Game Biz Veteran Criticizes ESRB, Calls for Congressional Regulation of Games
Game Biz Veteran Criticizes ESRB, Calls for Congressional Regulation of Games
May 14, 2008
John Douglas, a former game industry worker who says he has played over 7,000 titles, has once again criticized violence in video games.
As reported by Christian news site OneNewsNow, Douglas has called upon Congress to create legislation regulating video games. From the report:
Douglas... contends that the recent release of Grand Theft Auto IV shows that the video game industry will not regulate itself. The former police officer points out that the game has received an "M" (Mature) rating, which means that anyone under the age of 17 years should not play the game...
Douglas is especially critical of the ESRB, and advised parents not to trust its ratingss:
Currently the people rating these games for the ESRB don't even play these games. There's needs to be some kind of common-sense application that's put forth as to how these games are rated... Why isn't there a law to prevent it? Because every time the state passes a law that says children cannot play these games, it's [labeled as] a crime. The media coalition and the industry itself, they hire attorneys, they file an appeal, they find a judge, and they have it overthrown saying it's a violation of the First Amendment.
Douglas, who now runs Grand Design Productions, a "family friendly" animations studio, refers to violent games as "spiritual cyanide" in a video interview.
A PUBLICATION OF THE ECA
SUBSCRIBE
LOGINGamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 07/04/09 at 03:48am
Michael Chandra: I missed out on Jack? =(
Michael Chandra: I missed out on Jack? =(
Posted 07/04/09 at 01:52am
Escanor94: hmm, looks like when someone gets banned all their comments are automaticly deleted
Escanor94: hmm, looks like when someone gets banned all their comments are automaticly deleted
Posted 07/03/09 at 11:46pm
Arcanagos: aww, did i miss the JT party? :(
Arcanagos: aww, did i miss the JT party? :(
Posted 07/03/09 at 11:00pm
Leet Gamer Jargon: Where's the recent JT bullcrap? Which comments section has he vomited on? EDIT: Nevermind; it's in the "Radio" thread.
Leet Gamer Jargon: Where's the recent JT bullcrap? Which comments section has he vomited on? EDIT: Nevermind; it's in the "Radio" thread.
Posted 07/03/09 at 09:17pm
BearDogg-X: I wonder what the Metropolitian Moron of Miami said in response to my comment saying that he got a dose of his medicine on the SGC09 Debate thread?
BearDogg-X: I wonder what the Metropolitian Moron of Miami said in response to my comment saying that he got a dose of his medicine on the SGC09 Debate thread?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:51pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He gets offended with a bunch of flowers.
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He gets offended with a bunch of flowers.
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:49pm
GoodRobotUs: LOL He takes offence at the fact he might have *chosen* to be crazy?
GoodRobotUs: LOL He takes offence at the fact he might have *chosen* to be crazy?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:47pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He warned me to get a lawyer after I called him "crazy by his own choice"... that´s libel for him
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He warned me to get a lawyer after I called him "crazy by his own choice"... that´s libel for him
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:45pm
HilaryDuffGta: "libel" what did he threaten now?
HilaryDuffGta: "libel" what did he threaten now?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:44pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Was fun to be threatened for "libel" again.
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Was fun to be threatened for "libel" again.
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:26pm
HilaryDuffGta: hey so what did i miss??? the usual spam of "crap"
HilaryDuffGta: hey so what did i miss??? the usual spam of "crap"
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:15pm
FlakAttack: Jack ruined his chance to have civil debates with us here. Glad you banned him (again).
FlakAttack: Jack ruined his chance to have civil debates with us here. Glad you banned him (again).
Posted 07/03/09 at 04:04pm
Krono: Unexpected is probably the best word to describe it. Particularly as no decent reason is given.
Krono: Unexpected is probably the best word to describe it. Particularly as no decent reason is given.
Posted 07/03/09 at 03:59pm
GoodRobotUs: Just heard about that myself... kinda unexpected
GoodRobotUs: Just heard about that myself... kinda unexpected
Posted 07/03/09 at 03:58pm
Krono: Huh, apparently Sarah Palin is resigning.
Krono: Huh, apparently Sarah Palin is resigning.
