Grand Theft Auto Led Teen to Kill 1311
Varg Vikernes writes "FOXNews reports on a lawsuit that claims the video game 'Grand Theft Auto' led a teenager to shoot two police officers and a dispatcher to death in 2003, mirroring violent acts depicted in the popular game. 'What has happened in Alabama is that four companies participated in the training of Devin... to kill three men,' attorney Jack Thompson told The Tuscaloosa News, which reported the suit's filing. Thompson is also filing suit against Wal-Mart, Gamestop, Take-Two and Sony." Gamespot has coverage of this story as well. Thompson has made something of a career out of lawsuits of this nature.
I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
When will the blame be placed where it belongs, with the people who's job is to raise this child until he is old enough to support himself?
What the hell happened to being responsible for your own actions?
If I ever rob someone at an ATM I'll sue NBC because I saw someone on Law & Order do it once.
What the FUCK is wrong with this country?
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Interesting)
Parents allow video game to raise child
Seriously, I mean next thing you know we're going to start blaming homosexuality on Will and Grace. Give it a break people. Or rather, get a dining table and stop eating your freaking meals in front of your TV. It's a form of entertainment, not a shrine.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Funny)
By the way, those shoes... I don't think so.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Only three men?
Praise the game maker!
Imagine what would have happened if the little bozo watched "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" instead!
How'd he do it? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to be morbid, but, the game trained a kid to do all that, I'd say the POLICE need to be playing more GTA themselves.....
Re:How'd he do it? (Score:4, Insightful)
1) still cuffed right up to being dragged into the booking room
2) brought into a locked garage or contained area before they open the doors to the crusier to let you out
3) (this one I can't quite remember) cops check their guns before bringing the suspect into the booking room and uncuffing them.
Those procedures are in place to minimize your chance of having a suspect jumping you, killing you, and/or getting away of which this kid seems to have done all three.
Re:How'd he do it? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
At this point, I think it's more fair to ask "What the fuck is wrong with this kid, and his parents?"
We know what's wrong with the lawyer. He has no ethics and thinks there's money to be made.
Now, if he consisently succeeds in winning these lawsuits, then we can ask what's wrong with this country. The answer is already ' a lot of things'
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Interesting)
Proposal: if your minor child is convicted of a crime you get hit with a proportion of the sentence dependent on the age of the child. (100% at 5 years old, 0% at 18, not sure what the interpolation function should be).
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:4, Insightful)
Lawyers and Ethics (Score:3, Insightful)
A lawyer is ethically required to represent his client as best he can within the bounds of the law. He should never lie, but working within loopholes is perfectly fine. They do not swear to uphold any particular morality, though, so a suitably inclined lawyer should have no professional problem with getting a murderer, tax collecter, or copyright infringer off the hook if he can do so legally. So what happens if you really don't believe your client is right? Well, mo
Tax collecter joke (Score:3, Interesting)
Nice to know someone appreciates it. It amused me because there's always that line in the Bible about Jesus eating with prostitutes and tax collecters. Today, tax collecters are considered to be more annoying than immoral, so it seems odd to us. But honestly, I do suspect there are indeed lawyers out there who (perhaps even unconsciously) don't properly represent their client because they don't believe thei
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:4, Informative)
Judges are supposed to be impartial and fair, but juries are easily swayed by a convincing lawyer. That's why people use character, sympathy, the press, etc. to make their cases.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Funny)
Man, if you slapped me that hard, I don't think I'd be alive anymore. Although I do know for a fact that getting slapped with a book hurts like hell.
News flash (Score:3)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Informative)
No he isn't. He isn't a lawyer for the kid, or the kid's family. He's a lawyer for the victims' families, and this is a civil suit.
I suspect what's really going on here is that a lawyer with an agenda [misanthropic-bitch.com] has convinced grieving families of victims that big media is to blame for their loss. He's trying to shutdown violent video games, like he tried to shutdown gangster rap before that and Madonna before even that.
However, Jack Thompson has tried this before. He's failed every time. I'm confident that he will fail again this time.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Interesting)
That would be true if the article were about a criminal trial, but this is a CIVIL suit. It's all about money. So, basically, the lawyer has no ethics and thinks there's money to be made.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Insightful)
Uh, says who? The kid? The DEFENDANT?
