Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game Violence Controversy

Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game Violence Controversy

June 4, 2008

When last we heard from the Girl Scouts in relation to video game issues, they were standing behind California's Leland Yee following passage of the state's 2005 video game law.

But, as reported by the Woodbury Bulletin, a Minnesota Girl Scout has a much different view on video game regulation. Colleen Stone, who created a 10-minute video on game content issues, told the newspaper:

I guess it all started when Hillary Clinton started getting public about video games and video game violence. It was just a blatant disregard for first amendment rights…That was a slippery slope that would easily have transferred to books and movies and newspapers, and that really disturbed me.

In response, Colleen developed a seminar to educate parents on game content and ratings. She invited the manager of a local GameStop as well as a rep from the Minnesota-based National Institute on Media & Family. The seminar was filmed and makes up a good chunk of her video. 250 copies have been distributed to various organizations.

Colleen, who will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall and is considering a career in video game design, added:

I was worried this was just a pet peeve of mine, but deep down, it’s a constitutional issue. Some games can be so beautiful — some of the games I put on, my mom will just stop and stare… That’s why I think I did this. Video games are not evil.

 

Comments

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

I actually found that video excellent on content... editing was awful... but, that's not important...

The content and messages were very clear and it's absolutely wonderful to hear an old man say throwing out the tv doesn't work and the best idea is to engage with youth and check out what they're viewing for yourself.

However, it cut out after 6 minutes... I'm just assuming the girl doesn't do a u-turn and have a go at games at the end :p.

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

Yeah, the video wont play all the way through for me either. 

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

We really need to let the ESA, ESRB and Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo know that if unrated movies can come out then some should unrated games. She tells how the big retail companies will not sell unrated games. But those companies have NO problem with unrated movies. >:(

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

"It may be appropriate to approach M games on a game by game basis"

Smart advice.

-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

"The ESRB is not perfect, and so ratings are more a guideline than rules."

Yeah, the video cut out for me too, right as the NIMF guy was explaining why you can't expect someone to play a game all the way through to know it's content, comparing it to how you can make it through a movie in 2 1/2 hours...

EDIT: Er, actually I don't know if he's saying that. It sounds like he's about to say "but games can take dozens to hundreds of hours to complete", but maybe I'm wishful thinking here... The tone of his speaking makes it sound like he's about to question the logic of asking the raters to play every second of an entire game. Then again, he may be just using that for parents instead, and expect the ESRB to play all the content so parents don't have to...

I'll try downloading the video, play it locally instead...

EDIT: Nope, doesn't help. It still cuts out around the 6:10 mark...

-- If your wiimote goes snicker-snack, check your wrist-strap...

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

Just for that, I'm buying at least three boxes of Thin Mint cookies this year.  Gotta support the Girl Scouts if they're turning out smart young women like this one. 

--- "Life's short and hard, like a body building elf." -- The Bloodhound Gang

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

Great video, now if only more people could see it.

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

@Doctor Proctor:

I would do the same thing if I didn't have any allergies to just about everything but eggs, oy. I would do just as Strong Bad would do: Buy the scout a cold one.

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

If anything, I think the important lesson of all of this is that  parental responsibility is what is required, not legislation and witch hunts. Most intelligent people realize that crap that Jack and Hillary have been spouting is out-right wrong, but others see a talking head on TV, and blindly accept what they say; just like the telescreens in 1984. Time to not be sheep people.

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

Good video, though two mistakes I'd like to point out:

1) It's been documented that movie raters can determine a movie's rating within 15 minutes to a half hour and then just keep tapping on extra notes for the remaining duration of the movie (See: This Film Is Not Yet Rated)

2) Video Games can be released under Rating Pending and have been. They will be sold by stores. The labels are then replaced at later date by the publisher / manufacturer and shipped accordingly. I have had plenty of games over the years which feature an RP on the box as opposed to a specific rating.

Aside from that, a decent fair explanation, though the video failed to play past the 6 minute mark for me...
----
Papa Midnight
http://www.otakutimes.com
http://www.thesupersoldiers.com

 

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

Papa what games were released rating pending???

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

Always good to have another intelligent voice in our court.  Johns Hopkins -- not too shabby.

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

I managed to download the video directly (page source for the win!), and it seems like the video itself is corrupted after that point, rather than a transmission problem.

 

---- There is a limit for both politicians against video games, and video games against politicians. http://www.goteamretard.com

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

why didn't she put this on youtube?

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

If you can put the Video on YouTube, then more people will be able to access it more easily.

 

Also well done for the girl scouts.

 

Each of us has a voice in this world and the internet is the only way to make our voice loud and clear,

 

I also think that the Parent power website is great for parents who may not understand many things about Videogames....

 

Way more better than the news or politicians who have been pushing so much negative and sensationalist information onto them.

 

I do feel that the best way to let parents become a bit more better aware of Videogames is by just talking to someone who knows and has played many Videogames.

 

 

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

 Thank you all for your comments and input. 

I did not know that my video file was corrupted- I put it on youtube (my username is GS1420) and the video is on the website and has been fixed. 

Thank you so much for your interest

Colleen Stone

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game
Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

I'm all for freedom of ttnet vitamin speech and allowing rent a car game makers to put whatever they want in games, but there's one thing about this app that has me scratching my head.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but from araç kiralama the previous article araba kiralama on this I gathered that players can use Google maps in-game to find the other (real-life?) dealers in their area.  If this is the case, has travesti anyone considered what's stopping someone from using this app to actually move drugs between hands for reals?

But majority araba kiralama of their outrage araç kiralama stems from what it could DO TO children, not the content itself.  Talk to one of these people and you'll find they don't think any books kiralık araba should be banned from children.  Mention American Psycho and they talk about kiralık araç the redeeming value of using imagination to construct a story.  Reading, no matter what the content, is largely viewed as a consequenceless activity for people of any age.  The reason why I mention American Psycho is because of the content itself.  Gaming never has and likely never will have any scenes where someone has sex with a severed head.  Not gonna happen.  Yet despite this, they'll fight tooth and nail to protect their children from two boys kissing in Bully but whatever they read is harmless... yeah.

The entire arguement is kiralık oto based upon a social normality inflicted by luddites who can't figure out the controls for Halo so it's frightening and terrifying and obviously the cause of youth violence on the rise even though, in reality, it's in decline (which is actually a HUGE suprise given minibüs kiralama the economies status).  In  a perfect world, we would have parents that actually parent.  The idea of sales restrictions on media on oto kiralama any form to accomidate parental unwillingness to get involved with their child's life is the real problem to me.  Here I am, 32 years old, and being held up at a self-scan rent a car needing to show ID before I can buy a $10 M rated game all because Soccer Momthra can't be bothered to look at the crap Billy Genericallystupidson does in his free time.  It's too hard for her, so I have to suffer?

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

One could argue that video games are beautiful, and in SOME instances they are. Restrictions on these games are needed, greatly. One could argue that this is a highway towards the corruption of the First Ammendment, but that is only and assumption. Note that we entered Iraq because we assumed that there were WMD's in there hands. We are always assuming in America. It should never get as far as video games though. Quite frankly video games are not the world to me. We must all come to the realization that when you civilians getting killed in "Grand Theft Auto", or blood spilling on the floor in some kind of alien war game, there is evil behind that. Not all beauty is nuturing.

Re: Girl Scout Creates Film Project to Chronicle Video Game

You must also note that the "Hillary Clinton Basis" for these video games tendsto vary on state. I am from New York and I know that in New York violent video games ARE HUGE.

GamePolitics ShoutBox

Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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