Original Air Date: December 2010
Panorama is a television show aired on BBC1, it's kind of like if the Daily Mail owned a thirty minute TV slot. Last year they released a special on video games titled "Addicted to Video Games" and pretty much slandered the entire industry. Sure they had both sides but the amount of time they gave to each one is gives the impression that they weren't really taking it seriously. I think there was only a five minute positive look at games and then the rest was "LOOK AT THE VIOLENCE! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!":
1. ALL THE EVIDENCE WAS FROM NEWSPAPERS
If you take what you read in the newspapers as gospel we wouldn't go outside. The problem with having newspapers and magazines as reliable sources is that companies will do anything to make the consumer buy the product, whether that is to get an exclusive interview, paparazzi shots, making up lies based on inconclusive results. Video games is a new medium, and for that reason it get's blamed for pretty much anything. The problem is that when something big happens like a crime, if the person who committed it plays video games, it's a completely different to if it was a "normal crime". Games are looked on as though they have tainted someone's mind making them do the deed, and in the media's eyes it's a conspiracy which makes better headlines. It's also fair to note that the entire argument was based on newspaper articles because it isn't proven that someone could get addicted to video games, there's no scientific study saying "Yes, they do". Which leads me onto the next point...
2. THEY STARTED WITH NOTHING, AND ENDED WITH NOTHING
So you've sat down, watched the episode and now you're watching the credits...What happened? The program was set out to be informative, you're meant to go in with a question and end with an answer that satisfies you. The show doesn't so much as answer the question but dance around it pointing at random newspaper clips screaming "LOOK AT THE EVIL!" Really to answer the question you don't need people who play a lot of games, nor even newspaper articles, you need solid facts and not just ones found on Wiki moments before doing the voice over for some scenes. I have a lot of respect for the BBC, they gave me Dr Who, Upstairs Downstairs (with Keeley Hawes), Sherlock, plus they showed the Tomb Raider film on New Year's Day, so it actually surprised me to see the episode handled so awkwardly. It's like they had a serious meeting about what to have in the show; people who were "addicted", people in big game companies, scientists, researchers, and then they took a few days off and returned to find they had only a few days to put everything together.
3. GRAB YOUR PITCHFORKS
Me and my friends goes to MCM London Expo twice every year, me and Lauren dressed up as video game characters, last year I was Lara Croft, my friend was a Silent Hill Nurse despite it being in October. We had to walk through central London, and we decided that because we were bored we were going to quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We counted 569 people by the time we reached the Expo who gave us really strange looks or approached us questioning why we were dressed as a video game characters. Walking through London in the outfits is strange, you get people who think that you haven't noticed them looking at you with a "What the hell is happening?!" gaze and you get the brave few coming up and saying "You're Lara Croft....You're a Silent Hill Nurse...And you're in London". When we reached the final station where we had to switch trains we had a different group of people come up, and we were introduced pretty much when they made a Star Trek joke, and the rest of the journey was filled with Dungeons and Dragons.. The thing is that we have our own style, humour, interests, and words. People who are non-gamers don't get why we have words and phrases like "n00b" or "awesome-sauce" or "THE CAKE IS A LIE!" and so when non-gamers critise games and label them as evil mind tainting objects, we take some offence. My English class had a discussion about this and one of the points which was mentioned is that for some people, even though they know it's just games, you make new friends through your love and passion for them, like any other medium! Personally the people I talk to that are in the video game industry and at games conventions are not just there for the games, they are there because they like the atmosphere, and most times it's a really great community. If you watched the episode on YouTube just scroll down the comments, there seems to be ALOT of arguing between gamers and non-gamers. To be honest we have a right to be more then a little annoyed about this episode, it's wasn't journalism, it's wasn't broadcasting, and it wasn't balanced, it was just mean.
