NY Post Says GTA Worse Than Molesting

wiredbeat2000 writes "The New York Post has an inflammatory article which argues that Take Two's Grand Theft Auto is worse than child molestation and more harmful than second hand smoke. The story, which appears in the business section, calls for an outright ban of video games it claims are no better than snuff films, and concludes: 'Stay away from this [Take Two] stock - far, far away - and you'll be doing both your wallet and your fellow man a favor'." Lucky the author hasn't checked out Manhunt yet, huh?

Comments

priests

[Anonymous Coward]

Grand Theft Auto is worse than child molestation

Twenty bucks says this opinionist is a moonlighting catholic priest.

Use ad-blocking software.

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

View this article if you must, but it's become all too common for everyone to write articles intended to piss off a great subset of people online in order to drive hits to their site. Please do not reward this silliness--remember to use proxomitron, junkbuster, whatever your favorite tool is for depriving these folks of the fruit of their agitations.

I wonder if he's played it.

[Descartes]

Does anyone else get the feeling that the authors of all of these anti-GTA articles haven't actually played the game?

Ok, it is violent and often that violence is directed towards innocent people, but, violence towards innocent people is not the main point of the game. I mean, you can kill police or civilians but there are consequences. And the whole thing about the Haitians has nothing to do with innocent people from Haiti. You're in the middle of a gang war between the Cuban and the Haitians.

I guess the real problem I have is that people seem to thing that by censoring the game that we'll get rid of violence between racial groups, etc. It's like saying movies that depict racially motivated violence should be censored. Our country will be in a sad state if that ever happens.

I think part of the point of showing these kind of things is that we remember that they do happen. If we pretend there is no racism it won't go away, just get worse.

I know, I'm preaching to the choir.

Re:Masturbation in public

[Anonymous Coward]

funny thing is that a friend of mine was walking in the 'shop district' of town late one night and noticed a homeless man standing in front of the victoria's secret shop, rocking back and forth slightly. at first my friend figured this guy was really, really drunk and having trouble standing up. then he realized that this guy was actually wacking off while looking at the giant-sized posters of supermodels in lingerie. i guess i never really gave much thought to where and when homeless men masturbate. now i know. do i get a +5 informative for this post?

The letter I wrote him

[SandSpider]

Dear sir,

You are a disgusting human being. "People, this is insane. This is 10,000 times worse than the worst
thing anybody thinks Michael Jackson ever did to a little boy" To paraphrase, you seem to be saying
that you would prefer 10,000 people to molest children rather than one adult play a video game.
That's what you mean by "10,000 time worse," isn't it? Or are you saying that, if the team that
developed Grand Theft Auto would have, rather than making its video games, gone out and molested
10,000 children, that the world would be a better place?

You say that Grand Theft Auto should be banned, "just like we ban child pornography and entertainment
spectacles such as cock fighting and dwarf throwing." Do you see the difference between a video game
and the three items listed above? If not, I'll tell you: one of the four things does not actually
affect a living being. Just like books and newspaper articles glorifying child molestation. Since
living people aren't hurt, it's a protected form of free speech. It may not be mankind's most
glorious bit of free speech, but I fear that I have to disagree with you about how it compares to
actual crimes.

Brian J. Geiger

P.S. I fear I did not bother to read the rest of your article, as the basic premise seemed so flawed
as to make it not entirely worth my while to read the rest. I'm sure there were some very good points
about business hiding there within the rhetoric. Good luck with that.

Re:The letter I wrote him

[xalres]

My letter

The Grand Theft Auto series was meant for people with enough maturity and common sense to realize it's just a game and not reality, just as movies like The Godfather and Scarface are for those mature enough to see them as works of fiction. Obviously you can't be counted among them.

I fail to see how you can rationalize statements like "This is 10,000 times worse than the worst thing anybody thinks Michael Jackson ever did to a little boy". I know this was said to shock a reaction out of people (at least I hope it was) but it was still a poor judgement call, especially for someone who writes for a news outlet such as the Post. There are scant few things in this world worse or more deserving of the harshest punishment available than child molestation and publishing computer games doesn't even come close.

Perhaps the biggest issue I have with your editorial is that you demonize a company for taking the same creative liberties that movie creators have taken for decades. I know you have a moral issue with the games, that's your prerogative, but your point was lost on me when you started making radically untrue blanket statements and comparisons (see above). If you're not mature enough to handle such content, at least have the respect to let those of us who are enjoy our entertainment without being compared to pedophiles.

Thank you.

As much as I like GTA...

[UV_Haze]

As much as I like GTA the author of this article does make some very pertinent points.

Here in Canada there was a court case finding that kiddie porn art (i.e. no kids were harmed, these were drawings and paintings) were found to be illegal and so the same laws applied to these paintings.

Taking this one step further like the author suggests, I can envision some wacky japanese game where you get to play a sexual predator. The goal of the game is to prey on women and neighbourhood children. Getting extra points for doing things like luring kids with candy or the promise of toys, and performing date rapes on unsuspecting college girls.

