Has it gotten out of control yet? Is it worse than the film industry? It seems to be getting close.
I find it amusing actually.
Its like anything else. If your naturally a violent kid then your going to do violent things.
I found it absurd a year or so ago when those two teenagers were popped for shooting cars on the highway.
They said that Grand Theft Auto taught them how to do it. I was so mad when I heard that.
Granted you have the ability to shoot passing cars in the game but nowhere did it tell you to do so.
It all stems back to the parents. If you raise a little arsehole with no values he/she is going to do arsehole things.
The video game industry is just the scapegot of the moment.
*Originally posted by fester8542 *
**It all stems back to the parents. If you raise a little arsehole with no values he/she is going to do arsehole things.
The video game industry is just the scapegot of the moment. **
That is so true. Parents are losing control and they are looking for someone else to blame…
Tiger I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the games being developed however I do think there is something wrong with the marketing and distribution of the games. This past Christmas when I had a big family and friend get together I was asking all of the kids what santa brought them. Boy was I surprised when my friends 10 year old son said he got Grand Theft Auto Vice City. I spoke to my friend about the game and he was shocked to learn the content of the game. He simply thought that it was an okay video game because that’s what all his son’s friends play.
Anyways, a couple of days later he called me up to tell me that he’d played the game and that he was blown away that any 10 year old would even know about this game. He had also spoken to his son’s friends parents and they were as shocked as he was. Needless, to say there were a lot of unhappy kid’s when their parents took away their new games.
Anyways, like my friend there are a lot of parents who assume that when a game is displayed beside Pokemon it means that it’s okay for their kids. I think that video games of this nature should be sold in clearly marked adult sections to ensure that other parents aren’t making the same mistake as my friend.
Also, before anyone posts that my friend is a bad father for not filtering his son’s video games you should know that he’s not a bad father he’s just no up with the times. He doesn’t watch tv, own a computer or have any desire to buy one other than for furthering his son’s education. The only thing he’s guilty of is being ‘old school.’
There are ESPB ratings on each and every video game box that hits the shelfs. Along with the ratings there are descriptions of what is in the game, ie. animated violence, blood, etc… If the parents are not responsible enough to read these warnings when they are buying their young children games then they shouldn’t have children in the first place. Again its a case where the whole of the video game community, the responsible gamers who know the difference between fiction and reality, who are going to lose out because some as****shole let their impressionable, mentally unstable 12 year old play a video game. If you know your kid is a whack-job then don’t let them near any violent video games (or weapons for that matter…).
I’m not one to advocate violence, but Grand Theft Auto III and VC are fun games, but they are just games. It seems that these groups of “responsible” parents that are sounding the alarms are just attempting to pass the blame. The parents in the Columbine area blamed Marilyn Manson for the shootings. Now I’m sure there were some signs that those kids were up to something or that something was wrong. These stupid parents are just trying to pass the torch on their crappy parenting techniques.
I say everyone gets a rating before becoming a parent.
Soon we’ll all be playing Super Mario Bros… oh no wait… too much violence…
[edit]Bill: Just to clear up, I wasn’t implying that your friend is a bad father. Mistakes do happen and he corrected the problem. Some people don’t even catch the mistake. Chances are even if you didn’t say anything to your friend and his kid did play the game, nothing would have happened. The kid wouldn’t have gone out and blown up cars or shot at people on the sidewalk. Its not the video game that causes these problems its the mental state of the child and the parenting skills of the parents. [/edit]
EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!
Parents are looking to video games (and the Internet) as a nanny. They buy the kids a game, don’t care what the hell the game entails (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! It says VICE city in the title!!) or what ‘messages’ it might convey to their kids - just as long as it keeps jr. happy and his mouth shut.
Forget about spanking kids - I think society should start spanking the parents!
*Originally posted by BadMagick *
Forget about spanking kids - I think society should start spanking the parents! **
lol. I agree, but seriously how hard would it be to have an adult video game section and a children’s video game section.
“Forget about spanking kids - I think society should start spanking the parents!” Haha thats quotable!! i love it…
You cant blame the video games, i know, but where is the line drawn? If you thought GTA was bad, what about Mafia, Manhunt, and True Crime?? These games may be fun, and responsible people know that they are just games, but some kids aren’t mentally developed enough to understand the consequences of their actions. And these kids who mimic violent actions sure didn’t learn it from playing sonic the hedgehog.
