It's official...Video games have gone too far!

[Dussicar]

Now, I'd like to begin by saying that I have played my share of weird video games. Many of them violent. All of those in the gaming world have done it so there is no real surprise any more as to some of the graphic content you might find.

I've played games like Knights of the old Republic, Oblivion, Mortal Kombat, Brothers in Arms. etc. All of wich contain levels of brutality on many platforms.

I find, however, that these types of games are removed from reality-with the exception of Brothers in arms(a game I quit playing because I began to feel like I was slapping Veterans in the face. I know that's stupid. But true) most take on a fantasy and surreal surrounding that, even though still dealing with gore, could not be put into the same vein as real life violence...To a CERTAIN extent. Young childeren still needed to be monitered, though.

I, however, drew the line at games like the Grand Theft Auto series. Now things begin to hit close to home. Having sex with hookers and then slashing their throats in an urban setting that is copied from an actual United States city. This is not fantasy anymore. This kind of demented shit happens in real life and now a video game company is capitalising on it.

But the GTA series is NOT why I made this thread. It is to dicuss a new upcoming game.

The title is simply called "BULLY."

From the article I've read, the game is exactly about its namesake. The whole concept behind this video game is to pit you, as a bully, against your peers, in a highschool setting. That's right! You'll get all the joys of terrorizing and harrasing your peers while the PTA gleefully looks in another direction. Just like in real life. Though, apparently, they chose a prep school setting. More than likely as a technicality to help ward off impending civil suits. "Oh, no, Ma'am. This game is set in a prep school. They're a bunch of smarmy rich kids who deserve it. Not like the incident you outlined in your statement about your kid getting the living shit kicked out of him by those bigger kids for his shoes in that PUBLIC school. They're two completely different animals, y'know.


Fuck. This is crossing the line. There is a defined difference between parents monitering their kids to make sure they don't get their little hands on this horseshit and someone in a demographics department INTENTIONALLY going out of their way to produce this for consumer purchase.

To hell with freedom of speech. This has not one god damned thing to do with freedom. This is stooping to the lowest common denominator just to make a buck.

When I was younger, bullying was no where near as brutal as it is today. Things are getting worse in modern society. Shit like this dosen't help.

 

[MegaDanX15]

Or, Jack Thompson, we can take a step back and look at it rationally.

With proper parental supervision, video games are not harmful to kids or, at the very least, not any more harmful than an explicit movie would be to them. You hit the nail on the head when you said parents need to monitor what their kids are watching, but you need to end it at that.

Children can tell the difference between fantasy and reality at an early age, much earlier than the "Teen" rating Bully will get at the very least. No one is cramming this down the throats of five year olds.

And as far as freedom of speech goes, its naive of you to throw up your arms in offense and skirt the issue by saying it's video game fat kats "trying to make a buck." Personally, the whole concept of the game is intuitive, or, you don't see many games like it on the shelf. Even if its content is morally abrasive or graphic, who are you to say this game "crosses the line" anymore than the titles you listed in your own post? I'm intrigued by it- and if you truly think that not letting a developer express such an idea in a free country is ok because it offends you... well, that transcends the realm of naivety into that of ignorance.

In the end, the burden lays with the parents. Many of this generation's new parents grew up with the advent of video games and still appreciate them- if someone can't take the time to talk to their children about what games they're playing, or even realize they are playing them in the first place, who's really to blame there? The video game? Please.

 

[Amnesiac]

Oh, I could guess on the rulings of your courts concerning the subject of pornography that your entire country feels the same way about free speech.

This is probably the only time in history I'll ever say this, so feel free to remind me of it when the time comes: Canada has already said that it doesn't accept certain civil liberites if it makes itself resemble its neighbor to the South. You're not American, so...you don't have any real free speech protection to condemn in teh first place...we do, so la-la-la-la-la, I can't HEEEEEEEEEEAR you!

I'm surprised your outraged about this when there's been a very popular game out for years now called Black & White...where you do the same thing as in Bully...only as gods with the power to smite and reward your people depending on their levels of worship. You can build or break your own civilization and others by sheer force of will alone.

Now if you're more afraid of the taste of the game, keep in mind there's plenty of people who will play it and not turn violent. As for the others, well, that's what happens when you don't regulate breeding: you get throwbacks polluting the mix with their idiocy and the laws designed to deal with them only hinder the lives of sensible people.

If you don't like the possible influence on bullying this game will have, why don't you do the logical thing, hunt the problem down to its source and stop bullying all together. Oh, wait, that would mean a complete gutting of your country's social system and total reconstruction of it from the ground up, including parental rights and rights of minors. As a country with a hell of a lot more common sense than us and a fucking effective medical system, complete reformation for the benefit of the people that separates you from your angry drunk neighbor down South should be a piece of cake.

