Game Use To Outpace TV Watching In England

wiredbeat2000 writes "A new study found that video game use may outpace television watching in England, according to an article at the BBC. Along with some squishy figures, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association report said that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City sold a million copies in two months leading up to Christmas, the same as Robbie Williams' number one album, Escapology. This on the heels of the group's last report in March, which outlines the growing game market in more detail."

Comments

Ironic, ain't it.

[pmz]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City sold a million copies in two months leading up to Christmas

"Joy to the world, our Lord is come..."

"Okay time for presents!"

"Yay, Grand Theft Auto! I want to kill me some bitches!"

Does anyone recognize anything wrong, here? Is it just me?!?

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[Anonymous Coward]

I suggest you take your blindfold off and take another good look at the game.

Sure, you can kill some 'bitches', but you'll find people do a lot more killing in games like Unreal Tournament.

The GTA series are great, believed to have been thought up by lemmings.

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[pmz]

Sure, you can kill some 'bitches', but you'll find people do a lot more killing in games like Unreal Tournament.

GTA, Unreal, whatever. If I were to celebrate the Christmas holiday, one day, with kids old enough to play video games, I would think twice about giving them any of these games. I suppose this is where Nintendo used to shine for kids' games (squashing gels and koopas and such). Once the kids are in their 20s, I'll let them get GTA, if they want it.

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you've raised your kids in such a manner that being able to make a pixelated character shoot a pixelated prostitute with a shotgun on TV is going to mess them up, you might want to examine how you're raising your kids. If your kids can't differentiate right from wrong and reality from fantasy, you need to look at why that is. Growing up playing Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, etc. didn't make me want to shoot everyone in my school, even though I hated the place. See, my parents made sure I knew that what I see on TV and on the computer isn't real, and doing the things that happen on either is not right.

It's your decision how you want to raise your kids, and I'm not saying a 6 year old should play Vice City, but I am saying that if a 12 year old goes over a friends house and plays the game and then he comes home and starts collecting an arsenal in his closet, he's got other issues. Unreal Tournament is so far from reality (see it even hints at that in the title) that if playing it makes your kids run around shooting their friends, you really might want to get them in therapy sooner rather than later.

Not letting your children view what they want is going to make them want it even more. If you prepare them properly for what they might see on TV or in a video game they're going to be shocked a lot less later in life when they're on their own. In saying this I'm not saying every 13 year old needs a subscription to Hustler or something like that, but that if you haven't given your children the ability to determine what's good and bad or fact from fiction on their own, they're screwed.

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm, the fat plumber that gets magic powers after eating mushrooms & flowers, huh? You're right, that'll straighten 'em out.

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[bigman2003]

Killing bitches on a video screen...

Or killing millions of people throughout history because of fairytales about someone named 'Jesus'.

I guarantee that more people have died because of 'our (yours, not mine) Lord' than any vice on this planet.

Religion is the biggest killer of all time- videogames have only pushed a few lunatics over the edge. God seems to do it on a dialy basis.

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Amen!

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[Anonymous Coward]

what the hell are you doing giving your kids games rated "M" anyway?

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[bigbigbison]

There are tons and tons of games rated E for everyone. From sports games, to racing games to flight simulators to puzzle gmaes. Every gaming platform has lots of non-shoot 'em up games to offer. Amazon and Toys r us have a "kid safe" web page listing only E rated games. Just because Grand Theft Auto gets so much press, we shouldn't let the impression that ALL videogames are violent. Just as there are films ofr every age group so too are there games for every age group.

Re:Ironic, ain't it.

[phaze3000]

That depends. Here in the UK GTA: Vice City has a '18' rating, so if the people you're giving the game to are under 18, yes there is something wrong.

Of course, what most people fail to notice or even mention about GTA:VC is that the most often mentioned 'feature' of the game, the ability to sleep with and kill prostitutes, is in no way enforced by the game. You have the freedom to do it if you want, but the game doesn't encourage it in any way.

Yeah but Robbie Sucks...

[FileNotFound]

Alright, GTA:VC might have outsold Robbie Williams...but then again. He really really sucks imo. Alright so Feel might sound ok..but everything else is crap.

Hardly a fair comparison...

But is it so surprising that people would rather enjoy interactive add free gaming rather than TV? Nevermind british TV

Er, no

[Pentagram]

s/England/UK

well whatdya know..

[The Other White Boy]

..i already spend more time playing games than i do watching tv, guess i'm ahead of the trend.

but is this the fault of better games or worse tv?

Re:well whatdya know..

[easychord]

Both, in my opinion.

Generally speaking, games are getting more interesting and TV is getting stupider and stupider.

