The Gta Iv Fearmongering Thread

[D2Kvirus]

As GTA IV was released yesterday, that should be plenty of time for Jack Thompson/Fox News/Keith Vaz/The Daily Mail to have manufactured any stories to demonstrate the game is poisoning the minds of all and sundry that play it. So, if you have one, post it here so we can compare the general bollocks of it all.

We've already had a couple of stories here in the UK, on the release date FFS, and my take on them is listed here.

[TheMason]

At 4/30/08 10:42 AM, D2Kvirus wrote: As GTA IV was released yesterday, that should be plenty of time for Jack Thompson/Fox News/Keith Vaz/The Daily Mail to have manufactured any stories to demonstrate the game is poisoning the minds of all and sundry that play it. So, if you have one, post it here so we can compare the general bollocks of it all.

Sorry D2K I can't find a link to it. BUT CNN's Headline News had a blurb about it yesterday afternoon where they brought in a child/developmental psychologist who talked about the dangers of it. This goes to show you that it isn't about ideologies or a discussion of issues...but simple fear mongering to boost ratings. CNN gets a larger market share of the viewing public then Fox is going to copy it, and vice versa.

I personally do not like GTA (not my kind of game) and I wouldn't let my kid play it. But that is my decision that does not (or should not) extend outside my family.

[Memorize]

Rockstar sucks anyway. Good on the News Media.

[Sajberhippien]

At 4/30/08 11:46 AM, TheMason wrote: I personally do not like GTA (not my kind of game) and I wouldn't let my kid play it. But that is my decision that does not (or should not) extend outside my family.

I would probably not let my kid play it either, had I one. It would depend on age. A 16-year old that is reasonable and has a good lifestyle? Yes. A 13-year old that I just had to go to a parents meeting because he beat up a teacher? No. Something in between? Probably not.

[Sajberhippien]

Forgot to say this though: The game isn't made for kids. It has an 18 years age limit.

[zoolrule]

I don't think the kids had video games in 1939...

[ThePretenders]

At 4/30/08 12:52 PM, Sajberhippien wrote: Forgot to say this though: The game isn't made for kids. It has an 18 years age limit.

But Jack Thompson wants to ban it for adults too. He is a fucking loon.

[ThePretenders]

D2K, remember when Keith Vaz/Daily Mail called for Manhunt to be banned (and probably influenced the banning of the sequel), when some guy killed his mate over some unrelated matter and they said that he was influenced by the game? It turned out that the killer had never played the game and only the victim played but they still spun the story to suit their agenda.

[lapis]

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has hit out at Rockstar for basing GTA IV's gang activity around Eastern European immigrants. The main protagonist in the title, Niko Bellic, is an Eastern European immigrant in the US. The JCWI has told The Times that it disagrees with a Balkan being portrayed as being involved in a criminal underworld - and that the game could even make 'life hard' for real-life Eastern European immigrants. A spokesman said: "The figures show that East European immigrants are not proportionately responsible for any increase in crime. This plays on untrue stereotypes."

Lol.

[ThePretenders]

At 5/1/08 03:46 PM, lapis wrote: Lol.

Lol, who cares about their opinion? The fact is that none of the Blacks and Italians have had their life 'made harder' because of previous GTA games. What utter bullshit.

[Gunman44]

At 4/30/08 12:52 PM, Sajberhippien wrote: Forgot to say this though: The game isn't made for kids. It has an 18 years age limit.

M rating = 17+ years old in the US not sure on other countries. I know that at one point the equivalent in the UK was 16+ not sure if that is still true.

[JoS]

I think Rockstar has been promoting this game for adults, nto kids this time around too.

[TheMason]

The game is barely out a day and the kiddie crime wave begins...

[SolInvictus]

At 5/1/08 04:50 PM, TheMason wrote: The game is barely out a day and the kiddie crime wave begins...

didn't this happen before the game came out? if it didn't i find it odd they haven't pounced on this, hell i'm surprised they didn't make reference to videogames at all.

a good behind whipping can't hurt.

[ThePretenders]

At 5/1/08 04:50 PM, TheMason wrote: The game is barely out a day and the kiddie crime wave begins...

Someone was stabbed in London outside a gameshop and they thought it was a performance and somewhere else in England, a boy GTA game was jacked and they broke his jaw. People would go to any lengths to get a game.

[RubberTrucky]

I would let my kids play it, but I would join them at least.
(Oh, my GF likes these games very much by the way :) )

[TheMason]

At 5/1/08 04:58 PM, SolInvictus wrote:

At 5/1/08 04:50 PM, TheMason wrote: The game is barely out a day and the kiddie crime wave begins...

didn't this happen before the game came out? if it didn't i find it odd they haven't pounced on this, hell i'm surprised they didn't make reference to videogames at all.

a good behind whipping can't hurt.

Well if it happened before the game was released...then it is obvious what happened. This seven yo was obviously influenced by Rock Star's blatant pandering advertising to children.

