creating shorter episodes, but MORE of them, so that there is a more continuous stream of new episodes to watch this time around. Good idea?
We also may continue to create and shoot awesome music videos like the “I PLAY W.OW” piece. Yes/no?
If you have thoughts or ideas that you think we should include or consider, NOW is the time to make these suggestions!
Please go to this specific forum thread and let your ideas be known. We are reading EVERYTHING!
http://www.jacehallshow.us/forum/jace-hall-show-episodeguest-suggestions/
We are also thinking about putting together a BLU-RAY DISC and DVD version of the all the episodes from every season with a few extra goodies to sell on the site. Yes/No?
Ideally, we are hoping to have everything figured out and episodes coming to you as soon as possible, so please keep the faith and also try to let everyone know about the show. We need your help to spread the word as it is very hard to break through all the internet chatter and get people to check it out! Anything you can do is appreciated!!
In the meanwhile, stay awesome – and know that when you visit this site you are instantly become a member of the Elitist Elite in the land of Eliteness.
-Jace
Fan Mail: A “V” Character Made From Folded Paper!
Sunday, 2nd May 2010Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: abc tv, Fan Mail, lizard men, paper doll, TV series, V
Written by: Jace Hall
Got a note from “GiBubba”
It reads:
Subject Paper Folding V Character Message Found this perusing the inter-webs and thought of you guys.
http://www.paperfoldables.com/vguy_paperfoldable.pdf
I thought it was neat.
It is neat!!
Someone print this out, make one and take a picture for us please!!
-Jace
WORLD OF DUMB: SANJAY GUPTA RIDING THE BANDWAGON
Sunday, 2nd May 2010Posted in Blog Archive, Now I've Seen Everything
Tags: bad reporting, cnn, knife attack, personal agenda, Sanjay Gupta, video game violence
Written by: Jace Hall
CNN is really starting to piss me off by continually allowing its reporters to run their “Blame everything on video games” agenda totally unchecked.
This time it is Dr-turned-attention-seeker SANJAY GUPTA.
Apparently, some knife -wielding dude attacks a lady on the street, and a homeless-looking dude rushes to her aid like a champion. The homeless-dude successfully gets the attacker off the lady but in the process gets stabbed a bunch of times.
The attacker runs after the stabbing, and the homeless-dude tries to chase him but collapses to the ground and lays there unable to move.
Then the real horrifying thing begins…
Person after person walks by the homeless-dude while he sits there and slowly dies. No one does ANYTHING to help him. Not even the lady that he saved! One dude even stops and takes a picture with his cell phone…. seriously.
Now, I will tell you that in my book every single one of those people who just walked by and did nothing to help are the worst kind of people there are. They are self-centered, dishonorable, gutless, spineless hedonistic individuals and a sad comment on our society today. It is not that hard to take 5 seconds and call 911.
That however, is not the point of my article. This is: When watching “Dr. Gupta’s” report on this horrible occurrence I sat there to my stunned amazement watching him and the dude he was interviewing consistently try to blame video games as one of the reasons why people didn’t help.
I’m serious.
Watch the video and bear withness to the agenda being pushed.
Am I the only one who catches this stuff???
-Jace
WORLD OF WARCRAFT ADDICTION – DONT GET ME STARTED!
Sunday, 2nd May 2010Posted in Blog Archive, Now I've Seen Everything
Tags: addiction, antisocial, bad reporting, campbell brown, cnn, dr. drew, internet addiction, Jace Hall, world of warcraft
Written by: Jace Hall
So I stumbled across this news report on CNN about “internet addiction.”
The reporter (Campbell Brown) attempts to put together a news story aimed at generating fear in parents in regard to this suggested notion and attempts to point the finger at WORLD OF WARCRAFT as a prime target.
Here is the article – check it out:
THIS SORT OF NEWS REPORTING PISSES ME OFF.
It is sensationalistic, ultimately based on conjecture, and completely focused on pandering to least-common-denominator thinking.