 

[Cave In]

Its just a video game....one that will probably be given an 18 rating, If people don't like a game then they shouldn't play it....its like when people complain about a television programme "i don't like the content of this programme etc etc." Solution? Pick up the remote and change the god damn channel! Its called choice.
Any normal person playing a game such as this will see it as just game and thats it, those who play games like this and then imitate what they see in these games, should be locked up in an instituition.

 

[Tamia78]

God...I'd hate to see your reaction if they made a game outa Nick Cage's "Ghost Rider" .

--T

 

[Saeria]

I have never had any real leanings toward games of much violence but i do agree this game you've spoken about is pretty out there. When you start wrapping up social issues into something enticing for children, like a video game, you run into problems. I will admit that I let my daughter play video games, most of them are geared towards her age group but I also let her play games like Zelda and Mario that involve a little bit of fantasy violence. I see how it effects her and i take into consideration what things she takes away from them. If it seems like she can handle a little non-gory goomba smashing without going to school and emulating it, i don't worry. But you also have to take into consideration, goombas, and koopas, and Stalfos aren't real. Kids in a highschool are.

Games like Bully shouldn't be marketed by companies that make so many things geared toward children. It is a parent's responsibilty to keep watch of what kind of influences a child comes in contact with (within reason of course). But it becomes apparent that some parents aren't so vigilant. Why can't there be something like the Adult playstation.. and games that are encrypted after a certain rating? hehe it's a silly idea but i can dig it.

 

[He-Man]

. Why can't there be something like the Adult playstation.. and games that are encrypted after a certain rating? hehe it's a silly idea but i can dig it.

Actually, I think the PS2 does seem to have some kind of parental lock on it that can be set...at least for movies. Probably wouldn't be that hard to make it so that parents can set it where games with a similar rating can't be played on it .

It's not a silly idea, Saeria. It could help game companies in the courtroom when some idiot parent buys their 5yr old a GTA game and complains about the violence in it. (It'd be nice if more parents learned that the "M" rating on the game's case doesn't stand for "MAYBE it's not as violent as our rating , description on the back of the case, and game magazing articles say it is.")

 

[He-Man]

God...I'd hate to see your reaction if they made a game outa Nick Cage's "Ghost Rider" .

--T

I think you mean when they make a game outta Nick Cage's "Ghost Rider". They'll more than likely have a game out by the time the movie's in theaters...or on DVD. After all, they made a "Punisher" game with nasty ways to interrogate enemies.(A Ghost Rider game would probably seem tame compared to that. lol)

 

[Dussicar]

God...I'd hate to see your reaction if they made a game outa Nick Cage's "Ghost Rider" .

--T

Well, that's just great! I didn't even think about that until you brought it up.

Thank you very much, Tamia!

I'm going to curl up into the corner in a fetal position to deal with my remission.

You are soooo off my christmas card list!

 

[Dussicar]

Or, Jack Thompson, we can take a step back and look at it rationally.

With proper parental supervision, video games are not harmful to kids or, at the very least, not any more harmful than an explicit movie would be to them. You hit the nail on the head when you said parents need to monitor what their kids are watching, but you need to end it at that.

Children can tell the difference between fantasy and reality at an early age, much earlier than the "Teen" rating Bully will get at the very least. No one is cramming this down the throats of five year olds.

And as far as freedom of speech goes, its naive of you to throw up your arms in offense and skirt the issue by saying it's video game fat kats "trying to make a buck." Personally, the whole concept of the game is intuitive, or, you don't see many games like it on the shelf. Even if its content is morally abrasive or graphic, who are you to say this game "crosses the line" anymore than the titles you listed in your own post? I'm intrigued by it- and if you truly think that not letting a developer express such an idea in a free country is ok because it offends you... well, that transcends the realm of naivety into that of ignorance.

In the end, the burden lays with the parents. Many of this generation's new parents grew up with the advent of video games and still appreciate them- if someone can't take the time to talk to their children about what games they're playing, or even realize they are playing them in the first place, who's really to blame there? The video game? Please.

It abso-fuckin-lutely amazes me how people who are the first to call someone ignorant are the first to show their own.

I don't give a flying fuck as to how "intuitive" you claim this game is. I don't really expect to see the overall plot of this electronic piece of crap to be the main character using stolen milk money to invest in mutual funds or whatever.