Yeah, let's go ahead and make public policy based on the statements of someone trying to stay out of JAIL.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
That is an extremely weak argument. Hanging around a felon isn't a bad influence, but playing video games is. Ugh. What about the millions of other kids who play the same games, how come they don't all go berserk?
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
In the 30's, if you stuck your arm into a pulley and got it taken off, it was your fault because any idiot knows not to put their arm into machinery....now it's the company you work fors fault. lame. The entire country has gone to "blame someone else."
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sometimes fingers need to be pointed.
In the 30's, if you stuck your arm into a pulley and got it taken off, it was your fault because any idiot knows not to put their arm into machinery...
Oh? And what if you were doing nothing more than operating it the way it was supposed to be operating, and because it was poorly maintained, it malfunctioned and took your arm off? Or killed you?
I think people have a reasonable expectation that the machines they're expected to work with won't injure or kill them, and that the owners of those machines have a responsibility to ensure that's the case. Much as I think people have a reasonable expectation that spilled coffee shouldn't inflict third-degree burns over their genitals through two layers of clothing. Hence the McDonald's coffee damages.
This lawyer is a douchbag. But there are legitimate reasons for tort lawsuits. I for one don't want to live in a world where companies choose lax safety standards because its cheaper that making sure their products don't maim or kill, and I can't imagine why you would. Tort lawsuits keep that in check.
The entire country has gone to "blame someone else."
Because a surprising number of times, it is someone else's fault.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Insightful)
This is an absurdity of the greatest kind. And fully indicative of the litigous behaviour that has infected Americans. It makes no sense. But this foolishness has been going on for years.
Recall the outrage at D&D and the overreaction when a teen killed himself "because his charcter died". It was crap then and crap now. That poor kid killed himself because he was filled with crushing depression and his parents did not help him. BUT someone had to be held responsible, that was D&D
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll take a overly litigous society over one where citizens have no recourse against the weathy anyday.
I don't enjoy BS lawsuits wasting taxpayer dollars, but there are tradeoffs with everything in life.
Question (Score:5, Insightful)
Would the thoughts of the freedoms we enjoy come back and haunt us? Ever?
Would a society where its children drink two or three soda's a day, eat a hamburgers several times a week, watch various degrees of violence on TV, listen to on radio or music with phrases like "pimp my ho" and "nasty bitchs" and other choice "Ghetto is good"(TM) phrases, or entertains via internet or games with violence the only option, be destined for self destruction?
I'm sure I will be attacked as a troll or zealot or religious fanatic or something of that sort, doesn't matter. What does matter is the simple thought of society training children and students with everything they don't need for a healthy life style. You teach your children to talk through example. You teach your children to dress, act, and interact through example. Why cant a teenager wait to drive, cause he wants what has been around his set as an example.
Same thoughts apply to violence. Everything is set through example.
Re:Question (Score:5, Funny)
Let me also state that I have no idea what you just said.
Re:Question (Score:3, Insightful)
A video game is not an example. It is a diversion. Daddy coming home and saying "I got stuck behind a bunch of ragheads in traffic today" is. I'm from Santa Cruz and am now in Marysville (both in California, USA) and the difference in attitudes towa
Re:Question (Score:3, Insightful)
Games don't kill people. People kill people.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Interesting)
But in cases where such an extreme act has occurred I don't think that parental upbringing is the totality of what's going on. Sometimes parents do everything right and still end up with a serial killer.
There's a thing called free will, plus the randomness of genetics. You can't always blame the parents. Just wait till your kid shoots someone and see how you feel about being put on trial for the murder even though you had nothing to do with it and you were a model parent.
And just so you know, if you ever spend any time in a mental institute for children you'll know what I mean. This happens a lot, sometimes it's the parents fault, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's them having been born into a society that just doesn't support them, and other times it's just a crossed wire in their brain... maybe one that didn't short circuit in day 43 of year 15. Who knows, but the point is -- you shouldn't be so quick to judge!
---
http://timesync.homeip.net
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Interesting)
Look, until the kid is $LEGALLY_ADULT_AGE, they are their parents' responsibility. That's just how it works, and that is how it should work. During the day, the parents are responsible for getting Junior to the lockup (school), where the school takes responsibility for babysitting. Outside of lockup, th
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
But mainly you. You have to teach him to handle other influences appropriately; that's in fact your main job once the pooping/feeding part is self-sustaining. YOU have to equip him with the tools to differentiate right from wrong, reality from fantasy, exciting electronic offers from spam, etc.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
No, wait, I was doing that for years before we got the Playstation.
