End Violent Videogames?!?

Well, you can't have any drugs with you, not only you can't selling them. But there:

QuoteAs most people know, the state of California has already passed a law that bans the sale of violent videogames to minors.

There's nothing about having violent games, only distribution is restricted. As far as I know, C&C Generals was banned in Germany, so Germans buy it in UK/France/Poland etc. There was also a lot of internet auctions at german e-bay(or something similiar) where you could buy this game.

About banning violent video games- yes, games such as Manhunt/Postal are dangerous to all people, like cocaine or alcohol. Even if you are 18+ you don't know what is real and what is fiction. You can buy beer, smokes or vote in elections(you are adult, so you can), but you aren't enough adult to realize that video game isn't real. Well, it's just stupid. Better way is punishing shops for selling games 18+ to childs- seriously, did you ever hear about police that give a ticket to shopkeeper for selling brutal game to child?

There may be language problem here, but I'm not sure what you're going on about? You're saying the government should crack down on selling violent games but you're for being able to own them?
Anyway, I think it isn't mainly about people not being able to tell fiction from reality but more about how much and what kind of display of violence you do tolerate in your society.
So I think the German system somewhat makes sense, that only people over 18 may buy the really violent games and that they mustn't be advertised. After all, excessively violent movies also have to be cut.
The US approach I however find fairly contradictory. There's almost unrestricted access to firearms and no real censoring in the movie industry but yet they want it in the game industry?

Analpirat wrote:
There may be language problem here, but I'm not sure what you're going on about? You're saying the government should crack down on selling violent games but you're for being able to own them?
Anyway, I think it isn't mainly about people not being able to tell fiction from reality but more about how much and what kind of display of violence you do tolerate in your society.
So I think the German system somewhat makes sense, that only people over 18 may buy the really violent games and that they mustn't be advertised. After all, excessively violent movies also have to be cut.
The US approach I however find fairly contradictory. There's almost unrestricted access to firearms and no real censoring in the movie industry but yet they want it in the game industry?

Answer is simple. Games are interactive, movies not. That's why they try to limit violence ingames.

That answer is as simple as it's insufficient. Sure in games you do the killing, still I doubt that scars you(or a child for that matter) more then some of the torture orgies like the SAW movies or Hostel for example. Violence in such movies is by far more explicit and disturbing than in any game I've ever come across. In both genres (movies and videogames) theres some extreme stuff that shouldn't be accessible to minors.

Yes, it's a most terribly stupid excuse, but it is nonetheless how the government thinks. They like to think that because videogames are an interactive medium, people are far more likely to copy the acts of the characters in-game than those in films, books, any other medium. It's totally illogical, but they do what they want...

I guess it's rather what the majority wants. Most voters are too old to be playing games, and therefore the games appear strange and weird to them. That or they don't care if they're banned because they don't have an opinion on them.
And I think there's also the issue of lazy parenting, parents expecting the government to do their job so they don't have to look out for what their child does since all things bad for children have been banned  ::) (or so they'd imagine it to be)

Analpirat wrote:
There may be language problem here, but I'm not sure what you're going on about? You're saying the government should crack down on selling violent games but you're for being able to own them?

Well, I just want that stores with video games would abide by the law, so they wouldn't sell games 18+ to childs and I want that goverment wouldn't ban violent games, only give them rating 18+.

No one ever listens to rating....

The problem is everyone in the Government Voting for this is , nonetheless, old. They all maybe never touched a video game in their life, so they have to listen to what the Parents say, and not the people playing it! That leads to a little Exaggerating problems and lies as well. 

Ah politics, nothing good will ever come out of it  ::)
Still, you can always bitch about it and that's what people love most of all.

Well the other problem is that some developers/publishers will actually go out of their way to be controversial, the most recent one that I can recall would be Call Of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 with it's "No Russian" level. So I will just focus on this one as an example but before I do.

