Old I know, but I thought I'd share my views on this topic anyway.
I think people are far too concerned with labeling people, and often with words they do not truly understand the meaning of. I'm an artsy person, I do all sorts of weird things to my hair (just changing colors- its red now lol), I love diversity and people so long as they are of good character. Nobody in my family has ever cared about someone's race, or sexual preference- as it is not important. I find the Christian faith fascinating and beautiful; especially after I had studied Greek and Hebrew and the culture of the ancient world, which also influenced ideas for one of many games, and graphic novel I've been working on (a main hero in one of my books/games is actually gay). With that bit of info about myself, people would assume I am a modern liberal... I am not, and have never considered myself to be one.
Am I a conservative? Well there are different types of conservatism. I am a classic conservative which was apart of the original philosophy of the Republican party. In which they believed a smaller government, was a more efficient, and intelligent government; not to mention safer. I am fiscally conservative, as it is rooted in common sense, and responsibility. If someone handed me a credit card with a $65K limit, and I spent it all, then asked for another one, and did the same thing... That's not very responsible, wise, and its dangerous. This does not mean I hate or fear government (I'm no anarchist), nor do I believe people in need- should have to fend for themselves- as I believe in the safety net. I am conservative on national security, which is again also rooted in common sense. I don't live in a rough neighborhood, but hey, bad things can happen to anyone anywhere, and I rather be safe than sorry. I keep my home secure, yes I own a gun too- and I'm trained, because while I can call the police if something did happen... The police cannot instantly materialize at my door and be ready to help me. So while I wait for the police to show up, my gun is ready as am I to defend myself if I must... I have a sword too, which I think is awesome too ^_^.
Social conservatism is what people seem to describe, when they label a conservative as "fearing" or being "unwilling" to change. Change also must be defined, if I started killing and raping people, that would be change... Though not a good one LOL. Social conservatism isn't entirely bad, as it does promote virtuous characteristics- which ultimately does have an effect on society, as I've seen in Japan- and because I was raised as I was, I often had many Japanese people tell me (lived there for a bit), that I was "very Japanese, for an American". I like new things, that are positive, I have to- I'm an artist a creator, new things inspire me greatly- technology and science fascinates me, especially when used to uplift humanity instead of controlling or destroying humanity.
Social conservatism however is bad when you have politicians try to legislate it, as you cannot legislate morality. This was never apart of the Republican party, but became so under Nixion- which was his response to the drug issue starting up- and later the counter culture revolution. Which leads me to the next word...
Classic liberal. I would also consider myself this, and it too was also apart of the original philosophy of the Republican party. The belief was "does man need government to tell him how to live?" I don't smoke weed, nor do I think ill of anyone who does- and I don't think the government should be concerned with it either. I have friends who are gay, and I don't think the government should be telling two consenting adults in love, how they should live. I think abortion is sad, nasty even because of its original purpose, which was eugenics.. However I understand the situations in which a woman may go that way- and such a choice needs to be between her, her family (if she has one), the man (if in the picture), and most importantly (if she believes) god. Not some silly politician, who wishes to play both politician and priest, oh I think prostitution should be legal too lol.
I reject modern liberalism (along with its hate, subtle racism, ignorance, and hypocrisy), which is nothing more than progressive ideology repackaged. It is collectivism when you get down to it, and collectivism kills individuality, freedom of speech, and even thought. Political correctness is also part of modern liberalism, which too is dangerous, and censoring. I also reject modern conservatism (along with its hypocrisy, ignorance, hate, and prudish views), which is the right's version of collectivism. It constantly implies that if you are not an upstanding Christian, (or the right kind of Christian), if you're anything that doesn't mirror their ideal of a Christian American- then you're doing something wrong, and should be treated differently. Both are garbage to me, as both do not care for the constitution or true freedom.
Politically I vote for who I feel is best fit to lead the country. I do not vote for party, and will study a candidate before I vote for them... No I did not vote for Obama in 08 (didn't like McCain either), nor did I vote for him in 2012 (although I felt Romney was a horrible candidate- all of them were on the Republican side). I must say I'm also quite put off by the worshiping of Obama I see from a lot of supporters... It almost looks like something out of Communist Russia, or Nazi Germany.
As for video games... I'm all well and good with the 3D, and motion is fun- though since I'm such an artistic person, no I would not want to see motion capture replace everything, and I know there are many other devs who also don't want to see that. I feel it takes away a bit from the characters, and story. It depends on the type of game really though. Back in the day or as some call it, "the golden era of gaming"- the 90's. Most of the games I ran to were developed in Japan, because I felt American games were boring and ugly. Today I see a lot of Japanese influence in western games, and I myself am influenced, and find myself gravitating more towards western games today.
I've always been a huge fighting game fan, actually making one- also an RPG fan (also making one). I was never really a shooting game fan, especially FPS games, and still not so much today. Adventure games I've always loved, though I care very little for Mario and Zelda these days, as it is too child-like to me sorry. I really dig deep stories, and interesting characters. MMO's really have me right now I must say. First time I got into them was with Phantasy Star Online, later Final Fantasy XI, Phantasy Star Universe, Final Fantasy XIV (can't wait for A Realm Reborn), currently playing and loving Guild Wars 2, and dying to play Elder Scrolls Online.
