Tivo Alert: Hal Halpin Talks GTA IV on CBS Evening News

Tivo Alert: Hal Halpin Talks GTA IV on CBS Evening News

April 29, 2008
Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin will appear on the CBS Evening News to discuss the Grand Theft Auto IV launch.The program airs at 6:30 PM Eastern. More details to follow...

Full Disclosure Dept: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics...

Comments

Wow, we're actually gonna have someone with half a brain on the news. Instead of the "oh it's cool, you get to run over cops" and "you get points for shooting people" crap they've been force feeding us all day. Too bad I'll be out tonight since I feel truly dumber for having to listened to these morons.

It's appalling that the media just grabs the first moron they can find to say something stupid and use it to fuel their fear mongering. I've heard GTA 4 mentioned 200 times in the last 2 hours, it must be a REAL slow news day that they spend so much time on this evil game that's gonna kill us all.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/16051084/detail.html?dl=headlineclick
Well, that wasn't bad.
they cut that little no thanks... it was right at the end. I still can't get over how they don't show any story. You remember GTA for story, not for beating up hookers and running people over.
That's who I should interview for my paper. GP, do you have Halpin's email address?
So I assume he has the patience for the cut-offs and assholes calling him a baby killer on TV?
[...] wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptEntertainment Consumers Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin will appear on the CBS Evening News to discuss the Grand Theft Auto IV launch. The program airs at 6:30 PM Eastern. More details to follow… Full Disclosure Dept: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics… [...]
Well, now the Jackhole has something else to whine about. Hal got on the CBS Evening News. (and he didn't) Is that a step UP or BELOW 60 minutes? Not sure, but it must mean SOMETHING, seeing as the hack mentions he was on it about every five minutes.
@DavCube

I don't know how it'll turn out, but I would consider it a step up from Faux News.
I've got class tonight. I'll have to wait for the reruns on Youtube.
If it's 7:00 eastern, is it 8:00 western?
Sorry, it's just that it's relieving to find that we can get some mainstream coverage that supports gaming. Beware, Jack, your reign of retardation will end soon enough. BWA, HA, HA! (cough)
@GRIZZAM 512

He's going on CBS, not FOX.
@DarkHelm

Yeah I think one would rather take the low ratings of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric over the biasness that is Fox News.
Damn! And I'm at work. :( Oh well, there's always YouTube.
Dennis can you post the news story?
The show is on now, unless it was on in the first 10 minutes it still hasn't aired.
Have they shown it yet or is this one of those things they advertise through the whole program and don't show until the last five minutes? They have ten minutes left...
Yup, just as I thought, it'll be on in a minute or two. At 6:56.....
Okay until Couric had to add a little "No Thanks" at the end of the segment.
You know who I say "No thanks." to? YOU KATIE SOON TO BE FIRED COURIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unbiased Brian Williams for the win. :)
So a bland piece about the economics of games and then Katie Couric's stupid quip. Ace reporting as always from the media.
Just saw it. CBS tried to keep it neutral, they really didn't focus on the violence as much as the economic value of video games verses hollywood.

I thought it was about as balanced as it'll get when it comes to the MSM.
@Prescott

Aren't news anchor people supposed to stay neutral when reporting the news?
That little No Thanks just irks me!!
The No Thanks was just her opinion.
Pretty short, though Hal did make some good points.
Much better than "faux news" Tee hee hee. Still makes me chuckle.
"No thanks" is such a terrible thing to say. That will be the thing that so many middle aged and senior citizens who just watched that will be thinking now.

I was pleased they didn't try and say that kids shoot people because of GTA though.
Could somebody put the "No thanks," comment into context? It'll probably be a little while before this is up on Youtube.
@ Luke

They were talking about the comparison between games and movies that has become increasingly apparent over the past few years. They quickly went into the use of character ideas to be exchanged both ways between the mediums. At the end they went something along the lines of "...IF you feel like stepping into this guy's shoes." To which Couric went "No thanks." That's all, really. It was an opinion.
@ Luke

They were just talking about the growing parallel between games and movies, the possible exchange of ideas for years to come. To that end, they wondered if GTA would be something of interest. That's where Couric said 'No thanks.' That's all. It was just an opinion.
They posed the question of whether games could overtake movies, and whether people would want to spend time with "cahracters like these" (no cutscene footage, just Niko killing and running over people... because there is NO STORY in the game... right?) and in response to that thought, Couric said "No thanks"... but she said it in a smug little way.
*sigh* I really don't like that she said it in a smug little way. That tells you she's in the bracket of middle aged/senior citizens/ignorant/innovation killer/image group. If the game wasn't GTA or "violent," odds are she'll be all over it, IMO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcovxDv8ayQ

There it is, I guess. Looks like it cut off before that "No thanks" part you guys are talking about, though.
That report wasn't that bad, actually. I was satisfied until Katie Couric added the "No Thanks".