But I couldn't agree more. I've got to say, it seems like 75% of my daughter's phrasing choices and cultural interests come from what she's heard people other than us say. Grandparents, teachers and friends at pre-school, Arthur, all seem to have rubbed off on her (granted, she's only three, but the pattern is already VERY noticeable.) And taken at face value, that could make it seem like society is raising our kid. But the ability to determine right from wrong, use the appropriate references to infer the proper information from the world around her, and treat other people with kindness and compassion regardless of the cultural references she uses to do so are all up to my wife and I. As is the ability to stand up and take responsibility for his actions rather than listening to some lawyer who wants to make him a pawn in his little windmill-fighting crusade against game companies.
This is not to say that I think this kid should be strung up by his thumbs for this - he's obviously ill and needs help. Let's assume for a minute that this dunderhead lawyer is right - the game did influence him. That indicates a very unhealthy and imprintable mind, not a game that needs to be removed from stores.
While this is kind of an absurd correlation, think about what would happen if all movies were censored that contain objectionable behavior (Blockbuster tried that a few years ago, as I recall, and it was met with some glee and mostly outrage). Trying to strike any reference to the bad parts of society leads to ignorance, not security.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Insightful)
Grandparents, teachers and friends at pre-school, and Arthur are all things that are within your control. If your child's grandparents are vulgar, talk to them about being vulgar around your child.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
However, doing a good job does not 100% assure that your kid will grow up to be a good person and not a murderer. Some people are who they are despite the best efforts of caring parents.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Insightful)
When a kid grows up to be a murderer it's usually something that triggered it.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
The parents either did a crappy job raising him, or he was born with or developed a severe chemical imabalance, or he's just a bad guy. Either way, it's not the gaming companies fault. It's the kids and possibly his parents.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
The real problem is that we've become a nation of buck-passers.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Questionable Parenting.
2. Culture of violence.
3. Easy access to high level weapons.
Remove any of those legs of the tripod and you can reduce this kind of thing to a manageable level. Not to say I don't feel for the argument. After playing GTA for long enough you do start to see the world in GTA. No would I go out and get an AK-47 and some body armor and start going postal on the world? No, why should I? If I had been ass raped by my red-state Nascar dad and ignored by my Meth addicted mother, only to go to school to get the shit kicked out of me by anti-intellectual assholes and had access to the ammo dump I might (not)think a little differently.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Good parenting doesn't start durring the trouble years, it starts day 0. Well, day -270 or so, but you get the point.)
So, if you have raised a kid who can play a video game, and think it's okay to go do this, you've lost. Many, many years before, though.
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Insightful)
I play a video game called Rome: Total War [totalwar.com] . In that game, I control armies with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of men. Those men march across open fields armed with swords, spears, bows/arrows, etc. Then, they kill each other in massive violent battles. I can actually see hundreds of dead bodies on the field when I am finished with a battle. When I capture an enemy city, I am given the option of Enslaving Half of that cities populace, or killing 90% of the populace in an effort to maintain control.
My game, which I love, is rated T (for Teen). Nobobody complains about the violence in my game. Why are you complaining about the violence in GTA?
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:3, Funny)
Similarly (Score:5, Insightful)
People also think a game that allows
- taking a rocket launcher and shooting someone in the face is 'fun'
- taking a broadsword and hacking off an opponents arm is 'fun'.
- driving at triple digits on public roads is 'fun'.
- building a rollercoaster that is designed to crash is 'fun'.
- having a giant ape throw boulders at you is 'fun'.
Games are escapism. Deal with it.
It's human instinct. (Score:3, Insightful)
Humans, like most higher order animals have fighting in their blood. When we're little boys, we playfight. Puppies playfight. Kittens playfight. My ferret playfought. Nobody has to teach you to do that, we do it on their own. How many little boys do you know that never playfought?
