Mr. Crecente,
Come out from behind the freedom of speech cloak and do something meaningful with your talents and imagination.
What's next?
-Gamers get points for raping their peers at school?
Stand-up and take a bow. Your mother must be proud.
let me sum this up in my own words. the gaming industry makes games for whoever is interested in them. ESRB rates them and its the parent's responsiblity to decide wither or not the game is suitable for them. i think its just the whole McDonald's issue all over again, if they are fat then they should go on a diet and stop eating, like parents should start paying attention to the rating on the box, i mean thats what its there for isnt it? well its not good for the rest of us.
This stuff is seriously getting rediculous. We have policy makers and lobbyists using patently false information and half-truths to support arguments that fly in the face of everything we, as a nation, hold dear. Free speech is a constitutional right, not a privilege, and while I agree that certain materials should not be in the hands of children, that is certainly not a judgement call I am willing to make to apply to the whole of society. That is a decision to be made on a case-by-case basis by the parents of the child at hand, and if that parent is too stupid to know or care about what their children are doing, then that is their fault, and theirs alone. Pointing fingers and finding scapegoats has never truly solved any of society's problems, not once, so let us stop acting like idiots and focus on the real issue, some people are mentally disturbed and do really horrible things. Playing a video game is not going to change that, it is not going to trigger any sort of behavioral problems that are not already present in that individual. In conclusion, shut the f--- up and worry about something other than how much money this lawsuit is going to make you, or how famous you'll become as a "champion of moral values".
"While A 10-yearold can, however, walk into a Wal-Mart and purchase an �M� rated game, no questions asked." That's retarded, what are you tlaking about a they check for ID at Wallmart and almost any store if you are buying an M rated game. Pfffft!
Poster 80 said all that needs to be said on the issue. In addition, most of these studies on videogames are ridiculously inadequate. They are all short term tests and this basis for an increase in aggression is based on what? How can they measure change in a human?There is no accurate measurement.
This whole issue is ludicrous. If parents actually looked at the rating on the cover of the box, we wouldn’t even have this controversy. The problem is the rating system is not enforced. Film and television are. TV’s now come with a V-chip to block unsuitable content for children, no problem. You can’t rent or buy tickets to “R” movies unless you are over 17, no problem. You can’t buy “adult” books or magazines unless you are 18 or older, no problem. While A 10-yearold can, however, walk into a Wal-Mart and purchase an “M” rated game, no questions asked. Why doesn’t the government simply require age verification for video game purchasing? It’s in place for every other medium, even the internet. Hilary Clinton thinks we need to spend millions of dollars on studys to find the obvious. It’s just a case of irresponsible parenting and sales practice. A simple regulation to enforce the rating system would solve the whole issue.
I don't even LIKE the GTA series but when poor parenting threatens to take out the first amendment rights of my favorite industry, I get mad.
People do not emulate what they see in videogames, I've never jumped on turtles ala mario, or ran through traffic like frogger. Never have I taken a shotgun to an alien zealot based on the destruction of humanity like one of my favorite shooters, Halo. I've killed dozens of cops and FBI agents in an attempt to get the army to show up so I could steal a tank (GTA). But I have eaten things in mass volumes like Kirby, although that was at Thanksgiving so it's all good.
Maybe parents should, I dont know, DO THEIR JOB.
Like every generation before us, people will find a scapegoat to blame horrible events on, no matter how it really happened or it's reasons for happening. Like the old saying of an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters, given enough time and instances, you can find a way to blame anything on anything else. Heck, while they're at it, why not blame any drowning deaths from the mid-80's on Super Mario and his infinite lung capacity. Or maybe, just maybe, some real research could be done to find the true cause, rather than take the easy way out. But real research takes too much time and reports about "murder simulators" with more holes than a block of swiss cheese in them are easier for the general public to digest. Thankfully, we aren't the general public, the sheep, the uninformed. We are gamers, the 1337, the informed. To quote an old saying, "Evil only prevails when good men do nothing." In this case, Jack Thompson will only win if we, the gamers, are apathetic towards what is happening to what we hold dear in our lives.
