MADD Calls For Adult Classification of Grand Theft Auto IV

[Nomad 800]

GTA4 is an escape; like booze, drugs and over eating.

But it's cheaper and much less harmful.

Too many people fear what they do not understand.

 

[Imagine]

Don't we all remember reading about the US Military using First-person shooter games as part of soldier-training? Didn't that make anybody pause a bit?

That I'd like a link on. I kinda doubt they are using mainstream FPS games in that case, and even if so, probably not to teach the killing in particular (more likely to train perception and reactions, which video games actually seem to improve noticeably according to some studies).

 

[Friday on my mind]

That I'd like a link on. I kinda doubt they are using mainstream FPS games in that case, and even if so, probably not to teach the killing in particular (more likely to train perception and reactions, which video games actually seem to improve noticeably according to some studies).

" America's Army is one of the most popular computer games on the planet and like many games, it is a shoot-em-up, get-the-bad guys kind of affair.

But unlike other games, America's Army is truly a product of the US military. The Army first released the game a few years ago as a recruiting tool. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4460082.stm

 

[Imagine]

I know about America's Army. I've played it (didn't like it). As far as I know though, it's use was more or less exclusively recruitment/propaganda. The only games I've seen used in training has been vastly different. The UN for example used the diplomacy simulator the article mentioned, or at least something like it. The article was quite vague on the actual use of the game as a training tool (it has potential etc.), and what it mentioned was tactics. Kinda like how a flight simulator is used by pilots I suppose. That it would be an effective way to turn a normal person into a killer though, I have severe doubts about.

 

[D-rock]

I always wonder why there seems to be people out there that think the world was a nice gentle place prior to digital entertainment. (It's a much better time in human history as far as concern for human life and liberties go among other things than in any other era) If people do get desensitized (which is an argument that has a lot of faults with it.) they are just getting desensitized to reality where bad things happen instead of living in a fairy tale world where everything is nice and rosy.

Seriously, if your old enough to be able to buy the game there has to be something seriously screwed up with you to begin with for a work of fiction to ever cause people to do the things that some people are afraid of. Anybody that is not retarded can differentiate between reality and fiction. It's also just as silly to believe any rational semi-well informed person would think that anything in movies, television, or video games accurately reflect the world they are based on.

If people are concerned with the influences entertainment might have on their children then they should do a better job parenting their children before anything can possibly become of it. It might be inconvenient and a lot of work, but the thing that should develop young people more than any other factor is their parents, and if it doesn't they are the ones that have screwed up, not the entertainment industry, the government, society, you, or me. They shouldn't blame anybody else but themselves when they let television raise their kids. I take offense when people want to protect others from themselves, when the people they are limiting should easily be capable of handing the situation.

 

[Legzman]

:rofl: I fucking knew it! Some fucking parent group would want GTAIV either pulled from shelves or the rating raised. Seriously. If your kid can't tell the difference between the consequences of driving drunk in a video game...you know fiction/make believe! And driving drunk in real live...you know reality! Then they obviously weren't raised very well.

Same could be said for tonka trucks! I can hear it now. Boy grows up playing with tonka trucks. Gets job in construction, say operating some kind of similar machine. Then dies in a construction related accident 20 years after he first played with a tonka truck. Now tonka settles for 5.6 million! SAME FUCKING THING!

These assholes will always find something to target. Take away GTA and they'll go after Halo. Take that away, they'll go after something else till they eventually blame fucking pong for everything!

OH and lets not forget about all the blatant in your face, drug use, sex and violent killing!
Please....
Maybe we should hold parents more responsible for their crumb eaters, instead of trying to target a fuckin toy!

 

[titsrock]

D-rock:

Seriously, if your old enough to be able to buy the game there has to be something seriously screwed up with you to begin with for a work of fiction to ever cause people to do the things that some people are afraid of. Anybody that is not retarded can differentiate between reality and fiction. It's also just as silly to believe any rational semi-well informed person would think that anything in movies, television, or video games accurately reflect the world they are based on.

