Blame the video game

dotsman

So, while millions of people await the release of GTA V (no doubt a few of whom are on after hours), over in the states, we can expect a massive attack in the media against the game after an 8-year old takes the family gun and shoots his gran in the back of the head (after playing GTA IV).

Is not the fact that an 8-year old had access to a gun the big ****in' factor here?

Even if one was to say that playing the game encourage him to act out violently, is it not a case that the game is intended for adults and not 8 year olds?

Anybody who blames the game is an idiot. Clearly the parents are the first port of call when it comes to laying out blame - letting an 8 year old play an adult game (do they also let him watch porn, horror movies etc?) and leaving a gun in the house/caravan where a child can access it.

Hell, I'd imagine the fact that a kid is being raised in a town called "Slaughter" is more to blame than a video game...
http://news.sky.com/story/1132826/boy-8-kills-gran-after-playing-video-game

Courtesy Flush

Do guns have an age restriction ?
8 seems young for GTA/Guns
Call me old fashioned

Greenmachine

That's one ****ed up kid.

spank_inferno

I'm sure Senator Fidelma Healy Eames is giddy in anticipation to denounce GTA-5

Suryavarman

Parents/Guardian leave an 8 year old play a game intended for adults and leave the gun loaded and easily accessible by that 8 year old.

This has nothing to do with the video game or the gun and every thing to do with extremely woeful child minding.

Arawn

I personally can prove that video games were the cause of the crusades,inquisition, WW1,WW2 and vietnam, also all the school shootings

coolhull

When I was a kid we played Cowboys and Indians.
Never turned me into an Apache, though

meoklmrk91

Ugh, this a horrible story. It wasn't GTA 4 that killed this kids grandmother though, where is the parental responsibility? Why would any parent allow a child to play a game like this, they are meant for adults, the rating says so, any parent who buys a game for their kid sould research it and preferably play it before handing it over.

Also it seems like every week there is a story out of America where a kid either shoots themselves or someone else, again parental responsibility? Why does the kid have access to a loaded gun? Why does the kid know how to turn of the safety and shoot the weapon. The people who are at fault are the parents or those who were caring for him full stop. It's funny how in Ireland we never have incidences of this despite GTA, COD being played by kids, might be something to do with the fact that we don't allow every idiot to own a gun.

wil

Arawn wrote: »

I personally can prove that video games were the cause of the crusades,inquisition, WW1,WW2 and vietnam, also all the school shootings

Photos or GTfA

coolhull wrote: »

When I was a kid we played Cowboys and Indians.

Never turned me into an Apache, though

Builder?

Firefox11

coolhull wrote: »

When I was a kid we played Cowboys and Indians.
Never turned me into an Apache, though

I used to play Gunship! but it never turned me into an Apache either.:(:D

Fox_In_Socks

coolhull wrote: »

When I was a kid we played Cowboys and Indians.
Never turned me into an Apache, though

You are a cowboy now, though?

Drakares

BAN THE GAMES! The guns are grand though. 'Murica.

coolhull

No, just a banker. Same thing, though

Wacker The Attacker

spank_inferno wrote: »

I'm sure Senator Fidelma Healy Eames is giddy in anticipation to denounce GTA-5

I'd say she's been walking around with a raging wide on for weeks now

RedXIV

I'm gonna have to say it, but the 8yr old deserves just as much blame here as the parents. I have an 8yr old and he's a lovely kid. At 8, the kid knows the difference between right and wrong. That kid is not free from blame and should be carefully monitored.

Jester252

RedXIV wrote: »

I'm gonna have to say it, but the 8yr old deserves just as much blame here as the parents. I have an 8yr old and he's a lovely kid. At 8, the kid knows the difference between right and wrong. That kid is not free from blame and should be carefully monitored.

Under law anyone under 10 year old can't be held responsible for his/her actions.
So the media can't blame the kid. They won't blame the parents as they are going through a tough time. Blaming guns leads to a fight between pro 2nd amendment and pro control with a lot of work for the media to air both sides.
Videos games are just an easy target.

Lorenzo the Magnificent

I decided to teach my little lad chess a few years ago. Primarily to get the blighter away from watching Barney.