4. IT'S LARA
Yes it's a small detail, and yes I'm going to pick up on it, I'm a TR fan, it's what I do. This might also require some audience partipation, ready? What is the protagonist in the Tomb Raider series called? Exactly! Cake for all! And guess what they said in the documentary about video games, and in which they actually travelled to Eidos/Square Enix Europe and had an interview with Ian Livingstone? In the introduction to Eidos and to the interview they pronounced the character's name wrong, calling her Laura instead of Lara. Yeah....
There was a YouTube comment which I love it, which is:
5. BIASED PRESENTER
Now ideally, if you're doing a documentary there should be a presenter who isn't conected to the problem, who doesn't at first have an opinion, and who is eager to learn more. Although he doesn't have a problem with the games, he does certainly have an opinion which is obvious from the first few lines in the documentary. He arrives at a premier for StarCraft II in London, and says:
At the start he also mentions
He was detirmined to not find out any answer but stressed the idea that video games are bad and addictive. He didn't argue with the negative statements condemning the media but once there was an opinion he didn't like he immedently argued against it.
6. DRAMATIC!
Ok, so I'm a gamer, I have four consoles, and I play for 2-4 hours each day unless there is an important deadline or test then I will only play for an hour to unwind. The sort of games I play very, I'm mainly playing things like Alan Wake, Hitman, and Bioshock but I also play more relaxing ones like Mirror's Edge and Mini Ninjas. So why don't they film me? Easy because it isn't good television. They could speak to any of us, even you, but they don't because they were only interested in those that would a reaction from the audience and you don't get that from regular gamers. They went for this project which a decision already made, and sometimes it's good to have that, sometimes it's good to make a documentary with a fixed view, but most times it's not. In the UK, GCSEs happen in Year 10-11, when the students are 14-16, at my school they tell us you can't get a level B or above if you don't have a point and counter point, you can have a biased view, but the essay won't mean nothing if you don't have a counterpoint. Panorama's counterpoint last about a tenth of the program.
7. BBC'S REPUTATION
The BBC has always been reliable to me, they have the news channel and they are normally got a good understanding of their audience, and their programs are normally the best. Now you've all probably guess I'm at school currently, and I'm really not liking it all that much, mainly because I'm techincally classed as an young adult as far as government is concerned, but at school you're not so. At my school you have to take RS as a course, and for one of the lesson we were learning about the impact of media on people (I don't know how that links into religion either) and the lesson was fine until the teacher mentions video games. My teacher is not the most... politically correct, and what she says practically goes and no one can argue with her. So I'm in the class on a Monday morning, listening to her talk about why games are bad, and then she mentions games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Hitman, and I put up my hand and say my view and I pretty much won the argument from there because I gave reasons for my opinions, until she used the Panorama episode as ammo. From that point all the structural integrity of my argument at once had gone mainly because BBC had a big reputation, and people rely on it. Panorama is like the Daily Mail, just on television...It's only brings fear, and a half an hour slot could be used in better ways for better programs, for example Mock the Week who has a gamer as a presenter!
8. THE EIDOS SECTION
This is the part that you were all probably wanting to see here being on a Tomb Raider site and all. This was actually the best bit in the whole programme, and it was the most calming. So after about 10 minutes of the presenter shouting out "NO THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!" We finally have logic, and this part actually makes me so proud to be a Tomb Raider fan because Ian Livinstone who we all know is the life president of Eidos and is the CEO of Square Enix Europe is really the only person who defends our industry and answers the presenter's questions perfectly that Rowe didn't really have an argument.
Now, this section is cut to about three minutes in length which is a tenth of the programme's running time, a lot less then some of the other interviewees. Nevertheless I'm glad that one of the most important facts was said:
9. STAY ON TARGET! STAY ON TARGET!
I need to say this first, I love Agent47. He's a character you shouldn't...yet you do. He's an assassin, and he killed his pet bird, Robert...Yet he's awesome. Now the games are rated +18 by PEGI and the movie is rated +15. The focus of the program was mainly on children, sure they had teenagers/young adults being interviewed but the mention of the presenter's children, the "Youth culture" that was stated at the start, and the images of the children playing at the games shown in the gallery, this was targeted at children...So why are they showing a +18 game? Futhermore, I play Hitman, I'm rather fond of that game, it doesn't mean that I'm going to dress up in a suit and red tie, pack a suitcase full of explosives, fibre wires, and guns and head into London with a hitlist. There's a difference between real life and video games, real life have better graphics but the story lacks imagination ;) . Also by having the image of the statue it's implying that children might get violent and last time I looked the topic was about addiction.
