Sweeps Month: TV News Shocked by Cussing on Xbox Live
Sweeps Month: TV News Shocked by Cussing on Xbox Live
May 16, 2008
"It's fun that can turn foul, in seconds..."
That's the intro from a video report by Roanoke's WSLS-10 which frets about bad language used by players during Xbox Live Halo 3 matches. Anchor John Carlin (left), who pulled his own son's XBL play into the story, says:
[We placed] a microphone in Tyler’s headset. The conversation was x-rated from the first shot... In another clip, clearly a young child was among the players. His language as bad as theirs... And the kids aren’t just hearing the bad talk—they’re speaking it. Racial slurs and homophobic comments as well.
GP: Did we mention that May is sweeps month?
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LOGINGamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 07/20/08 at 07:08pm
GRIZZAM PRIME: -he's disbarred. I was thinking Leland Yee, since he has actual medical credentials and all, not to mention political power.
GRIZZAM PRIME: -he's disbarred. I was thinking Leland Yee, since he has actual medical credentials and all, not to mention political power.
Posted 07/20/08 at 07:03pm
GRIZZAM PRIME: Well shadow, every time I look at the shoutboard I see JT over and over, and I'm wondering who'll be spoken of the most when
GRIZZAM PRIME: Well shadow, every time I look at the shoutboard I see JT over and over, and I'm wondering who'll be spoken of the most when
Posted 07/20/08 at 06:59pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Point of relevancy there Grizzam? j/w
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Point of relevancy there Grizzam? j/w
Posted 07/20/08 at 06:48pm
GRIZZAM PRIME: So, in the future, who's initials will we use the most? LY(Leeland Yee)?
GRIZZAM PRIME: So, in the future, who's initials will we use the most? LY(Leeland Yee)?
Posted 07/20/08 at 03:52pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : @PHOENIXZERO: IDK, why don't you ask him over e-mail?
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : @PHOENIXZERO: IDK, why don't you ask him over e-mail?
Posted 07/20/08 at 01:47pm
Silencets: I might miss JT when he's disbarred.....nah I won't
Silencets: I might miss JT when he's disbarred.....nah I won't
Posted 07/20/08 at 11:45am
PHOENIXZERO: I wonder how many times Jack has seen The Dark Knight so far....
PHOENIXZERO: I wonder how many times Jack has seen The Dark Knight so far....
Posted 07/19/08 at 11:32am
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Don´t you think that maybe Fat Princess will generate a lot of controversy?
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Don´t you think that maybe Fat Princess will generate a lot of controversy?
Posted 07/19/08 at 08:46am
Paul T. Farinelli: To say that he did say it seriously, considering all of the rhetoric that he's spewed before.
Paul T. Farinelli: To say that he did say it seriously, considering all of the rhetoric that he's spewed before.
Posted 07/19/08 at 08:45am
Paul T. Farinelli: Apparently it was a joke on JT's part. He acts as though we all should've realized that, but it's not to big of a stretch
Paul T. Farinelli: Apparently it was a joke on JT's part. He acts as though we all should've realized that, but it's not to big of a stretch
Posted 07/19/08 at 07:14am
LuNaTiC: JT was not loved as a child. What jack ass forgot to pull out when creating this abomination??
LuNaTiC: JT was not loved as a child. What jack ass forgot to pull out when creating this abomination??
Posted 07/18/08 at 10:32pm
Paul T. Farinelli: Seriously, i haven't been so awe-struck by someone's sheer audacity in...ever!
Paul T. Farinelli: Seriously, i haven't been so awe-struck by someone's sheer audacity in...ever!
Posted 07/18/08 at 09:45pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : And I can take "No" for an answer.
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : And I can take "No" for an answer.
Posted 07/18/08 at 09:45pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : JT is such a tool. He thinks he can have his way just because he's a Christian. Listen up, Jackie-boy, I'm a Christian, too.
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : JT is such a tool. He thinks he can have his way just because he's a Christian. Listen up, Jackie-boy, I'm a Christian, too.
Posted 07/18/08 at 09:09pm
Paul T. Farinelli: Also, I must say that Jack honestly looks like a serial killer in that pic. (not saying he is one, just that he looks creepy)
Paul T. Farinelli: Also, I must say that Jack honestly looks like a serial killer in that pic. (not saying he is one, just that he looks creepy)
Posted 07/18/08 at 09:08pm
Paul T. Farinelli: Jace was apparently polite.