Oh well, she'll be fired soon anyway.
While her tone wasn't exactly the nicest, Couric however, didn't do anything wrong in saying No thanks. Just as we fight for our right to chose what games we can play, other people have a right to chose not to play them. The important thing is that she chose not to, instead of telling others they can't play if they want to.

The overall tone of the story was good and balanced, a far cry for Fox news supposed Mass effect story, for which the game community was rightly upset about.
@Yuki

I have not heard the comment in question, her choice is irrelevant and unimportant.

Journalists, especially in general areas such as news hosting, should endevour to remove their personal opinion and feelings from things. They should not be making their personal feelings known on issues, be it video games, famine, homicide or cute puppies.

They should be required to only report facts and never let emotion nor opinion influence their report.

That they do not, is one of the reasons journalism is almost in a worthless state these days for people looking for real facts and news instead of sensationalist garbage.

GamePolitics ShoutBox

Posted 07/05/09 at 11:28am
GoodRobotUs: It's not a tactic I see catching on in the future.
Posted 07/05/09 at 11:28am
GoodRobotUs: Just amuses me that Jack strives to match the most infantile of his his enemies, regardless of who he's actually talking to...
Posted 07/05/09 at 10:49am
JDKJ: Or "Just because the customer isn't really our customer doesn't mean they aren't completely retarded."
Posted 07/05/09 at 10:46am
GoodRobotUs: They could release it as a Demo tape for training and call it : 'Just because the customer is always right, doesn't mean they aren't, on occasion, knobs'.
Posted 07/05/09 at 10:42am
JDKJ: GRU: I suspect that the person Jack-O's been speaking with says, "Please go right ahead and tell me your concerns, Mr. Thompson," then mutes the line. Fifteen minutes later, they unmute it and say, "Thanks for sharing your concerns. Good day."
Posted 07/05/09 at 10:25am
GoodRobotUs: 'And yet he's still smarter than you Jack...'
Posted 07/05/09 at 10:25am
GoodRobotUs: You just know Jack's gonna phone your work again: 'Please Sir! Please Sir, Andrew came to school on only 3 hours sleep!!'
Posted 07/05/09 at 03:56am
Andrew Eisen: Hmm... You know, I think it would be wise if I stopped working on my music and tried to get a little sleep seeing as I have to work in 3 hours.
Posted 07/04/09 at 11:08pm
Andrew Eisen: LGJ - Not that I'm aware of. The Twitter feed was someone else's live blog of the debate.
Posted 07/04/09 at 11:04pm
Leet Gamer Jargon: @AE: Wait, wait, wait: JT has a Twitter account?! Are you serious?
Posted 07/04/09 at 09:24pm
PHX Corp: For those that want to know what i watching it's called man vs cartoon(a.k.a fixing Wile E. coyote's Mistakes one trap at a time by EMERTEC)
Posted 07/04/09 at 08:20pm
GoodRobotUs: Went out for my Mum's 65th Birthday, which is the only relevance 4/7 has in the UK for me ;)
Posted 07/04/09 at 08:18pm
Andrew Eisen: Beach + fireworks + root beer + strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, whipped topping, and pound cake = my Fourth of July!
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:58pm
GoodRobotUs: Which seems to be the only point Jack proved, that some people find some games offensive. i.e. Nothing.
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:57pm
GoodRobotUs: The discussion was supposed to be whether games were dangerous not 'Do you find some games offensive'...
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:55pm
GoodRobotUs: Some agreed, some didn't, but it was their choice to make, not the governments.
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:55pm
GoodRobotUs: By asking the audience their opinion, he more or less proved that it's a matter of personal choice
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:55pm
GoodRobotUs: Meh, he ended proving Mark's point for him
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:26pm
Erik: Jack if you are reading this you are a LIAR. There is no legal weight to the MPAA's ratings.
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:24pm
JDKJ: I still think my buddy the midget who rides a unicycle backwards while juggling four bowling pins would have been a much bigger hit with that crowd. And he can make up statistics and misinterpret studies, too.
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