Video games to blame getting outta hand?

[kainemaxwell]

Is anyone else here sick of hearing in the media about video games to blame for the downfall of America's youth? I mean our country has problems with the economy, Bush, terrorism and whatnot, and we still have those in office worried about video games corrupting our country's youth?!

[michael]

I believe Pac Man is to blame for the acts of Enron. :roll:

[Achika]

"Clan's strike back at ESRB, Mothers against Videogame Violence"

http://www.mavav.org/

If I remember correctly this was set up by someone from Parsons (my school next semester) who is in a FPS Clan as a joke towards all the whiney parents. It's hosted on the same servers as the Clans homepage too.

[Charlesaway]

It was setup as a hoax, as a school assignment.

http://a.parsons.edu/~dyoo/2002-3/interactivity/mavav/

For those of you who don't read penny arcade.
;)

[Sylentwulf]

Well, it IS to blame in part. I'm sorry to say this, but accept the fact.

You can only kill so many people via unreal tounrament and doom before you become detached.

I'm not saying it's any worse than watching Jerry smack Tom in the face with a frying pan, but it IS equivilant, only with videogames, YOU'RE the one pulling the trigger.

YES, Videogames ARE partly to blame. But that doesn't matter, it's still the parents and the kids fault for doing it. The ONLY fault is placed on the person who actually pulls the trigger (And you F*^&ING Republicans who take the Declaration of indepence to F*C$ing seriously.)

[Kroogah]

Video games being to blame? Well, let me quote an issue of the comic book "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac" (which, even though I have read it numerous times, has not turned me into a homicidal maniac):

"Any pile of stunted growth unaware that entertainment is just that and nothing more, deserves to doom themselves to some dank cell, somewhere, for having been so stupid!!! Movies, books, TV, music - they're all just entertainment, not guidebooks for damning yourself!"

That's my view entirely. If someone goes crazy from playing too much Half-Life or whatever, the problem is in the PERSON, not the game. If it was the game, then there should have been a MASSIVE increase in crime in recent years due to Grand Theft Auto 3. So far I've only heard of one crime that has been attributed to good ol' GTA3, the dumb@$$ who started a stolen car collection. ^_^

edit: I can beat most 8-foot single and 7-foot double songs on Dance Dance Revolution, but I'm not convinced that i'm a good dancer.... LOL

[WiseSalesman]

edit: I can beat most 8-foot single and 7-foot double songs on Dance Dance Revolution, but I'm not convinced that i'm a good dancer.... LOL

Likewise! Even though I beat my first nine the other day, I'm still not about to head off to the dance club and start doing DDR moves.

[hamburgler]

I don't think video games are to blame.It's people who do stupid things are to blame like that high school shooting a couple years ago.
None of these would of happened if those two kids started the shooting in the first place.

[gamingguy]

The ONLY fault is placed on the person who actually pulls the trigger (And you F*^&ING Republicans who take the Declaration of indepence to F*C$ing seriously.)


You mean the Constitution? It IS the law you know. We have to obey it.

[Achika]

You mean the Constitution? It IS the law you know. We have to obey it.

Yes, but don't forget all the criminals who twist out the technicalities so they can stay out of jail. No one ever said it was fool proof.

[Nature Boy]

The problem as I see it is that not enough parents monitor what their kids are doing/watching/playing. I saw a mother almost buy Vice City before Xmas, until she heard, from another customer in line, about picking up prostitutes and what have you. *That's* the problem. People need to take responsibility for their own actions, and not blame Rockstar because you bought a game for your kid that's too violent. You should've known from the *start* it was inappropriate and gotten something else (in her case it was Lord of the Rings).

[NvrMore]

You mean the Constitution? It IS the law you know. We have to obey it.

Indeed, to an extent I agree gamingguy, but I'm sure you yourself have no problems respecting and abiding by rules set out by others, otherwise that statement would be horrendously hypocritical and two-faced.

[Cheese]

Well, it IS to blame in part. I'm sorry to say this, but accept the fact.

To quote David Cross, "What were the violent video games Hitler and the entire German population between 1939-1945 were playing??? What were their names again?"

It's actually NOT a fact. It's an assumption. Next Generation magazine (IMO the best American games magazine to ever had existed) ran article after article on this very topic. I wish they were archived somewhere.

I wrote this for Console Wire.com a few years back.

