The Impolitic tag doesn’t get a lot of play on WotG, largely because we have an international audience and, with all the hosts being Americans, our views and topics would be pretty localized and irrelevant to the world at large.  Add to that the fact that politics in this country have become more divisive than religion, race, or team rivalries, and it’s often just safer to avoid the subject.

This video from FightfortheFuture.org, though, does an excellent job of explaining the intended and potential consequences of the Protect-IP Act moving through the U.S. Senate.  The video is biased against the act, no doubt about that, but the objections are grounded, the tone is balanced, and the presentation is solid.  Definitely worth your time.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun noted on Monday that the Adults Only-rated, PC-only version of Manhunt 2 had disappeared from the only online marketplace willing to carry the game, Direct2Drive.  Direct2Drive has recently been purchased by Gamefly, and the company’s policy has changed to no longer carry AO titles.  RPS notes that Direct2Drive was the last digital distribution market that allowed for AO games, and the article ends with the (probably facetious) question, “Will no one ever dare make mainstream games truly for adults?”

I can’t say I’ve ever heard anyone ask us to think of the perverts before, so let’s treat this more seriously than was probably intended.  The first thing I noted is that Amazon does still carry a selection of AO-rated games.  These are primarily translated, Japanese erotic visual novels (eroge), though there are a couple of variants.  The uncut and uncensored version of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude is available, as is Bonetown, a “naughty role playing game with the free roaming atmosphere of GTA.”  So all is not hopeless for the AO market; it’s just really slim pickings if your not into anime boobs.

Of course, the question wasn’t about sexually charged games, it was about “mainstream games” that are “truly for adults.”  What were Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, or Heavy Rain, if not mainstream games designed for adults?  Each deals with themes that require a certain level of maturity simply to enjoy, much less to get the most of.  It’s the equivalent of looking at the dearth of NC-17 movies at theaters and crying, “Why are all movies made for children?”

Add to that, the list of games that have received an AO rating doesn’t exactly fill one with confidence about the need for an AO marketplace.  I’ve read some positive things about some of the eroge out there, that the stories are deep and engaging, with complex plots and truly fulfilling endings, regardless of their sexual content.  They’re a niche market, though, not mainstream.  Of the mainstream games, only one, the uncut version of Indigo Prophecy, could be considered mature rather than just gratuitous.

The trouble with sex in games, really with sex in any medium, is that it’s so rarely necessary to the story.  Graphic depictions of sex are often there just to titillate, and they add very little to the actual story.  I can only think of a couple of movies where the sex scenes were integral to understanding the plot or characters, and couldn’t have been handled with just a fade-to-black.  Most novels I’ve read already do this; if it doesn’t advance anything, don’t waste words on it.

I think that’s tied to the maturity of the medium, though, and games still have a ways to go to catch up to film and literature in storytelling ability.  I think there’s plenty of opportunity, and I’m looking forward to the day we see games utilize all aspects of mature storytelling.  Until then, though, it’s no great loss that a mediocre torture porn game is widely unavailable.

Alex has another talk with “our girl in Tokyo,” Aishah, on the one week anniversary of the quake and flood that has killed thousands of people in Japan. She gives her insights on how things are going in Tokyo, how a scarcity of decision makers is affecting recovery efforts and her views on American foreign policy with regards to Japan. She also vents ever so slightly about the mass transit and says that despite all the problems Japan faces, the Japanese are getting even more nice.

Japan needs our help, so please contribute what you can to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund.

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I was simply going to post a link on Twitter with a pithy, sarcastic remark about this FoxNews story, but then I started to actually read the article.  Dire predictions and ominous warnings about violent video games are nothing new, but this article about Bulletstorm rises (sinks?) to a whole new level, and if only to preserve my own sanity, I wanted to give it a thorough critique.

One of my profs once said, “Satire is dead,” and reading this article, I’m forced to agree.  Towards the end it reads like a parody piece from The Onion, and I’m still not entirely convinced that this isn’t a plant directly from Epic Games or EA.