He's now eight and whipping the shít out of every kid in the county. Santa gave him a PS3 last Christmas (despite my protests) and he loves to play games. Simple stuff and all monitored by the parents. But we think that playing computer games has made him ultra-competitive in real life. His teachers have remarked upon it.

Not sure if letting flights of fantasy overly intrude on the imagination of a kid of that age is a good idea.

Smithwicks Man

It'd be funny if Messi or Ronaldo came out and said that Fifa99 made them into the player they are today :pac:

shruikan2553

I remember my mums friend complaining about her 6-8 year old child playing call of duty and how violent it was. They have people making the work easier for you, just look at the corner and it has a number, if the childs age is less than that number then it is seen as not suitable for them but no, lets complain that 18+ rated games are bad for children under the age of 10.

MadsL

Screw GTA 5, I heard Half-life 3 was confirmed the other day.

MadsL

shruikan2553 wrote: »

I remember my mums friend complaining about her 6-8 year old child playing call of duty

Jaysus, 2 years is a long time to be playing in fairness.

frag420

Can we not blame Marilyn Manson instead?

He lives of that shìt!!

frAg

Duggy747

Every release of GTA brings a fresh batch of dire, unbalanced "debate" on video game violence with at least one person on the anti side blurting out the line "As a mother......" while every teenage crime is linked directly to GTA.....................until the whole circus dies down again a few weeks later.

Ah, I remember when Mortal Kombat was going to destroy the world or Rammstein were seen as Nazis.

DEFTLEFTHAND

The first thing I'm going to do is ride up to Mount Chiliad and take in the views, this map they're giving us is out of this world, forget about Just Cause 2. It's been 5 long years and I can't wait. Only 25 more days to go.

MadsL

frag420 wrote: »

Can we not blame Marilyn Manson instead?

He lives of that shìt!!

frAg

Eminem surely.

Look how he affects the wimmins.

Sunglasses Ron

Drakares wrote: »

BAN THE GAMES! The guns are grand though. 'Murica.

Where does this 'Murica / 'Merika thing come from?

CrazyRabbit

The boy also had Cheerios for breakfast. Obviously it was all the sugar that made him do it. Ban breakfast cereals!!!

Elbaston

Duggy747 wrote: »

Every release of GTA brings a fresh batch of dire, unbalanced "debate" on video game violence with at least one person on the anti side blurting out the line "As a mother......" while every teenage crime is linked directly to GTA.....................until the whole circus dies down again a few weeks later.

Ah, I remember when Mortal Kombat was going to destroy the world or Rammstein were seen as Nazis.

I dont really have a side on this debate, for certain parenting is to blame in these types of situations.
That said, the games have entered a new era, our generations' video game violence was cartoon-ish, flying kicks and pulling off heads, freezing the opponent and then smashing him to pieces for an end move.

This era of games though does rightly need to be questioned, ****ing and beating hookers with baseball bats to steal their money, and bullet camera views of headshots is pushing the violence out a bit. Where is the line drawn? a first person view of beating a hooker? a first person view rape? /or murder.

(gta pedo-town - theres an example of where you might say ah hang on)


4 hours of playing something like that could push some adults into doing regrettable things. Is there a point where the xbox stops being a toy and becomes a crime training device.

Right or wrong, their business or mine, people get influenced by what they view. So where to stop it ?

Optimalprimerib

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote: »

I decided to teach my little lad chess a few years ago. Primarily to get the blighter away from watching Barney.

He's now eight and whipping the shít out of every kid in the county. Santa gave him a PS3 last Christmas (despite my protests) and he loves to play games. Simple stuff and all monitored by the parents. But we think that playing computer games has made him ultra-competitive in real life. His teachers have remarked upon it.

Not sure if letting flights of fantasy overly intrude on the imagination of a kid of that age is a good idea.

But... you just said that you taught him chess which is a competitive game. Would that also be a factor or is my sarcasm detector off at this hour?

unkymo

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

It'd be funny if Messi or Ronaldo came out and said that Fifa99 made them into the player they are today :pac:

I presume many of you haven't heard about this fella;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Ord%C3%B3%C3%B1ez

and there making a film about him soon;

http://www.destructoid.com/gran-turismo-film-follows-the-life-of-racer-lucas-ordonez-260505.phtml

So let your kids play video games....except COD!

artanevilla

I blame it on the boogie myself.

