Whom should a gamer fear? Aliens? We clip 'em with a headshot from 200 yards. Mushrooms? We'll stomp 'em flat. Guys with fast cars? Magical summoned demons? Zombie Nazis driving dinosaur mechs? Please.
But in the real world, it's another story. People here can mess us up. He's an absolute nutjob, but anti-gaming crusader and "Seriously? This guy hasn't been disbarred yet?" lawyer Jack Thompson would like nothing better than to see every game, publisher, developer, and even player cast into a giant, Terminator-stylepool ofmolteniron. That can't be good. And he's just the tip of the iceberg.
In fact, he's the kitten of this lineup.Despite the fact that he canlob lawsuits at the gaming industry faster than Michael Richards can spew racial epithets, Jack Thompson probably can't do us much harm. He's too radical to be taken seriously. The real dark side Jedi arequieter, more dangerous operatives whoseidentities have been kept secret... until right now.In an effort toturn the masses of gamers in the world into one huge, well-educated ninja force, we've compiled this list of the Top Ten People Most Dangerousto Gaming. These are the folkswho threaten your hobby on a daily basis, some of whom you know. Read on, and prepare yourself for the coming storm.
10) Non-Gamers
You may be asking yourself, “Self, how can non-gamers be a threat to videogames?” The answer issimple: while they don’t play videogames, they still have opinions about them. Completely. Uneducated. Opinions.
Above: Non-gamers are clueless about our hobby
While there may be many different forms of non-gamers (we'll break down several types as we continue), their opinions and voting ability are the real threat to gaming.
We're sure there are voterswho are non-gamers out there that are intelligent enough to think for themselves about games, but think about it for a second: do you really want your, or someone else's, 80 year-old grandmother hobbling into the polls one November morning and deciding the fate of your hobby, something that they know nothing about?How aboutthatgranny who tried to sue Rockstar for "letting" her grandson hack the Hot Coffee patch into his PC copy of GTA: San Andreas? She seems sensible and logical, right?
The bottom line? These people are uneducated about the world we play in, yet have the potential to make big decisions about it.
How do we fight them?
The first step is for us to organize, and it's being done right now. With organizations like theVideo Game Voters Network, theEntertainment Consumers Association, and theNational Coalition Against Censorship,people are fighting for our rights as gamers, and togther we can stand united. So join the VGVN, the ECA or the NCAC and lend your voice to the debate, because togther our voice is louder. And grandma hates loud.