10. BROADBAND
Don't panic but we're either going to be attacked by zombies from a source point in London, or we're going to be getting broadband, it was hard to tell from the clip in the show. The clip was a map of the UK and there was little orange lights travelling from London showing places that will be getting broadband in the next five years. The clip wasn't needed, it could have been easily done with words, but the image is more dramatic and it's all about the shock value in the program! Also the narrator says about how console gaming might changed to online gaming... you can play consoles online using XBOX LIVE and the Playstation Network, plus some people prefer consoles to MMOs. (Massively Multiplayer Online).
PART TWO COMING SOON
Panorama is a television show aired on BBC1, it's kind of like if the Daily Mail owned a thirty minute TV slot. Last year they released a special on video games titled "Addicted to Video Games" and pretty much slandered the entire industry. Sure they had both sides but the amount of time they gave to each one is gives the impression that they weren't really taking it seriously. I think there was only a five minute positive look at games and then the rest was "LOOK AT THE VIOLENCE! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!":
1. ALL THE EVIDENCE WAS FROM NEWSPAPERS
If you take what you read in the newspapers as gospel we wouldn't go outside. The problem with having newspapers and magazines as reliable sources is that companies will do anything to make the consumer buy the product, whether that is to get an exclusive interview, paparazzi shots, making up lies based on inconclusive results. Video games is a new medium, and for that reason it get's blamed for pretty much anything. The problem is that when something big happens like a crime, if the person who committed it plays video games, it's a completely different to if it was a "normal crime". Games are looked on as though they have tainted someone's mind making them do the deed, and in the media's eyes it's a conspiracy which makes better headlines. It's also fair to note that the entire argument was based on newspaper articles because it isn't proven that someone could get addicted to video games, there's no scientific study saying "Yes, they do". Which leads me onto the next point...
2. THEY STARTED WITH NOTHING, AND ENDED WITH NOTHING
So you've sat down, watched the episode and now you're watching the credits...What happened? The program was set out to be informative, you're meant to go in with a question and end with an answer that satisfies you. The show doesn't so much as answer the question but dance around it pointing at random newspaper clips screaming "LOOK AT THE EVIL!" Really to answer the question you don't need people who play a lot of games, nor even newspaper articles, you need solid facts and not just ones found on Wiki moments before doing the voice over for some scenes. I have a lot of respect for the BBC, they gave me Dr Who, Upstairs Downstairs (with Keeley Hawes), Sherlock, plus they showed the Tomb Raider film on New Year's Day, so it actually surprised me to see the episode handled so awkwardly. It's like they had a serious meeting about what to have in the show; people who were "addicted", people in big game companies, scientists, researchers, and then they took a few days off and returned to find they had only a few days to put everything together.