I remember when games where an escape from reality… but now the trend is to strive for reality… I enjoy video games as much as the next guy, but there is a difference between a war simulation game, and a game where you run around on the streets, and kill innocents/rape prostitutes, and shoot police…
Bottom line though: it really boils down to bad parenting… I think we all know kids who play games that are rated ‘M’. These games have ratings for a reason.
Aw jeez… down this road again…
I think its a combination of alot of things, TV, News video games, society and most of all parenting.
You can label one thing alone, its everyones fault that the kids goes on a rampage after playing GTA. The blood is on everyone’s hands. Its the gamers fault for demanding violent games (and rating a game on how much bloof you see) Its the creators fault for making it so violent, its the corporate fault for pushing it just for the sake of $$$. Its the parents fault not to recognize the childs violence or problems, and preventing them, its the kids fault for carring out the crime…
*Originally posted by Majeye *
I remember when games where an escape from reality… but now the trend is to strive for reality
How true…
Parents are so stupid. My mom, when she bought me Vice City, realized I was a good kid and wasn’t going to go around blowing crap up because I played it. She monitored my game playing (visited every 20 minutes or so). Parents are sometimes such dipsticks, buying their kids games and then wondering why they go nuts. Its because they didn’t have the brains to read the bloody labels before buying their 8 year old boy a game made for 18+, and then they go angrily protesting. I just don’t get it. If theres one thing that makes me angry, its things like that.
*Originally posted by Majeye *
**I enjoy video games as much as the next guy, but there is a difference between a war simulation game, and a game where you run around on the streets, and kill innocents/rape prostitutes, and shoot police…
**
Thats what bother me the most here. There are both prostitutes and police in the GTA games.
No where does it instruct you to blast the cop chasing you. It gives you the option to do so. You could easily evade them.
Prostitues are the same story. You dont have to pick them up and bang them. You just can.
- Granted it gives you 25% more health but who here dosent feel like a million bucks after getting laid :beam: *
Seriously though. You dont ** HAVE TO** make a mess out of the hooker afterwards to get your loot back. you just can.
You also don’t have to play the game and then complain about it. If you don’t like it, then don’t play it. Simple. (-:
I thought this would be interesting…
but the first reply by fester8542 summed it up perfectly so I have nothing new to add.
Well, all you guys brought up perfectly good points with which I totally agree. Over here in Belgium, it seems like almost everybody is against violent video games and keep bringing up the same stupid arguments as some of you mentioned before. Even younger people (eg some in my class) think about it that way. I try to explain them in the way you guys do, but some of them just don’t want to listen…
Glad to see at least some people out there agree with me.
I could go on for days about this, I really could… 
I’ve played GTA, Vice City, Mortal Kombat (look, when it first came out, it was scandalous, ok?) and I’m pretty well adjusted. I’ve never had the urge to go out and shoot people simply because I’ve played a video game where you can do that.
I think it’s just a handy place to put the blame. Kids that actually do go around doing all this dumb stuff were pretty likely to do it regardless of what games they played. It’s the whole upbringing…
and what did the “wack the mole” game at the carnival teach us as kids?
did we go out and start whacking everything?
or the “hit the target, and dunk the adult” booth we always had at fund raisers…
are Roadrunner cartoons causing people to drop anvils on each other?
Rev
I just played bat a penguin. **** the zoo’s shut and no flights to the antartic until Wednesday. aaaaaagggggghhhhh
Blaming video games is the easy way out. Blame the parents - they hold some portion of the blame. I think a simple solution would be to have stores check the IDs of kids who purchase these games. The store clerks could even include a small form for parents to sign that says “This game contains graphical images of…a snowman running around trying to get rid of other snowmen.”
It’s not a perfect solution, but at least it makes the parents or whoever signed it somewhat accountable for the purchase they made
From one angle I see this as the baby boomers being deathly afraid of changes that are taking place in our society. They don’t understand how we have become accustomed, and desensitized to violence, and it scares them.
One the other hand. I think newer games such as x-box live, where gamers are connected to the actual game, and it’s players; is no place for an 8 year old. The other day I was playing Rainbow six and there was an 9 year old kid in there. He was basically getting in on a conversation that he should be having until he was that age. I don’t agree that kids should be exposed to certain “grown up” activities until they themselves are grown up.
