[evildragon]

this http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=284753 made me create this poll thread

I *never* could understand the point of some newer game titles (especially bloody ones mainly) myself at all.

more-real blood ... killing people ... and so on

how much more 'more relastic' are these kind of games going to get?

(sorry if this thread seem a bit short..I'm not so sure how to vent it here)

[The iMac Man]

You asked a question in your poll.... how can I agree or disagree with a question?! You didn't present an opinion for me to agree or disagree with....

If you think some games are going to far... don't buy them. Games aren't made to please anyone and everyone... they are made for very specific audiences.

[egadsby]

I agree with The iMac Man that the question here isn't clear. To make a dangerous assumption I'll attempt to put a little spin on this ball. If the question being asked is are "games becoming inappropriate for the public" then the answer in my mind would be fundamentally no.

Just like books or films, games are works that focus on and may appeal to some but not all. Rating systems, reviews, and PR help folks determine if a game, film, or book is of interest to them or their family.

Censorship is BAD, personal choice is GOOD, and making an informed choice of what you expose yourself to is BEST. That's my two cents!

[DoctorGonzo]

If people want it, they will buy it.

If people find it distasteful, it is their choice not to buy it.

It's quite simple, really.

[phoenix78]

Games have gone too far. i dont play violent games anymore. i just got sick of it very quickly. it is a waste of time and i played it because my friends did.

Laws regarding free speech are what is allowing these games to continue to be produced. however, it is not simple to just say "if you dont like it dont buy it" because the kids that play these games may end up growing up with violent tendencies or agressive behaviour so it will affect society in general. so it affects everyone not just those that play it.

Games industry is only interested in making money and they will stoop to any level of immorality to exploit a market. It is unconscionable to create an environment where teens and pre-teens can kill and maim and steal and commit crime and call it entertainment. No parent who gives a damn about their kids would bring that into their homes.

if you are interested you can do a more extensive search regarding the effects of voilent games on a childs development to prove what i said above (i remember reading many articles on the effect on child development. it is real!).

regards,
robM

[Speckledstone]

You're right, I couldn't agree with you more. Those poor kids that play video games today are gonna turn out to be a bunch of mass murdering, hand gun toting, car-jacking ex-cons (if they don't get life sentences or the death penalty first). Today's society is useless, it lets the children play these mind-altering games without any thought of how it might influence them. Someone has got to put a stop to this immediately!

I have first hand experience at the dangers of video game influence. I have several uncontrollable urges that I have to deal with on a daily basis. I've found no medication that will help me and most doctors just want to lock me away in a padded cell. I won't have any of that though... I'll just try and get through life and ignore my desire to drive really fast, smashing into any cars that I perceive as a threat. I will turn a blind eye to my addiction to tic tacs and my irrepressible fear of ghosts. I will suppress my impulses to smash buildings into rubble and to knock helicopters out of the sky. Someday I will overcome my need to cutoff fellow motorcyclists while driving at breakneck speeds and my longing to blast away at brick walls with my handgun.

You see, I grew up in the 80's and we didn't have anybody to speak up for us, the poor defenseless and impressionable children later to be labeled 'Generation X'. No one warned our parents or made laws that prohibited us from from playing those powerful, mind-controlling games like Spy Hunter, Pac man, Rampage and Tron.

But enough about the past and my problems, lets talk about the present and the future. I just want to make sure we get more laws passed that prohibit what we can and what we can not buy. In addition, I surely don't want the parents of this world to take responsibility for their kids and become good parents, they're too busy working. If one of these kids decides to shoot up a school, I don't want anyone blaming the parents for not noticing that they had a severely mentally deficient child living in their home. That's too much work for parents. We should leave those matters up to the psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers. Hell, they get paid to do that kind of stuff. Actually, forget about the people with the degrees in psychology, that costs too much money. We've got teachers that spend the whole day with these kids. We can kill two birds with one stone. In addition to teaching, we should let them figure out what nut-case kid is gonna go postal from playing too many video games.

Wow, that post turned out to be a lot longer than I planned... Sorry if it got too dramatic or personal. I just think we have to place the blame where it belongs... On video games, music and movies.

(*Edited for punctuation and grammar*)

[Horsepoo!!!]

Funny you guys mention that. I jacked a car yesterday morning and in the afternoon I was having a hot coffee with some chick.

