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.
Comments
Veteran Scmeteran
John Douglas? More like Cock Douchemunch, amirite?
This guy puts the FAIL in FAmILy friendly.
/groan
The success of a $60+ piece
Opinionated Spew
"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
It's an assimilator for the Hair Collective
Fun will be assimilated, resistance is futile
Nice Toupee jackass did your
Can you smell it?
Nothing quite like the smell of ignorance in the mornin' eh?
Who is this neo-con ass hat?
@ New Here
So you just pwned a n00b.
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.
Hehe, that's one way of creating "Awareness"
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.
Glad to make you smile
Zen aka Jeremy Powers
Editor and Host of the Zenspath Podcast (now on iTunes)
www.ZensPath.com
XBL: "PsychoticZen" PSN: "Zenspath"
Nintendo Network: "Psychoticzen", 3DS: "0860-3238-7260
Christians.. FACK OFF.
Y'know what...
You are REALLY not helping any. >.>
You're quite right. Just
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.I retract my statement.
So, upholding the
He needs some regulation on
"that anyone under the age
"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.
As a current GameStop
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!
I just watched the new Rambo
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.
Ha Ha Ha
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
Or perhaps...
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".
This nobody again?
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!
lol
Oops, that last anonymous
Oops, that last anonymous comment was supposed to be mine.
These new forms are messing with me...
@another guy named waffles
"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.
no way
Oh no italics hell
It's true though, saying
In fact, it's equally
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.
right
i agree with Cheater87
Bastard*
"Currently the people rating
"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.
Nope
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.
No they don't play the game
This guy...
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?
Yep, he's the one
"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.*Sighs* The video game
Who?
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.