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Posted: Sep 14th 2007 10:05PM bm111 said

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Holy fucking shit, that's unbelievable. Where were these people when their kids were playing with all those infinitely more realistic light guns that came before?

Ugh. We need another Great Flood, that's what we need. This time to cleanse the world of retards. It's become saturated with them.

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 10:10PM Shagittarius said

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You think the world is saturated with retards now just wait 500 years.

Check out Idiocracy FTW.

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 10:12PM (Unverified) said

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ah yes.. let's play "i didn't raise my child properly and now i'm passing the blame to video game shooter" game!


stupid git! >.<

the remote w/o the zapper casing is much more dangerous than any gaming device ever created!

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 10:16PM jorojoserojas said

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Ah...it's moments like these that, despite the flame wars and the name callings and the blind rantings, let me realize the underlying truth of all gamers:

We have common sense!

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 10:45PM (Unverified) said

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I definitely believe that no matter what the gun looks like it is a "fake gun," so there is no reason for people to think that using a toy like this is inappropriate. However, keeping that in mind I would like to make a couple of other points.

1. The original article had a different photograph for the Wii Zapper. (Hopefully, the link works).

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:-MvqY0zRnhkJ:blog.nj.com/parentalguidance/2007/09/what_do_we_think_of_wii.html+what+do+wii+think+of+wii&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

After seeing the original picture posted in the Star Ledger, some of the comments regarding how realistic this original gun looked are more understandable. Once again this does not change the fact that fake is fake and it is still wrong for people to blame video game toys on real world violence. It's just important to realize that the letters to the Star Ledger might have been different if the paper posted the right Zapper in the first place.

Given that the Star Ledger went back to correct its mistake, I feel as though Joystiq should post an update to this post regarding the original picture that nj.com posted.

2. I live in New Jersey and I am used to being the butt of many jokes. I just hope that all of you who are calling New Jersey residents stupid, realize how stupid and hypocritical you yourself are.

You are stupid because you are making a judgment on over 8.7 million people based upon the comments of four(one of which actually defended the Wii, if you any of you guys actually bothered to read the article).

You are a hypocrite, because the same mindset of making a generalization about every member of a state, is the mindset of making a generalization about everyone who plays video games.

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 10:53PM BananaBoat said

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What baffles the mind is that we had this argument in 1985!! Nintendo came out with a light gun (grey in color) the parents raised a stink, and they had to switch the color to orange to avoid their ire (I've still got a grey light gun, it is my ninty treasure). I can't believe that some 12 years later, we are doing this AGAIN. It's like one bing ferris wheel of things that concerned parents complain about. Today, Wii Zappers and video's involving gay people with children appear to be on New Jersey's parental outrage radar.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 12:23AM (Unverified) said

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Yeah I thought I was cool when I found a grey light gun too.... but then I found out that nobody knows the difference, so you can get both colors for like $2 each if you find them at a store.
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Posted: Sep 14th 2007 10:59PM (Unverified) said

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So i guess kids w/ real guns are completely harmless, but if they get a bit practice w/ a piece of cheap plastic, that looks and feels nothing like a real gun, they become uncontrollable killing machines with increadible marksmanship.

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 11:16PM (Unverified) said

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I'm going to go be ashamed of my state in a corner now, k? Not only do we blame obesity on the food served in schools (which means that I can't get sprite at school anymore), but we blame violence on plastic remote holsters that ever so vaguely resemble a gun.

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 11:19PM SpeeGold said

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As some one from the suburbs of New Jersey, I think it's safe to say that New Jersey moms need to STFU. Seriously, they should just go home.

Posted: Sep 14th 2007 11:27PM (Unverified) said

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Oh. My. God. Shut the hell up already and man-up. Stop thinking that everybody else needs to watch your kids and JUST FUCKING DO IT YOURSELF. I'm sick of hearing about stupid people like this. See, THIS is why some people should not be allowed to have kids. Because they're too retarded to actually do things about the real issues while they nitpick about absolutely pointless things like this! Oh wait, I forgot. Actually getting off your ass and dealing with the said problems is too hard.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 12:25AM (Unverified) said

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My kid's babysitter is a giant anthropomorphized gun, and they're doing fine.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 2:39AM (Unverified) said

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...Megatron?
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 12:30AM (Unverified) said

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Let's see now...A whole generation spends their childhood playing games like "Cops and Robbers" and "Cowboys and Indians" whereby they point REALISTIC-looking toy guns AT EACH OTHER, then grow up to NOT be a generation of serial killers, and then proceed to shit bricks at the thought of their kids waving around something that sort of looks like something vaguely gun-shaped at a TV screen.