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We’re still debating what we want to do with this audio, and I (well, someone) will come along later and flesh out these notes or perhaps craft a new post based on it, but we felt it was important to get this out there.

The Supreme Court has recently changed its rules regarding the release of the audio recordings of arguments before the court.  The Court has been recording arguments since 1956, but prior to October of this year, those recordings were only released to the public at the end of the year, and only through the National Archives.

Starting in October, the recordings have been released to the web on the Friday of the week of the arguments.  Arguments are only heard before the Court on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so that is why we reported on the argument on Tuesday, and are only releasing the audio today.  The reason for the delay seems to be something to do with checks and balances and high-level politics, all of which I only vaguely grasp, so I won’t even pretend to try to explain it.

Still, the audio makes for fascinating listening.

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When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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On July 2nd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress of American colonies passed a resolution proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia and dissolved its relationship with the empire of Great Britain. The colonies’ declaration of independence was written and revised over the course of the next two days, finally published on the 4th of July.

The populace seized on the date printed on the declaration and the 4th became the commonly perceived date of America’s independence. This lead to a humorous quote by future president John Adams.

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

In the United States, the last Monday in May is Memorial Day, a national holiday set aside to remember and recognize fallen military personnel.

Originally Decoration Day, the holiday came into being to celebrate Union soldiers that sacrificed their lives to preserve the country. First celebrations were actually held by freed slaves in the South to celebrate their emancipation. The name was not officially changed to Memorial Day until 1967.

The day was so synonymous with the Civil War that veterans of the First World War received their own day of recognition, Armistice Day (now Veterans Day). It has since grown to not only recognize the dead but to thank the living who still serve. Many cities and towns hold parades, dedicate streets in a person’s honor (Boston has 1,230 “hero squares”), hang wreathes, and plant flags at cemeteries.

If you don’t see these kinds of things in your area, perhaps you should consider beginning the effort yourself. Remember those who fell so you might stand.

Civil War: 625,000 dead, 281,881 wounded (Union only)
World War 1: 116,516 dead, 2004,002 wounded
World War 2: 405,399 dead, 670,846 wounded
Korean Conflict: 53,686 dead, 92,134 wounded
Vietnam Conflict: 58,209 dead, 153,303
First Iraq Conflict: 382 dead, 849 wounded
Current Conflicts: 5,491 dead, 37,865 wounded

The Holy Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century BCE, It acted as the center of the Jewish faith until it was destroyed by the Babylonians who sacked Jerusalem in 586 BCE. A second temple was authorized by Cyrus the Great, emperor of Persia. The finished second temple was dedicated in 515 BCE. In the 2nd century BCE, the Macabees liberated Jerusalem and a large part of Israel from the Seleucid Empire (the remnant of old Persia). When they recaptured the temple, the Macabees discovered that all the jugs of ritual olive oil had been profaned except for one. They used the oil to relight the altar fire and the oil miraculously burned for eight days.

Hannukah is an annual celebration of that dedication that takes place on the 25th day of Kislev (somewhere between the end of November and the end of December). The celebration includes the lighting of a menorah. Each night, a successive branch of the menorah is lit. (The menorah actually has nine branches. The center, tallest branch holds the shamash—the helper candle that is used to light the other eight candles.) The light can be from a candle or oil lamp. On the first night when the lights are lit, three blessings are prayed: sheheheyanu, hanerot halalu, and maoz tzur. On the remaining nights, only the latter two prayers are recited.

Jewish eschatology ties the construction of a third Holy Temple in Jerusalem with the coming of the messiah.

On December 7th, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the naval station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 2,402 and wounding another 1,282. This attack, along with Germany’s successive declaration of war despite any treaty obligations, swayed American public opinion away from isolationism toward direct involvement and intervention.

The event yielded 16 Medals of Honor, 51 Navy Crosses, 53 Silver Crosses, four Navy and Marine Corps Medals, one Distinguished Flying Cross, four Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, and three Bronze Stars earned by American military personnel who distinguished themselves during the attack.

90,000 US servicemen lost their lives in the Pacific. Today is a day we remember their sacrifice.

Read more about it here.