All the World's Wrongs: Games At Fault!

[Dogg Thang]

My wife once had a theory that she and other women like Pac-Man, Tetris and Space Invaders because they're really just about cleaning up.

[teddymeow]

Got really annoyed today. People in being rude because we've sold out of various games.

One mother turned round to me and said "how can you have no Black Ops 2? What do I get my 8 year old now?! He'll be unbearable on Christmas Day".

I wanted to say that she should give him a hug and be grateful that he's here to be unbearable. Those parents who have lost their children in any of these violent attacks don't have that available to them.

[nakamura]

Or you could asked why has she waited until 20th december to buy it?

[Golgo]

Or she might consider getting something appropriate for an 8 year old? The revolting slag.

[Dogg Thang]

You should have tried to convince her that he'd love something more age appropriate. Like a Lalaloopsy game. Or something about ponies. That would have made for a hilarious Christmas Day.

One a slightly more serious note, your situation is indicative of a big problem. Many parents, grandparents, whoever give their kids stuff that they should simply not have. And you can say the responsibility is with the parents and you'd be right but only to an extent. Because a parent can control or restrict what they buy for their child. What they can't control is what other parents are buying for their kids, kids in the same school or hanging out with your kids. Only the industry or regulatory bodies or government can do that.

[MartyG]

The whole problem is the title of the hobby - "GAMES".

The evils of Tetris aside, there's an age rating for a reason, and it's strange that parents seem less likely to allow adult rated TV/Movie media to be viewed by their kids than video games.

[buster_broon]

You should have tried to convince her that he'd love something more age appropriate. Like a Lalaloopsy game. Or something about ponies. That would have made for a hilarious Christmas Day.

One a slightly more serious note, your situation is indicative of a big problem. Many parents, grandparents, whoever give their kids stuff that they should simply not have. And you can say the responsibility is with the parents and you'd be right but only to an extent. Because a parent can control or restrict what they buy for their child. What they can't control is what other parents are buying for their kids, kids in the same school or hanging out with your kids. Only the industry or regulatory bodies or government can do that.

nah i disagree - its all down to the parents at the end of the day

the games industry have done all they can especially with the COD games because you get the option to play the watered down version but children would just ignore that to be honest

some games and films i will quite happily let my boy watch when he isnt quite the age, things like die hard i see as acceptable and let him play halo, but he wouldnt play the COD games until he was at least in his teens

but society blaming videogames and movies for what people decide to do is also wrong, i saw the evil dead when i was 9 and it didnt make me want to go out and stick pencils in people

[EvilBoris]

The gun is good. The penis is evil. The penis shoots seeds, and makes new life to poison the Earth with a plague of men, as once it was, but the gun shoots death, and purifies the Earth of the filth of brutals. Go forth ... and kill!

[noobish hat]

Dominik Diamond said something particularly moronic on the subject:

TGS: You have children these days – How have you dealt with them playing games over the years? Are you of the persuasion that age censorship in gaming needs adherence?
DD: I play Call of Duty with my 8 year old son. I played GTA with my oldest daughter when she was 12. I don’t agree with that bollocks that video game violence makes kids violent. Kids become violent because they don’t respect other people. They don’t respect other people because their parents haven’t taught them to respect themselves. It’s a society thing. Not a video game thing.

Video games may not make kids violent, but that's not the only reason to stop them playing them. I don't believe watching Robocop or Texas Chainsaw Massacre will make anyone violent either, but you'd have to have brain damage to think it's a good idea to show them to children.

[gIzzE]

but society blaming videogames and movies for what people decide to do is also wrong, i saw the evil dead when i was 9 and it didnt make me want to go out and stick pencils in people

But are you prepared to give these games and films up if you know it will stop others from copying the things they see?

Would you make sacrifices for the greater good?

[buster_broon]

In the future if its deemed unsavory for these games to exist then it will be someone higher than my pay grade that will make the decision to 'give them up' and if they are not there then the decision has been made for me to sacrifice these beauties

but while these games are grossing 1 billion worldwide i doubt they ever disappear

currently if i want my COD fix its done when the kids are in bed or im in my cabin when the children arnt there and i only play cartoony games if i have the chance to power up the console when the kids are awake (Ultimate marvel vs capcom etc)

All i would hope is that the people my son decides to like and hang around, their parents have a idea like mine and try and keep certain images from my children until they are at the age where its acceptable

I enjoy playing FPS and if i have to be honest im not great with people because they annoy me, but its not the FPS fault that people annoy me, its other peoples fault

Im 90% sure i will be leaving the job ive been in for the last 23 years in February and working in customer service is something i couldnt do, must be so hard to bite you lip at times teddymeow

[MartyG]

But are you prepared to give these games and films up if you know it will stop others from copying the things they see?

Would you make sacrifices for the greater good?

What greater good? They're not copying things they see, they're acting out a delusion created by their own warped reality - no amount of banning media is ever going to stop that.

Apart from Tetris. We must ban Tetris. I've warned you about the dangers of Tetris right?

I've even blogged about my own battles with its evil.

I could be wrong of course as I haven't played every first person shooter created, perhaps there is one where the aim is to slaughter unarmed children in a school. From this list & list & list I'd be interested to know which games they copied. Probably going to have to draw a line under 1992 though, the year Wolfenstein 3D was released (we'll disregard those given they don't fit the theory).

[EvilBoris]

I enjoy playing FPS and if i have to be honest im not great with people because they annoy me, but its not the FPS fault that people annoy me, its other peoples fault

Those sound like the words of a psychopath.

[buster_broon]

Those sound like the words of a psychopath.

looks like i may have to start a list - since the world is going to end tomorrow at 11:11 best get cracking

1. evilBoris
2. .........

[Neon Ignition]

http://m.computerandvideogames.com/385389/mirror-front-page-attacks-games-for-giving-kids-cancer

Well we're all buggered. According to the Mirror games give children cancer