Posted 07/03/09 at 03:34pm
GoodRobotUs: Sounds like he's been mainlining the Angel Dust again
GoodRobotUs: Sounds like he's been mainlining the Angel Dust again
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:50pm
ezbiker555: I'm back. Just in time too, my Jack Thompson sense were going wild
ezbiker555: I'm back. Just in time too, my Jack Thompson sense were going wild
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:47pm
DarkSaber: You mean "playing with himself"? :-P
DarkSaber: You mean "playing with himself"? :-P
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:16pm
Matthew: Oh, Jack's back? I guess he got bored of playing single-player.
Matthew: Oh, Jack's back? I guess he got bored of playing single-player.
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:05pm
Andrew Eisen: I'm leaving most of his comments up but he'll be banned again shortly.
Andrew Eisen: I'm leaving most of his comments up but he'll be banned again shortly.
Copyright © 2007 ECA. All rights reserved.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
Alright, who is this guy, where did he work in the industry, and what did he do? Hopefully it turns out he was Atari's janitor or something. Seems he's had a couple careers in his lifetime.
Also, there's the obvious refutation of his claims by the recent FTC report, which shows that the industry does a decent job of regulating itself.
Isn't he the same guy who'se "vetran" status is accredited to about 10 years of being a QA Tester for Atari, and said there should be be more "faith-based" titles in addition to all video games being "family-friendly"?
There was another article on GP about this guy a while ago, wasn't there?
"Isn't he the same guy who'se "vetran" status is accredited to about 10 years of being a QA Tester for Atari"
Yep, that's him. This dude is nothing but an out-of-touch jackass (to borrow a phrase from The Daily Show). He's as much of an industry veteran as am I with my 25 years of playing video games."Currently the people rating these games for the ESRB don't even play these games."
What? Isn't that what they do? Play the game then rate it? I guess movie ratings happen the same way, look at the title then rate it? Come on.
No, they don't play the games, they watch selected segments from the games. They have a quick enough turnaround that edits to the game can be made to get the desired rating without pushing back a release date signifigantly(Most of the time). It's not uncommon for a game to be rated multiple times.
"I am a 17 year old guy simply playing violent games I don't go out and shoot everyone I see after I have played a violent game."
But as Jack Thompson has said once: you are not a reliable statistic as you are only a very small sample out of millions of gamers.
In fact, it's equally likely that you're the exception to the rule
It is? So I suppose the chances of winning the lottery are 50/50, you either win it or you don't.
Oops, that last anonymous comment was supposed to be mine.
These new forms are messing with me...
Ah yes, Jack Thompson's whistle blower who was going to deliver a devastating blow to the industry. *chuckle*
"The media coalition and the industry itself, they hire attorneys, they file an appeal, they find a judge, and they have it overthrown saying it's a violation of the First Amendment."
I wonder what he's complaining about here, I really can't tell if he's being sarcastic. He's castigating the creators of a piece of art for defending their constitutional rights? Has it occured to him that the fact they are overthrown for violating the first amendment is not because of some underhand or conspiratory decision between the industry and judges, but simply because the proposed laws are violations of the first amendment!
I'm not surprised though, people like this will ignore obvious explanations in favour of bashing what they don't like/understand. Look at Jack for clear evidence of this. It wasn't Cho Seung Hui's mental problems or the fact that this certifiably unstable person could get a gun easily that led to Virginia Tech, it was Video games! It wasn't the physical and sexual abuse and constant bullying that led Codey Posey to shoot his father and family, it was Video games! Devin Moore? Not the troubled childhood or the fact that he was a criminal, video games!
I just watched the new Rambo movie, you know the one where he shoots a jeep mounted 50 cal at a bloke in the driver seat and the guy just explodes into a torrent of blood, and I'm wondering how thats not drawing more attention than the content of a game like GTA4 or COD4. Oh wait, thats not for kids is it?
If this bloke wants more faith based games, maybe he could make a total conversion of GTA, you run around converting people, doing faith based drivebys shouting hymns at sinners.
Also, bad form to bring up appearances in an intellectual debate but what the hell is wrong with that guy's hair?? It looks like he got it by mugging a lego man.
Or perhaps in his "grand design" company he should do something more historically accurate, like a modern day crusade against other religions, or some sort of inquisition (because it's fine to torch or hack people who don't agree with your religion).
Damn hypocrite. Sorry if I sound intolerant, but I'll never forgive the crimes made in the name of "faith".
