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[Draugoth]

​

Former Democratic vice presidential nominee and Sen. Joe Lieberman has died at 82, according to a statement from his family. Senator Joe Lieberman, then a Democrat of Connecticut, helped lead hearings on Capitol Hill that put video game executives under the spotlight.

The hearings eventually led to a video game ratings system that continues to this day.

“Former United States Senator Joseph I. Lieberman died this afternoon, March 27, 2024, in New York City due to complications from a fall. He was 82 years old. His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed. Senator Lieberman’s love of God, his family, and America endured throughout his life of service in the public interest,” the statement said.

via BBC

 

[bumpkin]

I kinda wanna visit his grave and scream “Mortal Kombat” at the top of my lungs.

 

[Humdinger]

Game over, dude.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

 

[ReBurn]

RIP

 

[Havoc2049]

 

[Ulysses 31]

What did he drop?

MMO RPG joke

 

[Sleepwalker]

 

[Kilau]

Kinda distasteful this thread. 30 years ago, get over it my dudes. RIP

 

[kiphalfton]

​

The hearings eventually led to a video game ratings system that continues to this day.

The same rating system that is ignored by everybody and their parents?

 

[Salty Popsicle]

The same rating system that is ignored by everybody and their parents?

That just proves that it isn't video games ruining young children's minds, it is the neglect and failure of parents.

 

[Quasicat]

At one point Lieberman was the front runner for Vice President under Obama. I kinda wish we could see the timeline where he got it (and later the presidency) just to see where he would have gone with it. I don’t hate the guy for his politics, I just think he was a little misguided in what he wanted to do.

 

[John Bilbo]

Rest in peace.

 

[ChiefDada]

Rest in peace. Partisan politics aside, he was a good public servant, in the same vein as John McCain.

 

[mdkirby]

To be fair, they may not have needed them so much back then, but games sure as hell need ratings these days. Sadly many parents seem to still ignore them thinking games are for kids and the old original mortal kombat games they remember, probably from this guys hearings were as bad as they’d get…until they walk in on little Timmy playing the last of us part two in all its visceral detail

 

[RSLAEV]

Damn said he died due to "complications from a fall" If I make it to 82 I'm going to do as little standing as possible, and only in a room full of pillows.

 

[Area61]

 

[nkarafo]

As far as "anti-gamer activists" go at least he was honest and not nearly as bad as modern day game journalists and "consultants" who lie about how they love games while at the same time trying to destroy them from the inside.

rip

 

[Deft Beck]

Holy shit, I just listened to the episode of My Perfect Console where he was a guest. I still don't like him or his views, but at least he stuck to his guns.

EDIT: Oh, wrong person. I was thinking of Jack Thompson.

 

[Interfectum]

RIP

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Y'know, for as misguided as Lieberman was with the video game violence thing, I really don't think he was a bad politician overall. Frankly, I wish we had more people like him in this day and age.

 

[Unknown?]

As far as "anti-gamer activists" go at least he was honest and not nearly as bad as modern day game journalists and "consultants" who lie about how they love games while at the same time trying to destroy them from the inside.

rip

Not nearly as bad as Jack Thompson.

 

[cartman414]

Because of him we have no public option for healthcare.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Kinda distasteful this thread. 30 years ago, get over it my dudes. RIP

I mean, no one here is going Resetera about it. It's a current event tangentially related to gaming. Like the Akira Toriyama thread. Kind of. >>

 

[Scotty W]

RIP to a real one

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Death end re; Lieberman

 

[ManaByte]

The hearings eventually led to a video game ratings system that continues to this day.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Rip

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I mean, no one here is going Resetera about it. It's a current event tangentially related to gaming. Like the Akira Toriyama thread. Kind of. >>

Check out the ree thread if y'all want to see some real shit being flung. They love it when people die that they hate.

 

[Rentahamster]

Damn said he died due to "complications from a fall" If I make it to 82 I'm going to do as little standing as possible, and only in a room full of pillows.

That shit is scary. I have multiple parents of friends who go fucked up from a single awkward fall in their 70s or 80s. One day perfectly mobile, the next day reliant on a walker. Take care of yourselves.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

May he rest eternally.

 

[Valonquar]

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

RIP, but ...

 

[lh032]

RIP, whats up with some of the replies here?