This topic makes me feel 15 again...either that or I'm the crotchety old man upset at other people's children (or parents)...

[SadisticMonkey]

Because people weren't killing, beating, and robbing from each other before video games?

Ugh.

[JoS]

At 5/2/08 02:53 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote: Because people weren't killing, beating, and robbing from each other before video games?

Ugh.

This is the first time I have ever heard of people stabbing each other in line for a video game. While I do realize people have gotten in fights before over products, lets take into account that
a.) this is a stabbing, much more serious then a simple scuffle
b.) the victim didn't call for help, rather he went home to get a knife to get revenge
c.) I am assuming the both had a pre-order.
d.) they were in-line, this wasn't a mad stampede to get the game on the shelf.

[Jinkinko]

At 5/1/08 05:08 PM, ThePretenders wrote:

At 5/1/08 04:50 PM, TheMason wrote: The game is barely out a day and the kiddie crime wave begins...

Someone was stabbed in London outside a gameshop and they thought it was a performance and somewhere else in England, a boy GTA game was jacked and they broke his jaw. People would go to any lengths to get a game.

Thing is, thats nothing to do with being influenced by the game, if it had just come out and they had just stolen it then they couldnt have played it. Thats simpley down to good old fashoined human greed. The fact that everyone thought it was a publicity stunt well it just shows, were used to violence. its my beliefe that media outlets such as films and games dont influence the world but are influenced by it.
If we live in a violent world we will have violent games.
At any rate its at the persons or persons parents desgression whether they get the game or not. You cant blame the designers for your choices.

[n64kid]

Has anyone here actually played the game?

Just wondering if you'd consider your own first hand experience for condemning the game.

[SadisticMonkey]

At 5/2/08 11:17 AM, JoS wrote: This is the first time I have ever heard of people stabbing each other in line for a video game.

No no no, I mean in general. Not in lines.

[bobomajo]

They have to censor things out of the Australian version, I don't know what things because they haven't told us, because the ultra conservative censorship board still have it in their heads that people set out to do exactly what they see in computer games (computer games only its ok for us to have an adult rating for every media except computer games). I remember the days of the plumber boom where we had a mass oversupply of plumbers following the release of super Mario brothers.

[SadisticMonkey]

At 5/3/08 05:10 AM, bobomajo wrote: I remember the days of the plumber boom where we had a mass oversupply of plumbers following the release of super Mario brothers.

Good times.

[36Holla]

I'm in the unfortunate situation where I live with someone who thinks that me playing GTA is turning me into a psychopath killer. No I'm serious. In one mission, he was telling me to spare certain people because 'they're nice people who don't deserve to die' Excuse me! These are NPC's! They are not alive son! To emphasize the point, I shot them and then shot them about 10 more times to show how much I cared. He walked out of the room.

He seriously thinks that this game is going to turn me into a car stealing hooligan who runs people over and kills others. And I try to explain to him that I know the difference between real life and a game, but he isn't convinced. I wonder how sheltered he was that killing someone in a sandbox video game geared towards violence is sickening to him.

As for any reports of this game causing violence, that is all overblown nonsense created by the media to play on the fears of the public. I can't wait until my generation is of age for those media jobs. I can't imagine it will be as idiotic as it is now.

[bobomajo]

We are. I am that generation, the problem is we have to wait until we are the oldest generation for the idea that computer games make us mass murderers to be dismissed.

[CaptainChip]

At 4/30/08 10:42 AM, D2Kvirus wrote: As GTA IV was released yesterday, that should be plenty of time for Jack Thompson to have manufactured any stories to demonstrate the game is poisoning the minds of all and sundry that play it.

Haven't you heard? Jack Thomson can't do anything to Take Two games. He can't touch GTA.

I heard they even put in a character based on him, who says "Guns don't kill people, video games do!"

[SmilezRoyale]

At 4/30/08 01:15 PM, zoolrule wrote: I don't think the kids had video games in 1939...

The first video game, pong, was invented in the 50's or 60's or something... prior to that, the best thing they had were slot machines and maybe some archaic arcade type games like pin ball or something.

[JackPhantasm]

At 5/2/08 11:17 AM, JoS wrote:
This is the first time I have ever heard of people stabbing each other in line for a video game. While I do realize people have gotten in fights before over products

should have realized that this is all that needed to happen. human + object of desire x. x does not matter.

[JoS]

At 5/3/08 10:56 AM, JackPhantasm wrote: should have realized that this is all that needed to happen. human + object of desire x. x does not matter.

You are seriously arguing that GTA had no influence on their behavior what so ever? The victim didnt call the police, he tried to go home and get a knife to stab the other guy back.

It doesn't matter if they hadn't played GTA 4 yet, Im sure they haev played the other games in the series, and the fact they were inline for the game puts them into that GTA mentality.

Look at the WoW expansion release, I highly doubt the people who were dressed up as taurens and shit in line dress like that everyday. They are imerssed in the game mentality just by being aroudn it.