Section Two: Illegal Game Rooms in Fort Worth, Texas Throughout the City of Fort Worth, one of the predominant crime problems is the proliferation of illegal game rooms. While there have always been minor issues with these locations, the past six years have seen a dramatic increase in their presence. Game rooms are defined as “a building, facility or other place where one or more amusement redemption machines are present”, per attorney Jack Davis, in the text of a lawsuit filed in the Tarrant County District Court obtained from the Fort Worth Star Telegram (Jack L. Davis and Stephannie Lynn Rylie v. The City of Fort Worth and David Cooke, 2015). A conservative estimate of the ubiquitous nature of these premises would be in excess of 200 locations within the city limits. Slot machines, eight liners, or amusement redemption machines by any name are not illegal per se, under the Texas Occupations Code. The machines are regulated by the State of Texas, under the duties of the State Comptroller’s Office. However, the payouts from the machines are limited to small, non-monetary awards, not exceeding five dollars in aggregate costs. Cash payouts constitute a criminal offense and fall under gambling statutes found within the Texas Smaller amounts of games are found within the premises of many of the convenience stores, especially in the lower socio-economic areas of the city. The larger game rooms are predominantly located in rental business locations and warehouses, with no respect paid to proximity of schools or residential areas. Regardless of location, problems exist with criminal activity and traffic congestion surrounding the areas where the illegal game rooms are located. A large number of persons frequenting the locations come from lower socio-economic groups, and monetary issues can be problematic since the many of the machines are unregulated and may be biased toward the
The need among Americans to be diverted in ever more imaginative ways -- through high-thrill parks, virtual reality arcades, and theme restaurants, plays right into the hands of Dave Corriveau and Buster Corley, co-founders and CEO’s of Dave and Busters. The duo’s 50,000 square foot complexes include pool hall, an eye popping, cutting edge midway arcade, a formal restaurant, a casual diner, a sports bar and a nightclub rolled into one sprawling complex. In business since 1990, this is a high energy, highly efficient operation that’s comparable to a Vegas extravaganza. As a matter of fact there are even “for fun” cashless blackjack tables, with fake $10,000 chips. Pricey, but not outrageous, and you get value for your money.
For years casino gambling was portrayed in the media and Hollywood as being associated with criminal activities and the mafia. Now with proper scrutiny and government regulations casino gambling has become a lucrative business, with casinos stock even trading on Wall Street. Casino gambling is an ever increasingly popular and legal activity in many states throughout the United States. “The term gambling or ‘gaming’ as the industry calls it, means any legalized form of wagering or betting conducted in a casino, on a riverboat, on an Indian reservation, or at any other location under the jurisdiction of the United States” (National Gambling Impact Study Commission Act). States that allow casino gambling benefit vastly by re-incorporating the taxation off of commerce gained from casinos and tourism associated with the casinos back into the state and local communities. Jobs created by casinos also have a positive impact on the economy in local communities surrounding casinos as well as, the states that legalize gambling. Texas, while allowing horse and dog racing, lottery, and charitable bingo, does not currently prohibit casino gambling. In this essay, I will provide the different reasons the State of Texas will benefit from legalizing casinos gambling. By not having casinos, Texas continues to lose valuable tax revenue that could be awarded to state and local government funded programs for example, education, public safety, economic development, and infrastructure improvements. With the increasing number of legal casinos in bordering states such as Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, the loss of tourism and tax revenue is a growing concern for Texas. Passing legislation to allow casinos in the State of Texas will help fund ...
Nearly everyone likes to play console video games, whether the console is the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Genesis, or the Sony PlayStation. But consoles break down, and the popularity of personal computers gave way to a special category of software called emulators, such as Nesten for the NES, KGen for the Genesis, or bleem! for the PlayStation. Emulators were not created to play video games; in fact, according to the Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, emulation means either “to imitate the functions of (another computer system) by means of software” or “to replace (software) with hardware to perform the same task” (429).