I dont even own GTA but this whole thing pisses me off. I mean these politicians act like the companies force people to buy the game and the utterly lie about what is in it. Fact is that it tells you right on the back of the box. I mean I realize that reading those few simple words that say "hey I have violence, sexual themes, blood, gore and what not." is so hard. But come on banning this is ridiculous, how about you ban PDAs while your at it. I dont want my kids seeing that its trashy. Ohhh and as for the news we should just trash that all together, its full of blood, death, violence, sex, drugs, and everything they say they dont want children seeing. And if video games cause violence how about explaining the massive amounts of violence before video games, yeah violence is on the rise, due to poor parenting and a general lax in societys willingness to do anything about other than blame it on faceless corporations that "hand out manuals for violence in nice little celophane pakcages" come on that just stupid.
i haven't killed anyone else along with the masses of kids whome have played these games. Isolated cases need not be exploited. But that is the way of media. bah.
Rather than making a long winded rant or statement, as all of my points are most likely covered below, I'd just like to say that the fact that we even have to do this is moronic.
As a person who is a supposedly under the influence of violece 24/7 because of video games, movies, TV and comic books, I'd like to tell to all of the people blaming such media for violence behavior to SHUT THE HELL UP!!! Personally i use these media so i don't get violent in real life. I mean as a child, most of the mean, violent kids i knew, were that way because they were brats or because they weren't loved enough by parents. It's ridiculus to blame the entertainment that kids participate in, when the blame should be put on the parents who let the kids get out of control in the first place. Hell even team sports such as hockey and football, which everyone wants to save, can have a violent influence, if the kid was never taught that you shouldn't hurt people. Just teach them right, give them some TLC ever so often, and the kid can turn out fine.
I work for a video game retailer and for every M rated sale, we have to have a parent present of the person has to be over 17 with a state ID. More often than not when the parent gets to the register, they are annoyed that they had to take 30 seconds away from standing in line at Cinnabon to see what their child is buying. When they are told that the game is made for adults, has excessive violence, language, etc., the most common response is "He's going to play it anyway", or "He's already played worse games". I know that growing up, that would have never been my mother's response. If I had a friend whose parents let me do things my mother wouldn't have allowed me to do, they would not have been my friend long if she had anything to do with it. The main problem is that many parents don't want to become involved until it's already too late for them to actually do any parenting. Another issue is the fact that many parents don't feel that violence is a big deal. When they are told that a game is rated M, they ask why; if I tell them it's because of blood, gore, and violence, they usually say, "I'm not worried about that, as long as there isn't any sex". What kind of stance is that to take, and what is that teaching their children? I used to worry about it and really try to convince the parents not to make such irresponsible purchases, but I have given up. I no longer take it as my duty to police their purchases. When a mother told me she was buying GTA Vice City for an 8 year old because she "heard it was a fun racing game" and that "he would never do any of the violent stuff because he's too young to understand" that was when I decided that I would be wasting my time and effort on a lost cause. Now whenever I see one of these watchdog groups decrying the evils of the video game ind
It is a parents responsibility to keep games like GTA out of their children's hands until the eve of their 17th b-day. Retailers are already keeping most of these games out of a minor's hands but the minor;s will just find some person, parents included, to buy the game for them. Parent need to be held more accountable for their children's actions not the game makers.
I'm sick of people bitching over San Andreas because of sexual content, it's a game intended for mature audiences only but dumbass parents don't have control over their kids and they get ahold of it. It's sickening how people are bitching at Rockstar for this even though parents are too stupid to raise their kids right. Politicians are no better, why are they complaining about this game when they can't even run our country anymore. Seriously, it's a game intended for mature audiences only but parents are too stupid to raise their children so they blame Rockstar for their problems and the politicians join them, doesn't that sound fucked up?