People
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Funny)
The worst part is that, in the game, I sometimes killed a rare life form. It seems there was this pterodactyl, and I would hit him right in the mouth with my lance, killing him. This I did, with no regard for the scientific value in finding a live pterodactyl, after all these 65 million years. Just think, if we found a live pterodactyl in real life, we could study it and learn so much. But I cackled with glee at the poor animal's virtual death. Here I was, fantasizing about an act that carried with it, incredible amounts of scientific devastation -- permanent destruction of so much irreplacable zoological data. Damn, just thinking about it, makes me realize what a sicko I was. It's a wonder I didn't take up pterodactyl killing in real life. I hate to think what my life would be like today, if I had gone that way. That damn game should have been banned!!
Re:I'm pissed. (Score:5, Funny)
No, D&D causes people to murder each other with demonic curses. Don't you read the Chick booklets?
Chris Mattern
Yeah, right (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, wait...
Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't get America.. "Violent video games cause kids to commit crimes, we should ban them." Yet every motherfucking person in the Bible belt owns at least one Gun. Perhaps the kid wouldn't have shot the cops if he couldn't have got access to a Gun.
Before you moderate me flamebait.. please bear in mind that around fifty eight thousand [guncite.com] Americans are killed by guns every year. Yes, that's around eleven times as man as in 9/11 and that is EVERY year. Bush would do a better job of protecting americans by removing firearms than countering terroism. You're more likely to be killed by a pig than a terrorist - and your around a million times more likely to be killed by a gun than by Osma.
America needs to stop living in fear and start addressing the real threats to society - one of them being the gun culture.
Yours Sincerely,
AC
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:4, Insightful)
That's the most bizarre twisting of the phrase 'personal responsibility' I have ever heard. Bravo. Most sane people actually use it to mean standing behind your actions, not "you are responsible for everything that happens to you."
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Personal responsibility could conceivably be extended to justify murder, with "well, he didn't have a gun and didn't defend himself when I shot him dead, so it's his fault he's dead".
This is what qualifies as +5 insightful? That's... breathtaking.
Ki
Re:Cheap Labor Conservatives (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Cheap Labor Conservatives (Score:3, Insightful)
Really, criticizing the President for holding lots of T-Bills? It's practically the only investment he can hold which is completely free from any potential conflict of interest. Any domestic decision he makes can be seen as favouring some group, and holding stock makes it politically dangerous to make any decisions that may help a company whose stock he holds, regardless of meri
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:3, Insightful)
What a bunch of moralistinc bunkish claptrap.
You must be a cheap-labo
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not the guns that's the problem. The people that want guns to use them, will get guns.
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Heres the next thing you need to know, Americans are grown up taught that they're *special*. They deserve to be rich and famous. And when that doesnt happen they are disappointed. Lawsuits like these *are* bullshit, but they're a way to be important (and maybe rich). Combine that with a completly broken legal system (where you can get more time for copying a DVD than murder, or you can get millions for cancer caused by smoking even though you knew it was bad for you), throw in our completely unscrupulous lawyers and corporations who have used lawsuits as weapons against the people for years, and people think its ok to sue for things like this.
Just about *EVERYTHING* here in the US needs an overhaul... and nothings getting it
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:3, Insightful)
No, he'd run over them instead.
Solve the problem, not the symptom.
Re:Americans need to get themselves straight.. (Score:5, Informative)
I would recommend reading this. [usdoj.gov]
It's a moot point anyway. If you're a male United States citizen between the ages of 17 and 45, you are a member of the United States militia. I refer you to USC Title 10, Chapter 13, Section 311.
Does anyone know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Feb 1992 (Score:3, Informative)
Training (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sure the parents did plenty of training too.
There's gotta be some emoticon for rolling your eyes.
We've discovered the cause... (Score:5, Insightful)
one quote sums this up (Score:4, Insightful)
meanwhile back in Iraq (Score:5, Interesting)
GTA inspiring violence (Score:3, Insightful)
Inevitably, parents will buy this for their children, then complain about gaming companies when they notice little 10 year old jimmy is beating up hookers, forming gangs with other 10 year olds, and killing cops online.
Games? Alcohol? Any Difference? (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems rather odd that if video games influence poor decisions, it is the fault of the game manufacturer and/or distributor, but when people make bad decisions and drive when drunk, its just the fault of the person.
I love double standards.
