[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.

Originally Posted by chaofan

Why are games branded "evil"? Why are they the scapegoat for world violence and the degradation of society?

Because video games are easy targets. Scapegoats they are.

It's so much easier to blame video games than it is for parents to point a finger at themselves.

It's so much easier to say "San Andreas is desensitizing Billy to violent imagery and making him violent, and Lara Croft is a hyper-sexualized sex-object and making him horny" than it is to say, "I should take a vested interest in what kinds of games Billy likes to play, and sit down and communicate with Billy and raise my son right."

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Television and rock music went through the same thing. People don't like what they they don't understand and they never try to understand what they don't like. More and more people are getting into games and eventually (though that will still take a while) the older generation of people who don't know better, won't be around or at least won't be so vocal about their ignorance.

It'll definitely take a long time, as the next big bad thing doesn't seem to be on its way just yet and games are only getting "worse" in a sense.

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

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.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by chaofan

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

Exactly. I personally don't mind any rating systems they develope or elaborate on. The more clearer it is made that a certain game is not fit for an adolescent, the better. Games will be seen as kids' stuff for a long time now therefore anything not fit for children in them will be frowned upon, so any help with that is good.

The issue comes with the governments themselves. Be it the censoring Germany likes to do, or the way Australia gets a lot of games banned for whatever reason, it's certainly not the rating systems that are the problem. Rating systems are what allow the game to not be censored, unless you're on US turf, which, again means the problem is with the government. The whole mess that is the NC-17 and X rating is just ridiculous beyond anything. There isn't even a very good difference between the two, and yet the biggest problem with X ratings is that they're "perceived" bad and stores won't sell them. Does this sound like the problem is with the game or that its content is not fit for kids?

18-rated movies and games have been available in most of Europe for a while now (although Finland had the ridiculously stupid video law preventing 18-rated movies being sold on VHS for a long time, something the coming of DVD finally got rid of).

How ya doing, buddy?

You'll notice that a lot of the games banned in Australia are by Rockstar. The reason for this is that Rockstar's publisist, Max Clifford, deliberately tries to get them banned, after they've been released.

The thinking is, most people who know about the games will have already bought them. The lost revenue from getting the game banned in Australia is far less than the increased revenue from the rest of the world after people hear a game was banned.

When Manhunt came out over here it sold pretty well for a month then tailed off a bit. It was banned in New Zealand and jumped to the top of the sales charts for three weeks. It's all just clever marketing at your expense.

Sorry.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'm still waiting for The Warriors game to get banned here, I know it'll happen eventually! Some silly bitch will ignore the gigantic bright red Mature rating sticker slapped on the box and buy it for her five year old kid. Then write an angry letter to the local rag claiming the game raped her son and burnt the house down. Current Affair programs will pick it up, laying the hardcore facts down, about how the game comes bundled with a free knife and 10% off prostitute voucher. The wheels of progress turn!

FELIPE NO

It's just a phase. Eventually this whole garbage will blow over and they'll go back to movies or TV or find something new to blame for all the problems with kids these days. Dungeons and Dragons used to be the gateway to drugs and Satan worship, and now it's actually a culturally accepted pasttime. Congress and irresponsible mothers perpetually need a scapegoat to blame for their failings in raising children, but I expect in ten years they'll have moved on to something else that's popular.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by chaofan

how it influenced the increasing number of people swearing and how games had no usful purpose in today's society.

Because the world would be a better place if less people swore!

Games have plenty of uses. From simple mindgames to keep the brain in optimum shape, practicing reflexes, and helping surgeons practice surgery in a consequence free environment.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Watts

Because the world would be a better place if less people swore!

Games have plenty of uses. From simple mindgames to keep the brain in optimum shape, practicing reflexes, and helping surgeons practice surgery in a consequence free environment.