Paul T. Farinelli: Jace was apparently polite.
Posted 07/18/08 at 09:07pm
Paul T. Farinelli: I agree, it just seems like pure insanity that Jack would seriously say that to the man's face during an interview, one in which
Paul T. Farinelli: I agree, it just seems like pure insanity that Jack would seriously say that to the man's face during an interview, one in which
Posted 07/18/08 at 07:48pm
Jack Wessels: If not then... Damn...
Jack Wessels: If not then... Damn...
Posted 07/18/08 at 07:48pm
Jack Wessels: Hey Dennis, I know you can't share the videos JT sent you, but was there perhaps even a slight amount of sarcasm in his replies?
Jack Wessels: Hey Dennis, I know you can't share the videos JT sent you, but was there perhaps even a slight amount of sarcasm in his replies?
Posted 07/18/08 at 06:21pm
tallimar: ... news story so much as a punch line.
tallimar: ... news story so much as a punch line.
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
No fucking *Edit* way! Mouthy retards not only on the internet but on Halo 3???
EZK: I know that you are simply imitaitng the general XBLA audience, but keep the racial slurs out of the comments.
AA: Well I suppose the joke is equally effective either way.
Wow, people cuss while playing M rated games. Next they're going to reveal that they shoot each other in Halo 3 as well.
This is even better when one of the stations in my areas did the multi-part sweeps series on the dangers of escalators.
Hello, welcome to the real world. Would you like a slice of reality with your order of stupidity?
---Oh sure, when a monkey does it, that's fine. But whenever I throw barrels at an Italian plumber, then its a hate crime! - Stephen Colbert
LOL! I'm just sad he didn't get the nomination he wanted, wouldn't mind having him run the country! :P
It is true though to a degree. The language I have had hurled at me during Halo3 and COD4 matches is absolutely shocking.
However, I hope that they mention that there are systems in place to prevent children (and me, because I just don't like it) form having to listen to this rubbish?
-- mostly harmless
wow they just figured this out?
now what about "M 17+" haven't they figured out?
or "Game experience may change during online play"?
besides 9/10 of the fowl mouthed botards on XBlive ARE the kids.
i've heard less cussing from adult players than squeaky little kids, so i don't think its the adult players that should be of concern here, nore the kids, but rather the PARENTS.
my parents for instance had the "play room" right next to the living room.
if anyone even so much as uttered a cuss my father would storm the room and kick someones ass.
You're totally right that it is the primarily young kids that tend to hurl the most abuse... I wish Xbox Live had a "mute everyone under the age of 18" button...
-- mostly harmless
" I wish Xbox Live had a "mute everyone under the age of 18" button..."
YES.. I would give my left *Insert random Body Part here* for something like that built into any VoIP network. Squeakers are the worst! When I used to play BF2, I would immediately kick any squeakers that joined my squad, regardless of thier skill.... Then, I'd Teamkill them just for the hell of it. Heheh, Im a terrible person..
Why? You mean to say that you don't love hearing twelve year olds talking about how "gangsta" they are when they are not busy quesitoning your sexual preferences?
--
I am the master of low expectations http://mallvillestory.blogspot.com
There are also adults on there who behave like children. The mature ones tend to keep quiet so you don't really notice them as much. The loud and annoying brats are the most vocal so one would think XBL is comprised soley of their kind.
---Oh sure, when a monkey does it, that's fine. But whenever I throw barrels at an Italian plumber, then its a hate crime! - Stephen Colbert
i never said there weren't, i just said 9 out of 10 of the fowl mouthed people have a tendancy to be the kids.
i have joined games with very fowl mouthed adults, but its less likely to happen than finding a game loaded with kids that know more cuss words than a sailor (and i would know, i AM a sailor!)
i never said there weren't, i just said 9 out of 10 of the fowl mouthed people have a tendancy to be the kids.
i have joined games with very fowl mouthed adults, but its less likely to happen than finding a game loaded with kids that know more cuss words than a sailor (and i would know, i AM a sailor!)
Yea, the worst offenders I've noticed are kids stringing together every curse they've ever head to sound cool. I used to work summers in playgrounds, the mouths on those kids...
*Bender voice* Young people use curse words!
It's rare that it happened, but I remember being so frustrated at 2 kids cursing me out on Halo 3, and they were on my team. How can you respond? Any insults you make back just make you sound like a child. In the end I just muted the kids and left bad feedback. Hopefully I won't be matched up with them again.
