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"Two years after the Columbine High School massacre, the families of several victims have filed a lawsuit against a number of entertainment companies, including Nintendo of America, Atari, Sega of America, Activision, Sony Computer Entertainment, AOL Time Warner, Id Software, Virgin Interactive Media, and GT Interactive. The families are seeking $5 billion in punitive damages from a total of 25 entertainment companies. The lawsuit was filed the day before the two-year anniversary of the shootings. Several popular action games were specifically mentioned in the lawsuit, including Doom, Quake, and Redneck Rampage."
That is from another web-site.
Whilst I agree that what happened there is a tragedy, you cant pin the blame on video games anymore than you can backwards messages in music.
It's so much easier to point a finger at a movie/song/video game that it is to accept that society and maybe the parents of those two kids are to blame.
Especially in the States, were a culture of violence and access to guns is so easy.
Did you know Walmart refuse to stock albums or magazines it deems "offensive to our family image", yet you can buy machine guns, handguns and crossbows there?
Exactly.
And video games are to blame?????
Who says?
There has been so much research into music and movies influencing behaviour, and if this was the case, censors would be the most depraved animals on the face of this planet.
This argument simply does not stand up to serious examination.
You simply cannot ignore the school system of America, where violent sport is rewarded with popularity and praise (Quarterback heroes dating cheerleaders etc).
Those two kids that shot everyone, they had been bullied for years, mocked and laughed at for being different.
So, considering you can walk into a family aimed store and buy heavy weapons, they took it out the easiest and quickest way they knew.
It wasn't video games that made them kill, it was years of being bullied. Who can remember their school period? Every get bullied? Did you shoot anyone?
No.
And why not? No guns.
Cowards use a gun instead of using fists.
And Doom had nothing to do with this.
Phew, sorry to get off on a rant here, but this really, really angers me.
I play video games every day, I do not have any violent tendencies outside of the electronic world.
Neither does 99% of us.
Dont blame games or movies or books or records.
Look at everything that surrounds kids and the effect that may have 1st.
That is from another web-site.
Whilst I agree that what happened there is a tragedy, you cant pin the blame on video games anymore than you can backwards messages in music.
It's so much easier to point a finger at a movie/song/video game that it is to accept that society and maybe the parents of those two kids are to blame.
Especially in the States, were a culture of violence and access to guns is so easy.
Did you know Walmart refuse to stock albums or magazines it deems "offensive to our family image", yet you can buy machine guns, handguns and crossbows there?
Exactly.
And video games are to blame?????
Who says?
There has been so much research into music and movies influencing behaviour, and if this was the case, censors would be the most depraved animals on the face of this planet.
This argument simply does not stand up to serious examination.
You simply cannot ignore the school system of America, where violent sport is rewarded with popularity and praise (Quarterback heroes dating cheerleaders etc).
Those two kids that shot everyone, they had been bullied for years, mocked and laughed at for being different.
So, considering you can walk into a family aimed store and buy heavy weapons, they took it out the easiest and quickest way they knew.
It wasn't video games that made them kill, it was years of being bullied. Who can remember their school period? Every get bullied? Did you shoot anyone?
No.
And why not? No guns.
Cowards use a gun instead of using fists.
And Doom had nothing to do with this.
Phew, sorry to get off on a rant here, but this really, really angers me.
I play video games every day, I do not have any violent tendencies outside of the electronic world.
Neither does 99% of us.
Dont blame games or movies or books or records.
Look at everything that surrounds kids and the effect that may have 1st.
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Well, I must say that I agree with pretty much everything that's been said here. However, there is one thing that may be worth considering. If children can be influenced most of all by what they see when they're young and learning all they'll need for the rest of life, then wouldn't the free showing and playing of "offensive" music on the TV influence them? I mean, they show chart programs at times when cartoons are on, but these chart programs have things with swearing in them (cut out of course) at various positions in their charts reaching even number 1! So if a young person goes out and gets the single or gets their mum to get it they may end up hearing the version with all the swearing and think: "If this can get to number 1 then it's okay". So it could be said that music can influence our children.
For example, have you seen the Robbie Williams videos recently? One has him running around doing the deed with a bunch of women (in cartoony form) and there was another one which had him removing his skin! If this is the sort of thing that the media deem acceptable to expose children of any age to then surely something must be wrong here. A lot of Robbie Williams fans are probably well under 18 but if his music videos were stand alone films that is the rating they would get. So surely things which should be rated 18 and maybe 15 shouldn't be on when young children are watching. Of course the "evil" elements tend to be cut out but if the kids get their hands on a copy or watch a documentary or after 9 o' clock program about their favorite pop/rock/rap stars then they will get to see things which may be a bad influence on them coming from their idols.