D-rock, have you ever heard of the hysteria caused by Orson Welles back in the dark ages (1950s?) when he read "The War of the Worlds" on the fucking radio? People all over the nation thought we were under attack by aliens.

Mass media does have the ability to brainwash people. Video games are mass media.

I would feel "better" if we raised the legal age of adulthood to 21 (teens could get a drive-only-to-work driver's license)...and that this game and other shit like it were only legally consumed by someone who has a better chance of being "mature" than an 18 yr old.

 

[titsrock]

I'm also for lowering the age of adulthood (drinking, sex, driving, all of it) to 16, where it should be anyway.

Definitely not. That's ridiculous.

 

[Nomad 800]

Actually, MADD should support GTA 4. A few hours ago I tried to drive drunk in the game (my character was drunk, not me) and it was WAAYYY harder then driving drunk in real life. If any young teenager plays that part he will definitely think that driving drunk is extremely foolish.

I am sort of kidding. But it was REALLY difficult to drive while drunk in GTA 4.

 

[gunslingingbird]

GTA4 is an escape; like booze, drugs and over eating.

But it's cheaper and much less harmful.

Too many people fear what they do not understand.

Not necessarily so. I have heard of many cases of people who have lost their jobs, their friends, their spouses have left them, and they have grown nearly out of touch with reality because they spend all their time playing games. World of Warcraft is a fine example. I read an article on Yahoo! News a couple years ago where they reported on the sad stories of people who found it physically impossible to set the game down. There have actually been psychological and support groups established in the US for people who have video game addictions. Video games seem like an escape from everyday life, but don't all addictions start that way?

I had a friend who, when GTA San Andreas came out, locked himself up in his room for 3 weeks and did nothing but play. There would be times when he would actually forget to eat for 2 days because he was so involved in the game. He missed work a couple times, and he came in late about 6 more times because he was at a spot in the game where he couldn't save his progress. The only reason why he didn't get fired is because the department's director was his cousin, and he had known 3 of the 5 supervisors since they were children.

 

[Nomad 800]

Not necessarily so. I have heard of many cases of people who have lost their jobs, their friends, their spouses have left them, and they have grown nearly out of touch with reality because they spend all their time playing games. World of Warcraft is a fine example. I read an article on Yahoo! News a couple years ago where they reported on the sad stories of people who found it physically impossible to set the game down. There have actually been psychological and support groups established in the US for people who have video game addictions. Video games seem like an escape from everyday life, but don't all addictions start that way?

I had a friend who, when GTA San Andreas came out, locked himself up in his room for 3 weeks and did nothing but play. There would be times when he would actually forget to eat for 2 days because he was so involved in the game. He missed work a couple times, and he came in late about 6 more times because he was at a spot in the game where he couldn't save his progress. The only reason why he didn't get fired is because the department's director was his cousin, and he had known 3 of the 5 supervisors since they were children.

It sounds like you are describing adults. And since MADD wants to bump up the rating to adult level, then I assume they are targeting under 18's.
But maybe I misunderstood their intent.

 

[Will E Worm]

Definitely not. That's ridiculous.

I know. You should be older to play a game, than to drink and everything else? Doesn't make sense.

I'd like to see the driving age raised to eighteen. Less gas and more time to learn to drive.
People need to learn how to drive in America.

 

[Facial_King]

Until then, the ridiculous thing is that Americans don't see that conservative age limits directly create these problems.

Huh?

How do "conservative age limits directly create teen pregnancies"??? Or even indirectly?

I think the teen pregnancy issue is a complex one, not boiled down to any single factor, however certainly abstinence-only sex-ed programs are one of them.

And in the area around Eldorado, Texas, belonging to a religious cult would ratchet up one's chances of being involved in a teen pregnancy quite a bit, I'm afraid...

