Soldat_Louis
05-31-2007, 05:41 AM
Well, I think most of you read Frank Borelli's interventions in GP's blog entry about Dave Grossman. Now that this entry is getting old, I'd like to centralize any news that concerns Mr. Borelli, because he's still debating with us for our greatest pleasure.
Brief summary : last may 19th, NewsMax interviewed Dave Grossman about Virginia Tech massacre (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/18/174945.shtml?s=us), who forwarded an email by Frank Borelli. NewsMax quoted some excerpts of the letter in a way that Mr. Borelli seemed convinced that FPS games contributed to Cho Seung-Hui's killing accuracy (to quote NewsMax's interpretations : "Borelli suggests that intensive extensive FPS gaming experience helped Cho fire with devastating accuracy").
GP blog reported the story. (http://gamepolitics.com/2007/05/19/grossman-on-va-tech-massacre-blame-the-games/) It was noted that right after V-Tech massacre, Mr. Borelli had already written (http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=25&id=35780) about this subject, but to say : "Let's be perfectly clear: while studies show that saturation play of these games does affect an individual's inherent inhibition against violence, games don't kill people. Not one of the 32 dead at Virginia Tech died as the result of a game shooting them", which was much more moderate than what NewsMax suggested. And GP reader Hayabusa75 had the excellent idea to contact Frank Borelli himself, directly.
Much to my surprise (and it was a very pleasant surprise), Mr. Borelli replied (http://gamepolitics.com/2007/05/19/grossman-on-va-tech-massacre-blame-the-games/#comments) in the entry's comments and it was the start of a healthy constructive debate. In particular, he learnt the distinction between FPS games and lightgun games, and it seems that a lot of non-gamers cannot make the difference between these two kinds of games, which can lead to serious misinterpretations.
Right now, Frank Borelli wrote an article about games and simulation (http://www.borelliconsulting.com/articles/gamesimulation.htm) that is worth reading. Pity I don't have enough time to comment it, but you should go read it.
Brief summary : last may 19th, NewsMax interviewed Dave Grossman about Virginia Tech massacre (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/18/174945.shtml?s=us), who forwarded an email by Frank Borelli. NewsMax quoted some excerpts of the letter in a way that Mr. Borelli seemed convinced that FPS games contributed to Cho Seung-Hui's killing accuracy (to quote NewsMax's interpretations : "Borelli suggests that intensive extensive FPS gaming experience helped Cho fire with devastating accuracy").
GP blog reported the story. (http://gamepolitics.com/2007/05/19/grossman-on-va-tech-massacre-blame-the-games/) It was noted that right after V-Tech massacre, Mr. Borelli had already written (http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=25&id=35780) about this subject, but to say : "Let's be perfectly clear: while studies show that saturation play of these games does affect an individual's inherent inhibition against violence, games don't kill people. Not one of the 32 dead at Virginia Tech died as the result of a game shooting them", which was much more moderate than what NewsMax suggested. And GP reader Hayabusa75 had the excellent idea to contact Frank Borelli himself, directly.
Much to my surprise (and it was a very pleasant surprise), Mr. Borelli replied (http://gamepolitics.com/2007/05/19/grossman-on-va-tech-massacre-blame-the-games/#comments) in the entry's comments and it was the start of a healthy constructive debate. In particular, he learnt the distinction between FPS games and lightgun games, and it seems that a lot of non-gamers cannot make the difference between these two kinds of games, which can lead to serious misinterpretations.
Right now, Frank Borelli wrote an article about games and simulation (http://www.borelliconsulting.com/articles/gamesimulation.htm) that is worth reading. Pity I don't have enough time to comment it, but you should go read it.