HellboundIRL

If he doesn't regret it now then he definitely will in 4 weeks.

frag420

MadsL wrote: »

Eminem surely.

Look how he affects the wimmins.

Bitches be trippin yo!!

Lando Griffin

I blame the grandma for not arming herself with a handgun hence defending herself by shooting first and immobilising the threat.

justforlaugh

people were killing each others with guns before video games were invented including mess up kids

Forest Demon

If you let an 8 year old watch Saw or hostel or porn and then let them down a couple of shots then you are going to have a ****ed up kid. All these things have an 18 rating. No point blaming the game that they should not even have access to.

lertsnim

Ban video games. If Hitler didn't have access to them then who knows how different the world could have been.

Local-womanizer

Elbaston wrote: »

I dont really have a side on this debate, for certain parenting is to blame in these types of situations.
That said, the games have entered a new era, our generations' video game violence was cartoon-ish, flying kicks and pulling off heads, freezing the opponent and then smashing him to pieces for an end move.

This era of games though does rightly need to be questioned, ****ing and beating hookers with baseball bats to steal their money, and bullet camera views of headshots is pushing the violence out a bit. Where is the line drawn? a first person view of beating a hooker? a first person view rape? /or murder.

(gta pedo-town - theres an example of where you might say ah hang on)


4 hours of playing something like that could push some adults into doing regrettable things. Is there a point where the xbox stops being a toy and becomes a crime training device.

Right or wrong, their business or mine, people get influenced by what they view. So where to stop it ?

Seriously?

Why do you not question movies in this post then. I have been horrified by things I've seen in movies more than games in my lifetime, but as a responsible adult I take it for what it is, a form of entertainment and/or an art form.

If an adult is easily influenced by a game, the problem is not the game, it's deeper than that.

What pisses me off is the parenting. Oh it's a computer game, it's obviously meant for kids, despite the big red 18 certification on it! Or the fact the average age of gamers is late 20s to early 30s.

They should release a game where people raise their kids to be law abiding respectable members if society to solve all the worlds problems, oh wait....

DublinArnie

The kid most likely had some sort of mental defect.

Amirani

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

But... you just said that you taught him chess which is a competitive game. Would that also be a factor or is my sarcasm detector off at this hour?

We live in a world driven by competition. Exams, jobs, games - all cause competitiveness.

almighty1

Drakares wrote: »

BAN THE GAMES! The guns are grand though. 'Murica.

Sums it up perfectly.

Burky126

Once again,relevant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS1Ys7lNXYY

The One Who Knocks

Or keep guns, keep games and blame bad parenting?

The child should not have been allowed access to either the game or the gun.
On top of that, he should have been taught gun safety if there was a gun in the house.

ancapailldorcha

Sadly, as long as people choose to pick the simplest possible explanation and choose to put their own desires first, shootings will continue to happen. I'm honestly flabbergasted at the amount of people in the US who are so opposed to the idea of regulating (not banning) firearms that they won't even think about the amount of lives that could be saved.

Elbaston

Local-womanizer wrote: »

Seriously?

Why do you not question movies in this post then. I have been horrified by things I've seen in movies more than games in my lifetime, but as a responsible adult I take it for what it is, a form of entertainment and/or an art form.

If an adult is easily influenced by a game, the problem is not the game, it's deeper than that.

What pisses me off is the parenting. Oh it's a computer game, it's obviously meant for kids, despite the big red 18 certification on it! Or the fact the average age of gamers is late 20s to early 30s.

They should release a game where people raise their kids to be law abiding respectable members if society to solve all the worlds problems, oh wait....

So there should be no point in media where you say ok thats enough ?
Thats kind of a 'yes' or 'no' question.
If you say 'yes theres a point where we have to draw the line' then where is it and who gets to say.
If you say 'no' then .... no way you big spa you're a mentalist.

Owen_S

When I was 8 I was playing Pokemon on the Gameboy. It didn't cause me to go around fighting creatures in long grass though. Blaming video games for violence is absurd.

mikom

Genghis Khan was a hoor for the ould GTA vice city, so I've heard........