 

[Legzman]

When America stops having the worst teen pregnancy rate and teen drinking problems and so on, in the western world, then you can tell me the conservative age limits and laws currently in place are working. Until then, the ridiculous thing is that Americans don't see that conservative age limits directly create these problems.

The problem is not that 16 year olds can drive. The problem is that you don't need to know how to drive to pass a test and get a license.

Huh?

How do "conservative age limits directly create teen pregnancies"??? Or even indirectly?

I think the teen pregnancy issue is a complex one, not boiled down to any single factor, however certainly abstinence-only sex-ed programs are one of them.

And in the area around Eldorado, Texas, belonging to a religious cult would ratchet up one's chances of being involved in a teen pregnancy quite a bit, I'm afraid...

Christ! This derailed quick! Anyway, FOX, I must say I agree that 16 is a fine age to make everything!

Now back to the argument at hand! I suggest getting drunk in real life and then in the game and trying to drive in the game... Makes you kinda queezy but...you laugh your ass off!!!

 

[Roughneck]

Is this over reactionary ?

MADD is the definition of "over reactionary".

Today, the organization bears no resemblence to the one founded by Candice Lightner.

Quoting Ms. Lightner:

MADD "has become far more neo-prohibitionist than I had ever wanted or envisioned … I didn't start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving"

(emphasis mine)

I fully agree with Ms. Lightner. MADD today is a bunch of neo-puritan fascist a-holes dreaming about the good ol' days of Prohibition.

I wish they'd jump off a cliff - they're doing more harm to the cause of removing drunk drivers off the road than good.

cheers,
R.

 

[titsrock]

When America stops having the worst teen pregnancy rate and teen drinking problems and so on, in the western world, then you can tell me the conservative age limits and laws currently in place are working. Until then, the ridiculous thing is that Americans don't see that conservative age limits directly create these problems.

The problem is not that 16 year olds can drive. The problem is that you don't need to know how to drive to pass a test and get a license.

Though I believe the U.S. needs to be a lot more aligned with "Old Europe" in a lot of areas...I don't believe lowering adulthood is the wise solution to turn around some of those glaring problems. America is a reckless capitalist country. We simply, for the safety of consumers and markets, can't put naive and "innocent" youth in arenas of adulthood....basically..until they are realistically ready to compete and succeed.

The age to be president, Fox, is 35. Should that be lowered to 15 as well?

 

[dave_rhino]

This is why MADD is extremely disappointed by the decision of the manufacturers of the game Grand Theft Auto IV to include a game module where players can drive drunk. Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke.

It is now.

 

[Nomad 800]

MADD is the definition of "over reactionary".

Today, the organization bears no resemblence to the one founded by Candice Lightner.

Quoting Ms. Lightner:
(emphasis mine)

I fully agree with Ms. Lightner. MADD today is a bunch of neo-puritan fascist a-holes dreaming about the good ol' days of Prohibition.

I wish they'd jump off a cliff - they're doing more harm to the cause of removing drunk drivers off the road than good.

cheers,
R.

If what you say is true then MADD should be taken far lighter as an organization then many presently do. Ansd this latest GTA thingy is a complete waste of time (not that I took it very seriously anyway).


Typical isn't it? Someone with a vision starts an organization. And once it gets big enough, someone with a big ego takes it over and changes it so it no longer represents the solid ideals of it's origins.


Excellent post Roughneck.

 

[Yankeefan21325]

Yes lets ignore the murders and cop killings and go after drunk drivers.

 

[Timbo9627]

when i was 16 i made a foolish mistake that most teenagers do...got into a lil trouble

me and couple buddies went around and shot out car windows....stupid yes i know and i paid the price....

but u know what it wasnt my fault...nope not at all

damn paperboy:bowdownthe game) made me do it...he kept throwing papers through windows and at dogs and old ladies i just had to go do it myself....

seriously if u let things like games influence u then u shouldnt be playing them...

and for the record no paperboy really didnt influence me too...:dunno: