On Video Games And MURDER (Not Really CPU Posting)

[slvr_phoenix]

This isn't really a CPU thread, but I thought that here it would get a wider viewing. :O Yes, shame on me. Moderators, move it if you like.

Taken from <A HREF="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/04/manhunt_murder_claim/" target="_new">Vulture Central</A> <font color=blue>*</font color=blue>:

UK retailers Dixons and Game both pulled the title from their stores' shelves last week after the parents of the murdered boy, Stefan Pakeerah, alleged that his murderer, Warren LeBlanc, 17, was "obsessed" by the grisly game and that it had inspired has murderous actions.

The copy of the computer game Manhunt that was discovered during the investigation into the murder of a 14-year-old boy <b>was not the possession of the killer but the victim</b>, it has emerged.

LeBlanc's assumed possession of Manhunt raised the questions as to how a 17-year-old was able to get hold of the game. The game carries an 18 certificate, so it is illegal to sell it to anyone under that age. <b>Now it has emerged that the game was owned by the 14-year-old Pakeerah</b>, that question has not gone away.

<pre><font color=blue>*</font color=blue> = Boldface is my emphasis. Quotes not displayed in order.</pre><p>So basically this is a huge victory <i>for</i> gamers, and thus will no doubt be swept under the carpet from the main media. <sarcasm hat><i>Shock and horror! Video games aren't responsible for people doing bad AND parents aren't even responsibly controlling what video games their children own. I know that I'm just flabbergasted!</i></sarcasm hat>

<pre><b><font color=red>"Build a man a fire and he's warm for the rest of the evening.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Steve Taylor</font color=red></b></pre><p>

 

[sharps107]

This has all been obvious for years, but all the 60 year old newscasters on 60 minutes-ignorance (heheh im so funny) who are constantly airing bullshit stories about how the sims online is corrupting our society because it shows adolescents kissing (OOOO!!!) will just ignore it as usual and as u said the mainstream media will just sweep it under the rug. <conspiracy theory> And the Govt., no matter who controls the administration, will continue to use their media puppets to draw attention to violence in video games, and use pointless restrictive legislation to tie up the legislative branch and draw attention away from their gaping political and social blunders </conspiracy theory>

-I'm Laughing At It Now-

 

[Cybercraig]

Games are games! We all know that! It's the murders on TV and in the movies that pass for entertainment that people should be worried about. :frown:

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[P4Man]

> It's the murders on TV and in the movies that pass for
>entertainment that people should be worried about.

I'd say its people sick enough to actually take a gun (or baseball bat, kitchen knife or whatever) and commit those crimes is what we should be worried about. That being said, the game in question really is indeed hmm... questionable. At least I think it is. Maybe a dotted line ought to be drawn somewhere, I mean, what's next, a child rape simulator ?

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[Snorkius]

I would not be surprised if one exists allready.

<font color=blue>The day <font color=green>Microsoft</font color=green> will make something that doesn't suck is the day they'll start making vacuum cleaners.</font color=blue>

 

[scottchen]

My 2 years old brother, loves Far Cry, i turn on god mod for him, he snipes the guy off of the chopper perfectly, almost always 1 shot. He gets so excited when he kills ppl with the M4, I really don't think it's a good game for him to play...

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[ChipDeath]

They should ban all games. The evidence is obvious - <i>no-one</i> ever went f*cked in the head and killed people before Video games were invented. It's all the games' fault! If only these otherwise normal individuals had just watched some good old slasher flicks, they would no doubt have avoided such terrible corruption of the soul.
...
...
Seriously though... I actually bought <i>Manhunt</i>, and sure enough after playing for a while I started getting this incredibly strong urge to go out..... and take the game back, because frankly it's repetitive, boring, console crap.

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[slvr_phoenix]

Games are games! We all know that! It's the murders on TV and in the movies that pass for entertainment that people should be worried about. :frown:

Geeze. With that frowny emoticon one would almost think that you're being serious instead of sarcastic...

<pre><b><font color=red>"Build a man a fire and he's warm for the rest of the evening.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Steve Taylor</font color=red></b></pre><p>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

<conspiracy theory> And the Govt., no matter who controls the administration, will continue to use their media puppets to draw attention to violence in video games, and use pointless restrictive legislation to tie up the legislative branch and draw attention away from their gaping political and social blunders </conspiracy theory>

Too right! Why worry about governmental failings like the degredation of the quality of schools when we can worry about the violence in video games that have been specifically rated so that a responsible parent knows not to let their impressionable youths play them?

<pre><b><font color=red>"Build a man a fire and he's warm for the rest of the evening.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Steve Taylor</font color=red></b></pre><p>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

I'd say its people sick enough to actually take a gun (or baseball bat, kitchen knife or whatever) and commit those crimes is what we should be worried about.

I say it's the parents irresponsible enough to ignore their children (and their children's moral and ethical education) to the point where a mere kid will pick up a baseball bat, kitchen knife, or daddy's not-so-protected gun and hurt or kill someone that is what we should be worried about. Why is it that we can blame everything under the sun <i>except</i> for the gross negligence on the part of the parents?

That being said, the game in question really is indeed hmm... questionable. At least I think it is. Maybe a dotted line ought to be drawn somewhere, I mean, what's next, a child rape simulator ?

Because it's not like that dotted line <i>has</i> been drawn in a very clear and obvious rating system (that's even better than that used in TV and movies for that matter) to determine which video games are appropriate for which audiences. I mean how many more warnings do you have to put on the packaging before a parent actually pays attention to what their kids are playing? (And for that matter why aren't the parents seeing the obvious <i>when their kids play it</i>?)

That dotted line clearly has been drawn. The problem is that parents don't take enough responsability in the upbringing of their child to pay any attention to that line.

<pre><b><font color=red>"Build a man a fire and he's warm for the rest of the evening.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Steve Taylor</font color=red></b></pre><p>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

My 2 years old brother, loves Far Cry, i turn on god mod for him, he snipes the guy off of the chopper perfectly, almost always 1 shot. He gets so excited when he kills ppl with the M4, I really don't think it's a good game for him to play...

**ROFL** Then don't let him play it. It's as simple as that.

<pre><b><font color=red>"Build a man a fire and he's warm for the rest of the evening.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Steve Taylor</font color=red></b></pre><p>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

They should ban all games. The evidence is obvious - no-one ever went f*cked in the head and killed people before Video games were invented. It's all the games' fault! If only these otherwise normal individuals had just watched some good old slasher flicks, they would no doubt have avoided such terrible corruption of the soul.

Right! No other possible explanation could <i>possibly</i> exist.

Seriously though... I actually bought Manhunt, and sure enough after playing for a while I started getting this incredibly strong urge to go out..... and take the game back, because frankly it's repetitive, boring, console crap.

**ROFL** Not surprising. I've been bored by the same things lately. Even Neverwinter Nights on the PC got boring. Hack and slash, hack and slash... What ever happened to the good old days with RPGs that required you to solve puzzles and <i>think</i>? Or at least where there were interesting plots and good storylines... Geeze. I've actually taken up things like mowing the lawn, going for a walk, and even <i>swimming</i> lately. TV and video games have just gotten too droll. Hmm ... maybe I should start messing with emulators again. An English translation of the Japanese-only Final Fantasy releases could be fun.

<pre><b><font color=red>"Build a man a fire and he's warm for the rest of the evening.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Steve Taylor</font color=red></b></pre><p>

 

[krayzeemunkee]

Lets be real here guys, the average gamer isn't concerned about shooting someone in real life, hes busy trying to get that lamer who keeps base camping and winning it for the other team. The truth is that if ANYONE plays ANY game everyday 24/7 and has no life they have the possibility of getting depressed, going crazy and then possibly hurting somoene. It doesn't help when you have ignorant parents or abusive parents or one parent who has to work 3 jobs to make a living for their household. Its more about the persons surroudnings etc. There are stories of suicides from games like everquest, or some game like it, becuase the gamer got so engulfed in it he thought he lived that life and became depressed without it. Its not the game content its the way you live your damn life...any comments?

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[Scarred_Angel]

OK, as a devils advocate...while violent video games may not be the CATALYST for people going out on a rampage and killing, I don't think that you can deny the fact that long with TV and Movies, maybe even more so, it desenitizes kids to violence, and may make it seem like a more fitting response to a given situation.

 

[krayzeemunkee]

I agree to a point...

In movies you have no choice to what a character does. So it can be looked at as if this is the way to do it, wether it be killing, shooting, fighting, loving, hating, etc. Most of the time in video games you have the choice, its up to u, so I cannot see the connection to violence from videogames as much as TV, movies and music. Music also touches on a more personal level considering most music genres are speaking to a certain group of people.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+
ASUS K8V SE Deluxe
512 MB Kingston PC3500
Sapphire ATI R9800 Pro 128 MB
80 GB Seagate ATA133
80 GB Hitachi SATA<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by KrayzeeMunkee on 08/05/04 12:53 PM.</EM></FONT></P>