 

[YeulEmeralda]

How does establishing a ratings board equate to anti gaming?

 

[ManaByte]

Check out the ree thread if y'all want to see some real shit being flung. They love it when people die that they hate.

The worst was the Billy Graham thread. Both of them. The first one was them gleefully dancing on his grave because one idiot there told people he was basically Joel Olsteen so it got so bad they nuked the thread. Then the second thread went to shit.

 

[ManaByte]

How does establishing a ratings board equate to anti gaming?

He didn’t establish it. He was actively trying to censor and ban video games thanks to Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. The industry formed the ESRB to shut him up.

 

[What A Shame...]

Not nearly as bad as Jack Thompson.

Jack Thompson kinda won me over with this:

 

[Meicyn]

I should check my old EGM magazines. I remember them covering the moral panic by Joe Liebermann and Hillary Clinton when I was a kid, still have those issues somewhere. Also makes me think of the similar moral panic over Frank Zappa’s music decades prior. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

 

[NickFire]

He grew up in an era when gaming didn’t exist. He thought it was harmful to kids and thought he was doing right. I disagreed with his thought process then and now. Disagreement doesn’t mean he was a bad person. Sad to see people unable to separate the opinion from the person.

RIP to the deceased.

 

[E-Cat]

Note: Joe Lieberman is not Jack Thompson

 

[Edmund]

I got a shock because I thought Digital Foundry's John Linnerman died. I haven't slept in over 24 hours and I'm in a daze still. Lol.

 

[dave_d]

That shit is scary. I have multiple parents of friends who go fucked up from a single awkward fall in their 70s or 80s. One day perfectly mobile, the next day reliant on a walker. Take care of yourselves.

This is of course made worse if you're on blood thinners and hit your head when you fall.

 

[dave_d]

Anybody notice that the rating on this is the one Sega originally came up with? (IE before the whole debate in congress.)

 

[dave_d]

He didn’t establish it. He was actively trying to censor and ban video games thanks to Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. The industry formed the ESRB to shut him up.

And we ended up with Nintendo buying in to it and releasing mature games. So in the end those people scored an own goal.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Kinda distasteful this thread. 30 years ago, get over it my dudes. RIP

I personally agree. There are countless other reasons to hate Joe Lieberman and remember him as a terrible US Senator. While I am sorry to hear he has died (as I mourn all deaths), his legacy was awful across the board.

Oh, what the heck, go ahead and roast Joe for that stupid videogame witch hunt. It was an embarrassment and a complete waste of time.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

And we ended up with Nintendo buying in to it and releasing mature games. So in the end those people scored an own goal.

We have to remember that the infamous Senate hearings on videogame violence was essentially a revenge hit by Nintendo because Sega's version of Mortal Kombat outsold theirs by a 4:1 ratio. Naturally, when it came time to bring Mortal Kombat 2 home, Nintendo was more than willing to let their morals slide in pursuit of the almighty dollar. That little rating on the box was just a cover to justify it.

But the videogame ratings ended up achieving the same end as the "explicit content" labels on music CDs: they opened the floodgates to more violent and "adult" content than was ever possible before, and the holier-than-thou moralists yawned and moved along to their next monorail scam. Not that I'm a cynical Gen Xer about these things, oh, no.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Kinda distasteful this thread. 30 years ago, get over it my dudes. RIP

Yeah.. I was stunned at this. So... this is what it's like to get Old.I keep seeing those I admired and those... not so much, dying off.
While I thought this guy was a prick back in the day, there is a sadness to this news in 2024. At least, to me.

 

[Varteras]

"Died due to complications from a fall". Fucking hell. Crossing my fingers that in 40 years medical technology is far enough along that I don't have to worry about dying because I rolled off my bed.

 

[Sleepwalker]

"Died due to complications from a fall". Fucking hell. Crossing my fingers that in 40 years medical technology is far enough along that I don't have to worry about dying because I rolled off my bed.

Its much more common than you think. Old people will be doing alright one day then slip and fall the next and end up breaking their hip/leg/knee and from there its a spiral that leads to death.

As for the guy in the op, jokes aside I didnt know about him at all, was too young during the controversy and I don't care for american politics so I can't comment on if he was a good person or not. Condolences to the family.