As GrimCW pointed out, it's a mature rated game in the first place. Last I checked, there was nothing illegal about 17 year olds cussing, using racial slurs and making homophobic comments. The only reason this is a big deal is because it's kids doing it..... Kids who shouldn't even be playing in the first place!
Seriously...what a non-story. Now, if this was Viva Piñata we were talking about, that would be something!
Never heard of incitement to riot now have you? This is indeed an arrestable offense.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/284744/incitement
And I'm sure we're all aware of the former NAVY guy who drove hundreds of miles to torch the trailer of a guy who had insulted him in a game.
Umm.. This is NOTHING like that, this doesnt remotely qualify as inciting a riot, or ANYTHING really, the people are mainly just swearing. Not to mention incitement to riot generally involves someone starting a RIOT and they usually have to be there in person, and trying to get them to do something they were inclined to do anyways.
There is nothing illegal about kids cussing at each other on XBL.
Did you actually read the article that you linked-
"in criminal law, the request, encouragement, or direction of one person by another to commit a serious criminal offense. It is frequently linked with the crime of incitement. An inciter is generally one who is present at the scene of the offense and who encourages the principal offender to commit an act that he is already inclined to commit on his own."
Cussing at someone is hardly the "direction of one person by another to commit a serious criminal offense." At the worst, you could get someone yelling out racial slurs in public on a "disturbing the peace" charge. But note: that's in public, this would've happened in a private setting. Anyone subjected to it could've muted the offender, or left the match.
Life's short and hard, like a body building elf. -- The Bloodhound Gang
He torched his trailer because the guy insulted him on the internet, not in a game.
There's a reason why the Xbox 360 has the mute feature, and this is it. If you hear a gamer curse like a sailer, mute him and also give him negative feedback to prevent playing with that person again. Also, the ESRB have also said "Game Experience May Change During Online Play", so John Carlin had a fair warning before hand.
However, I will agree that most gamers on Halo 3 have really foul language, but I usually go on "Lone Wolf" which disables voice chat during matches.
The tools are there to prevent this if you want to use them, but you NEVER hear these news stories even MENTION that the consoles have parental controls.
It's a bloody farce.
You can't blame Xbox Live for this behaviour any more than you can blame the internet.
There are people out there who are ignorant idiots and they use these services too... If you hear someone being offensive then just mute them, report them and move on.
-- mostly harmless
If that is their opinion and they wish to say it, they can keep their mics off or their fingers away from the chat pad. I don't pay every month to hear that shit.
Anonimity breeds assholes. Simple as that. Wouldn't it be sweet if we could pull a Jay and Silent Bob every time an assholes fucks around?
-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.
1) The game is M rated - whats the problem with grown people swearing?
2) "But zomg the kids hear eeet!" If the kid is playing the game, it means their parents have decided to let them (or are sleeping in class).
3) This sweep be cheap.
I think excessive swearing actually shows a lack of maturity, no matter what age.
Arguably so. However kicking up the dust in an effort to "protect the children" seems stupid, considering the circumstances.
In other news, a new meteorological study confirms that the sky is, in fact, blue. More at Eleven.
“A reasonable man adapts himself to suit his environment. An unreasonable man persists in attempting to adapt his environment to suit himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw
In other news, a new meteorological study confirms that the sky is, in fact, blue. More at Eleven.
“A reasonable man adapts himself to suit his environment. An unreasonable man persists in attempting to adapt his environment to suit himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw
http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/article/live_video_games_and_terrible_language/11071/
I live in Roanoke, VA. I saw the picture of the news anchor next to the title and said, "Oh, fuck..." Fortunately, it's not as bad as it looks. "7-year-olds swear like sailors, tonight at 10!"
From my own 20 years of gaming experience, it's the kids themselves that are the problem. It's not the 30-year-old adults who run their mouths--it's the kids who have just recently hit puberty (or not at all). We shouldn't be warned about the "language problem" online. Instead, we should be warned that we don't even know our kids, and that putting them into a competitive environment without supervision ensures chaos.
Granted, we all let loose a "shit!" or a "god damn it!" here and there, but these kids can rant and rave for 15 minutes on end about a 6-second experience. Do the world a favor and eat your children. Your kids have "Epic Fail" written all over them.
Its been a very long while since i played any decently popular online game where i wasn't sweared at, called various names for a homosexual, and had racial slurs spewed at me.
