[General Discussion] MUTHA (censored) GAMES!

GIVE US OUR f(censored)ing BOOBS, SEX AND GUNS!

Erhem... Now that I have your attention...

Games, its impact on life and censorship are three ongoing issues associated with gaming. Why they even consider them as issues us gamers will not know but hey, they had to do something them being "responsible politicians" and all. But I raise these issues after stumbling upon a letter in the newspaper today with a concerned mother and the evils of "games".

She ranted on about how games such as GTA:SA encourages children to have unsafe sex, how it influenced the increasing number of people swearing and how games had no usful purpose in today's society. Obviously she never picked up a controller and played Tetris (and the fact that she is a bad parent for her son's behaviour), given her completely generalised assumptions about games.

Us gamers, however, know better. Not all of us play a game, grab a shottie and then go on a rampage. Not all of us put our pet cats into our Pokeballs and then pit them in a fight to-the-death. We hear swearing all the time in our movies and stuff. Hell, most of us developed quick thinking and problem solving skills with games such as Tetris and not school. Why are games branded "evil"? Why are they the scapegoat for world violence and the degradation of society?

What do you think?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

In Australia, the "Lucky Country", gamers are treated like immature brats. From the banning of GTA:SA, Manhunt, BMX XXX etc. They don't even have an R18+ for games here. Why is it that games don't have it, and why are they blamed for everything?

The guys in parliament house are old, smelly grandpas.

Another example is Hilary Clinton's action to radically reform the games classification system (or something like that). Do games really need to bloated as a problem like that?

For god's sake not all games are like Resi, Mortal Kombat and whatnot.

Smelly old politicians.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

...and games are only getting "worse" in a sense.

True to that... But oh man wait till the 2nd generation PS3 and XBOX360 games come around.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

Dang, don't get me started. People will complain about anything!
Every game has violence (even stomping on Goombas), and hopefully these kinds of people don't degenerate and try to ban video games outright, due to stupider reasons:
"Oh that's horrible! Mario is punching Peach in Mario Party? This will not do!"
"The blobs are exploding in Puyo Pop Fever? That's cruel!"
"Timeline in Lumines? I don't want my kids learning about time like that!"

Bottom line: pay attention to ratings labels morons! A big "17+" refers to years old, not happy content.

Not to mention...

"OMG Pokemon promotes violence"
"Pokemon is the tool of the devil"
"Pokemon is the manifestation of companies wanting to brainwash kids into buying their products"
"Pokemon promotes animal cruelty"

DUDES! Pokemon sparked childrens' imaginations! They helped kids strategize! They helped in decision making!!!


Back on the topic of censoring,

Originally Posted by Lady Miyomi

This woman obviously forgot about movies and TV and THE NEWS!

Precisely. Why isn't it that American Pie is censored? Why isn't it that The Matrix is banned? Why isn't it that Hostel (which was a pretty horrible film [pun fun!!!]) came under the radar of politicians? Why isn't George Bush's attack on Iraq blamed for violence (yes, concept from Bowling for Columbine)?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

But in all seriousness, there is no reason why games should be treated like the tools of the devil when other more influencing mediums such as cinema depict the problems in today's society.

Plus, movies are more realistic (okay, maybe not with crappy dialouge and acting and whatnot). But you know what I mean.

How ya doing, buddy?

And I had a look at the Pokemon Controversy and Criticism you posted up... MY GAWD I LMAO.

I suppose the reason why games are banned and/or censored are because people are getting lazy these days (well, namely parents). Whatever happened to buying a game for it's age rating? By Jesus my 10-year old cousin is playing GTA:SA!!!

It's as if parents expect the world to be handed on a silver platter. What effort you put into raising your kids is what comes out of it.

Any parents in here who play games or have an opinion about the influences of gaming?

How ya doing, buddy?