I am not having a go at COD fans and have not played the game myself as I prefer more how can I put this... 'challenging' games such as ARMA II, but I have looked into the MW2 issue.

Why is Infinity Ward's No Russian level controversial? The simple answer to that question would be, that it didn't need to be there.

What it did not do : Further the plot in a substantial way.

What it did do : Provided extra publicity for the product. Due to human nature because it was controversial and gained more publicity more profits where made as it was like the "car crash"* effect. More younger people will have bought it just because it was controversial.

The level was also skippable further proof if you will that it was put in just for controversy, as if it was significant to the game plot it would not have been skippable.

* Car Crash Effect : When you go past a road traffic accident (RTA) you can't help but look basically.

Now what does all that above have to do with this thread? I'm just trying to point out that some developers/publishers are not exactly helping their corner with stuff like that.

Regards Hawk (Silk)

Yeah, and also these recent Dead Space 2 ads, which i think are harming gaming more than anything else...

Yeah, and I think the worst part is that they(the Dead Space 2 ads) are directed at minors. I mean the game is rated mature, what do people 18+ care what their mom thinks of the games they're playing?

I hate the Dead Space series, its just one of those games thats too much, there is a line where the gore and violence is acceptable and is just too much, this game is one of those on that line, its not violent video games thats the problem, its these companies that make them,
they can put whatever they damn well please in a game, they could put a fountain of blood come out of someones neck when they're beheaded, this is what causes the problem.

funny thing, I actually can't wait to play DS2. I've played DS1, and I enjoyed it. Using my example can be useful - I just tolerate games I'd like to play, and I don't see anything scary in them. I haven't play Manhunt, so I can't agree with things you do there... Actually I wonder if I play Manhunt, I could change my mind. It's all in us, we decide what we call too much and what will be at the end of this line.

Hawk_Silk wrote:
Well the other problem is that some developers/publishers will actually go out of their way to be controversial, the most recent one that I can recall would be Call Of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 with it's "No Russian" level. So I will just focus on this one as an example but before I do.

I am not having a go at COD fans and have not played the game myself as I prefer more how can I put this... 'challenging' games such as ARMA II, but I have looked into the MW2 issue.

Why is Infinity Ward's No Russian level controversial? The simple answer to that question would be, that it didn't need to be there.

What it did not do : Further the plot in a substantial way.

What it did do : Provided extra publicity for the product. Due to human nature because it was controversial and gained more publicity more profits where made as it was like the "car crash"* effect. More younger people will have bought it just because it was controversial.

The level was also skippable further proof if you will that it was put in just for controversy, as if it was significant to the game plot it would not have been skippable.

* Car Crash Effect : When you go past a road traffic accident (RTA) you can't help but look basically.

Now what does all that above have to do with this thread? I'm just trying to point out that some developers/publishers are not exactly helping their corner with stuff like that.

Regards Hawk (Silk)

I would like to add to that as CoD's most recent unneccessary edition Black ops has its own controversies with the killing of a Fidel Castro double (major political figure in Cuba for those who dont know).

It is unfortunate that recent game titles are having to turn to these tactics to gain attention and sales coupled with the fact that I and the people I usually talk with agree that the quality and well.. fun factor has been dipping of late seeming that the designers (not all however mind you) spend more on advertising than pleasing loyal fans and customers.

Last edited January 24, 2011 at 6:32 PM by Raider217

I honestly don't get what's so controversial about killing famous people... It's just that it's so inconsistent, you know?

It depends upon the person Mercenaries 2 had issues as they were accused of spreading government propanganda to support the invasion of Venezuela and thats not even a person is it :P. However Hugo Chavez is >.>

Here's and interesting quote for you:

-Gunnar Gundersen, cofounder of the Venezuela Solidarity Network, dismissed arguments that it's "just a game", saying.

-We have to put it in the context of how it would feel if the reverse was done. Can you imagine if a wealthy Venezuelan game-designing company with links to the military and funding from a famous Latin American entertainer invented a game where you invade the US to assassinate the president and take over the economy?

