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Australian Road Safety Authority Criticizes Racing Game
Thanks to the Sydney Morning Herald for their story revealing Australian road safety authorities are trying to pull the plug on Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox, claiming the real-life Sydney course in the game is "undoing a lot of the effort authorities are putting into road safety." According to State Labor MP Paul Gibson, chairman of the Staysafe Committee: "This game sends the wrong message to young people. It is actually glorifying speed and power. It is clearly an inappropriate depiction of speed behavior. If I had my way I would ban it." A spokesman for Microsoft responded: "It is not about driving on the streets, it is purely a racing game. The streets are blocked from other traffic and there are no pedestrians. All we are doing is taking the geography of Sydney and turning it into a race track."
The real truth is, it's just like anything else. People react differently.
I grew up playing video games and watching movies where there were fast driving, fast women, and law breaking. (Smokey and The Bandit *shame*) I grew up, got a car, and proceeded to break laws like crazy flying through the country, where I lived.
About 6 months after I got my license taken away for "reckless Endangerment", my friend gets arested for "Felony to elude a police officer in an automobile". He grew up on the same movies as I did.
On the other hand, I watched action movies just as much as driving movies. I have not shot at anyone, have not killed anyone, have not held up a bank, and am not a fugitive from the law.
When it all comes down to it, it's all about your own moral base. What do you think is right, what do you think is wrong, and what do you just not care either way on.
Banning things with a high demand is silly too. We can see that banning certain drugs has kept the US city streets free of drug users. Prostitution is full under control, there are no murders, and nobody ever speeds.
Pretty Pictures!
Note to mod who rated that a troll: it's a joke!
Or the manx tt, a motorbike race on normal roads around an island.
And of course, any WRC rally has sections on normal roads.