What message does this send? That the baby boomers are a whole generation of hypocritical knee-jerking morons.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 1:47AM (Unverified) said

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So now toys that look like guns are the new scapegoat for irresponsible parents?

Is funny how parents are more concerned about their kids learning how to aim a gun than being concerned about their kids having a gun. Seriously it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t know how to aim a gun if he has a gun someone is going to get hurt; in that case the parents are responsible for being such morons and the Gun shops for letting that every irresponsible parent out there gets its gun because kids can grab daddy's gun from the drawer since daddy is a dip sh*t that doesn't know that having a gun and a small children in the house is a bad idea but God forbid suing Gun shops or making strict laws against weapons.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 8:04AM (Unverified) said

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It's called freedom, something us in nativer english speaking USA enjoy. I can tell by the consistently incoherence of your posts that you are either 1: not from USA, or 2: a retard.

Suing gun shops is just as dumb as suing Mcdonalds for being a fatass. I saw the coolest thing ever at teh range the other day, a family of four mom, dad, and 2 kids 8-12ish all sharing a lane and shooting together. That is how you teach kids to respect a weapon, not by telling them its off limits. Once something is verboten, kids will naturally want to check it out.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 1:27PM (Unverified) said

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Some of us don't want to live in a country where our freedoms to own what we want and like are so strictly controlled. The police won't protect you so it's your job to protect yourself. I have 2 9mms, and guess what when someone is coming into your home it's a lot easier to whip that out than your shotgun. Plus people wish to concealed carry their weapons outside the home and a shotgun is a little unweildy. Before you go talking out your ass about how ridiculous that is, keep in mind crime rates have dropped drastically every place a concealed carry law was put into effect.

Obviously you have no idea about gunshot wounds or your wouldn't make the ridiculous claims about the stopping power of a 9mm. Here's a quick tip, getting shot hurts, the impact from the bullet does more damage than the penetration, and when you are using jacketed hollow points, there is not a big chance of the person getting up. The shock to the internal organs is what stops a person when the shockwave of the 9mm round hits center mass. Also you can empty a magazine with my handgun in the time it takes to fire 2 rounds of a shotgun. Hope you don't wildly miss the first shot.

You can easily take a .45 or a 9mm or any handgun for that matter into a mall, it's called concealed carry, plus they are the same size frickin gun.

Plus a shotgun is easier to wrest away from someone or knock out of firing position than a pistol.

Restirct ammo? WTF are the cops gonna come to my house an count my bullets? Right now I have 200 rds 9mm 2 boxes of 30-06, and about 300 rds for my AK, guess what? Some of use don't want to have to stop to buy ammo every time we want to go shooting.

Plus in this country the purpose of the right to bear arms is specifically given to overthrow the government should it get as oppressicve as that the revolutionaries originally faced. Hell you seem willing to give up every bit of your personal freedom and responsibilty for false claims of security, and teher is a word for that: Victim.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 1:30PM (Unverified) said

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Oh, and every sport shoter and teh entire country of switzerland would also disagree about your guns are only for self defense claim, Hell they get on the bus with their weapons out on the way to shooting events there.

The more you post the more you show your ignorance about just about anything to do with guns.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 4:11AM linoth said

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Now, now, I wouldn't set crossbows up as being perfectly safe and toylike. Having owned a few, you'd be surprised just how much force the bolt hits with compared to the size of the crossbow. A crossbow also makes less noise.

That being said, the original design looked like it would've been awkward and hard to use anyway. The newer design... less so.

And I do concur, parents in this age need to step up and take responsibility for their child being a monster. If you think you can reason with a three year old that wants a toy, then I want you to sit and watch The Sound of Music. No, not for the story or any of that crap. The children LINE UP from tallest to shortest on command and respond to a WHISTLE.

