Game violence again

[Jon L. Obscene]

I seem to remember posting this kinda thread when GTA Vice City came out, well now GTA:SA is out the parents and BBFC and various organizations are all crying out about violent games leading kids to follow in the footsteps of games such as GTA and Manhunt etc.
The thing I don't get is in the UK (not sure about other countries) these game carry an 18+ cert, not a guidline cert, a real BBFC 18+ not to be sold or aquired to anyone below that age.
So parents go out and buy them for their kids then moan cos of the content?
I guess the same parents go out and buy their 10y/o the Exocist on dvd do they?
Either that or the shop is illegally selling these games to minors.
Talking to a couple of mates the other day at work about GTA:SA, this 9y/o lad butted in and said "I finished all the mission yesterday" , I asked him how he got the game, he said he bought it, I asked if he meant his mum bought it, No he walked into Wollworths and bought it without anyone being with him.
I'm guessing this happens a lot, quite suprised at Wolly's being a big chain store but can quite well believe it of lesser stores.

So the blame if any lays firmly with either the parents for not checking the game or the store for selling it to minors.
We don't sell alcohol to a 10y/o, same thing, same age limit (in the uk).

Is it because it's a game that some people don't respect the content because it's "Cartoon"?

Whatever way you look at it there is no blame on the Games companies here, they are providing what people want.
It's upto the parents and stores to make sure the 18+ cert is enforced.

This is an age old argument with games and was resolved when games started gaining certs, they can do no more except stop production which I would think would piss a lot of people off.

Jonno

[TheDave]

it's scientifically proven that violent games relieve stress. old ladies should quit bitching about kids getting hold of them, if they dont want their kids playing them don't let them. just STFU and dont ruin everyone else's fun. i wish i was underage again so i could really be pissed off

[Jon L. Obscene]

i wish i was underage again so i could really be pissed off

Good line.

Dude that's exactly what I'm saying, last xmas my mates nephew (11y/o) had GTA 3 and Vice city, his nan thought it was a bit violent and bad language etc, but he was ok with it, switched it off and did'nt emulate anything from it cept the occasional "Shit" when something went wrong, she thought she'd get him onto a different game, so she goes and buys him The Gettaway
Jesus the first like of that is something like "Jesus what a fucking bitch" (best I can do from memory) , I had told her not to buy that for him, then he puts it on , she hears it and she goes nuts
WTF!!!!
I was like "You bought it for him after I told you not to", she then took it off him, I mean how cruel is that to buy a kid something then take it off him

Jonno

[TheDave]

maybe the answer is for shops to advise parents on content. or a thing on the back like DVDs that says
violence:extreme
sex/nudity:references
languageften, mild

[Jon L. Obscene]

Yeah thats what is being talked about aparently, but personally if a game or film carries an 18+ red cert then it does'nt take a lot of working out does it?
Are people really that thick?

Alcohol does'nt contain a warning of any sort, simply tells you the strength, but be it 2% or 50%, it's still ilegal to sell to under 18's, and places who do sell it are checked frequently, I had a 15y/o lad try to buy some a couple of months ago, I refused then 3 days later the shop got a letter congratulating the shop for refusing the lad (who was a plant)
The lotto are even doing it now.

Why can't they do it with shops who sell movies/games?

In actual fact in April it's gonna be law for any shop selling alcohol to liscence each employee for the sale of alcohol, not just the premisses.

Again, why can't they do it for games?

Jonno

Jonno

[Cheese]

maybe the answer is for shops to advise parents on content. or a thing on the back like DVDs that says
violence:extreme
sex/nudity:references
languageften, mild

I believe this is what the games companies are going to try and do, educate the parents. I think too many just think that as they are "just games" they are not as bad as an 18 certificate video.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4087079.stm

GTA is an adults game, people have been complaining about it since the first one came out in 1997. But even back then the game had an official 18 certificate.

I've worked in a few of the big chain computer shops and we all received training in not selling adult games to minors. If we are caught doing so the responsibilty lies with ourselves and we are the ones open to prosecution. I'm not really surprised at somewhere like Woolworths selling it though as they aren't a specialist computer shop...

[100%]

-
Ironically they can also save your life





Robbers scared off by Playstation game get jail time

The burglars apparently heard audio from the video game Grand Theft Auto and thought police had them surrounded.