Local-womanizer

Elbaston wrote: »

So there should be no point in media where you say ok thats enough ?
Thats kind of a 'yes' or 'no' question.
If you say 'yes theres a point where we have to draw the line' then where is it and who gets to say.
If you say 'no' then .... no way you big spa you're a mentalist.

I didn't say there should be no line there that shouldn't be crossed.

My point is the real issue in this case, bad parenting and people looking to avoid the real issue and place the blame at something they either fail to understand, or for the sake of it being an easy target.

Movies deal with a lot more serious issues ie,torture, rape and murder to graphically showing people slip into drug abuse and mental breakdown in great detail and it's easier to relate to movies because the characters are not computer generated, yet nothing is ever mentioned about the effect it could have on people.

The video game industry is the fastest growing entertainment industry in the world, millions play video games everyday, yet they don't go out and beat hookers to death in an alleyway. Mainly because they are of normal mental state and know the difference between a hobby and real life.

Bad parenting is to blame here, simple as. Letting an 8 year old play a 18 rated game and having a firearm not only loaded in the house, but easily accessible by the child is not GTAs fault but the parents, it's that simple.

Elbaston

@ Local-womanizer

As I said in my very first sentence in my very first post on this thread -

"I dont really have a side on this debate, for certain parenting is to blame in these types of situations. "


Movies can be questioned in exactly the same way I've referred to games - thats the point - there's either a time where censorship comes in or there isn't.
If there isn't then anything goes - Use your imagination and Im sure you'll see that censorship is a necessity.

Where is that line drawn and who gets to say, is our decision and we will reap the consequences rightly or wrongly.



"If an adult is easily influenced by a game, the problem is not the game, it's deeper than that".

Thats why I said "its their business not mine". They are their own responsibility.
But, separately, you will be influenced by what you (and they) watch/read or play, like it or not.


"I didn't say there should be no line there that shouldn't be crossed"
- I didn't say that you did.

Theres a big difference between movies in the third person and first person view video games. Even movies are indeed censored (for what its worth), we see that a standard is set, someone set that standard for reason that people will watch and will be influenced and our society will change - whether that should or should not be.

Should we HAVE to pander to the nutters - NO
But SHOULD we - Id say after a point 'yes' if its for our own good.
We're the ones who may have or not have 1 additional nutter, our choice.

"The video game industry is the fastest growing entertainment industry in the world, millions play video games everyday, yet they don't go out and beat hookers to death in an alleyway. Mainly because they are of normal mental state and know the difference between a hobby and real life"

I never said they do or that they as people are anyones responsibility other than their own, or that we should cater to the unstable small percentage who will act out.
(no more than we should restrict ourselves to pillow covered 1 litre cars because of boy racers)

I've said that they (nutters or unstable people capable of becoming nutters due to 20 hours game play a week ) DO exist.

What we should let their tiny minds view repeatedly is something to question - because we will, rightly or wrongly, be affected.

Definitely others are not our responsibility or fault, however, we shape our society with decisions like censorship. Agree or disagree you will get corresponding results - thats a reality, x will lead to y.

A widely distributed first person view game showing exactly how to make a fertilizer bomb or plan a rape will lead to a result.

Your fault? - no. A result of our decisions on censorship - Yes.

Choose as you will.

"Bad parenting is to blame here, simple as"
- Which is what I said in my very first sentence

Duggy747

Elbaston wrote: »

A widely distributed first person view game showing exactly how to make a fertilizer bomb or plan a rape will lead to a result.

What evidence leads you to believe that the gaming industry will mass produce a game that uses tools to teach a person how to rape, let alone articulately and realistically show them how to construct a bomb (of which can be easily be self taught on the internet)?

No developer, publisher, retailer would help release such a game. It would be a commercial suicide and have their name smeared by the gaming community as well as the public and media.

Elbaston

Duggy747 wrote: »

What evidence leads you to believe that the gaming industry will mass produce a game that uses tools to teach a person how to rape, let alone articulately and realistically show them how to construct a bomb (of which can be easily be self taught on the internet)?

No developer, publisher, retailer would help release such a game. It would be a commercial suicide and have their name smeared by the gaming community as well as the public and media.

None. You either didn't read or didn't comprehend the comment.