I think penny arcade created a theory to describe this phenomenon.
Ah yes, I know it well. John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. Also sold as a T-Shirt as John Gabriel's Greater Internet Dickwad Theory.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/
1) You can mute the idiot gamer kids and their potty mouths.
2) You can report them to X-Box Live.
3) Yes, they do patrol the service and will ban idiot gamer kids.
There was a story in one of the gaming mags last year about how they patrol X-Box Live. They were claiming they've banned (at that time) about 10,000 accounts for people who repeatedly violate their behavioral code. This doesn't count bans for using hacked consoles or other forms of cheating.
The story even included an anecdote of an angry mother calling up to complain that her son was banned. She actually got a call back from the head of the X-Box Live service with a tape of what her son said. She then said he was getting banned from the X-Box for awhile after that.
Keep in mind...there are MILLIONS of people playing millions of games. They're not going to catch everyone.
Being abusive over voice comms will only result in being voice banned (i.e. they cannot use voice coms any more, but can still play) A certain number of complaints must be received and then the person will be investigated - which can take time to do. But it does get done and people do get banned. Repeated offenses can (and do) result in permanent bans from the service.
Be glad that they are so careful about it, if they didn't personally investigate each case then it would be possible for a group of people who didn't like you to get you banned by simply lying and sending negative feedback about you.
-- mostly harmless
I see people banned all the time for less than that, I used to at least, I usually only report if its obvious cheating as language never bothers me, but in order to get someone banned you have to get some other people to report them too.. which is perfectly reasonable.
The point is, that YES they ARE idiots, and assholes, but their isnt a whole lot more microsoft can be expected to do reasonably. They give you the tools to stop it, without shock collars for everyone who plays under 18, you are just going to have to deal with it or use what they give you.
"I'm not responcabel fer my comuter's spleling errnors." -- Xlorep DarkHelm
Perhaps they need to be instructed regarding John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.
Usually when I'm playing, the most foul-mouthed players are kids trying to talk shit with the occasional college-aged lout going with shouts of "fag" and various racial slurs, all usually strung together as one long drawn-out insult. I generally don't care about it, except for when the noise becomes too constant to the point of distraction, then I just simply mute or take off the headset. And of course, there's the teabaggers, too. I only ever do it in retaliation to someone doing it to me, otherwise I don't bother.
I'm also guilty of being rather foul-mouthed, though mine are just usually limited to exclamations regarding the gameplay. The other day, one person said that I shouldn't use words like that because he didn't like hearing them, and like what someone else pointed out earlier, it just struck me as having a bizarre set of priorities: The guy had no problem playing a game of which the main goal was to shoot other people to kill them but a "bad word" upset him. I will never really understand how a word in and of itself can be offensive, when it's the intent behind the use of the word that should be more of concern. After all, in spite of communicating the same exact concept, "poop" is an okay word but don't daaaarrrrre say "shit!"
For those not educated in John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad (or Dickwad if you get the tshirt) Theory, allow me to put it into words:
Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Fuckwad (or Dickwad)
And there you have it, folks.
Pretty much all kids talk like that.. its not a big deal, they are words, they dont harm anyone.. im more disturbed you find such a petty insignificant thing disturbing.
I hate to pull this card, but if words don't harm anyone... how about that girl who commited suicide over the MySpace stint? I could pull other cards, but those may be just a little more controversial than my selected citation.
"In another clip, clearly a young child was among the players. His language as bad as theirs... And the kids aren’t just hearing the bad talk—they’re speaking it. Racial slurs and homophobic comments as well."
I could swear I remember posting a blog story about this in 2006 and submitting it to GamePolitics. It was titled Racism in Video Games Online... I could also swear remembering mentioning the same thing in 1997 ( Starcraft was getting big and Warcraft II was still a juggernaut ).
To be honest, I hate XBL. One, why should I have to pay to play something I've already paid for? Two, Why should I pay to be called "ni***r" every 3 seconds? I leave it at that.Apparently they do not know if the Internet Fuckwad Theory. When playing on XBL I usually mute anyone who sounds like a kid because I know that my ears are about to be assaulted with retarded comments made by said kids. For some reason idiots think talking like this while playing an online game makes them sound cool, yet when all they sound like nothing but a bunch of blathering children suffering from pants on head retardation. Thank god for that mute option :D
Stuff costs more than it used to!
Your Social Security check bounced!
Young people use curse words!
