Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

GTA Violence, the Media, and the Gamers

Posted by simoniker on from the no-good-answer dept.

jvm writes "The Video Game Ombudsman and Curmudgeon Gamer currently have posts with opposing views on the recent and oft-criticized NY Post article about the violence in the Grand Theft Auto series of games. The Ombudsman discourages gamers from getting upset over the 'false and irresponsible' writing in the NY Post, equating it with a 'National Enquirer story saying that video games cause AIDS'. In response, this Curmudgeon says that's plain wrong, that gamers should 'stop dodging the issue' of game violence and 'start talking realistically about degrees of harm, freedoms, and responsibility'. So what's a gamer to do? Ignore the obviously clueless mainstream press or start the soul searching? Oh, and Penny Arcade has its own angle on the perils of dealing with the mainstream press, in response to how the noble Child's Play was represented."

6 of 511 comments (clear)

  1. Not for kids... get a grip by bgog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This game was not designed for kids. Period. So the issue should not be the violence in the game but why parents allow their kids to play it.

    It's like complaining that the levels of sex in porn movies are harming our children. The populous needs to understand that there are more adult gamers than kids. I don't think there is anything wrong with providing games with more 'adult' content, since we make up a huge part of the market.

    1. Re:Not for kids... get a grip by blowdart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But the populous wants excuses, and the media provides them. They don't want to take responsibilty for their actions and their lack of parenting. "My darling little Tiffany was never a naughty girl until she played Quake and then she took Papa's gun and shot her schoolmates".

      This is not just an issue about parenting, and the use of TV and computers as a replacement for paying attention to your offspring, it's about taking responsibility for your actions, parent or not.

    2. Re:Not for kids... get a grip by Daengbo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I am all for parental responsibility. I think that they should be involved in choosing what is appropriate for their children rather than letting them loose on the world with no guidance.
      Still, when these stories come up, there are many slashdotters who oppose any limits / labeling / whatever for games / movies / the internet. Parents do not have time to educate themselves on every possible form of entertainment that their child can run into.
      That's where the start the soul searching part comes in. Should games which, if a movie, would get an R rating be available for purchase by children under 17?

      --
      Put identity in the browser.
    3. Re:Not for kids... get a grip by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It seems that nobody here will take the other side so I'll jump on that bandwagon..

      Let me start off by saying, I agree GTA and it's like including quake3,Ut,UT2003,etc are made for adults.... 16+ years of age. and yes parents that buy their kids anything they want and let them do whatever they want have alot more to worry about then the effects of GTA on their kids... how about the 14 year old with tattoos and 30-40 piercings? only a idiot would think that child knows what he is getting into and was able to make such an important decision instead of just being a copycat.

      What if a company comes out this year with a new blockbuster game where you serially rape women and then must dump the bodies? We had a rape video game already, Custer's Revenge and it generated more media hype back in the 80's than anyything RockStar games ever made. What about a Racist video game? Where your band of KKK members in a diablo style game run throughout the south killing blacks? is that acceptable? and it's "counterstrike type" of expansion pack where an angry black mob goes through killing all the whites?

      Where do we draw the line people? what is acceptable and what is not?

      Personally I think that the GTA series does not have a large enough warning... it really needs on the cover "if you buy this for your kid then you are a fucking moron" in bright red....

      because that is the only message that most of the career minded parents will get.. Remember work and their career is certianly more important than their children..because we can not live without that 6 figure income and a second Volvo in this exclusive neighborhood....

      granted it's not only the rich kids problem, It happens in most income groups... but usually low income families pay much more attention to their children and are far less likely to buy a $50.00 game for their child instead of that week's worth of groceries.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  2. This quote says it all... by nathanh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "If you show a man sucking a woman's breast you get an R rating. But if you show the same man shooting the woman's breast off with a shotgun you get M."

    De Niro, I think.

  3. Evil to him who thinks evil by quintessencesluglord · · Score: 5, Insightful

    *Yawn*- same thing played out in the 1950s concerning comic books, communism and rock & roll. Can't really say much about the 60's and 70's (there was enough crap going on that people didn't need to create new boogiemen). In the 80's, it was everything from drugs, D&D, more of that damn rock music, Satanist and...Heh, maybe they had a point about the drugs.

    And now it's video games.

    Can you say Generation Gap? Can you say power grab? Can you say neurosis? I knew you could.

    You can cite study and statistics stating that video games are mostly harmless (and maybe even beneficial) until you're blue in the face, and it wouldn't do a damn bit of good.

    You can't have a rational debate with those who are irrational (equating game playing with molestation... I guess Michael Jackson isn't so creepy after all). If god himself came down from on high and stated he got a kick from jacking FBI cars, they'd only say that the FBI were the tools of Satan. You can't win.

    So forget mentioning the game was displayed at a major museum as a work of art, forget mentioning that with the sheer number of copies sold you'd expect at least a slight blip in the number of crimes being committed, forget that several generations of youth have grown up with comic books, video games, and rock music without seemingly any adverse effects: they wouldn't understand you.

    This isn't about video game violence. It's about control.

    And I shove it right back in their face: "Where are all the damn Satanist? Where are the Communists? Where is this Legion of Doom sent to corrupt the youth? Where the fuck are they? You've been WRONG so many other times, why should I believe you now?"

    We are a schizophrenic nation: we want the freedom to take away everyone else's freedom; we want freedom from freedom.

    So no, let's not talk about video game violence. Let's talk about how many serial killers have read the New York Times. Coincidence? I think not. Let's talk about how people fear technology and change. Let's talk about how easy it is to gain political leverage by enforcing arbitrary rules against those most defenseless: the children. Let's talk about that.

    Video games? Never touch the stuff personally, why do you ask? Ooh look, did you know the murder rate goes up with every unsavory editorial piece the New York Post does? See, look at my graph, it's true. Just between you and me, I hear if you run the Times backwards through your fax machine, it tells you to invite NAMBLA to cater your child's next birthday in Gaelic. I read it in the Washington Post, so it must be true.

    Upon reading the Times article, I went up to a little girl and asked if she would rather be raped, or prefer me to continue playing GTA. She said she'd rather me continue playing the game, but she could still kick my ass in Virtua Fighter 4.

    Who ya gonna believe?

    God bless insomnia.