(12/11/04 – SANTA FE, TX) — A video game notorious for violence and mature content may have actually saved a Santa Fe family. Watch ABC13 report



Back in March, Sandy Wilson was taking care of her three grandsons when a group of men attempted to burglarize her home, pointing a gun at the kids. The children happened to be playing a video game called Grand Theft Auto at the time. The game has dozens of random police scanner messages, which blare out calls such as "This is the police! You’re surrounded!" Believe it or not, Wilson says the burglars heard that message and thought police were outside the door waiting for them.

Galveston County Asst DA Michael Elliott explained, "The police in the game were staying, 'Stop, we have you surrounded. This is the police.’ The burglar, unknowingly, thought this was the actual police and panicked ... being apprehended by Playstation."

"Thinking that it was pretty funny," recalled young victim Chaze Fisher. "How they were, like, ran off, and they got all scared over a game."

Police arrested the four men. Samuel Woodrow received a five-year prison sentence this week. Ronnie Farris is serving four years. Lucas Griffin got probation. And Zachary Brandenburg’s trial is in January.
(Copyright © 2004, KTRK-TV)

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/121...videogame.html

[Cheese]

[Peerzy]

I played 'violent' games as a child. But when i was a teenage the violent games were hings like Doom (Thats number 1 not 3 ) and to be honest if game can make you do something violent then your already messed in the head. All this shit about he kid who killed someone becuase he played Manhunt. What the papers failed to tell you was that the boy was not killed for no reason but was killed in a robbery. The killer stole nearly half an Oz of cannibis from the boy before killing him. Last time i sa Manhun didnt tell the boy how to skin a joint, or steal from people. If both kids were involved in drugs then that must have affected there mental wellbeing in some way or another. And im not saying cannibis is bad in anyway and turns you violent, but i think use at an early age of 13 can affect your lives alot. You start to care more about getting your next 1/8th than eating and relatives birthdays/christmas. With drug use its not just the use of drugs but its how you get them as well. I think the killer got so caught up in himself and so badly needed a smoke he went o extream lengths.

My younger brother recently was sold a copy of GTA SA from GAME. He's 14 and they asked for no ID or anything. However after himplaying GTA 3, VC and SA he's not violent (past just being a young boy).

People blame videogames but fail to even look at the other aspects of the persons lives. Sure some kid played a violet game and killed another kid, but he was also involved with drug use.

I feel sorry for the parents of the children who have been hurt and killed as they have lost a loved one but i think they are blaming to much of it on videogames and not looking at the other parts of their relatives lives.

[NikkiD]

There was a story on this on the news recently here, after Halo 2 came out, and just before the release of the new GTA.

I mostly agree with you Jon, that these games are NOT for children. My son got GTA: Vice City as a gift a year or so ago, played it for half an hour and after I saw what it contained I made him trade it in. There is no reason a 10 year old needed to be playing that game, in my opinion. He whined like mad about it because so many of his friends were allowed to play it and violent games like it.

What I don't agree about is that it's not the game companies fault. The games aren't made for kids, the games have warnings etc, but the one place the companies are irresponsible is in their advertising. I have seen the ads for Halo2, GTA: SA and others shown on television during shows that kids/teens are watching. The worst culprit are the music stations - my stepdaughter watches nothing but, and at 1:00pm in the afternoon they show ads for GTA: SA. They also show them on primetime television (before 10:00pm) when a lot of kids/teens are watching. If the game is truly 18+ and being marketed as such, the ads should not be shown at a time that kids are normally watching, but later in the evening. This may distract kids at least a little - if they don't see it, they might not be as likely to bug their parents for it.

I know some of stores here aren't too picky about selling games to minors either. Perhaps we should start reporting them to the authorities when we do see it happening.

That said, it's the parents responsibility to decide what their kids can play, if a parent decides it's reasonable for their child to play a game as violent as this, then they have to take the responsibility if that child does emulate the game. Most kids are smart enough to separate games and real life. But for that one that isn't, I don't blame the video game company, it's not their fault, they make what sells. It's the parents fault for allowing the kids to play it. Unfortunately, these always seem to be the same parents that turn around and blame everyone else when it does happen, sue the game companies, the store that sold them etc, because of their own stupidity and refusal to take responsibility for their own kids.