No difference at all. (Score:5, Insightful)
"Alcohol is associated with a substantial proportion of human violence, and perpetrators are often under the influence of alcohol." -- Eighth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health
So, it's no secret that alcohol can be abused to the detriment of society. But, the counterargument is this: most people who consume alcohol commit no crimes at all. Thus, alcohol does not cause violence, it simply makes violent people more violent.
This applies equally to movies, video games, rock/rap music and other targets of these self-proclaimed "moralists."
This kid was already violent. And mort importantly: one out of millions does not prove causation between GTA and violence.
Whatever happenned to... (Score:3, Insightful)
Get a better lawyer (Score:3, Insightful)
That's funny (Score:5, Funny)
Frivilous Lawsuits (Score:5, Interesting)
One thought I've had as to how these suits could be curbed is to allow judges in civil cases to set a bond, similar to what is done in criminal cases. Since lawyers currently take any case based on the fact that they get a (large) percentage of the settlement, there is no cost to sue, and a huge cost to defend. The person bringing the suit would have to put up the bond, and they would get it back when the case was settled or went to jury. If the case was later thrown out by the judge then the bond would not be returned, and might even go to the defendent to help with legal costs. In cases where obvious harm was done the judge could set the bond very low, but for trivial suits this could become a disincentive for bringing the suit in the first case.
Does any other country do this? How do other countries prevent frivilous lawsuits?
Re:Frivilous Lawsuits (Score:3, Interesting)
I have a cousin who does health law in Canada, and the awards granted in malpractice cases is MUCH lower than in the US. Personal injury awards are much lower as well. The result is that there is just not as much incentive to "roll the dice", because even if you win, you are unlikely to receive a multi million dollar settlement. As mentioned before, loser pays court costs helps to keep these
Re:Frivilous Lawsuits (Score:3, Interesting)
Exactly. I live in the Netherlands, and have been pretty close to a case where cleaners threw a sofa to the ground from a balcony, 8 stories up. There was an area they had put warnings signs around, put it was a pretty light sofa, the wind caught it, and it hit somebody who was taken to hospital. The victim was very lucky, his back and shoulder were hit but it could have been much worse. His back healed, but he has limited use of his shoulder (keeps pain, movement somewhat limited), and this will not heal.
Re:Frivilous Lawsuits (Score:4, Insightful)
Most lawyers do not work on contingency. most lawyers are paid per 10 minute or 15 minute interval of work. Personal injury attorneys are paid in contingency, but not in most other law.
If a suit is trivial, it is thrown out of court. It is only heard by the court if it is NOT trivial. A judge wouldn't hear a case like this unless he deemed it a worthy thing to hear. SO perhaps the judge is wrong, but that's another issue entirely. It's not the fault of the system at that point, but the fault of the lame-o judge.
If suing video game developers is fair game.. (Score:5, Insightful)
..then so is suing priests, politicians, and Dr. Phil.
If I said the President of the United States taught me that solving problems with violence was appropriate, which is why I shot my next door neighbor, I'd be called a lunatic. But if I say video games made me do it, I'm just a victim?
Or Marylin Manson (Score:3, Insightful)
In Bowling for Columbine, Manson made exactly this point: the government tells people to be violent, by for example bombing Iraq or Serbia. "And who's a bigger influence: The president? Or Marilyn Manson?"
Re:If suing video game developers is fair game.. (Score:3, Insightful)
It's like he was just the Boss on the first level - Who's on Level 2, Kim Il-Jung?
GTA (etc) have sold MILLIONS of copies. How many kids have gone out and blown people away? And please don't (not you specifically, people in general) even bring up friggin Columbine. They tried that lame excuse there and blamed Doom for causing those two to c
Other games I hold responsible (Score:5, Funny)
Pac Man - Responsible for my obesity
Paperboy - Caused me to lose my delivery job as a kid
Spy Hunter - Responsible for my reckless speeding
Monopoly - Caused me to found Microsoft
Leisure Suit Larry - Responsible for my herpes
Oblig. Futurama ref. and more. (Score:3, Funny)
People are responsible for their own actions. You can't set a precedent stating that violence can't be shown in any form to the American public because it's unconstitional, fascist, and ridiculous considering how many millions have watched grand theft auto and not replicated it.
What a scumbag (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't believe he can seriously make this argument. I've played the same game and seen the same things in that game as this kid did. I have no desire to commit violent acts because of that.
What happened here is that an individual who was predisposed to violent behavior saw some other violent behavior and (perhaps) modeled it.