HA! HA! HA! HA! mugging a lego man, that comment is full of EPIC WIN
what the fuck is wrong with the bold button and, presumably, the other buttons
As a current GameStop employee let me just say this..
"Sir, or Mam, Just to let you know the game your son/daughter is buying is rated Mature for ..........
It is one of the most controversal games out.." - Me
" I Don't care" - "He's already played them" - "I think hes smart to understand its bad" - "O the game can't be all that bad" - "It's Rated Mature for what" - Parents
"You go to a strip club, you pick up prostatutes, and run around killing cops" - Me
"Alright, yeah you can get it" - Parents
That is my typical day since the game has been released. I've been working there for 2 years now and only 3x's that I can remember have I told someones parents the game is M rated and they then told there kid no.
I've sold GTA to a 10 year old and the parents reaction when I told them it was simply. He's old enough!
"that anyone under the age of 17 years should not play the game..."
So the ESRB rating should be the universal indicator and not the parents? I'm all for keeping mature related media out of the hands of children, but it's a parental judgement call that should decide whether or not a minor should engage in mature media.
You are REALLY not helping any. >.>
You're quite right. Just as a handful of people who happen to play games and happen to commit acts of violence are by no means indicative of a trend (or any kind of causal relationship, for that matter), the acts of one explicitly self-identified Christian are not representative of Christians as a whole.
However, I think the problem is that a good 99% of the time (and no, I honestly don't think I'm exaggerating with that percentage), self-identified Christians tend to be the zealotous, intolerantly critical types. No one prefaces a moderate or accepting opinion with "I'm a Christian, and...". Statements that start that way are just about invariably followed by words of ignorance and oppression, when it comes to video games. Thus, you get a lot of kneejerk reactions to anyone who feels the need to let people know that they're Christian.
Technically, I'm Christian (the most non-practicing kind imaginable), and I believe in certain Christian values (don't kill, don't steal...I'm sure there are others but I'm at a loss), but I never, ever identify myself that way, because it's wholly irrelevant to my views on just about everything. But if I did start off my statement with "I'm a Christian [gamer], and I believe...", I'd expect a good number of eyerolls and /ignores to be tossed my way, simply based on a pattern of deserving behavior.Interesting how the violence was no biggy, but the tiny bit of nudity got the kid dragged out of the store.
Glad you're enjoying yourself doing what should be done.
Since the parents themselves don't seem to care at all, unless someone actively tells them.
But what surprises me, is that you need to even tell them, those labels (especially the ESRB ones, i own a small number of US imports next to my mostly PEGI rated collection) are very clear on what the content of the game involves. And in the case of God of War II, the nudity is mentioned, i'm quite sure of that.
Anyway, thank you for sharing the story and bringing a smile to my face.
So you just pwned a n00b. LOL
Many years ago I did the inverse thing. I convinced a parent to buy to his 8 year old son Killer Instinct for SuperNes instead Super Mario Kart.
Nothing quite like the smell of ignorance in the mornin' eh?
"But the success of that game, says Douglas, is proof that the distributors of violent and sexually explicit games target children and adolescents."
When will these dinosaurs understand that video games are not just for kids??? The success of the game is not proof of ANYTHING other than GTA IV was a popular game release.
*sigh*
Makes me wonder if that isn't an alien, mind controlling hair piece he's got on making him say such idiotic things.
It's an assimilator for the Hair Collective
Fun will be assimilated, resistance is futile
John Douglas? More like Cock Douchemunch, amirite?
This guy puts the FAIL in FAmILy friendly.
When I first saw the photo, I thought, "How in the world can they call Marv Albert a game-biz veteran? I know he's done some voice-over work, but still..."
Claiming to be a video-games insider just because you've played 7,000 games as a tester is like me claiming to be a porn star because of my stack of Playboys. What 7,000 games as a tester tells me is that he wasn't good enough to actually advance to a level that actually would confer some sort of "insider" status.
Does that mean that Stormwind is the new holy land?
Umm this catchpha thing is annoying nya. Did GP really have an issue with not having it before?
Anyways I see worse stuff in Stephen King Novels and there is NO regulation for books. No one would stop a kid from going and bying a Stephen king book I would know I was buying them at 8, whereas everyone had a problem wtih me buying Goosebumps. So why should Video games not be self regulated, just because they don't go with this guys religion?