3. GRAB YOUR PITCHFORKS
Me and my friends goes to MCM London Expo twice every year, me and Lauren dressed up as video game characters, last year I was Lara Croft, my friend was a Silent Hill Nurse despite it being in October. We had to walk through central London, and we decided that because we were bored we were going to quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We counted 569 people by the time we reached the Expo who gave us really strange looks or approached us questioning why we were dressed as a video game characters. Walking through London in the outfits is strange, you get people who think that you haven't noticed them looking at you with a "What the hell is happening?!" gaze and you get the brave few coming up and saying "You're Lara Croft....You're a Silent Hill Nurse...And you're in London". When we reached the final station where we had to switch trains we had a different group of people come up, and we were introduced pretty much when they made a Star Trek joke, and the rest of the journey was filled with Dungeons and Dragons.. The thing is that we have our own style, humour, interests, and words. People who are non-gamers don't get why we have words and phrases like "n00b" or "awesome-sauce" or "THE CAKE IS A LIE!" and so when non-gamers critise games and label them as evil mind tainting objects, we take some offence. My English class had a discussion about this and one of the points which was mentioned is that for some people, even though they know it's just games, you make new friends through your love and passion for them, like any other medium! Personally the people I talk to that are in the video game industry and at games conventions are not just there for the games, they are there because they like the atmosphere, and most times it's a really great community. If you watched the episode on YouTube just scroll down the comments, there seems to be ALOT of arguing between gamers and non-gamers. To be honest we have a right to be more then a little annoyed about this episode, it's wasn't journalism, it's wasn't broadcasting, and it wasn't balanced, it was just mean.
4. IT'S LARA
Yes it's a small detail, and yes I'm going to pick up on it, I'm a TR fan, it's what I do. This might also require some audience partipation, ready? What is the protagonist in the Tomb Raider series called? Exactly! Cake for all! And guess what they said in the documentary about video games, and in which they actually travelled to Eidos/Square Enix Europe and had an interview with Ian Livingstone? In the introduction to Eidos and to the interview they pronounced the character's name wrong, calling her Laura instead of Lara. Yeah....
There was a YouTube comment which I love it, which is:
The fact that they said "Laura" Says it all.Yep, pretty much. If you're doing a documentary on video games and criticizing them as being addictive and evil, get the character's name right.
5. BIASED PRESENTER
Now ideally, if you're doing a documentary there should be a presenter who isn't conected to the problem, who doesn't at first have an opinion, and who is eager to learn more. Although he doesn't have a problem with the games, he does certainly have an opinion which is obvious from the first few lines in the documentary. He arrives at a premier for StarCraft II in London, and says:
But these aren't movie stars, these are fictional characters from a video game.He means cosplay. People cosplayed as characters, people took photos and apparently this is weird. It plays on the whole "People fear what they don't understand" and the way he said it made it out like it was something alien and outrageous especially by the word "fictional". Plus the music didn't help (Spitfire by The Prodigy) it's gives the feeling of strangeness.
At the start he also mentions
As a parent I sometimes wonder what kind of effect it would have on my children.With this one sentence there was two different tricks, one he meant intentionality, one he might of been oblivious to. First he used the phrase "As a parent" this gives the audience something to relate to if they are a parent but it also is used to make the audience more sympathetic because of course he wants the best for his kids and this makes the viewer look at the topic from his view. The second trick is when he said "What kind of effect it would have" At this point there isn't normally a clear answer to the topic question, and yet he has already stated that there is an effect out there implying that there is an addiction which portrays a negative view of the video game industry before the program starts.
He was detirmined to not find out any answer but stressed the idea that video games are bad and addictive. He didn't argue with the negative statements condemning the media but once there was an opinion he didn't like he immedently argued against it.
6. DRAMATIC!
Ok, so I'm a gamer, I have four consoles, and I play for 2-4 hours each day unless there is an important deadline or test then I will only play for an hour to unwind. The sort of games I play very, I'm mainly playing things like Alan Wake, Hitman, and Bioshock but I also play more relaxing ones like Mirror's Edge and Mini Ninjas. So why don't they film me? Easy because it isn't good television. They could speak to any of us, even you, but they don't because they were only interested in those that would a reaction from the audience and you don't get that from regular gamers. They went for this project which a decision already made, and sometimes it's good to have that, sometimes it's good to make a documentary with a fixed view, but most times it's not. In the UK, GCSEs happen in Year 10-11, when the students are 14-16, at my school they tell us you can't get a level B or above if you don't have a point and counter point, you can have a biased view, but the essay won't mean nothing if you don't have a counterpoint. Panorama's counterpoint last about a tenth of the program.