[jeffB]

um, violent crimes are down by more than half since 1993.
you might want to say that video games cause less violence.

you should include some stuff from the department of justice in your reading

[G Barnett]

Pshaw, to quote one of the cloned presidential candidates from Futurama: "Today's video games don't go too far enough!"

=)

[Judge_Fire]

Originally Posted by Horsepoo!!!

Funny you guys mention that. I jacked a car yesterday morning and in the afternoon I was having a hot coffee with some chick.

I'm glad to see you're moving away from illegal activities.

J

[The iMac Man]

Originally Posted by phoenix78

Games have gone too far. i dont play violent games anymore. i just got sick of it very quickly. it is a waste of time and i played it because my friends did.

Laws regarding free speech are what is allowing these games to continue to be produced. however, it is not simple to just say "if you dont like it dont buy it" because the kids that play these games may end up growing up with violent tendencies or agressive behaviour so it will affect society in general. so it affects everyone not just those that play it.

Games industry is only interested in making money and they will stoop to any level of immorality to exploit a market. It is unconscionable to create an environment where teens and pre-teens can kill and maim and steal and commit crime and call it entertainment. No parent who gives a damn about their kids would bring that into their homes.

if you are interested you can do a more extensive search regarding the effects of voilent games on a childs development to prove what i said above (i remember reading many articles on the effect on child development. it is real!).

regards,
robM

"it is a waste of time and i played it because my friends did."

Oh, so you are one of those idiots that would jump off a bridge because your friends did! You make it clear right off the bat that your opinion is obviously influenced by others, so why should anyone listen to you?


"Laws regarding free speech are what is allowing these games to continue to be produced."

Damn right, and that's the way it should be!


"No parent who gives a damn about their kids would bring that into their homes."

Exactly! And, the only way a KID could get an M rated game is by their parents buying it for them. So, if KIDS are playing these games, it's because their parents don't give a damn. So, that's not anyone's fault but the parents.


"the kids that play these games may end up growing up with violent tendencies or agressive behaviour"

That is completely incorrect. Kids with parents that don't give a damn about them are the ones who grow up with these tendencies... it has nothing to do with games. If anything, games are the ONE place they can LET OUT these agressions.


"if you are interested you can do a more extensive search regarding the effects of voilent games on a childs development to prove what i said above"

Yes, and I can also do more extensive research to DISPROVE what you've said. There are studies that prove both sides of this argument... the results always seem to prove what the study makers want to prove.


"It is unconscionable to create an environment where teens and pre-teens can kill and maim and steal and commit crime and call it entertainment."

Again, these games ARE NOT MADE FOR KIDS!! Why do you think it says MATURE on the front of the stinkin box!?!? The ESRB and ratings are there for a reason. These games are made for adults, and if they get into the hands of kids, there is no one to blame but their parents.

Do you think rated R movies should be banned? Rated R movies are the EXACT same thing as an M rated game.

I work in the games industry, and I can promise you it's not all about money. Responsible adults enjoy playing adult games, and just because some irresponsible parents buy these games for their kids, does that mean that all us adults should be punished and no longer have the option of buying adult games?

[Chuckit]

You can take my violent video games from me when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

[Leonard]

Man, these censorship people should be secluded from society and put on their own island - I didn't see anything in that thread that the initial post pointed to that was over the top. You can't censor life - life is violent. What are you going to censor after TV, Music, Games, Movies, DVDs, etc. As someone pointed out, it's the role of you and or your parent to monitor what you are exposed to or the amount of time you spend (there are some obviouly addicted internet surfers and gamers). Saying violence in games, movies, etc. promotes violence is pure BS. If that was the case we'd all be shooting each other as one person above sarcastically explained. Of course there is the odd person who seems to be unable to tell the difference between reality and fiction, but they're rare.

[Rumor]

Watch the news lately? Getting rid of "violent video games" isn't the solution. Remember Looney Toons? Did you ever feel compelled to drop an anvil on someones head? Blaming video games for violence is a thin excuse for bad parenting.

[madmacgames]

Watching movies, playing games, etc is certinaly not the whole cause of one's behavior, but if you think they have no effect on your behavior and mind, then you are just as delusion as the people claiming they are the entire cause of one's behavior.

Likewise, parenting is not the entire cause of one's behavior. It is delusional to think that as well.

Every single thing we come into contact with has an impact on us, whether we realize it or not. Media is no exception.