Of course when it comes to computer games you can't see any of the violence without buying the game itself and you will need to be of a certain age to do so. So in other words you actually have to trick the sales person or get your parents to buy you the game, which means it's their own fault for giving their kids access to such materials.
They say that people are getting more mature when they are younger. I saw a documentary (part of it anyway) in which there were young children aged about 11-12 who were acting like they were 16 and doing things that they are maybe too young for. They didn't do anything especially "immoral" but it shows you that perhaps children are no longer gettting to be innocent for as long as they should. Children are usually protected from the violence, crime and other things deemded unsuitable for them which exist in the real world but now they seem to get less protection. Perhaps the media is partially to blame.
Of course the problem with balaming computer games is that they aren't really part of the media. They aren't shown on TV (except occasionally at 12:00pm ish) and they can't be easily accessed by very young people. Infact if anything they are the least likely suspect for evil influences. Videos are also difficult to blame since they have similar restrictions and it is made clear in any trailers that there are age restrictions on certain films (plus these trailers tend to be on at times appropriate to their certificate). The news is perhaps a possible suspect in so far as they show the violence of the real world which, as I said earlier, is the exact sort of thing young children should be protected from. Another problem with the news is that parents may expose their children to the violence simply by watching it while their children are around. The problem with blaming the news, however, is that children tend to think of it as something which is boring and not to be qatched which is perhaps the attitude that should be encouraged until they are old enough to understand what they see in it.
The biggest thing about all of these crimes which would like to blame some external source for the behaviour of the people in question is that there really has to be something wrong with the person in the first place. Perhaps they have a mental problem, perhaps they are depressed, perhaps they have been brought up in an unhappy household but whatever it may be it is likely that it is an internal problem in the persons life which makes them crack and not any particular external influences.
For example, have you seen the Robbie Williams videos recently? One has him running around doing the deed with a bunch of women (in cartoony form) and there was another one which had him removing his skin! If this is the sort of thing that the media deem acceptable to expose children of any age to then surely something must be wrong here. A lot of Robbie Williams fans are probably well under 18 but if his music videos were stand alone films that is the rating they would get. So surely things which should be rated 18 and maybe 15 shouldn't be on when young children are watching. Of course the "evil" elements tend to be cut out but if the kids get their hands on a copy or watch a documentary or after 9 o' clock program about their favorite pop/rock/rap stars then they will get to see things which may be a bad influence on them coming from their idols.
Of course when it comes to computer games you can't see any of the violence without buying the game itself and you will need to be of a certain age to do so. So in other words you actually have to trick the sales person or get your parents to buy you the game, which means it's their own fault for giving their kids access to such materials.
They say that people are getting more mature when they are younger. I saw a documentary (part of it anyway) in which there were young children aged about 11-12 who were acting like they were 16 and doing things that they are maybe too young for. They didn't do anything especially "immoral" but it shows you that perhaps children are no longer gettting to be innocent for as long as they should. Children are usually protected from the violence, crime and other things deemded unsuitable for them which exist in the real world but now they seem to get less protection. Perhaps the media is partially to blame.
Of course the problem with balaming computer games is that they aren't really part of the media. They aren't shown on TV (except occasionally at 12:00pm ish) and they can't be easily accessed by very young people. Infact if anything they are the least likely suspect for evil influences. Videos are also difficult to blame since they have similar restrictions and it is made clear in any trailers that there are age restrictions on certain films (plus these trailers tend to be on at times appropriate to their certificate). The news is perhaps a possible suspect in so far as they show the violence of the real world which, as I said earlier, is the exact sort of thing young children should be protected from. Another problem with the news is that parents may expose their children to the violence simply by watching it while their children are around. The problem with blaming the news, however, is that children tend to think of it as something which is boring and not to be qatched which is perhaps the attitude that should be encouraged until they are old enough to understand what they see in it.
The biggest thing about all of these crimes which would like to blame some external source for the behaviour of the people in question is that there really has to be something wrong with the person in the first place. Perhaps they have a mental problem, perhaps they are depressed, perhaps they have been brought up in an unhappy household but whatever it may be it is likely that it is an internal problem in the persons life which makes them crack and not any particular external influences.
Desperado is supposed to be brilliant, but so is Tropico and Sky Odyssey.
I'm a sucker for strategy games, Tropico looks good fun but Sky Odyssey is the mutts-nutts from the demo I played.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.....must consult my oracle
I'm a sucker for strategy games, Tropico looks good fun but Sky Odyssey is the mutts-nutts from the demo I played.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.....must consult my oracle
Goatboy wrote:
Hmmmm....what to ask for?
