Banned Games

If playing violent games makes you violent then you better not watch the news or horror movies or go to a hockey game or read the paper! It's called talk to your children people! You can't shield them from violence forever but you can explain to them what's real and what's appropriate and help them with their daily problems so they don't end up psychos. I happen to find blowing pixel people away to be very stress relieving, lol. Did you ever play State Of Emergency? That whole game was about killing people in a mall but it was great to just behead some people and let go of stress. I do think the rating system is a good idea though, I would not want my kid playing that game any time soon.

Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.

I think they should ban the games- they have studies shown to prove it and a lot of the hooloigans graffiti-ing the streets play these violent games when they go back home. I know most ppl aren't affected by the games but it still is horrible that they exist, I mean- what sort of sick person comes up with the ideas for them?
And gradually younger and younger little boys are going to be wanting to play them. Would you like it if you had a five year old son playing a game where you abuse people, bully them,smash windows,etc? I think not- rant over.

Well I don't agree with banning the games at all. All the games in question are for over 18's therefore it is entirely up to the parents NOT to buy the games in the first place. You cannot blame the salesperson, or the maker for your 8 year old son beating up his friend after playing whatever games, if you didn't even bother to look at the age limit on it.

Violence was around long before video games and will be around if we ban them. It's all up to the parents. Sure kids will get their hands on the game somehow, but still it's how they are brought up too, you can't blame everything on the games and Marilyn Manson ;)

As I said these games are made for adults and I think most of us know the difference between being able to shoot a computer game character that doesn't exist in reality, to blowing up a real life person..but I can only speak for myself there

I think if someone does eventually run out on a killing spree, there was something there beforehand and not just the effect from the games.

I see your point but i still think they should be banned!
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree opposites! LOL

Banning games doesn't serve any real positive purpose, and it serves to make it socially acceptable to ban a form of expression based on one group's idea of what is "acceptable". To me, that's not

The release of such materials are supposed to be restricted to those mature enough that they will not have a negative effect. Quite frankly if it does convince someone old enough to be playing the game to commit violence, I'd say that that person was probably mentally ill in the first place. Restricting content and expression because it might convince someone who is mentally ill or too young to have access to it to do something untoward is wholly unacceptable in a free society.

> And gradually younger and younger little boys are going to be wanting to play them. Would you like it if you had a five year old son playing a game where you abuse people, bully them,smash windows,etc?

I wouldn't like it if I had a five year-old son watching hardcore pornography, but it'd be pretty irresponsible of me to let him watch it in the first place. The fact that it is a "game" does not mean it can't be for adults.

okay okay, I didn't really make any good points but i still don't like the games!

It's perfectly alright for you to have your opinion Shivi, nothing wrong with that. The way it is, you don't have to buy the games or play them if you don't like them Or don't buy them for any future kids you have.

As zootm says, you cannot just ban something in a free society just because a few people don't like it. If that was the way then we wouldn't be able to watch the Golden Compass next week, because the American religious right don't want us to. They don't have to watch the film!! Just let it out there for those that want to watch it..grr that stuff bugs me

this is something I posted in my journal recently.

"Games content concerns parents"

Apparently, more than 75% of parents are concerned about the content of video games. Thats an understandable percetage in this panic-filled age I suppose. IT fits right in with beans giving you cancer.

Almost half of surveyed parents (out of 4000) said that one hour a day should be the gaming limit. When I was younger and more impressionable I was limited to about 2-3 hours of gaming on a school night, so I can sort of see what they are getting at.

But get this.

43% of parents are completely unaware that there is a rating system, to determine the suitability of video games.

Now I'm sorry, but you'd have to be a complete moron to not realise this. No wonder kids are becoming crazy, if the parents are letting them play GTA at 5 years old. Now I know why nobody ever wins when they try to sue a games company when their child goes nuts and tried to shoot a teacher - They probably just get slapped by the judge for not realising that games which let your kids murder, rape and pillage have not actually been deemed suitable for little 6-year-old Timmy. "you think the game has innapropriate content, however, you failed to notice the 18+ rating on the box?" *hadoken*

If someone is going to point the finger at games and say "you are responsible for my son wanting to murder people, you are more impressionable than music, more graphic than movies and you should not be allowed to warp our children's minds" without realising that like movies, games have a rating system, you are not going to win, you are going to fail. Epic fail.

Just like those who read the title "Grand Theft Auto" on the box of a game and not realise what it might be about! "Car stealing? Well, how harmful can it be, I'll buy it. 18+? that must be how many players you can have." If a game was called "Slaughtering Whorehouse: It's Raping Time" would they still buy it?

Ok I might be coming across as an angry patron of games, but I believe that as a parent nobody should be that ignorant. Too many parents stuff their kids in a room with the latest games console and a pile of games too old for them, just to get them out of sight. Whatever happened to, you know, being involved with your child? It seems that my parents, who played through with me or atleast watched every game I played through, is too much to ask these days.

I just find it incredibly frightening that the people who continue to protest about games are people too blind and/or stupid to realise its their own fault for not being a responsible enough parent to actually look at what they are buying. Bear in mind that this survey was not just of parents, but parents who have children who play games - they are already aware the kids play games, its not a "playing at their friends house without me knowing" kind of thing.

There is, however, a completely obvious answer to this, if the parents could stop being blind for just a moment - Take an active interest in your child's hobbies. Or buy a Nintendo Wii.

Figures taken from BBC news website, rant by me! :p

I read that survey, I think my parents fit into the catogory of "don't give a shit"
My brother is just gone 17, but he has been watching the Sopranos and playing adult video games for years! they wonder why he is fucked up?!
I always told them, eh that film is 18's mam, then she would freak out, but I'm not there anymore so he can watch whatever.

I totally blame parents for everything, it's your child, take care of it!

I would SO buy a game called "Slaughtering Whorehouse: It's Raping Time"

I totally blame parents for everything, it's your child, take care of it!


I cannot agree more with this. On everything!
My mom wanted to meet the parents of kids I was staying with if it was a sleepover.
And in all my childhood and teen years I only saw TWO other parents do that. No one else ever checked to make sure the parents are ok people and not crack heads or leaving the kids alone for the night.

This also makes me feel you are responsible for your kids even if they aren't at your house. Check on them, ultimately only you are responsible for what they are exposed to.
Don't be a helicopter parent, but don't shove them in a room alone either.

i agree, you can't blame the game.
if you're going to blame any body, blame the parents.
it's their responsibility to know whether a kid is mentally stable enough to play certain games..
and it's their responsibility to not expose them to games that could possibly lead them to go and kill someone.
my parents have let me and my brother play rated 18 games since we were pretty young. we haven't gone out and killed anyone yet. actually, i find games that do involve killing things/people in game relieves stress and PREVENTS me from going and killing someone.

what also angers me are those retards that accuse games of being racist. like resident evil 5, for example.
because the character you play as [chris redfield] is white, and the game is set in africa i believe, the zombies/monsters/whatever you'd like to call them are black.. so of course, there are those idiotic people out there that say it's racist. for goodness sake, it's just a game. it's not like you're killing the zombies just because they're black, either. it's because they're bloody zombies and they're trying to kill you. the funny thing is though that no one said anything when resident evil 4 came out, it's set in spain i think, so the enemies are hispanic. i absolutely HATE racism. but that is just bloody ridiculous.

/endrant

yeh that whole resident evil 5 racist thing was silly, I mean they are zombies, black or white you are gonna kill em!