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Less than two days ago Jack Davis did an interview with Ken Levine (“If Games are harmful “It’s a matter of science, not opinion” says Ken Levine, developer of BioShock“). And they spoke about everything from video games, the games industry to censorship. Well, guess what? Yesterday Levine stood up for freedom of speech and artistic freedom on Twitter. That´s great of course, but Polygon´s Claire Hosking (she´s a freelance writer) didn´t agree with Levine. One is of course free to disagree, but when it comes to limitations of artistic freedom and freedom of speech. I´m on Ken Levine´s side on this matter. Because I think that you should be able to create and say pretty much whatever you want. However, people should also have the freedom to call you out on your actions (freedom of speech should go both ways). Nevertheless, it seems like Claire Hosking had something entirely “different” in mind. At least, that´s the vibes that I´ve got from her conversation with Ken Levine on Twitter (that she wants freedom of speech and artistic freedom to be controlled and limited).

I have no idea what “plastering live people” means.

I have read the whole twitter conversation between Claire and Ken, and I have to say that Hosking is out on very thin ice for sure. Because let´s say that Levine wouldn´t have been allowed to shape the Bioshock universe like he wanted (due to artistic freedom limitations). Then what would Bioshock have looked like if Levine hadn´t been able to create whatever he wanted? Personally, I hardly doubt that Bioshock would have looked anything like the original game if that was the case. And that´s also WHY I’m siding with Levine in this Twitter controversy/debate (or whatever you choose to call it).

Anyhow, the last thing that Claire and Ken said on this matter was the following:

“sorry, not sure what “plastering” means? haven’t heard the term.” – Ken Levine

“I was just referring to Sander Cohen, but the point stands. Just calling something art doesn’t make it harmless.” – Claire Hosking

“this conversation a bit deep for twit, can dm if you like, but you don’t follow.” – Ken Levine

And that´s all there is to it (for now), as I have no idea if Levine and Hosking continued their conversation via pm´s on Twitter. One thing is for sure though, there will most likely be some kind of response from Polygon in the next couple of days because of this.

With that said, what do you guys think about all of this? Was Levine right? Or did Hosking have some valid points?

Credit:
The Devil Within

Source:
https://archive.is/yrMIu

Disclosure:
I am a long time fan of Mr Ken Levine, but I´m not a fan of Polygon and their work.

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround