Brendon Lindsey was one of the countless video game players frustrated by the current attacks on the medium. Instead of just thinking to himself or posting messages on a forum, he decided to start a website. In just a short time, this published writer has created something that has received an unexpectedly huge response. This interview was conducted through e-mail to see how this all came about, and just why anti-game crusader Jack Thompson is under attack.
Who are you and what do you do?
I'm the creator of, and editor of www.StopStopkill.com. Basically, that means I'm the guy in charge of making sure everything is (close) to being "perfect" so it can go online. I read all the submissions a few times, edit them for clarity (and grammar/spelling mistakes the writers miss), take out/fix dead links in them, etc. I also check all the facts and such mentioned in articles to make sure they're used correctly and not out of context/skewed.
When I have the time I also write things for the website along with my pal Jonathan. But, since the website came up there's been so many submissions/emails to take care of, I'm spending 6+ hours a night alone on just answering questions, editing articles so they can fit in the website (the HTML and whatnot along with what I said earlier), and doing interviews like this ;)
But if you ask buyable, my main job is trying to fix something wrong with the coding and mess it up horribly, causing him hours of frustration.
What made you start the site? At what point did you say, "Enough is enough, and gamers need a voice?" Was that even how it happened?
It's been bugging me for a while, but I never really did anything about it other than writing the occasional column about it one of the newspapers I've worked for. But about two weeks ago, I was talking with some friends who frequent a forum with me and we just couldn't take it anymore. There were too many news stories about it, and most of them used either horrible research on the subject or were just plain ignorant on the facts.
We noticed that while there were a lot of well-written pieces on the subject, most of them were scattered throughout hundreds of different websites, and unless someone wanted to spend a lot of time trying to find them they would never be seen. So, I came up with the idea of starting a website where we can sort of be a "stronghold" for the gamer's side of the issue. That way, even the laziest of people would be able to go to a single URL and find a plethora of items on the subject-everything from research papers to angry, sarcastic editorials/columns.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
OK a slightly unfair question - but what's GOOD about all these games.
2 - Matt Paprocki
That's not an unfair question at all. The answer is easy.
The "good" things in games are the same "good" things from movies and books. They're an entertainment medium. They provide a release, a way to kill time, and way to have fun. There are positive effects as some studies have shown, such as a better familiarity with technology, quicker thinking, and reaction times.
There are of course education games too, and those open up an entirely new category.
What's good about Grand Theft Auto and the like? Not much, other than provding adult entertainment value.