And what the fuck would you know about violence, anyways? I'm not talking about schoolyard "scraps" or shoving. I'm talking about life or death, living like a rat, having the system declare you as a waste of flesh type of lifestyle. I would like to come into this argument and say something like "ooooh, the reason why I am complaining is because I was bullied in highschool." I'm afraid not. Unfortunately, I was on the OTHER end of the spectrum. To call me a fucking asshole back when I was younger would be a gross understatement. Though, this might seem to you to come out of nowhere, the reason why I'm telling you this is because I want to tell you that you can not lump me in with that spoonfed, upper-middle class suburbanite, Jack Thompson.

Some of the shit you glorify and oversimplify in your god damned GTA games, I actually lived. In some form or another. But, thankfully, not all of it. Which makes me a hell of a lot more knowlegable about this shit than him and a HELL of a lot more than you. I am speaking from horrible experience. No, this thread was not intended for me to try to wash my hands of my past. I have mentioned this to inform you that I have learned from my past mistakes. It has granted me a wisdom you will never appreciate.

Eleven years ago, I became a "default" father. Though my nephew calls me uncle, for all intents and purposes, I am that boys dad. I helped raise him. And that responsibility you claim is all parent's duty, I took. I do moniter what he watches and plays. Because of this, he is no longer allowed to watch Fox kids. I am also alarmed at the number of programs that are growing on that list of shows he can no longer watch.

When saria mentioned that she takes responsibility for her child. I am happy. When I say and do the same thing it is also for the same reason. When someone like YOU says it, it is nothing more than brain dead, dogmatic corporate script. Read adnauseum over and over. Christ, 30 years ago you'd be whining about hating hippies. You don't know what they're about. You just hate them.

You're pissing me off, now. Exactly how many fucking kids have you raised, may I ask? What the fuck would you know about worrying about someone elses future in those respects? I am sick and goddam tired of people like you who don't have a fucking clue as to what you're talking about pulling the "good old" parents responsibility routine. You speak as if peer pressure dosen't exist. Unfortunately, as I see, with mounting alarm, that more and more articles claiming that in rising cases, internationally, peer pressure is beginning to win out over even the BEST parenting...I pray to god that these reports are skewered.

Of course, that won't matter to you. You'll just wipe the egg off your face and wait for CAPCOM to pass around the newest technicality buzzword.

Responsibility is NOT the point. This piece of shit game should have NEVER been made in the first place.

 

[Dussicar]

Oh, I could guess on the rulings of your courts concerning the subject of pornography that your entire country feels the same way about free speech.

This is probably the only time in history I'll ever say this, so feel free to remind me of it when the time comes: Canada has already said that it doesn't accept certain civil liberites if it makes itself resemble its neighbor to the South. You're not American, so...you don't have any real free speech protection to condemn in teh first place...we do, so la-la-la-la-la, I can't HEEEEEEEEEEAR you!

I'm surprised your outraged about this when there's been a very popular game out for years now called Black & White...where you do the same thing as in Bully...only as gods with the power to smite and reward your people depending on their levels of worship. You can build or break your own civilization and others by sheer force of will alone.

Now if you're more afraid of the taste of the game, keep in mind there's plenty of people who will play it and not turn violent. As for the others, well, that's what happens when you don't regulate breeding: you get throwbacks polluting the mix with their idiocy and the laws designed to deal with them only hinder the lives of sensible people.

If you don't like the possible influence on bullying this game will have, why don't you do the logical thing, hunt the problem down to its source and stop bullying all together. Oh, wait, that would mean a complete gutting of your country's social system and total reconstruction of it from the ground up, including parental rights and rights of minors. As a country with a hell of a lot more common sense than us and a fucking effective medical system, complete reformation for the benefit of the people that separates you from your angry drunk neighbor down South should be a piece of cake.

WOOOHOOOO!!!!! YAY! CONGRATULATIONS!

You have just won the award for "The dumbest, sweepingly generalised, ignorant and oblivious fucking post that I've read in months!"

Christ, how old are you? Early twenties? You act like you're twelve!

And by your analogy, you would suggest that I canvas schools trying to stop "violence in greek mythology."

Ten bucks says that you're one of those guys who, in highschool bought a "chronic the hemphog" T-shirts and strutted around the buisness district downtown giggling to yourself like an idiot because your taking the stiffly stodgerson buisness peoples sticks out their asses with you def and whack new shirt.

Rock on, you neo-rebel, you.

PS: That thing about our courts and pornography? You totally fucked it up.

 

[Ticklerguy4u]

Well I don't agree with some games intended for children but realistically speaking...most of those who oppose games of a violent nature usually come from homes that never had such things in there neighborhood. They talk about how its corrupting the youth but most of the things that happen on GTA or the like..really happen in actual neighborhoods.

Hell...half of the kids see it outside their window.

I know because I grew up in that kind of neighborhood. Maybe some people should come down to actual where it really happens..then maybe "a game" won't be so threatening.