[bpfinsa]

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/437/437674p1.html

Thoughts? I'll post my a little later.

--BPF

[ragnar]

The parents of some kids shooting on highway does not think that their upbrining of the kid has any faults. No, it is only the makers of a video game that is to blame and thus they sue them.

Some people are just strange.

[Ninja Dodo]

Some people need to sue their own heads for failing to provide them with enough intelligence. Gee... if they had lived in europe, would they have had guns?

Yeah but, dude... guns, like... they're good for self-defense and stuff... like say you're caught on this highway, yeah... and these two f****d up kids drive up to you with a 22 and try to cap your ass. Man, yeah. Then having a gun would be good, right? I mean-- yeah.

Yes, let's have shoot-outs on the highway!

Anyone else see Bowling for Columbine?

[twifkak]

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo

Anyone else see Bowling for Columbine?

Yes. Freaky stuff, if a little too Mooreized (as usual).

[Ninja Dodo]

I'm not sure how you mean Mooreized, but I think the man's a genius.

[Royal Fool]

I think that if there's violence, the consequences should be shown as well.

As for those two kids, who knows? They might have used GTA3 as an excuse for their stupid behaviour (Although gunning down someone just 'because' is way beyond stupid) and thought they would get off the hook. I don't have a clue.

[bpfinsa]

I think Penny-Arcade has the right idea on who is to blame for teenage video game violence:
http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-08-11

And in the case of these parents, it wasn't just the lack of judgment of letting children play GTA, but also by not locking up firearms from their children. I'm sure the parents of these kids are going through a lot of pain right now, but not as much pain as the family of the man who was killed. I think these kids should be tried as adults and be put in prison for the rest of their lives for what they did.

But getting sue-happy with corporations isn't the solution. Why single out Take-Two? Why not the gun makers? I'd argue that guns are much deadlier products than video games. The people to sue are the parents, plain and simple.

--BPF

[remixor]

I can't say Take Two is at fault--obviously, the kids are to blame. It's ridiculous to pin this type of thing on game developers.

That being said, I honestly can't help but be worried about the enormous amounts of violence that kids experience in video games these days. I know that it's up to the parents to exercise moderation and proper parenting, but I really don't think it's possible for parents to have all that much control. Both my parents had to work when I was a kid, and though I think my mom did a good job raising me (dad didn't have much input), there was no way she could have actually kept tabs on all the movies I saw and stuff I did. It's even more the case today, when kids can just download games illegally. Money isn't even a factor. I could be wrong (and I hope I am), but it just seems dangerous to me when kids' entire source of recreation becomes killing virtual people. Sure, kids have played "cops and robbers" for ages, and games like that revolve around pretending to kill people. Videogames, however, are quite different (IMO anyway). I'm not saying we should censor games or anything; I don't even know what I'd suggest because I don't think I have a solution. I am concerned though, and though I hope my concern is unwarranted, it's hard for me to believe that it truly is.

[Ninja Dodo]

It's very simple really... if there were little to no guns in the US, there wouldn't be a problem. All you have to do is look at Europe to see the proof. Same games, same movies, virtually no murders and what do you know... barely any guns.

But then, try convincing the American people or government of that.

Go NRA!

[remixor]

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo

It's very simple really... if there were little to no guns in the US, there wouldn't be a problem. All you have to do is look at Europe to see the proof. Same games, same movies, virtually no murders and what do you know... barely any guns.

But then, try convincing the American people or government of that.

Go NRA!

Yeah, I completely agree that the US needs some serious gun control. However, since you mentioned Bowling For Columbine, bear in mind that Moore said the problem goes way beyond simply having guns around. It's a much deeper-rooted issue which he specifically said he was not able to diagnose. Canada has more guns per capita than the US, for example.

[twifkak]

My impression of his final conclusion is that it's rooted in the history of the country -- war, revolution, gold rush, etc..

[Kolzig]

From day to day I seem to understand USA and it's people (ok, the kind of people we see in Bowling for Columbine) less and less.

Strange stuff, very strange.

Parents just don't seem to care for their children, or something, it all just seems so absurd.


Michael Moore really does an important job, I like what he is doing very much

[The Poisoned Pawn]

I certainly agree that Take Two is NOT at fault in this case. There are other underlying factors involved here. These kids clearly had some issues, because no reasonable person would shoot at people on the road just because they saw it in a computer game. If they didn't kill this particular person, they may have killed someone else in the future, or comitted some other crime, GTA or no GTA.