Sky
> Odyssey?
Tropico?
Desperado?
Has anybody played Desperados? Is it any good?
For some reason I'm really intreagued by the game?!?
Must be the 'GunFright' in me?
Also Settlers4 Vs Red Altert2?
Hmmmm....what to ask for?
Sky
> Odyssey?
Tropico?
Desperado?
Has anybody played Desperados? Is it any good?
For some reason I'm really intreagued by the game?!?
Must be the 'GunFright' in me?
Also Settlers4 Vs Red Altert2?
Er...could be I suppose
But not on purpose, what can I say? It's a talent.
But not on purpose, what can I say? It's a talent.
scapeGOAT? was that a joke?!
Darkness
Darkness
How could any game be blamed for such tragedies, as everyone knows every game has an age rating which is set so that the children younger than the specific age group do NOT get that particular game.
Ok the game has that specific age rating because of it's CONTENT, and it's this CONTENT that supposedly influences the children who have these psycotic episodes, which end in such tragedies.
Although i don't think that this is true, the only people that could be blamed for these children having these psycotic episodes is the parent because they bought them the game knowing that they were to young. So what right do they have to sue the gaming company.
None because it is not the companies fault, the children/teenagers who cause such massacres must already have a mental illness to kill a mass amount of people.
But i don't think its computer games which sets them off, it's television programmes and films. Has anyone noticed that television programmes are starting to have alot more violence during the family viewing times? well, i have, but it's not just T.V. programmes that are showing violence and drug abuse during family viewing time, there is alot of films on the SKY movie channels that are on earlier than they should, when children are awake to watch them.
So i say, why blame it on gaming companies when it's more likely to be the T.V. channel companies and parents are the real cause to these problems.
thanx
Fishy
Ok the game has that specific age rating because of it's CONTENT, and it's this CONTENT that supposedly influences the children who have these psycotic episodes, which end in such tragedies.
Although i don't think that this is true, the only people that could be blamed for these children having these psycotic episodes is the parent because they bought them the game knowing that they were to young. So what right do they have to sue the gaming company.
None because it is not the companies fault, the children/teenagers who cause such massacres must already have a mental illness to kill a mass amount of people.
But i don't think its computer games which sets them off, it's television programmes and films. Has anyone noticed that television programmes are starting to have alot more violence during the family viewing times? well, i have, but it's not just T.V. programmes that are showing violence and drug abuse during family viewing time, there is alot of films on the SKY movie channels that are on earlier than they should, when children are awake to watch them.
So i say, why blame it on gaming companies when it's more likely to be the T.V. channel companies and parents are the real cause to these problems.
thanx
Fishy
I won????
Hurrah! Man, no intention of winning anything, just felt strongly about scapegaot issues that may affect my future.
Hurrah.
Hmmmm....what to ask for?
Sky Odyssey?
Tropico?
Desperado?
Goaty needs to sleep and think on this matter.
Hurrah! Man, no intention of winning anything, just felt strongly about scapegaot issues that may affect my future.
Hurrah.
Hmmmm....what to ask for?
Sky Odyssey?
Tropico?
Desperado?
Goaty needs to sleep and think on this matter.
Very interesting. And you won for it!
I think i've got a worrying picture of where this will all end. It wouldn't surprise me if in the states after a tragic car crash some woman sues the games companies.
Why?
"Well, when my Billy-Joe plays driving games like GT2 and MSR etc, when he crashes nothing happens to him. He thought that if he crashed when driving down to the store he'd be ok."
And then she would sue the games companies, and, knowing America, probably win.
Why?
"Well, when my Billy-Joe plays driving games like GT2 and MSR etc, when he crashes nothing happens to him. He thought that if he crashed when driving down to the store he'd be ok."
And then she would sue the games companies, and, knowing America, probably win.
"A report, today reported that someone reported that John Gresham from North Battersea a local council worker is demanding free counciling as he feels urges to hug everyone. He is said to be a big Anti-Telletubbies campaigner, but says that 'The telletubbies love for each other is overwhelming, and I cannot avoid seeing them in shop windows on the way to work'. Gresham also indicated that he has been attacked by people he has hugged in the street. The BBC Cheif Executive has slated that the telletubbies will become more violent as a result of this situation as Gresham pointed out that 'There must be more people like me' he was then detained for hugging the interviewer."
Take this, turn it around, and then you have an Idea of how stupid this court case is......Maybe there is an online petition to banish these people from civilisation and put them on one of the islands on the coast os Scotland....:D
Take this, turn it around, and then you have an Idea of how stupid this court case is......Maybe there is an online petition to banish these people from civilisation and put them on one of the islands on the coast os Scotland....:D
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