Based on McKenzie Wark’s game theory written in his article called “Agony (On the Cave)”. Games, like our society, have its own rules that everyone should follow without questioning. Everyone is treated equally and can’t escape from these rules’ controlling power. The relationship between rules and games is also revealing in the film Wreck-it Ralph. The film talks about the main character, Ralph, leaving his own game, escaping to the “Sugar Rush” game, fighting with Turbo, and finally solving a big threat to the whole game world. In this scene, Turbo, the antagonist, disturbs the “Road Blaster” game because he envies its taking over his place and ultimately moving out from the arcade. In this essay, I will use Wark’s theory as the lens to discuss
When I was a kid, my parents would ground me for playing too many video games--they tried to make me go to video game rehab, but I said no, no, no! It didn’t stop me from gaming, because my parents couldn’t catch me button mashing my XBOX controller while they were at work, or on my TI-83 while at school, or playing 2048 in the bathroom. The issue was instead of telling me why I shouldn’t be playing, they went right to punishment. And just as my parents style of punishment over rehab didn’t change my behavior, our State and Federal prison system isn’t keeping XBOX controllers out of inmate 's hands… that’s a metaphor. But this problem is no joke. With over a third of released prisoners arrested again within six months of their release, and,
Video games have been around since 1958, and ever since then video games have developed more. With video games becoming a bigger industry, there have been more people purchasing and buying more and more video games. For examples, up to 2001, “roughly 79 percent of America's youth played video games, many of them for at least eight hours a week” (Layton). Furthermore, in 2008, “97% of 12-17 year olds in the US played video games” (“Video Games”). With a growing industry, there has been more competition between video game companies. The companies that make these video games try to make a huge profit by appealing to people’s likes. In 2008, “10 of the top 20 best-selling video games in the US contained violence” (“Video Games”)
In 1998, the US software industry sold $6.3 billion worth of video games (see Unknown). Not bad for an industry that didn't exist 25 years ago! Yet despite its continued growth, all is not well in the video game industry. School shootings in Littleton, Colorado; Pearl, Mississippi; Paducah, Kentucky; Conyers, Georgia and many other towns have shocked the nation (see Malcolm). Understandably, grieving parents and sympathetic citizens are searching for a cause for this "outbreak" of youth violence. It is natural to assume, "when children, the symbol of innocence, commit the severest of crimes, then something must be going wrong with society." (see Maker)
“On Tuesday, November 2, while the rest of the country was voting, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, the landmark case in which the state of California is petitioning for the re-instatement of a California law banning the sale of deviant or morbid violent video games to minors” (Macris). This case is a current example of the opponents of video games trying to prove video games are a bad influence on children and teenagers. Violent video game opponents have always tried to disprove the positive effects of video games. They also have been known to make up and mislead with tales of terrible side effects. This essay will prove to the reader that many of these various statements against video games and their creators are false. Contrary to opposition arguments, video games actually present benefits to gamers by reducing stress, providing entertainment, and helping to develop motivation that could not otherwise be achieved through conventional means.
Thierer, Adam D. "Regulating Video Games: Must Government Mind Our Children?" Cato Institute. N.p., 24 June 2003. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
The release of Grand Theft Auto put the ESRB – the association that rates any commercially sold video game – on the spotlight. So much of a deal was made over a video game where the protagonist could hire and then murder a hooker that the state of California attempted to force laws to limit the sale of the game to reduce the amount of youth playing it (USA). Throughout the world, mostly in Europe, many countries refuse to sell certain games, or ban certain content.
Video games are a rapidly growing industry. There are nearly two games sold for every household in America each year (Anders 271). The vast majority of these are sold to adults, but there is no national law that prohibits minors from buying violent video games. A few states have legislation pending that will prevent this, but the fact is that minors do have access to violent video games. There is a voluntary rating system implemented by the ESRB, where games are rated based on their content. The games that are rated Mature are not supposed to be sold to anyone under seventeen and Adults Only titles, but “some retailers do not impose such limitations” (Anders 271). The bottom line is that minors do have access to these violent games.
In 2013, the video game industry rose in sales. Software sales jumped twenty-eight percent from 2013 to 9.5 billion dollars. (Wagner 2) During this time, new games and consoles were being released, thus making more sales. According to the Entertainment Software Association, (ESA), an average of nine games were sold ever second. (Wagner 2) With statistics like that, its hard to imagine how much of those sales were bought by youth, or bought for youth. In fact, within these sales of video games, four of the five best selling games were violent shooter titles. (McGrath 3)
In the 21st century, society is noticing a drastic change in the new generation. Going outside has become a thing of the past for some and many parents struggle to get their children to stop playing video games. Submersed in the world of violent video games, society has started to scorn the idea of them. Though video games seem to have a lot of drawbacks, other parts of society encourage the development of video games. While many believe that video games are detrimental to society they actually hold many benefits for all age ranges.
The video game industry frequently connotes and restricts itself to the hotbed of console gaming. However, this segment, while quite large, fails to accurately represent the gaming industry’s economic, social, and interactive structure. And the game (or gaming) industry refers all to often to gambling rings. Thus, the “industry of games,” as a collection of interactive media, provides a more robust, inclusive notion of play that transcends platforms, roots of origin, and digital versus non-digital spaces. Analyzing the industry of games from past to future, with significant consideration given to present challenges faced therein, requires a holistic view of history and a critical evaluation of scholars’ and developers’ commentary on games as a whole.
The playing of online games impacts teenage gamers socially, educationally, ethically and psychologically on teenagers. This issue involves numerous stake holders. They are mainly teenagers, parents, friends, policeman, and the game company.