People these days have become sue-happy. Just about every day I hear of another crazy law suit. McDonald's getting sued for making people fat. Viacom being sued over renaming TNN to "Spike". People seem to just want to sue for the sake of suing, and it's getting ridiculous.

[remixor]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

From day to day I seem to understand USA and it's people (ok, the kind of people we see in Bowling for Columbine) less and less.

Strange stuff, very strange.

Parents just don't seem to care for their children, or something, it all just seems so absurd.


Michael Moore really does an important job, I like what he is doing very much

He does do good work, just remember that those people don't represent all Americans...

[pleto4_ryan]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

Parents just don't seem to care for their children, or something, it all just seems so absurd.

From what i know.
There is a good reason for that.
40-30 years ago a phycologist appeared in US and said that parents should be behind their childs all the time (like death ) until the age of 12-13 and then let them totally free. Most followed this "wonderful" saying. Imagine how that ocurred to the phycology of those children. That same phycologist came up 10-5 years ago and said that he was false...
One of the reasons .

----------------------------------------

It's a much deeper-rooted issue which he specifically said he was not able to diagnose.

As a european comic maker said in a comic...Americans has the urge to be violent...(by drawing in a page 35 panels in which she drawed america's being always against someone in all their history"
Starting from the war against england
"Booh to englishmen"
to even in the future "Take that Sizor XII"

----------------------------------------

As for the vilonece...(said much before)

I like to remember what the killer wanted to do in Scream 2...

"I'll blame the movies"

and also let's remember the quote from Sream 1

"Movies don't create killers, they just make them more creative"

Now, just change the word "movies" with "games" and you have the new modern way.

[Garyos]

Originally Posted by remixor

Sure, kids have played "cops and robbers" for ages, and games like that revolve around pretending to kill people.

When I played Cops and Robbers, we used to CATCH the robbers, not SHOOT them. A difference between Americans and Norwegians I guess...

[fov]

From day to day I seem to understand USA and it's people (ok, the kind of people we see in Bowling for Columbine) less and less.

neither do i, and i live here.

Parents just don't seem to care for their children, or something, it all just seems so absurd.

remember that the media never gives a fair representation of reality. you don't see good things on tv or in the news, only bad things. it's a major societal problem, in my opinion... and responsible for a lot of people looking for negative reinforcement (i.e., doing bad things because it's the only way to get attention.)

in florida a few summers ago there was a lot of publicity about a few shark attacks. the irony was that there were *fewer* shark attacks that summer than there had been for several years previous. it just became popular to talk about them.

there are more parents here who care for their children than not, you're just never going to see them on the news.

-emily

[Ninja Dodo]

Originally Posted by remixor

However, since you mentioned Bowling For Columbine, bear in mind that Moore said the problem goes way beyond simply having guns around. It's a much deeper-rooted issue which he specifically said he was not able to diagnose. Canada has more guns per capita than the US, for example.

Yes, I really don't understand it. Are we to believe that a large part of the American public is simply not right in the head? They do say democracy is the device that ensures people are governed no better than they deserve...
To be fair though it was only like 30% of the voters that actually went for Bush, right? - gotta love that winner takes all system! - ... and about 10% of the population because few people actually voted. So there's still hope, I guess. But seriously if Bush gets re-elected, then the US is just DOOMED.

Anyway to get back to the topic of violence... It's strange that despite similar amounts of weapons Canada is not even a fraction as violent. However, the fact remains that without weapons it's a lot harder to kill people. If the US had the same amount of guns as most European countries, I imagine there would be very few murders indeed. Sure, people may still strangle each other, grab a baseball-bat or whatever - I'm sure Lieberman will be glad he can still blame GTA for that - but I highly doubt the violence will be even a fraction as bad as it is now.

[Wajus]

What violence?

[James]

In my opinion, it's a combination of factors. Directly, the children are to blame, but at their age, it is subjective as to whether they are entirely accountable for their actions. To blame the game solely would also be narrowminded. One needs to address the ease of access to fire arms for a start, and the social issues that would prompt two children to be "bored" enough to go on a highway and shoot people. Of course, you can always also blame the parents .