According to this guy's sick logic, we should not report crimes in the newspapers or on television because the details of those crimes will motivate other people to commit them. While it is true that people do copycat crimes, they do them because they are criminals, not because of what they saw.
American Law Suit Lotto (Score:4, Interesting)
Is it immoral to play these games (Score:3, Insightful)
As much as I want to, I didn't play GTA:San Andreas. I simply think its something I don't want to do. Its like rap too, with negative stereotypes toward blacks(demeaning towards women,praise about guns, drugs, excessive use of curse words). I was into rap for a while, thinking its a good way to bring people together... But they people they're brining together...
I'm not suprised at a GTA player killing people. Or a quake person going on columbine. Or a columbine obsessed person killing people at a mall. Nor am I suprised at someone who obsesses over Friday the thirteeth to go out on a rampage either. Some people make horrific icons their heros. Then they want to be like them. So they'll try and come off all dark and evil. But if people just make fun of them, they'll take it one step further and take out the act to show they're really like their hero.
Its all in whats in your heart. People's desires and values are what make us human.
This is only half the story (Score:3, Insightful)
Not to defend the GTA games, because they ARE disgusting. Let's face it...the gameplay rewards sadistic behavior. The more cops you run over, the more points you get. The game may have given this guy ideas, but realistically, he was probably open to criminal behavior anyway. If he's an adult, it's his responsibility.
God, will Pac-Man Make Me Eat Balls? (Score:5, Funny)
At The Risk of Being Flammed (Score:4, Insightful)
Having said that, I wonder where games like the GTA series have in our society? I am honestly asking: what is the appeal of these games? We've had games before were you're the hero defeating "the enemy" (whether it's in Wolfenstein, Doom, etc.), and I don't have a problem with that. My question revolves around games where the object is to steal/kill innocent people. You have to admit that something like that could influence someone's behaviour.
I bring this up becuase, back in university, I did research on how porn videos affect male sexual response, and there were some men who wanted to "do it like that bitch in" whatever movie, and their sexual response was based on what they saw in the videos (the feeling that this was "normal" behaviour). This was documented research by a scientific study. So, it cannot be denied that whatever a person interacts themselves with can have an effect on their behaviour.
So, I am asking what is the appeal of these games?
Oh, and before anybody asks: yes, I've tried playing GTA, but couldn't get into it.
Re:At The Risk of Being Flammed (Score:5, Interesting)
GTA is a role playing game, but instead of traditional iconography you freely roam mythical American landscapes and slay the dragons of every Cop show or mob movie. So if you really want to know from whence GTA gains it popularity figure out why car chases, gun fights and excessive violence is an inseperable part of worldwide pop-culture.
It should always be stated when referring to GTA that it is also a game of free will, you can kill someone with a baseball bat if you want to, there are no real rammifications to this action other than getting "arrested" losing your money and getting your weapons taken away. So far as I have seen, the only time when it is necesarry to kill another in-game character is when the plot has morally justified their extermination to the gamer, you are not obligated nor rewarded for killing "non-guilty" NPCs.
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Simple Test (Score:3, Interesting)
I remember reading an introduction to statistics many years ago that used D&D and suicide hysteria as an example. To wit: RPG players had a lower rate of suicide than the teenage population as a whole. D&D lowers the suicide rate, by that metric.
Any guesses as to what GTA is accomplishing for the people of Alabama, the state with the sixth highest murder rate in the United States (and well above the national average: 7.4 vs 5.5 per 100,000)?
Let's blame God. (Score:5, Funny)
There is one influence, however, that is too strong to resist- God.
The church tells me that God controls everything. When something good happens, it's because of God. When something bad happens, it's because of God also, and he had a good reason for it. Nobody affiliated with the church has ever told me that something is out of God's control. They say he's always in control- he controls all there is.
Therefore I think it's sensible to blame God. God made him do it. God could have overridden this kid's thoughts but he didn't. God allowed it to happen.
So I think instead of blaming the media, the gun makers, the video game makers, or the parents, we should blame Jesus instead. Sue the church. Because as any good Christian will tell you, God is always in control of things and therefore is liable for everything that happens.
(Hey, if you're going to claim that you're in control of everything that happens, be prepared to accept responsibility for everything that happens)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)