Here are we -- and yonder yawns the universe.
are you kidding me? are they trying to blame language use on video games?? how stupid are these people, thats like blaming AT&T for someone swearing over the phone, god theres some stupid people out there
i am so glad i live in Canada
Canada is just as bad, if not worse.. as much controversy as their is in america about this stuff, they havent actually been succesfull in passing any legislation, so its safe to say we still have it great compared to pretty much any other country, especially europe/middle east and some parts of asia.
Also australia/new zealand.
God damn I do hate sweeps. I've theorized before that if you were to take all the crap stories aired during sweeps, and force a sane, rational person to watch them all back to back Clockwork Orange style that their will, in fact, implode.
If they think cursing in Halo 3 is bad, try playing a game of Uno in the middle of the day when you call off sick. I ended up in a game with a bunch of bored housewives gossiping and talking, mostly, about breast feeding. It was such an odd conversation.
And either way, I've seen far more offensive comments on YouTube.
MORAL PANIC
*clap, clap, clap-clap-clap*
MORAL PANIC
*clap, clap, clap-clap-clap*
MORAL PANIC
*clap, clap, clap-clap-clap*
Go sweeps month! Get those ratings, seed that fear!
nothing to be surprissed...
*points to the angry video game nerd*
If they think the people on Halo 3 talk poorly, have they tried playing GTA IV? It's a thousand times worse. I'm not concerned with the swearing, as I am guilty of it as well, but the slurs are a bit much. I've reported people on multiple occasions for it, and will continue to do so. I'm not going to let a few asshats ruin my gaming experience.
It's also why I usually go into a private chat with a friend if they're on.
Anybody knows people swear on XBox Live. Hasn't changed since it started with the original XBox.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xbox+live+swears&search_type
"drinks like an irish dockworker"
The Irish drink a lot because they can. We have a superhuman hereditary tolerance. If you meet a self-proclaimed Irishman who is obviously drunk, most likely it's really a Bostonian.
Are you kidding me?
a superhuman hereditary tolerance?
more like a genetic disposition to to be worthless potato fuckers.
And People complain that the Wii has no voice chat support. I am glad to not have to listen to this kind of trash.
E. Zachary Knight
www.editorialgames.com
I hear you on that...
Clearly this is to be blamed on Halo 3. Because, I mean kids aren't vulgar in public, just when playing games...
I've watched my husband play COD4, and people on there swear up a storm regardless of who it is, why should this shock people? My husband -- who plays under the name "A Buttmuncher," sometimes forgets that he's not playing with all adults when he chats with people on there. One guy asked how he could get into a particular group, and my husband made some off-color suggestion, whereas the person asked him what it meant. (That was when he realized that he was talking to a kid) He had another gamer in the game laughing so hard he had to hide somewhere in the game so he wouldn't be taken advantage of.
Oh Gods! Children use bad words!
Well I never...
Black Vatican Comic. Updating 5 fucking days a week!
Okay, I did, but only that once...
[url=http://www.blackvatican.com/][img]http://www.blackvatican.com/promo/banner468x60.jpg[/img][/url]
People who cuss on XBL are pretty much showing their true colors. It shows what the majority of adults and kids are like. It's not Mircosoft's fault, it's the fault of people who do not evolve from the minds of stupid barbarians.
Generally I think of people who swear a lot to be of low intelligence, or maybe just not creative enough or good at putting words together without relying on vulgar language.
Huh?People curse while playing violent games?Why don't you people tell me these things!?
I rarely curse while gaming,or while I'm with friends.If I do,I'll usually put a star over a letter or two.
What decade is this dude living in,1860?
People curse while playing violent games?
Well, I've cursed while playing non-M rated games... Mostly due to the BS the companies threw in and their stupid design faults(i.e. RPGs where I suddenly can't save here at the end, I get "several" boss fights in a row with no decent save points, cut-scenes WHICH BY NOW SHOULD ALWAYS BE SKIPPED BY THE RARELY USED NOR MISTAKENLY HIT SELECT BUTTON & SUCH SKIP OPTION SHOULD BY NOW BE MANDATORY IN ALL GAMES!!!!!, etc).
Of course it is mostly to my self, in my head. And the company responsible for most of that frustration is the same one always being billed as "kids friendly..."
GP comment system related PS: Glad you made the captcha more readable, the dinky letters/numbers version was horrible.
Like cursing is anything new. People swear all the time, perhaps more when relaxing to get the stress out of their systems but really, how long did it take them to realize that there is tons of swearing on XBL?