Funnily enough thats (almost) exactly what happens in Homefront... AND ITS MADE BY AMERICANS.

Last edited January 24, 2011 at 7:04 PM by Raider217

@Raider217
Yeah, but IT'S MADE BY AMERICANS.
Get the point?

ADDON:
And, after all,  "The world is a theatre, and people are actors".
So "What is this life? - A game."

Last edited January 24, 2011 at 7:24 PM by IJoe

@IJoe

I understand it's not really the same circumstances but from the point of being invaded themselves in a game (made by one of their own companies at least) it poses no issue as for by another countries producer you need only look at say Ubisoft (French) in Endwar you invade American major cities as EU and Russia at will.

I actually started thinking of endwar when I read the post before yours raider ^.^
Something like that is on a more Global scale, and made after a book, not made from one country to the next for no reason or source.

IJoe wrote:
@Raider217
Yeah, but IT'S MADE BY ACTIVISIONS.
Get the point?

Fix'd..
They are beyond evil...

on the point of activision and violent games:
http://www.vg247.com/2011/01/25/russian-media-points-to-modern-warfare-2-over-airport-bombing/

Oh, yeah, because firing a machine gun is exactly like detonating a bomb.  ::)

pariah wrote:
Oh, yeah, because firing a machine gun is exactly like detonating a bomb.  ::)

That was exactly what i thought.

Wow I had heard of the bomb attack but not of the finger pointing at CoD, pure (unlucky) coincidence in my opinion.  :-X

And of course condolences to those lost or injured.

I guess if terrorists were THAT retarded that they needed CoD to point them to targets of opportunity we'd have no terrorism problem to begin with.

It didn't seem to me that they were saying the Terrorists played this and thought to do it, only the one reference did, hey, there was a comic about a plane crashing into the World trade centers before it happened, its just full of coincidences.

I remember that.... My father had some of those, pretty weird.

Think y'all should watch this:

http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/02/call-of-duty-no-russian-controversy/

lol, this reminds me funny situation in my country. Some TV talk-show was about violence in videogames. So they went to school with micro and asked few teenagers what was the most brutal game they've ever played. The most common answer was TETRIS ( lol ). Morover, nobody checked what TETRIS was, and they went on vision.... we had a lot of fun next day at school...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107628-Fox-News-Says-Bulletstorm-Could-Make-You-a-Rapist

Just wondering if anyone else knew about this latest shinnanigans (aka lies) from FOX

The American Propaganda........

Puts American Idol over Egypt Protest

Raider217 wrote:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107628-Fox-News-Says-Bulletstorm-Could-Make-You-a-Rapist

Just wondering if anyone else knew about this latest shinnanigans (aka lies) from FOX

CABLE NEWS RACE
THURS., FEB 10, 2011

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,325,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,335,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,293,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,243,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,936,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,744,000
CNN BLITZER 1,036,000
CNN MORGAN 941,000
MSNBC HARDBLL 844,000
MSNBC O'DONNELL 843,000
CNN COOPER 826,000
MSNBC MADDOW 765,000
CNN PARKERSPITZER 724,000
MSNBC SHULTZ 575,000
Something tells me all those millions of people know something that perhaps you have yet to admit....

For those of you who are still interested...
I did some digging and found that, at the moment, its expected that the Supreme Court will rule on this case sometime in June. Its too soon for it to be confirmed however. I will keep posting as information is given.

Also, I came across a story posted by some advocate for the ban. Apparently some kid jumped off a 19 story building when he got grounded. His logic is were all going to either kill ourselves or go on a killing spree.

And for anyone interested in the state of the Australian game ratings:
http://www.r18games.com.au/

Update: Mortal Kombat has been banned, whilst We Dare (essentially a porn game) has been rated PG.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/a-wii-bit-kinky-sexy-spanking-game-rated-pg-but-mortal-kombat-banned-20110228-1baqx.html

::) x infinity.