Discipline. We don't teach it to children any more, and so we're only making the nation of consumers worse, because they don't have the discipline to resist the urge to spend.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 6:28AM (Unverified) said

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which makes the corproations happy because they get lovely $$$$$, and mommy and daddy happy because they have no responsibility, yeey!
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 5:34AM (Unverified) said

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Yah because the original NES Zapper created a generation of homicidal maniacs. You know what the core problem is? Parents have lost the ability to parent due to losing something called common fucking sense. That and a general lack of actually taking time out to give a shit about their semen stain. These parents are raising their children to be a bunch of sheltered pansies who couldn't survive 10 minutes if you dropped them in the center of NYC. I weep for this country’s future generation. We are sheltering kids from getting a scraped knee. A broken bone and god forbid a fun childhood with something as simple as a light gun.
If parents really give a shit they would do something more constructive like talking to their kids about how their day went and watching for signs of someone going off on their classmates. Ya know. It’s that whole communication thing. But that requires actually spending time with your semen stain instead of crashing on the couch watching Access Hollywood.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 6:26AM (Unverified) said

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* takes a deep breath *


BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

I bet these are the same people who would call it 'unconstitutional' if real guns were banned.

WTF america, WTF. The thing doesnt even LOOK like a gun, its just a cheap chunk of plastic.

What they should REALLY be worried about is its potential use as a club of some sorts. Nintendium IS the strongest metal known to man after all...

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 8:06AM (Unverified) said

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It would be unconstitutional if guns were banned, see wwe have this thin called the constitution jackass.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 8:12AM (Unverified) said

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you cant have your cake and eat it, either all guns are good or all guns are bad
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 8:19AM (Unverified) said

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All guns are great, everyone should own one, and carry it prominently on the hip like in the old west. People wouldn't F*ck with you because you might just be a better shot then them. You might be faster on the draw. Just like Bullies won't pick on someone obviously stronger than them, having a gun takes away the obvious advantages teh strong have when preyingon the weak. God may have created man, but Samuel Colt made them equal.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 1:42PM (Unverified) said

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Wow, how does wanting to carry a gun make me a homosexual? Bigoted much? you are a truely deluded, I think you must have been dropped on your head as a small child. I'd like to see you tea kwon do a bullet ya moron. You are like every other little kid who watches kung fu flicks and wants to grow up to be a ninja... News flash junior, people don't walk around and break into beautifully coreographed katana fights in the subway.

You act like the expert on everything but don't really know jack shit. I'd tell you to google crime statistics in places after enacting concealed carry laws, but you are probably too stupid to even use a search engine.

I wouldn't carry a gun in the street because I'm afraid of hand to hand combat, that is the most retarded thing you have ever said, and from you, that is an accomplishment. You would totally bring a knife to a gunfight, you are that dumb. If someone is intent on depriving you of life or protery with violence, that person has given up their right to exist and I feel no qualms whatever about shooting them dead.

And the quote God created man, Sam colt made them equal is about 150 years old and 100% true. Your crap kwon dork, is considered a deadly weapon in places too genius, and someone would be justified shooting you if you tried that shit in the street on them.

You validated my point about burglars looking for a victim, if everyone is armed, the number of victims shrinks big time.

I'ts people like you who get people killed, think you are bruce lee and can take out anyone in the world with your fists, that's cool, really, I'm sure you look totally awesome in your karate bathrobe, But I can more effectively teach a person to defend themselves in 1 hour with a gun than you can with years of going to self esteem, I mean Karate class.

You bring up little sensationalized bits of horseshit you read in papers about one person getting hurt in a gun accident, but then just ignore the facts about responsible gun ownership being a crime deterrent, and frankly it scares me that you own anything more deadly than a water pistol
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 1:50PM (Unverified) said

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People like synner are why i'm afraid to ever go to the USA. Its scary enough walking the bad parts of town in europe with the threat of being knifed or bottled, but doing it in the US? Where guns are MUCH easier to get hold of, for anyone and everyone? *shudder* no thanks.

You cannot give people a weapon and expect them to use it responsibly, because it wont happen. Even the most grounded, peace-loving person is capable of those few moments of madness, and thats all it takes for something bad to happen.

If you want to defend yourself, take a class.
If you want to defend your home, get a dog.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 4:23PM (Unverified) said

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Yeah, cause I go on homocidal rampages every day, you sir are an idiot. Please don't come to the US, we don't need retards like you coming here. The desire to defend myself and not be a statistic automatically make me a criminal? You I feel sorry for you. You say people can't be trusted, that's your problem, I believe people can be trusted with freedom and responsibility, and when they show they are incapable of handling that trust and responsibility, they need to be removed from the rest of society.

you have knives in your kitchen, those are weapons, guess you can't be trusted with them.

