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The Moral Pathology of Vice City
SiliconRedox writes "An interesting article at the NYTimes (reg req) outlining the rise of rockstar games and the imminent release of Vice City. What the article mentions but never brings together is the ability of the player to win the game through peaceful(ie: not killing people) or criminal means. The game, while being hailed as morally reprehensible, is in fact only acting out the pathology of the player." Everything worth knowing in life can be learned from GTA. For example, upside down cars explode, and flying cars can jump the bridge between the first and second city without finishing the quests. Just like in real life. I still haven't picked up Vice City, but I'm stoked. And I will most definitely not win through peaceful means.
And of course, in real life I get points every time I run someone over!
Don't give me none of this "nature theme" business.
That is you increase the mass the mass of a taxi to 40000 kg, you won't lose any speed but can send cars you crash into flying into space.
I also learned that if the center of gravity of a police car is 5 feet above the roof of the car, the slightest disturbance can send it spinning end to end and bouncing like a superball. Watch out if you've in it when you do this!
Cogito ergo sum in Slashdot.
In true /. form I haven't read the article. Still I somehow doubt they are hailing the game as morally reprehensible.
Q:How many libertarians does it take to stop a Panzer division? A:None. Obviously market forces will take care of it.
Still!?! YOU STILL DON'T HAVE IT?! Jeez it's been out since next Tuesday and you're just sitting around talking about getting it instead of doing something about it. What a maroon!
Meanwhile, my GTA:VC complaints and I don't have it either!
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
Sure, why not? Just wait 50 or 60 game years. Easy.
...Also, I didn't know Buggalo could fly.
What, do you think it's just those two? Jesus dude, try actually looking at politics rather than using rules like "OOG NO LIKE LIBERAL, LIBERAL BAD" to form your opinions.
"Now you know"
...Also, I didn't know Buggalo could fly.
I played Descent 1-3 and Tomb Raider 1-5, and now I keep getting these urges to explore caves and mines. Why does no one ever talk about my plight?
--Dan
You think that's bad? I played the Sims for a while and now I spend most of my time going to work, doing housework, socialising with friends and sleeping. That's a damned insidious game!
"Are you being weird, or sarcastic?" said Emma. I said I didn't know because I get the two feelings mixed up.
Me neither. In fact, since playing quake, my hand-eye coordination has improved threefold and now when I do a driveby, I hit 57% less pedestrians!
Now if that isn't a ringing endorsement for violent video games, I don't know what is.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Everyone knows that guns don't kill people, video games kill people!
Before videos games there was no violence, just bibles and kittens.
Please, think of the children.
"Hard work _might_ pay off later, but procrastination _always_ pays off now."
Yeah, its the other 90% you have to worry about.
Special Relativity: The person in the other queue thinks yours is moving faster.
I rented lord of the rings the two towers for my ps2 this weekend and it has truely made me more violent. The game is soo hard even if set on easy. Some levels you cant even beat using cheats! I have been in a bad mood since and have thought about throwings things at the tv. So yes games can make people violent.
Kids have played violently since the begining but no one is trying to ban "cowboys and indians".
Bzzzt!
With every new school shooting, the knee-jerk overreactions get more ridiculous.
How much longer before they stop teaching kids history about things like World War II because (gasp!) people DIED, and GUNS were used! Oh, the horror! Won't someone PLEASE think of the children!?!?!?
If anything, we need MORE violence in schools. Let kids settle differences with a nice, healthy fistfight after school! Let them play dodgeball and cowboys and indians! When I was growing up, the weak, stupid kids died doing stupid things. Today, Darwinism has been taken out of the playground. These kids who grew up with 6" of soft rubber padding under the swings and monkeybars are living longer when they shouldn't have, and snapping violently later in life and taking other people with them when they do it.
~Philly
I don't know what would be more disturbing. The number of pedestrians you probably had to hit in order to start hitting 57% less, or the fact that you do drive by shootings and have in depth analysis of your accuracy.
What happened to the good ol days when you saw some guy you didn't like, and stuck a tommy gun out the window, let her rip. Then drive away without looking and see if you got him by reading the newspaper headlines the next day? Now days we have spreadsheets analyzing our hit ratios! Kids and these new fangled devices....
nOOOOO! If we do that, men will behave like MEN instead of the sensitive crybabies that no woman wants! This will totally derail our plans! Men must supress their biological urges while women's urges are encouraged. Even the vagina monologues ad says that a vagina is the "essence of womanhood". You gals wanna see the essence of my manhood? I didn't think so. Put the mudflaps away and be civilised please.