Before I go further, let me make something clear:
It is my opinion that human beings are capable of creating destructive relationships and associations with almost anything. Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is a fundamental trait of the human condition. This trait can occasionally direct people toward the use of escapism. Sometimes this can be a necessary mode of survival and very healthy – other times is can lead to counterproductive personal and social behavior.
What that means is that, YES, someone can get so involved in watching movies, or reading books, or tweaking their myspace page, or surfing, or playing games, or swimming or drinking, or using drugs, or having sex, or ANYTHING THAT THEY FIND USEFUL TO ESCAPE WITH, that they actually begin to ignore other important aspects of their lives and it becomes a real problem.
Almost anything done to excess is not healthy for you.
We all know this. It is obvious. So WHY then, must CNN concoct a report about the “super-evil-ultra internet addiction / World of Warcaft” and essentially paint this a some kind of big danger to watch out for?
I’ll tell you why. It is because things like the internet and World of Warcraft are things that a lot of “mainstream” people still don’t understand – and people fear and attack what they do not understand. It is that simple.
Frankly, I think that any safe piece of home entertainment that is capable of taking someone out of their crappy day and able to cheer them up for a while should be commended, not attacked. Isn’t that one of the desired functions of entertainment?
Also, here is some food for thought – The young adult in the article was essentially disregarded in social circles, depressed, and feeling alone. While he was in this state of existence, his parents DID NOTHING HELPFUL to address it because as long as his grades were coming in ok and he wasn’t being arrested for something, THEY COULD CARE LESS THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY MISERABLE. (I know a LOT of you out there reading this know EXACTLY what I am talking about.)
So then, he finds World of Warcraft, and becomes a social god in that game. In that world he mattered, in that world people treated him on the basis of his ACTIONS and not on HOW HE LOOKED. He acquired great friends, and went on real adventures with them. He enjoyed himself and his self-esteem was raised. He was able to see his own worth and make meaningful contributions in an environment that was meaningful to him.
By his own mother’s admission in the piece she said that she saw her son become “More excited, and animated and active” than she had ever seem him before. AND THIS WAS SOMEHOW A BAD THING???
So now they got this young guy all beat down on camera stating that he wasted a year of his life… but I beg to differ.
The fact is that he has REAL memories of being on real adventures with friends, while being happy in the moment and recognized for his achievements.
That to me is NOT a waste. I would tell him as much. What is life supposed to be anyway? The endless pursuit of the acquisition of good grades, money and objects?? I say no. Life should be about having meaningful experiences that matter to you – and this guy’s journey through World of Warcraft was a rewarding one for him.
While a car you buy will likely wear-out and vanish in 10 years, your great experience in World of Warcraft will last until the day you die.
World of Warcraft is not a drug. It is not an evil thing. It is not a danger and it is not any more addictive than anything else that is capable of building your self esteem and making you feel that you matter.
I suspect that if the reporter really cared about the health and well-being of young adults in our society, she would have dug into what that dude’s life was truly like at home. What role the parents played in his depression and low self-esteem. What were the things that our society and culture have done (and is doing) to create the desire to escape the world at the magnatude the he did. THOSE ARE THE DANGERS, NOT THE INTERNET OR WORLD OF WARCRAFT.
Look at the cause, not at the symptom. Think.
But you see, what we have here is a reporter that is looking to boost her career by being sensationalistic and we have parents that are more interested at pointing a finger at a game as the source of a problem, rather than themselves.
Unfortunately – FEAR sells, and this reporter is exploiting that fact. That’s all that this article accomplishes. It’s not really informative, and it offers no solutions – it merely raises the spectre of fear and somewhat perpetuates the notion that the responsibility for addictive problems may lie in the object of addiction and not in the social structure and culture surrounding the person or the person themselves.
Campbell Brown needs to watch my “I PLAY W.O.W.” (World of Warcraft) Music Video to understand… Wouldn’t you agree? 
Just a quick perspective on my simple blog…
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
-Jace
SEASON 5 IS COMING…
More Music From Jace Hall