Additionally, simple social transactions are trained (much like the ones in a working enviroment), trial and error is encouraged (much like the scientific method), and dedication/achievement is rewarded (which is the correct attitude to take towards life in general if you want to achieve anything).

There are other skills that games teach gamers, but I forget them.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by chaofan

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?

This woman obviously forgot about movies and TV and THE NEWS! All have enough violence and sex in them to cause anybody to go out doing evil things. I think the reason why she's focusing in on games is probably she's pissed that her son plays them so much so she figures she's better attack something that has nothing to do with his behavior.

Besides, if anyone is that stupid to go out and imitate what they see and hear in a video that's so-called violent, that's on them. Besides, how can you blame a game for the influence when people have to make decisions to act stupid themselves? Someone ask her this, please.

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

Originally Posted by chaofan

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?


Smelly old politicians.

She sits in the same league as pricks like Joseph Lieberman who would rather ban video games altogether than lobby a way to change the existing process.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

In my country, Brazil, we were so close to have Counter-Strike banned forever.
It all started with a map called CS-RIO, I don't know if people that are not from here have seen this, the map is exactly like a "favela" (if you've never heard of that, think of it as a "gueto" but a lot dirtier and A LOT of violence).

I can't see why politans who have no knowledge at all of games put their noses in this.
Fortunatly PS2 and XBOX aren't officially released here, there's only imported stuff, so these games can't be "banned" here. But when it vames to PC games, every once in a while a crazy politician tries to get something banned.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Ignorant people anger me when it comes to videogames.
I mean, take Katamari Damacy! You're "killing people" by rolling them up into a ball and then hurtling them up into space. The people scream really loud and long (especially the girls). We better ban that.

If you buy your kid GTA and don't even know what you're buying them, then you're stupid. Yes, I said it. Buy your child a game chock full of violence: "Oh I bet Billy would enjoy this! It's a video game...and kids love their videogames...They're all the same!"

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

Ignorant people anger me when it comes to videogames.
I mean, take Katamari Damacy! You're "killing people" by rolling them up into a ball and then hurtling them up into space. The people scream really loud and long (especially the girls). We better ban that.

If you buy your kid GTA and don't even know what you're buying them, then you're stupid. Yes, I said it. Buy your child a game chock full of violence: "Oh I bet Billy would enjoy this! It's a video game...and kids love their videogames...They're all the same!"

I wonder if they really are ignorant to violence in video games or if they're really buying stuff like that so they can whine and fuss about it.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Lady Miyomi

or if they're really buying stuff like that so they can whine and fuss about it.

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.

How ya doing, buddy?

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)?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The one that got me was the mom who was mad that GTA:SA had the hidden sex scene. Don't mind the fact the words "GRAND THEFT AUTO" are on the front of the box in big font, and it means "Carjacking" but apparently that didn't seem to click. Great parenting

bitch

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I think this lady is going after the wrong thing. Pick on prime time TV. That's more relevant than violence in video games.

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

Originally Posted by chaofan

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"

Not to mention Pokemon came under considerably scrutiny from religious groups as well. I remember having many lengthy debates with my friends as well as their parents regarding this subject

Pokemon, Controversy and Criticism

Check it out.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Pokemon gives thousands of kids seizures!!! Pikachus a Terrorist!!!

I was speaking idiomatically.

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?

Originally Posted by chaofan

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.

It's all drawn from how much time is put into it. I agree video games get directly blamed for influencing kids to commit violent acts; especially in the cases involving school shootings. I agree that it's a big parenting problem. It sickens me how every time something like that happens how adamantly the parents blame the video games and play completely ignorant. Unbelievable.

FELIPE NO

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?

Originally Posted by chaofan

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?

Actually, the kids should know the difference between right and wrong from the parents before they go off playing games and then doing stupid stuff saying video games made them do it. I agree it's the parents responsibillity to be more in touch with what their kids are playing. Now, if it's someone over 18, who cares. They're going to do what they want, but please, don't blame video games.

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