Maybe I am being harsh on TV. There has always been a low level of excellent TV. Its just that trying to find these programs is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Jeebus they've beaten the almighty Robbie Williams

[UltimaL337Star]

Now which will up the crime rate more? Playing video games or watching new england tv? Because personally I would kill myself if I had to watch that stuff.. or is suicide encouraged over there?

mandatory tv tax part of the cause?

[Artifex]

I wonder whether the rise in alternative entertainment like this is bolstered by the huge recurring tv licensing tax there. There isn't one for games or consoles, at least not unless you hook them up to a tv set.

Good news!

[Anonymous Coward]

TV Sucks!

Re:Good news!

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone mod the parent up!

It is true, here in the Uk, TV sucks. We currently have 5 terestrial channels - 2 of which ( BBC ) are funded by the TV licience, the others by advertisment revenue.

And the result, we have posibly the worst TV in the world. Those responsible for the BBC are the worst offenders of dumbing down, and chasing the latest fad. There is little or no new programming, that there is is normaly a rehash of some other 'reality TV'. The only good stuff is the repeats.

When I was much younger ( w'en I were a lad ), Saturday night viewing figures for successful programs, were measured in the tens of millions, some of the most succesful had over 20 million viewers. These days, it is unlikely figures will reach half that.

So yes Uk TV sucks. There is only so much brain dead, dumbed down rubbish you can be entertained with. But I don't think the answer lies in combining TV with computer games / interaction etc. I think it requires beter program makers!

FYI I live in England, and pay the licience.

What about the Internet?

[Anonymous Coward]

I spend far longer online than I do in front of the telly. I hardly ever watch TV any more now I have broadband.

Movies and TV

[MetalShard]

It is only a matter of time until the medias find some way to merge. The Matrix tried by having part of the story told by the game. TV is more like an MMORPG so maybe someone will find a way to hook a TV show into MMORPG.

Meet the new boob tube

[Anonymous Coward]

Great news. I'm glad to hear that people will no longer be plopping their fat arses on the settee in front of the telly screen and spending hours manipulating some sort of remote control unit to pointlessly change the images and sound.

And a good thing, too!

[DarkRyder]

It's about time people started waking up to this stuff. My TV has a PS2 and a Game Cube hooked up to it and nothing else. I use it exclusively for DVDs and video games (really good TV shows, like Futurama, I buy on DVD, but that's as close to 'normal' TV as I get). I have cable internet, but I haven't had cable television in almost two years, and I couldn't be more pleased with the decision. Games and movies foster so much more interaction (well, around my apartment, anyway -- I can't remember the last time I watched a movie alone) than TV does. I'd encourage anyone to try (at least) a week without TV. I've found it makes me feel more awake and more interested in things in addition to other benefits (so long, cable bill!). Of course, my Ferret Quotient is already so high that 'more interested' may not be a good thing, but hey -- at least it's fun, right?

They are not a TV Nation

[rakanishu]

Before cable and the dish, here's how you channel surfed in England... Click.. BBC1 Click.. BBC2 Click.. BBC1... Click.. BBC2

Re:They are not a TV Nation

[easychord]

That would be funny, if it was true and or in some way explained why us British love games.

duh!

[g-san]

You show me a 22 minute show in a half hour of semi decent content. ~40 minutes for a so called "hour of television." The leftover time is spent with the marketing geniuses of america trying to get you to try and buy their laundry detergent. Uh, wasn't I just trying to figure out if he is the killer or that other shady guy... hey, does my collar have those rings do I need a new toyota I want to try that hamburger. BTW, don't move, just sit there. Stare. Bask in the glow of american capitalism.

(ooops, midway through my rant, I just realized this article was about UK, their TV is a nadge better but not much)

Or compare that to two people sitting on the same couch without the said commerical interruptions actually CHANGING the picture on the tube by playing a game. There are four people sitting in my living room right now shouting over a game. Interacting. Building skills. Laughing. And the next time you play it, it's gonna be different! (sheesh, and I'm posting on slashdot - screw it, it's labor day weekend)

So go figure. If the broadcaster(s) decide they should treat their subscribers like mindless couch potatoes with cash in their wallet and the phone waiting nearby for that next $19.95 offer, or try to scare the crap of of them with the, "what you can do to save your family for toxics already in your house, story at 11," all for by 20 minutes of laugh track crap, believe me, other forms of entertainment will take it's place. It's only a matter of time.

Don't burn your television, burn your cable box.

Re:duh!

[Anonymous Coward]

Interacting. Building skills. Laughing. And the next time you play it, it's gonna be different!

And just want kind of games are you talking about here? :P