This is why whenever you pussies in europe are faced with tyranny, you need us unstable and murderous americans to come save you, God knows you can't save yourselves, being too busy trying to understand evil instead of facing it.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 4:29PM (Unverified) said

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Should have been homicidal, I don't go on homIcidal or homOcidal rampages. Man, the stupidity in this thread must be contagious. next, I'll want to put my head under the covers and think watchin bruce lee will make me a superhero too.

Oh, I took a Class to defend myself, ALH, I'm in the military, we get shooting classes, oddly enough, they don't spend much time on kung fu though, maybe you and WOTS should come over here and show us how to fight without weapons, since it goes so well for you guys.
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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 9:34AM (Unverified) said

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What is Nintendo thinking!? Teaching kids how to shoot guns! I mean, look how easy it is to......wait, how do I take off the safety? And take out the magazine? And why do my hands shake making me miss every target?

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 12:24PM Pipp said

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This country is freaking cracked. KIDS LIKE PLAYING WITH TOY GUNS.

God help us all if kids can ever get their hands on NERF GUNS! Or a Ping Pong ball gun! Maybe even GASP a CAP GUN!

Who are these insane people that are in this story?

$20 says they grew up with cap guns, bb guns, pellet guns and loved playing with them. God damn hypocrites. Every single one of them. Seriously. Everyone wants to make up blame for some problem that doesn't even exist. And politicians will move on it so they can pretend they're actually doing something. F all of these jerks.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 1:46PM (Unverified) said

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It's weird when people become parents how stupid and forgetful they get. How many people here never had a bike helmet? We all grew up fine. Toy guns? had those too. My older cousins would have bb gun wars Just throw on some safety goggles and go to town. We had paintball. Shit I remember we would shoot bottle rockets and roman candles at each other when we were kids. People have turned this generation into the biggest bunch of pussies ever.

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Posted: Sep 15th 2007 2:06PM JoshMilewski said

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Funny that this is a local newspaper for me, that my parents read all the time.

Funny that I'll never touch it again.

Posted: Sep 15th 2007 4:21PM s256 said

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BAAHHAHBHAHHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHAAAAHHHAHA
HAHHHAHAHHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA

Remember the NES Zapper? Did any crazy ridiculous insane people get upset about that?

These people are just STUPID.

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 9:28AM (Unverified) said

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As a 13 year veteran of the NYPD who has worked in a High School parents shouldn't worry about a plastic "Gun" periferal. They should be more concerned about what their kids are watching on MTV and YouTube. If I remember the Nes system (In 1985!!) came with Duck Hunt and the first "Zapper", no riots by the parents back then!! Not to mention, this "Gun" is going to be used for Resident Evil:UC and I think it is M Rated!! Don't buy the "Gun" for them. I certainly don't think that this so called "Gun" will make our kids run out and become "Bloods" and "Crips", give me a break people!!!

Posted: Sep 16th 2007 10:26AM (Unverified) said

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f'n A dude.
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Posted: Sep 17th 2007 5:35AM (Unverified) said

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Fadobo's useless knowledge:
Did you know, that Ralph Baer already had a lightgun title when he presentet the first 12 videogames on his "brown box".

So the concept of gunish peripherals is old as the history of video games, and now they start complaining...weirdos

Posted: Sep 17th 2007 1:07AM Some Guy said

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so funny its sad.
first off, its shaped like a freaking tommy gun.
kids dont like that kida old school crap.
also, another reason to stfout of nj.
this just about sums the whole thing up.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/02/09 (Read it, gosh darn it.)
remember, jack tompson is pure hell im a meat form, and canada is closer than you think.

Posted: Sep 21st 2007 5:22PM ravengenesis said

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theses parents have honestly no idea the years prior to the "invention" of the wii...

don't look at playstation with its rail shooters, no no no... virtual cops, time crisis, and even the point blank series, using a light gun design that looks and even feels like a gun... oh noes, that's not as deadly, but the wii mote used like a gun is going to teach kids how to MDK everything they every loved... ZOMG called the military!1

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