Self-righteous prick. I notice there's no way to comment on his article page, boy that's surprising. I think I'll be keeping a close eye on his company. I want to be there to laugh when it goes under in about two years.
This is my favorite line: "According to Douglas, the reason why the gaming industry will fight such laws is because violent video games are marketed to children and teenagers."
Uhhh...actually the reason why is so holier-than-thou assholes like you can't arbitrarily decide what's tasteful for the rest of us.
Sounds to me, like this guy wants Congressional pressure on other companies, while his, is allowed to grow unpeeded. As GP reports, Mr. Douglas has a company that's product would be in direct competetion with those 'violent video games'.
Does that sound like Pot calling the Kettle 'Black'?
Questions:
Why is he a former police officer? Did he abuse his status alittle to often? Or was it legimamite, like 'he wasn't qualified enough to bear a gun'?
I find the ESRB is pretty good at labeling games for the approrate titles. Something like GTA4 should have a 'M' rating. The obvious question is...who is mature? Since I've seen guys who are 65 years old, and have a maturity of like 12. Likewise, kids, who have been through alot of stressful events (war, poverty, being orphan'd, etc) have a very mature attitude, even though they are just 15 years of age. Does Mr. Douglas take that in to account?
Grand Theft Auto IV shows that the video game industry will not regulate itself
Except that I bought and played the game last night (I'm 42). Every descriptor on the ESRB rating was absolutely accurate. And the rating was MA, for 17+ year-olds. You can see an R-rated movie at 17, and this game doesn't even come close to the movies I've seen. So now that I'm an actual player of the game (not that my opinion changed), I can only interpret John Douglas' quote as a lie.
(Great new look, GP!)
Well someone is upset that their company makes crappy games that no one wants to play ... I love how all these people want a government agency to run the rating system because we know how well those work, lets see IRS yeah that one sucks, FEMA wooo great group, FDA, etc ... ah yes lets let the government in.
Also what ever happen to Parents doing their damn jobs and parenting?
I hope he doesn't have kids that he makes play his shitty games...Poor things.
OneNewsNow is a propaganda site run by and intended for Christian social conservatives. I've monitored their style of "reporting" for a while (pretty much for my own amusement). Every article introduces some far-right spin doctor like Mr. Douglas here and then elaborates at length about What They Think (and, by extension, What You Should Think) About This Issue. The comments section is usually even more entertaining, with all the illiteracy and "I can't wait for the Rapture!" bizarreness you might expect, but today the comments are down for some reason. (Maybe they discovered that when you create a web site for extremist politics and then allow just anyone to comment, you get some messages that run contrary to your intended propaganda! Even more fun is when they theorize that these comments must have been planted by evil ACLU and gay rights operatives.)
It's useful for keeping tabs on what the fundie coalition is thinking, though. For instance, apparently they despise John McCain almost as much as any Democratic candidate. With any luck they'll start advocating defection to the Constitution Party.This guy is an idiot. Does he realize that less than 9% of games rated last year were rated M. Does he realize that when a child is given money and a ride and the task of purchasing an M rated game without an adult resent, they are only successful 20% of the time.
If he is really claiming that the industry is failing, I really want to know where he is getting his information.
E. Zachary Knight
www.editorialgames.comI'll take a wild guess and say his "facts" are pulled from the same source JT uses... Thin air.
Here we go again. Right now in this country congress has far better things to do then dealing with the ESRB. They can go fix the economy, finding a way to lower gas pridces, impeach the dumbass in Oval Office, etc.
Also lets look at it like this if, IF, he can get congress to hold a hearing about game ratings then the same must be done to the movie ratings and the rating board or the MPAA must explain thier own fracture rating system.
he pulled that number out of his ass, also shows that he is bad at math, or lazy if he though about it he would have realized that that number was impossible.
but then again fundies don't think.
For somebody who claims to have tested 7,000 games, you would think he would name at least one that he has tested.
The video game industry failing to police itself? I call bulls*** considering the recent FTC report that game retailers blocked minors from purchasing M-rated games 80% of the time(more than double the rates of the movie and music industries, exposing an amazing double standard).