My solution to all the snot nosed brats who insist on swearing, tweaking the mic, or using racial slurs is silence, followed by my friends on the other team or myself team killing the twit the entire match until they drop out.
It's been quite successful so far.
I must say that XBL has more trouble because they don't have enough admins watching the matches. All they'd need to do is monitor the lobby sections in Halo 3 matches and they could put the ban hammer in overdrive.
Hell, here's a solution I just thought of. Don't ban these guys or cancel their accounts. Just flag them as retarded and let them only play with everyone else who's flagged as retarded.
Problem solved.
-Loudspeaker
"Volume helps to get a point across but sharp teeth are better."
It's not that they curse, it's that they direct it at people just to be assholes, knowing that nobody's gonna bust their fucking asses.
-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.
I think you just found the root problem. Makes me kinda sympatheise for the Comcast guy.
*GASP!*
People can swear at other people?!
HOW CAN THIS BE?!
We must stop it! For the sake of the CHILDREN!
I'm not sure if this applies to anyone else here, but for me, I noticed that the majority of trash talkers and Tea-baggers I get (especialy on Halo) all seem to be in the Underground game room. Does anyone else get that as well?
This really isn't a new thing by any stretch of the imagination, back when I played counterstrike and Team fortress classic a great deal of the chat was racist homophobic and profane, it was just text instead of a voice.
@ frost
From the xbox site "and the Underground zone, where anything goes (and where Family zone gamers probably don't want to go, if you catch my drift)." So that is really to be expected if your playing someone who has underground tagged in their profile
Oh, I pretty much got that. I'm just woundering if anyone else noticed the same trend. You see, for me, it's gotten to the point where this has happened so frequently that I now stereotype all gamers in the Underground Zone has a bunch of hooting, tea-bagging assholes unless they prove otherwise. And don't get me wrong, I not directing this at Undergrounders as a whole, because I've seen some gamers in the Recreation, Pro, and even Family zones do this crap as well. I'm just pointing out that (for me at least) the majority of gamers who act immature are Undergrounders.
But yes, I agree, this issue of trash talking kids is really nothing new and the fact that it took anchor John Carlin this long to come across this is just plain stupid. Theres is nothing else I can say about it that hasn't already posted here. And as I type this, I realize how obvious the topic I posted is. I was just woundering if any else noticed, and not just me.
Oddly I tend to see it a bit more in the Pro zone, underground can be just as bad but at least in my experience the pro zone guys are the ones that are assumed to be assholes until proven otherwise. But yeah I find it the most there, although I have heard some really creative people from the family zone. I think at least part of it comes from the idea that putting undergound in your profile makes you "cool" and you need to constantly reinforce that. Back when I had live I was set to underground msotly because I tend toward really weird games, so I thought it was the best decriptor.
It's just weird to me that so many people can be shocked by this, I mean your in an enviroment where you are protected if you act like a total jerk and you don't have to worry about real life consequences. It's remarkable what people will say when they don't have to say it to your face.
Also reading this reminded me I need to get live again.
I invite you to examine John Gabriel's fine theory on the matter.
Also, digg it.
Now, while I aknowledge that it sucks too be around assholes, if your kid is so effing sensitive that he/she freaks out at the slightest F-bomb, well that is a little much. Me, I learned how to cuss properly at an early age, so I never ran into those kinds of problems. Mother f*ckers.
-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.
I guess his reaction when he heard those things was probably like this: ZOMGBBQ, CUSSING ON XBL AND ON A M-RATED GAME?! In my opinion this guy apparently has been living under a rock from day one. I pretty much don't care for the 360, but this little puff piece on gaming has been too little too late.
SHITFUCKPISSFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK. If that dosent give him a heart attack, i don't know what will.
It's funny that he's fine with his kid playing a game in which the main gameplay element is shooting space aliens, but God forbid there be the uttering of a single word which on it's own doesn't even express an idea. If he saw a pixilated nipple...oh God...his head would explode.
-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.
OMFG really? no seriously...really? This is news? I remember this happening with Halo 1 and Mechwarrior on the Xbox. And to further my point is this little Gem:
http://ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20060821
^_^
I-Love-That-Comic.
OMG, you mean kids actually swear! It's obvious these people have never been on a elementary school playground during recess. Personally i don't find swearing that big of a deal unless it's done recklessly and excessively (which i will admit happens alot in online play).
