In the Lead up to the US election the New York Times interviews the current candidates to determine who they will endorse. This week they spoke with ex-vice president Joe Biden, who had some rather random comments about a particular Video Game Producer and Silicon Valley as a whole.
When asked the question “Under the Obama administration, Silicon Valley’s power actually expanded greatly. There are very few mergers blocked. Do you have any regrets about that?” Biden seemed to lose his cool and go on to berate an unnamed video game developer. He answered “you may recall, the criticism I got for meeting with the leaders in Silicon Valley, when I was trying to work out an agreement dealing with them protecting intellectual property for artists in the United States of America. And at one point, one of the little creeps sitting around that table, who was a multi- — close to a billionaire — who told me he was an artist because he was able to come up with games to teach you how to kill people, you know the ——”
Biden was then interrupted asking to confirm he was in fact talking about Video Games, as he agreed and continued “And then one of these righteous people said to me that, you know, “We are the economic engine of America. We are the ones.” And fortunately, I had done a little homework before I went and I said, you know, I find it fascinating. As I added up the seven outfits, everyone’s there but Microsoft. I said, you have fewer people on your payroll than all the losses that General Motors just faced in the last quarter, of employees. So, don’t lecture me about how you’ve created all this employment.”
It seems very apparent that Mr. Biden is out-of-touch, with economic giant that Video Games are. He seems to have some irritation with the existence of gaming (especially those that use violence for entertainment) completely missing the mark and the question that the NY Times asked.
Unfortunately this is not the first time that he has shown a negative attitude towards the industry. Back in 2013 he was very vocal on taxing violent media after The Gaming Association created an open letter to read studies that suggests the non-existent link between Video Games and violence.
It’s unknown who Joe Biden is referring to in these comments, but the sleuths over at Kotaku have narrowed it down to the former CEO of EA John Riccitiello, by studying the meetings that he attended when he was holding the Vice Presidency position. EA are on the more mainstream side of gaming, with yearly releases of titles like FIFA and Madden but they are responsible for the Battlefield series in which Joe Biden may be referencing in his comments.
It seems Mr.Biden is not the only politician to be out of the loop when it comes to video games, with Donald Trump linking gun violence to Video Games, with now infamous line “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society…This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace.”
Yikes.
Obviously Twitter did not like this so here are some of the best reactions:
@JoeBiden When on the topic of violent video games making people violent, do you happen to have any studies that back up your beliefs?
— C-Cyanide (@CMinusCyanide) January 21, 2020
So you get transgender equality but you think video games teach people how to kill ??♂️
— Be Rad (@bradbalon) January 26, 2020
Let's also be clear. Video games don't cause violence and murders. Are we back to the 90's again? And if you were really about human rights, Biden, you wouldn't be for advocating for "adjustments" or cuts to social security. You're out of touch, just go away. #Bernie2020
— Ash Nakano (@RealAshWerewolf) January 25, 2020
lmfao Joe Biden complaining about video game because he doesn't understand them is peak boomer energy. holy shit dude.
— Treyevers (@Treyevers) January 27, 2020
Joe Biden one day after playing a Video Game pic.twitter.com/9wIxb2HK7o
— ContentCargo (@ShappellOffical) January 21, 2020
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