7. BBC'S REPUTATION
The BBC has always been reliable to me, they have the news channel and they are normally got a good understanding of their audience, and their programs are normally the best. Now you've all probably guess I'm at school currently, and I'm really not liking it all that much, mainly because I'm techincally classed as an young adult as far as government is concerned, but at school you're not so. At my school you have to take RS as a course, and for one of the lesson we were learning about the impact of media on people (I don't know how that links into religion either) and the lesson was fine until the teacher mentions video games. My teacher is not the most... politically correct, and what she says practically goes and no one can argue with her. So I'm in the class on a Monday morning, listening to her talk about why games are bad, and then she mentions games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Hitman, and I put up my hand and say my view and I pretty much won the argument from there because I gave reasons for my opinions, until she used the Panorama episode as ammo. From that point all the structural integrity of my argument at once had gone mainly because BBC had a big reputation, and people rely on it. Panorama is like the Daily Mail, just on television...It's only brings fear, and a half an hour slot could be used in better ways for better programs, for example Mock the Week who has a gamer as a presenter!
8. THE EIDOS SECTION
This is the part that you were all probably wanting to see here being on a Tomb Raider site and all. This was actually the best bit in the whole programme, and it was the most calming. So after about 10 minutes of the presenter shouting out "NO THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!" We finally have logic, and this part actually makes me so proud to be a Tomb Raider fan because Ian Livinstone who we all know is the life president of Eidos and is the CEO of Square Enix Europe is really the only person who defends our industry and answers the presenter's questions perfectly that Rowe didn't really have an argument.
Now, this section is cut to about three minutes in length which is a tenth of the programme's running time, a lot less then some of the other interviewees. Nevertheless I'm glad that one of the most important facts was said:
But there's no formal published medical history evidence saying that video games are addictive anywhere in the world.THANK YOU! It's funny that we had ten minutes of a lead up and that wasn't even mentioned by the presenter, nevertheless I am so glad it was stated! The next sentence did annoy me somewhat, they moved away from the interview and showed a few scenes of Eidos and some of the employees, which was cool, but the voice over said
He's right...To a pointNo no no, he's right. There's nothing to say that video games lead to addiction, it's probable that people with addictive personalities become infatuated with the games but that's the same with any media! The section where he said "To a point" is not needed, and only tries to wipe what has been said before. It's like the interview took place, he realised that it didn't match the rest of the program because it wasn't condemning video games and then held up a puppy to the screen and said "Look guys! It's a puppy, forget what just happened! Look at it's eyes." but he did it in a more subtle manner.
9. STAY ON TARGET! STAY ON TARGET!
I need to say this first, I love Agent47. He's a character you shouldn't...yet you do. He's an assassin, and he killed his pet bird, Robert...Yet he's awesome. Now the games are rated +18 by PEGI and the movie is rated +15. The focus of the program was mainly on children, sure they had teenagers/young adults being interviewed but the mention of the presenter's children, the "Youth culture" that was stated at the start, and the images of the children playing at the games shown in the gallery, this was targeted at children...So why are they showing a +18 game? Futhermore, I play Hitman, I'm rather fond of that game, it doesn't mean that I'm going to dress up in a suit and red tie, pack a suitcase full of explosives, fibre wires, and guns and head into London with a hitlist. There's a difference between real life and video games, real life have better graphics but the story lacks imagination ;) . Also by having the image of the statue it's implying that children might get violent and last time I looked the topic was about addiction.
10. BROADBAND
Don't panic but we're either going to be attacked by zombies from a source point in London, or we're going to be getting broadband, it was hard to tell from the clip in the show. The clip was a map of the UK and there was little orange lights travelling from London showing places that will be getting broadband in the next five years. The clip wasn't needed, it could have been easily done with words, but the image is more dramatic and it's all about the shock value in the program! Also the narrator says about how console gaming might changed to online gaming... you can play consoles online using XBOX LIVE and the Playstation Network, plus some people prefer consoles to MMOs. (Massively Multiplayer Online).
PART TWO COMING SOON