Put a stop to politicians, flood them with e-mails and letters! Better yet someone post a copy of both a letter and an email. Everyone can just cut and paste, then send multiple copies of each. This will get some heads turned.
When I'm back from killin' them cops, pickin' up them points, doin' them hoes, mowin' over those pedestrians, beatin' up those rivals, I'll take some of that beer. I was talking about real life, dontchaknow.
seeing how well cbs handled an issue like this kind of says something about all of their other stories they air. they also think theres too much violence in that game? they air stuff from the war in iraq that isnt exactly g rated, or pg-13 for that matter. plane wrecks with flames coming out of places where people could be, pictures of dead people killed by insurgents. cbs is retarted
I have about 4 woman at work, between 30-40, who come to me for advice on music and games that their 10-15 year old kids ask them to get for them. All four have asked me about GTA and I steered them away. I don't feel that this game or any others shouldn't be made but games just like movies, magazines, and music should be rated and those of the appropriate aged should have the freedom to choose what they liek and want to see, hear or play.
if parents didnt buy thier kids games they should be seeing anyway, then there would be no problem. what did u think it had in it when you brought it? fluffy pink bunnies that sing and dance?
Woots to the editors! I say kill everyone saying violence is from videogames, and videogames are from hell! And kill all people against the death penalty (reference to Robespierre, some guy who did this in French history). Nah, seriously, I'm really happy this stuff isn't having that much success over here in France, but hey, I do support you guys! Videogames are good music reincarnated (everyone knows it's nearly dead). Gah maybe I should go back to learning how to knit instead of writing all this nonsense :p Good luck everyone!
Too bad the " responsible" parents of america don't listen to editors, only to those wonderfully honest and trustable politicians.
I agree wholeheartedly. I would laugh at the rampant misinformation and plain idiocy that is demonstrated by the public so frequently in regards to the gaming industry if it wasn't these very same people who were running the world.
In about 20 years or so, when people who actually understand technology are running the world, maybe this won't be an issue anymore.
I sincerely pray for this.
I'm sure that some of the people that write these articles lock themselves up under a rock or two on the land they bought on the moon... it started with violence in books, then in movies, and now in games-but unfortunately, the parents who pertition to get these things destroyed are too busy trying to make themselves a quick buck off somebody else and get their face in the paper to even really give a f**k about what their child is doing in the first place. If you ask me, games don't need to be banned, bad parenting does.
Like Sweden or other European countries that embrace sex and sexuality, America should follow this frame of mind. This 'controversy' about the game only arose after they found a completely hidden 'sex-scene' inside the game. Oh no, Gods forbid our kids can shoot gang members and whatnot, that's fine, but oh my Gods, if they're to see simulated sex... *GASP* This really makes me irate and happy I am not living in America, and I actually do feel a sort of sympathy to the impovrished souls over there.
Kids like to do what they're not allowed to do, if they ban the sale of games to kids under 18, you can be sure that it'll make them all the more popular.
All I'm saying is that parents don't have any control over their kids. When a kid sees sex on tv or a movie, the parent should have made sure that the kid didn't see it. Why are you letting kids that aren't old enough to see sex play video games where you get money for running over people in the streets?
there are reasons that games have a mature rating, parents just need to be more responsible and not be afraid to say "no" to their kids and not blame the companies when they get something they don't like
I just emailed Jack Thompson, I spent 35 minutes writing a well-written letter, and he just replied a blank email with my original email. I would like for everyone to make informed decisions before people are able to sway others merely because of media attention whoring.
All of the concerned citizens are people that didnt grow up with these games. They assert that these games give motive for violence, or have a hand in abuse.This is a very flawed assertion. A more correct assertion is that the older, concerned group, definitly had a hand in developing the means for violence. Kids want to have fun, play video games. Adults want to develop weapons, go to war, imperialize oil rich countries, and get rich.
This attention to a video game is laughable. Its the same garbage people said about TV and movies. Parents dont have time for there kids and the mainstream media know that and pander to it. Get some guts and take the game console away from your kid if your worried about the game they are playing.