Also take into account last year's best seller list:
01. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - 4,820,000
02. Wii Play with Remote (Wii) - 4,120,000
03. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 3,040,000
04. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) - 2,720,000
05. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 2,520,000
06. Pokemon Diamond (DS) - 2,480,000
07. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) - 1,900,000
08. Guitar Hero II (PS2) - 1,890,000
09. Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) - 1,870,000
10. Mario Party 8 (Wii) - 1,820,000
Half the top 10 were rated E, while 3(Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, and Assassin's Creed) were rated M.
Let's also take into account the 20 all-time best-sellers:
1. Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green (Game Boy – 20.08 million approximately, 10.23 million in Japan, 9.85 million in US)
2. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES – 18 million)
3. Nintendogs (DS – 15.77 million)
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2 – 15 million, may include PC and Xbox versions)
5. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2 – 14.87 million)
6. Pokémon Gold and Silver (Game Boy – 14.51 million approximately, 7.6 million in US, 6.91 million in Japan)
7. Super Mario Land (Game Boy – 14 million)
8. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (GBA – 13 million)
9. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (DS – 12.17 million)
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2 – 12 million)
Grand Theft Auto III (PS2 – 12 million, may include PC and Xbox versions)
12. New Super Mario Bros. (DS – 11.5 million)
13. Super Mario 64 (N64 – 11 million)
14. Gran Turismo (PS1 – 10.85 million)
15. Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (GBA – 10.66 million)
16. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES – 10 million)
17. Final Fantasy VII (PS1 – 9.8 million, includes Final Fantasy VII International)
18. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (DS – 9.66 million)
19. Gran Turismo 4 (PS2 – 9.52 million)
20. Gran Turismo 2 (PS1 – 9.37 million)
The only M-rated games in the top 20 all-time best seller list are the GTA games(the only currently unrated game in the list is Super Mario Land, which came out at least 5 years before the ESRB was even started).
John Douglas is an idiot. Case closed.
The ammount of Pokemon in that top 20 list is far more concerning than the M games.
PS. Why is everything in italics?
Edit: Well that below explains it. Now the question is who was using tags when there is a (semi) functional button?
-ConstantNeophyte: always the newb, ALWAYS.
Hey Dennis, you might you might want to put tag checking at the end of the posts otherwise portions of pages will be left in the format of the unclosed tag. I think the regex for it (this is thinking with the PHP regex engine by the way) would be something along the lines of preg_match("/<(b|i|u)>![</]*[</(b|i|u)>]{0}$/i",$post) to check if there are unclosed tags. Mind you that's off the top of my head on lunch break but still - otherwise we'll end up with lots of things like this page being italics.
The fact that they missed something as trivial as close tags from the post, what else did they miss? There's an XSS attack just waiting to happen there.
Hey Dennis, you might you might want to put tag checking at the end of the posts otherwise portions of pages will be left in the format of the unclosed tag. I think the regex for it (this is thinking with the PHP regex engine by the way) would be something along the lines of preg_match("/<(b|i|u)>![</]*[</(b|i|u)>]{0}$/i",$post) to check if there are unclosed tags. Mind you that's off the top of my head on lunch break but still - otherwise we'll end up with lots of things like this page being italics.
I just got rid of the italics by highlighting the whole site and hitting the italics button ???
Edit: But now I post, and its back...
-ConstantNeophyte: always the newb, ALWAYS.
Yeah, when I tried bold and ittalic it did that to me too. I had to double click the icon and the click the actual typing field for each word.
-GRIZZAM PRIME(c)is property of the U.S. Marine Corp. Wetworks Dept., and also The Incredible Hulk-GRIZZAM PRIME is not to be associated with GRIZZAM 512 or any other GRIZZAM entity under penalty of law, so sayith ZARATHOS.
Well it seems someone has fixed it anyway. And I have just figured out the whole "every second word is bold issue"; when you click the bold button it stays highlighted, so everytime you do a space it flicks bold on/off.
I am a genious.
-ConstantNeophyte: always the newb, ALWAYS.
They've just been reading way to much 8Bit Theatre at work
-ConstantNeophyte: always the newb, ALWAYS.
I love spiritual cyanide. It makes me happy.