[quote]When the Denver Post reported on the story (free version no longer available online), one ConsoleWire member wrote the following letter to the newspaper:

I was saddened to read your recent article on the lawsuit recently filed against the entertainment industry on behalf of the families of some of the Columbine massacre victims. I was saddened that it didn't seem to have any opposing view point and although it only mentions one attempt to contact anyone in the industry, John Carmack is not the only person in the industry able to speak on this topic, I don't even think it's his place to. Why did you not try to contact someone from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, (http://www.esrb.com/) the industry's ratings board and regulator of violent video games? Did you even know they had them? Recently they were commended by congress for doing more to regulate and warn responsible parents about product content then any other industry.
Your article states, "Without those controls, "it is guaranteed that more monsters will be created and more school killings will occur," according to the lawsuit. "
It's not the game companies you have to blame, it's parents who don't know what their "monsters" are doing in their rooms. Some people are just not able to differentiate between fantasy and reality, and to cater our entire culture to accommodate these few people is like saying we ban peanuts because some people are allergic to them. It's ridiculous. I remember a few years back parents blaming rock and roll and rap music for their wild and crazy teens, the interactive industry is just the newest punching bag for this reckless behavior. Sadly in our over litigious times the law has become so muddled with garbage that I'm sure that it could be proved legally that I am guilty for world war one, even though I'm only 30.
It should be noted that Florida attorney Jack Thompson has been suing the entertainment industry for years frivolously in an effort to impose his personal values on the rest of America. He's the same lawyer who sued to make 2Live Crew illegal to sell in Broward County Florida. He is a crackpot, ultraconservative that in reality demeans the suffering of the people involved. He has a personal agenda and is using these poor people to meet his own goals. He is focused on holding our society back from evolving into anything besides his twisted utopian 1950's - esque nightmare.
Recently CBS did a story on their 60 minutes program about the play by play of that day at Columbine. What I took notice to was this: They reported there were, at one point, 1,000 police around the building, and not one inside the school. So if violent movies and games made these kids go on a violent rampage, how come not one of the thousands of hero cop films produced every year rubbed off on a single one of these 1,000 police? One would think that if it a thing has the ability to encourage one thing it has the ability to encourage the opposite.
Thank you for your time.
Mark Hasselberger

[gamingguy]

There are statements in this thread which make no sense. Like the one blaming the Republicans. And/Or the Declaration/Constitution. I can't understand your points. What does it have to do with M-ratedgames???

I agree with the person who said parents are responsible for what they let their children play. If you don't want your child shooting prostitutes, don't buy the game. But I think irresponsible parents need a helping hand from government: Treat adult-rated movies/games like alcohol/cigarettes...proof-of-age-18 required or no sale.

[Kroogah]

There are statements in this thread which make no sense. Like the one blaming the Republicans. And/Or the Declaration/Constitution. I can't understand your points. What does it have to do with M-ratedgames???

He was talking about gun nuts who interpret the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution as "Everyone can, and should, have guns" and admittedly most of those people are conservative/Republican.

And now, back to the topic:


I agree with the person who said parents are responsible for what they let their children play. If you don't want your child shooting prostitutes, don't buy the game. But I think irresponsible parents need a helping hand from government: Treat adult-rated movies/games like alcohol/cigarettes...proof-of-age-18 required or no sale.

Um...the government already has given a helping hand. Movies have the "NC-17" rating and video games have the "AO - Adults Only" rating. There are plenty of R-rated movies that are worse than Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and any kid can get into an R-rated movie if they're with someone 17 or older.

[bargora]

Well, the government doesn't enforce the ratings systems in either movies or videogames. At least, not yet. In the other thread I linked to the gamespot article about the Michigan bill making M and AO sales of games to minors a misdemeanor.

Things like alcohol and tobacco are physically damaging, and driving a car is a skill requiring sufficient maturity to keep your attention on the road. Videogames, on the other hand, present ideas. Sure, some of the ideas may be bad ideas (grenade spamming strangers is cool). But in the U.S., we generally don't ban ideas. We haven't made private movie ratings systems (MPAA R, NC-17) legally binding, and doing so would certainly strike many as censorship. While concerned citizens may be up in arms enough to convince the legislature to scapegoat and restrict videogames, I don't think that a law enforcing ESRB ratings with criminal sanctions will stand up to court challenge.

[IGotTheDot]

People that point fingers have to blame someone or something. It used to be comic books and Heavy meatal, now its video games.

[gamingguy]

Selling NC-17 videos to children is legal? I find that hard to believe. Why isn't that on the Nightly News programs? (instead of games) Surely little Billy getting his hands on "Girls On Girls 100" is more harmful to his psyche than any videogame.




Should selling Custer's Revenge to a 15-year old be a criminal offense?

IMO: Yes. If Custer's Revenge was a video, it would be classed as pornography and adult-only material. The game should be treated the same.

I find it difficult to comprehend how some of you say, "Porn should not be sold to minors by law," but then say, "Pornographic games should have no restrictions."

Can you guys explain that contradictory stance?

[Sylentwulf]

The ONLY fault is placed on the person who actually pulls the trigger (And you F*^&ING Republicans who take the Declaration of indepence to F*C$ing seriously.)


You mean the Constitution? It IS the law you know. We have to obey it.

Oh, that's right, even though it's over 200 years old, it's not outdated or anything. Those damn englishmen could invade my house any day now!

[NvrMore]

Those damn englishmen could invade my house any day now!

CHARGE!!

[gamingguy]

The First and Second Amendments (Right to Religious Freedom, Right to Assemble, Right to Speak Freely, Right to Self-Defense) may be over 200 years old, but they are still worth enforcing. So like I said before, "The Constitution is the law. We have to obey it." The alternative of not obeying that supreme law (no individual freedom) is not attractive.