I'm pretty sure a game like the one I described above would not be allowed to be sold in Canada. The majority of society would disapprove of this type of video game. I, myself find it very disturbing.

I guess the bigger question is why, as a society, do we allow the simulation of illegal/immoral actions video games and not others.? Where is the line (so to speak) and why do we draw it where it is? What is the nature of the video gaming that makes some of these things appropriate? Is escapism an appropriate defence for sim murder but not for sim molestation? And if so, why not?

This will become even more important with the next generation of systems that will allow for more realistic everything, including AI.

So I've played philosopher for today. Maybe not very well. But tehre are a lot of good questions out there about this sort of stuff. GTA is only getting the pain right now because it's the game that is currently pushing the envelope...

Smell the irony, people.

[iainl]

Isn't the New York Post a Newscorp product these days? Owned by Rupert Murdoch, and part of the same conglomerate that brought us:

Fear Factor
Temptation Island
Freddy Got Fingered
Aliens Vs. Predator (the game)
etc.?

Come to think of it, I wonder if this is in any way, shape or form connected with the fact that this company is also responsible (certainly in license at least) for Simpsons Hit 'n' Run, a game that steals so much from GTA that its a wonder that Take Two haven't sued?

My response...

[Anonymous Coward]

My response...

I am a 28 year old adult male who happens to play video games. I'm not going to bother with an introductory, and I'm going to get right into it.

To quote the article, "People, this is insane. This is 10,000 times worse than the worst thing anybody thinks Michael Jackson ever did to a little boy"

Insane? You're calling playing a video game, something that isn't real and is meant for a mature audience 10,000 times worse than MOLESTING A YOUNG BOY *not* Insane?

Have your head checked. There almost isn't a crime worse than taking advantage of a minor in a sexual fashion. It's beneath human behaviour.

The author argues that there is a ratings system that is unenforcable and means nothing, and is irrelevant.

The ratings system in Video Games is virtually identical to movies. Movies are rating G, PG, AA, R and X/NC17. Games are rated as E(veryone), T(een), M(ature) and A(dult). There is a fifth category who's acronymn I am not aware of, but the category is for the very young, toddler aged, and educational. Adult is reserved for anything containing sexually explicit content, similar to NC17. Mature is the equivalent if AA. T equates to PG, and E is the gaming G.

If a parent buys a child who is under the age of majority, and the game is rated M for mature, how is that the gaming companies fault? The parent should be made aware of the ratings system. Every game box sold in Canada and the US has the rating printed in large black and white letters right on the front of the box, including what the ratings mean. It's as ludicrous as a person suing Take Two, Sony, Rockstar for 244.5 million dollars because their kid took a loaded gun from their house and shot at a highway, killing someone, then blaming Grand Theft Auto. The game is not responsible here. How did the child get the gun? Why was it loaded? Why wasn't it in a locked case out of the reach of children? Why weren't the kids taught by the parents that shooting at a vehicle is not a particularly good idea?

If video games had this much of an influence on the youth of today, I should be a homicidal maniac. I've played video games since the days of the Atari 2600, and have seen just about everything there is to see in a video game. I've dumped enough quarters into arcade games that I should be able to spit fireballs from my hands while screaming death phrases at the tops of my lungs, because that's what video games teach you to do.

Oh, but Vice City is "realistic," you say. Realistic huh? So if I look in one direction, see 3 cars driving down the street, then turn around 180 degrees, see 3 more cars, and then turn around again and those original 3 cars have disappeared (which is what happens in the game), that's real, is it?

I can take a car and drive at approximately 2 mph, hit a hydro pole and send it crashing to the ground, because that's real is it?

I can walk down the street and find a surface-to-air missile launcher lying in someones back yard? Great! Sign me up to live in that neighbourhood!

Oh, but Vice City "looks" realistic, you say. Why? Just because the characters portrayed in it are not cartoonish? I can tell that they are digital representations of people. They don't look like real people to me. For one thing, people have fingers. That actually separate. And bend. And can be used to pick things up.

Video games are NOT REAL. They are fictional. Imaginative. Fun to play.

Michael Jackson has been charged with child molestation. That is real. If proven, that is morally disgusting.

Shooting cars on highways is real. That is a real case currently in the US legal system.

The bottom line: It is because of drivel like this article that I have cancelled my subscription to your newspaper.

Good day.

Amusing to consider

[bugbread]

That editorial was beyond awesome. My favorite part:

"This is 10,000 times worse than the worst thing anybody thinks Michael Jackson ever did to a little boy"

If my math works right, with sales exceeding 25,000,000 copies, he would prefer if there were 25 million fewer GTA players and 250 billion more child molestors.

Alternatively, he would find someone turning off their PS2 and molesting a neighborhood kid to be an improvement.

I think we can guess this guy's real agenda (hehe).

Re:Whaaaaaa????

[blueZhift]

"Dwarf-throwing is illegal?! Did I miss a meeting?"

So that's why Lord of the Rings had to be shot in New Zealand!