No matter how shitty things are in the world,
I can always rely on spiritual cyaninde for a
pick-me-up, a way of escaping to a happy place, until things
cool down a bit. If you take it away from me, I'll
enter into a deep depression, and seek help
from an institution of sorts, perferably from one
that is funded with tax payer dollars. I'm sure some
of my buddies with follow my lead, wasting even more
tax payer dollars. Or, you could keep your bloody hands
off of my grub, for you see, if I were to be able to buy my
spiritual cyanide, I'd be able to pay taxes on it, and those would
go to pay for things that need the money, such as education.
In conclusion: don't you dare touch my grub!
I'm really sick of these dip shits messing with stuff that
they don't have a fucking clue about, something that they
don't understand, and will never understand.
I'm sure his words will mean a lot to the four people who know who he is and they will take this quite seriously.
-GRIZZAM PRIME(c)is property of the U.S. Marine Corp. Wetworks Dept., and also The Incredible Hulk-GRIZZAM PRIME is not to be associated with GRIZZAM 512 or any other GRIZZAM entity under penalty of law, so sayith ZARATHOS.
What the hell is that? This guy is wacko.
I wonder what he calls games with nudity...Spiritual AIDS?
-GRIZZAM PRIME(c)is property of the U.S. Marine Corp. Wetworks Dept., and also The Incredible Hulk-GRIZZAM PRIME is not to be associated with GRIZZAM 512 or any other GRIZZAM entity under penalty of law, so sayith ZARATHOS.
The word traitor comes to mind...
Like that guy from 300 who betrayed Sparta only to be killed by Leonidas's wife...and have the entire council call him a traitor...
Honestly this guy should get a life...so Atari didnt pay his janitorial bills...big deal..
I'm...speechless. Completely *&%!ing speechless at the idiocy and hypocrisy of someone who claims to be Christian and American and yet decided to try (Yet again!) to tell everyone that they should think like they do because they know whats best for the entire world.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
He's nothing more but another holier then you, self-rightious, out of touch religious kook. Hey Douglas the video game industry didn't listen to you because you were an out of touch kook who doesn't deserve to be working in that area. I hope his company goes bankrupt. We don't need more "family friendly" entertainment. We have enough as it is. This assclown actually believes you can become better at killing by playing video games. Okay lets assume that's true, who is actually going to use those skills to hurt others. Maybe knowing how to kill might be a GOOD thing if you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation. I'm also still trying to figure how being desensitized to violence is a bad thing. Does this idiot assume that kids don't have any morals and act upon everything they see. Well maybe that's true if they have crappy parents who don't teach them morals. This clown seriously has his head up his ass if he thinks a video game can influence a kid more then thier parents.
Dude. You just summed it up right there, especially the part about family entertainment. I also believe there's too much "family friendly" entertainment...and it's not even good enough for little kids to like. I'm talking about those shitty summer CG films with talking animals doing people stuff and making cultutral references to movies that the target audience wouldn't even get( Kill Bill for example. If the kid's parents let 'em watch Kill Bill, why would they wanna watch this shit?). Shrek was the only one that pulled off the movie reference jokes, and even it got old after the second one, especially after it got copied to bejeezus and back. Honestly I wonder why there aren't more studies into the harmful effects of MEDIOCRE entertainment. I would honestly rather my kid(I don't have kids, but when I do) watch HOSTEL than "Kung-Fu Panda"...ugh...
-GRIZZAM PRIME(c)is property of the U.S. Marine Corp. Wetworks Dept., and also The Incredible Hulk-GRIZZAM PRIME is not to be associated with GRIZZAM 512 or any other GRIZZAM entity under penalty of law, so sayith ZARATHOS.
refers to violent games as "spiritual cyanide" in a video interview.
Can you do me a favor and keep your spiritual religious **** out of my face!? I am (at least I hope I am) a relatively nice guy who'll do things like hold a door open for people behind me, pull things out of the street if they stay there, and help people if I notice they need it.
I play video games, violent and non-violent, and I still get tired of this "Spiritual" stuff various religious zealots try and force down my throat. Let me do what I want, provided I don't break the law, and don't become a general ***hat. I don't need a reason to be good-willed, I just do it because it is something that I've come to expect from others.