[- - e r i k - -]

If video games affected us as kids we'd all be in dark rooms listening to repetitive music and munching pills by now.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by madmacgames

Watching movies, playing games, etc is certinaly not the whole cause of one's behavior, but if you think they have no effect on your behavior and mind, then you are just as delusion as the people claiming they are the entire cause of one's behavior.

Likewise, parenting is not the entire cause of one's behavior. It is delusional to think that as well.

Every single thing we come into contact with has an impact on us, whether we realize it or not. Media is no exception.

A kid plays God of War. Afterwards, thinks it's ok to run around stabbing everyone. Ultimately who is responsible; the maker of the game, who intended it for an adult audience or the parents, who bought the game for thier child even though on the box it has a 17+ rating?

[jeffB]

Originally Posted by Rumor

A kid plays God of War. Afterwards, thinks it's ok to run around stabbing everyone. Ultimately who is responsible; the maker of the game, who intended it for an adult audience or the parents, who bought the game for thier child even though on the box it has a 17+ rating?

The kid.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by jeffB

The kid.

Let me rephrase that.

Ultimately, who is responsible for the kid playing the game?

[smoke-tetsu]

When I'm walking down a hallway I always have to supress the urge to eat everything and everyone on site, curse you pac-man! When I want to go up to a high balcony I also have to supress the urge to jump up and fire a rocket at my feet and jump 20 feet in the air up to the balcony! Curse you first person shooters! Video games have no affect on me and I will shoot or stab anyone who disagrees! (nah, not really) =p

Seriously though with as many games as I have played in my lifetime you'd think I would be a psycho killer by now. And that also doesn't count all movies I've seen and other forms of entertainment. I have simply learned a long time ago from something invented called parents who taught me that things like that aren't reality and people don't (or shouldn't anyway) do those things in real life. Video games are just the latest scapegoat in a long line of scapegoats like dungeons and dragons, comic books, different genres of music, etc.

One thing i agree with is that parents are ultimatly the ones who need to take responsiblity for their kids. On the other hand not everyone is unstable and weak minded as people might think. It really is up to the parent and or the person once they grow up to differentiate between what is real and what is not and decide what is acceptable for the offspring or themselves but in the end if the person is mentally unstable they don't need entertainment to set them off there was violence, murders, etc. long before all forms of entertainment.

[striderdm1]

Originally Posted by DoctorGonzo

If people want it, they will buy it.

If people find it distasteful, it is their choice not to buy it.

It's quite simple, really.

i totally agree here. There's too many examples of minority ruling the majority.
This shouldn't happen in a free world. Plus the ppl that are violent are like that bcos it's already inside them. Genetics? Their upbringing? Who knows.. But it ain't games, movies or something else that some do-good'er wants to ban!

</rant>


cheers, Strider

[macmike42]

Originally Posted by Rumor

Let me rephrase that.

Ultimately, who is responsible for the kid playing the game?

Whoa. What? Excuse me, but if a child goes on a stabbing spree, and the first question you ask is "who gave this child the game that caused this behaviour?", you've made it dreadfully apparent where the problem lies.

The game has nothing to do with it.

The child is responsible for having wounded/killed one or more people. This is IMHO, and speaking strictly logically (not "morally" or "ethically" or "legally".)

The child's parents are responsible for raising a child who can tell neither right from wrong nor fiction from reality. To make up for this utter lack of parenting, they purchased the child a product explicitly labelled for adults only, then left the child alone with said product.

And YOU are responsible for directing our society's energy towards banning forms of expression and entertainment that you personally find disagreeable, because it is so much easier to look around and find fault with things that you dislike, than to work for a better tomorrow.

Not that I don't do all this too (except I'm not a parent), but at least I'm *aware* that I'm doing it.

(Here's hoping that your entire line of reasoning was either profoundly beautiful irony or at least a troll)

Also: Speckledstone: now *that's* good sarcasm!

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Horsepoo!!!

Funny you guys mention that. I jacked a car yesterday morning and in the afternoon I was having a hot coffee with some chick.

Why would you do something as stupid as that. I feel bad for the chick who had to put up with your stupidity.

[Velocity211]

Do we really need to know that?

[24klogos]

theres no sense in dicussing this, this world is messed up, in movies, music, games and wherever you look, u cant no longer hide, or cover reality to your own, its getting tough and well, like on any jungle, the strong survive. be smart, teach common sense and dont leave sharp objects in your kids room and u should be fine.

[jamil5454]

It's really the parents' fault.

But I don't think this world is messed up... because... compared to what? Mars?