RWS In Moscow!
New Legislative Attack on Video Games Thwarted; “Postal” Movie Intro Passes 2 Million Hits on YouTube!
by Bill “The Game Doctor” Kunkel

Running With Sickles

Running With Scissors ringleader Vince Desi and marketing menace MikeJ were once again welcomed to Moscow for a pair of major gaming events in Mother Russia this April.

First, the twosome attended KRI, the Russian equivalent of the Game Developers Conference, where RWS partner Akella was named Best Publisher and the very latest preview of POSTAL III was shown off on the Xbox 360.

Next, they were off to the Gameland Awards where Vince presented the Game of the Year prize while the Marketing Moyel handed over the award for the year’s Best Xbox 360 Game.

Well, with Uwe Boll’s “Postal” set for theatrical release in North America on May 23rd, we now know we’re in the heart of Awards Season…

For all the details on the Russian Mission, check out the press release on gopostal.com.

More images from Moscow...

“Postal” Movie Preview Passes 2 Million Views

The now (in)famously hilarious clip comprising the first three minutes of Uwe Boll’s “Postal,” which was uploaded 10 months ago recently reaped its two millionth view, amassing 1400 comments and more than1700 ratings (4 stars out of 5) in the process.

Stay up to date on Postal right here

And while you’re at it, sign the petition to keep Uwe making movies because, who knows, there might be a Postal sequel!

Stick a Fork in the Latest Arizona-Based Anti-Video Game Legislation; It’s Done!

While the video and computer game lobby fights to preserve the right of developers to create and gamers to experience a range of age-appropriate content in Massachusetts, a new bill turned up in Arizona (home state of Tucson-based Running With Scissors) that not only freaked out the game industry, but everyone from book publishers to filmmakers.

The bill, HB 2660, which passed thanks to a 36-23 vote in the Arizona House of Representatives over a month ago would have had the unique effect of making “content producers, publishers and distributors liable for monetary damages if any written, audio, visual or digital material from which they profited was judged to have been ‘dangerous’ or obscene and motivated someone to commit a felony or an act of terrorism” according to The Arizona Daily Star.

The Game Industry, however, mobilized immediately to battle the ratification of the bill which was supported by a group calling itself the Never Again Foundations and is supposedly a victims’ advocacy group run by one Keith Perkins, the fellow who penned this insult to the Constitution. The bill was sponsored by GOP meathead Warde Nichols.

But this time, the gamers were not alone. MPAA rep Wendy Briggs, for example, pointed out that this legislation could result in lawsuits against people involved in mainstream movies. Briggs, who also represents video game producers, provided a perfect example of how unfair such a law would be when she observed that if terrorists used a computer flight simulator to learn how to fly in order to slam a 787 into a skyscraper, then that flight sim publisher could literally be held liable for the attack. She also observed that a book, that a book on marksmanship would be part of a chain of liability should anyone who read the book shoot someone.

The Video Game Voters Network, operated by the Entertainment Software Association, which represents U.S. video game publishers, quickly raised the alarm, issuing an alert to members, urging them to contact their elected officials about the bill.

We at RWS were lining up to do our part in the fight when, suddenly, good news arrived: The Arizona State Senate had delivered a virtual shovel shot to the head (and perhaps a sprinkling of moisture) to HB 2660, citing the fact that it violated the First Amendment and did not make clear where the chain of responsibility ended. The vote was 4-2 by the Senate Judiciary Committee to 86 the latest outrage against artistic freedom.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, even cited "The Turner Diaries," a 1978 novel by a white supremacist about an Aryan revolution that is often believed to have inspired the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Gould observed that since pages from the book were found at the home of Timothy McVeigh, convicted of the 1995 bombing, the authors could be vulnerable to civil suits by that tragedy’s many victims. Similarly, a Tom Clancy novel introduced the idea of terrorists hijacking a commercial airliner in order to crash it into a building.

In short, the committee decided, the proposed law was simply not viable. So now it’s on to Massachusetts, cradle of the American Revolution, where the latest battle is still raging. For the latest updates, click here to view the article.

Overnight Delivery

If you didn’t pick up the May issue of PC Gamer, grab a copy while you still can! It contains a very good POSTAL III Preview. Besides, we need to support the few remaining hard copy game magazines… Everyone please welcome Kyna [kee-na] Martin to RWS. She’s been working as an intern and will now be coming onboard full time… The Vancouver Preview Screening of “Postal” is May 15th at 7PM. Check gopostal.com for location… And for those of you who can’t get enough of the real world version of the Postal 2 “Cat Silencer”, check this out… On Saturday, 4/26, Vince and MikeJ went to Tommy Tallarico’s Video Game Live show in NYC, enjoying the show with the Village People’s Randy “The Cowboy” Jones, and legendary rock producer Nile Rodgers. Also, great new interview up with Vince Desi, check it out!