Grizzam I have to agree that the quality of "children's" entertainment has gone down over the year. It's not just all the cliche animated movies, it's EVERYTHING!. We are dumbing down our kids in the name of "protecting them". When I was a kid we had shows, like SWAT Kats, Beetlejuice, Dragonball Z, Reboot, Zoids, Captain Planet, Gundam Wing, Spiderman, X-Men, Power Rangers, VR Troopers, Big Bad Beetleborgs and others. Now whenever I turn on Cartoon Network or any other kids network I see crap like "My Gym Partner's a Monkey" or "Foster's Home for Imaginery Friends". Just compare that garbage to any of the shows I listed above. Those shows weren't gory but they were enjoyable and occasionally dealt with real issues in the world. I'm blaming people like Mr.Douglas for this. They've created such a sensitivity to violence that it's almost becoming impossible to produce good action cartoons and this generation is getting the wrong message that this world is a happy place where nobody dies and there is no evil or death ect. And that Sarah and the Starfish or whatever is a great example of what I'm talking about. And yeah I can agree I'm sick of all those crappy talking animals Disney films that are being released every single year. Whatever happen to the animated movies of the 90s? The only execptions would probably be the Shrek films and Finding Nemo which were somewhat creative and not dumbed down. Other then that I'm frankly tired of seeing that same cliche every single year with kids films. Why not do something creative again like Toy Story(Well that was 90s creativity and quality is gone now)
I'm not suggesting that a 6 year old should go play Manhunt or GTA but maybe introduce them to something less realistic like Halo and work thier way up once they understand. People like Mr.Douglas want to dumb down thier kids because then they are easier to brainwash into thier religious agenda. When this kook started talking about what "Jesus taught him" and how he can't support these games because of that, I wanted to be sick. This guy has a religious agenda behind this clearly. If I had kids I would rather them watch "Street Kings" then "Chicken Little". At least they would learn something about what goes on in the real world. And then we would talk about it afterwards. Also this clown suggested that parents simply avoid anything with an M-rating. Ok Mr.Douglas please tell me how slaying Demons out to destroy the world(Devil May Cry), Stopping terrorists from destroying a major City(Rainbow Six Vegas), or saving the world from aliens(Halo and Resistance) is going to warp a kid's mind? I think most kids can distingush good from evil. I guess though after JT disbarred this clown decided to take his place.
It's this kind of thing that has been bothering me. In the attempt to shield people from what really does and can happen, we make kids completely unprepared to deal with these issues when they are an adult. I get frustrated with the Elementary school systems as I listen to teachers' various things, and schools "Zero Tolerance" policy for voilence.
I always had to wonder in terms of violence in schools what the problem is of ever defending yourself from an attacker. The world isn't a bright an happy place. It never was. Real things happen, and the children deserve to know about it just as much as we do now.
(By the way.. You earn a +1 for mentioning ReBoot. It was my number one favorite of all time. In fact I still catch myself watching it once in awhile.)
<old man>
Bah, kids entertainment wa better in my day! You whippersnappers have it too good. We had to make our own fun by manually tuning a VHF channel so we could watch giant robots shooting each other & having giant explosions.These days the kids can press a button & watch brain numbing rubbish. Humbug i say!
</old man>
Robotech & Transformers are the real way to raise children, especially Robotech. I mean it was all about bravery, sacrifice, duty, giant robots & explosions!
7,000 games in his lifetime?
Now, that's not an impossible feat, but a person would need to play 1 new game everyday for 19 years in order toa acheive this.
Now, I consider myself a pretty heavy gamer. I wouldn't say "hardcore" but I do own a 360, Wii, PS3, and a DS, as well as my PC and Mac and I play games daily. I've been playing video games literaly since I was two years old and have been working in the industry for the past 5 years or so. I don't think that I've played anywhere even close to 7,000 games and I'm 29 years old. Heck, I would be shocked to find out that I've even watched 7,000 movies in my lifetime.
I guess my point is, this guy is so full of s**t it hurts. Seems like just another person trying to get free publicity for thier company by trashing on Rockstars flagship title which has set record breaking sales across the board.
"I wouldn't say "hardcore" but I do own a 360, Wii, PS3, and a DS, as well as my PC and Mac"
F*ck, whats your definition of hardcore?
-ConstantNeophyte: always the newb, ALWAYS.
"I wouldn't say "hardcore" but I do own a 360, Wii, PS3, and a DS, as well as my PC and Mac"
F*ck, whats your definition of hardcore?
-ConstantNeophyte: always the newb, ALWAYS.