When i was a young kid me and my friends used cure words alot amoungst ourselves but we knew when to use them and when not to (not in front of parents or other adults). Also it's not just kids who swear online in video games, in many cases it's adults (those in their 20s and 30s) who are swearing excessively, and using racial/homophobic slurs. It not like someone suddenly and miraculously becomes mature the minute they reach some arbitrary age limit, and stops excessively swearing/useing homophobic/racist slurs when playing online.
<sarcasm> Oh no! How dare videogames allow foul-mouthed people who curse at sports and their families to carry over their everyday offensive language to Internet competition! What could be worse than videogames permitting children whose parents haven't effectively conditioned them to avoid nasty language to speak the way they would irl?
We're going to have to do something to squash these freedoms of expression that allow the people of the United States to abuse language in every aspect of their daily lives, and the easiest fix is to destroy the freedoms on the Internet and in videogames rather than teaching respect. Because the American people just might be smart enough to see the illegality of using law to enforce the teaching of respect in homes, but we believe they're still stupid enough to vote against freedom of expression in other forms. </sarcasm>
Why is this more important than working to repair the economy, the public perception of the U.S., the failure to provide for our returned soldiers, and the handling of everything from the mistreatment of poor disaster sufferers to the Constitution? Oh, right, those problems are hard to fix and all they need to garner votes is some stupid buzzword issues like protecting the children.
does anyone have a link to the video
Perhaps the newspaper should publish all of the letters they get and let us know how it turns out.
There's porn on the internet, the sky is blue, the Earth is round.... etc.
I didn't want to be among the posters who only make sarcastic comebacks, but i'm at a loss of a logical explaination for this one.
Maybe gamers are just a little bit too sarcastic?
if they think this is bad, lets hope they stay away from Counter-Strike
they do have a point...the language from the Halo community is a bit over-the-top, and they're well known for being immature. but its nothing to worry about if you mute the incoming sound.
This story is ALMOST as bad as the half investigated story I saw from FOX 9 in Minneapolis about a kid that brought his PSP to school (when they were still $250 a piece) and jacked into an unsecured and unfiltered WiFi AT the school and surfed the web for porn for him and his friends. The news story called it the "PlayStation Pornable." To summarize what was left out of the story is that there was NO investigation done to find out WHY the SCHOOL left a WiFi connection OPEN and UNFILTERED or why the PARENTS let their child bring a $250 videogame system to school. I wonder what the conversation was like in the newsroom, "Let's focus the story on just the system's capabilities and NOT the failings of the people responsible! That's a great idea!!!"
Oh yeah, and the story was done during sweeps. However, this is not the first time I've seen these "professional, unbiased journalists" (more like "sensationalists with agendas") skew a story for ratings over at FOX 9. Oh yeah, after the story got around the gaming circles, they pulled down the story from thier website and apologised. Although I think you can still read their gem of a write up on a cashe site somewhere.
Many of you people put forward childish arguments.
The root cause of this problem is bad parenting; severely bad parenting. Lawyers and the fact the closer technology has brought us together globally the further apart we are becoming locally has a lot to do with it as well. I have lived in the same place for 5 years and I don't know any of my neighbours; granted I don't know many people on the internet either, but that has to do with the fact that most people suck rather than any severe character flaw of my own! Even so, the fact that I don't know any of my neighbours does not stop me from telling the neighborhood kids right from wrong, or telling them to be carefull if they are in danger.
When I was a kid and someone in the neighborhood saw me up to no good or possible putting myself at risk they would tell me to stop it. Try telling a kid to stop doing something bad these days and your met with threats of legal action. It's so bad that teachers are afraid to discipline kids. Somehow between the time I turned 21 and now I am near forty, kids got rights. I had no discernbable rights as a child living under my parents roof and I see no bloody good reason for any of the brats today to have them either!
Seriously, we have to start giving a crap about one another a little more, I'm not talking about neglecting to keep score at little league games though I do believe that an extreme competitive nature does breed a severe lack of empathy towards people. It is how you play the game.
I've noticed in life it is better to lead by example. As independent as kids think they are today they are little more than "monkey see-do". If they are cussing up a storm it's because those in 'positions of authority' are doing it and no one is explaining to them, rationally and CALMLY, that this is wrong. I bet that most of the 'elders' on Live encourage the behaviour while chuckling out bong hits.
And as some have pointed out anonymity=a$$h0l3
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