I think it would've been a better idea if you had just stopped with your last column and moved on to another topic. I can't say I was really rubbed the wrong way from your previous article, but this one has the pretenses of verbal ejaculation in journalism and doesn't come across as anything more than you running from one end of the boat to the other in order to calm the masses and you still manage to come across as extremely condescending.
Time to learn from your mistakes and realize that such sweeping generalizations are a bad idea and sometimes it's easier to just apologize and say "I was wrong" instead of putting another bullet in your foot.
I think the only reason Jack Thompson hasn't jumped on this yet is because it's a religious game.
Personally, I think it's hypocritical. I'm sure people like Hilary Clinton will jump all over it and praise how it's educational and pure and this and that, but if I remember correctly, religion has been making people kill each other longer than video games.
Personally, it makes me sick and I think games like this cause more damage than Grand Theft Auto and gallons of blood stuffed in the carcass of a sheep that's slowly being ripped apart by rabid dogs who are getting their heads stomped in by horses because people actually TEACH these things.
What you say is true, but I think it's easy in this day and age to pin video games as the be all and end all of violent media. Give an unstable person any form of media and with enough justification they can turn the puriest form of art into a patsy to pin murder and cruelty on. Before video games, murders were copying movies. Before movies, radio. Before radio, books. Before books, ideas.
When you get down to the bare bones of the issue - yes, media can insight media in those that don't have the ability to actively process the difference between fantasy and reality. Damning the medium and all that make use of it is both puerile and short sighted and Jack Thompson has been sounding that same trumpet for years now.
Spend ten minutes in a game store and you'll see that it's usually not minors buying violent video games, it's their parents buying them for their kids. I don't have a problem with some of what Jacko proposes, I just disagree in the way he's going about it. In the end, I think the issue would be better won by letting the parents decide what is good for their kids.
As far as the interview, I think it was kind of refreshing to see that Adam was as passionate about the issue as he was. It was nice to see Jack having an interview on another channel besides CNN, where they seem to hang on his every word.
# 49 - Banning children under 17 from playing games like Grand Theft Auto isn't going to solve anything. You allude to the fact that not every child has a good upbringing, but if that's the case, aren't they going to get their hands of the game anyway? Like I said, chances are very rare you'll seen an underage person buying a game like GTA - it's the parents. Your argument pretty much shies away from video games and focuses on the fundamentals of the problem, such as bad parenting, abandonment, etc. Unfortunately, those aren't problems that any one person can solve.
Yeah, here in Australia the only problem the government had with the game was the grafitti. It wasn't so much the artistic type as the people going around and tagging their names, and since the government is trying to crack down on it they banned a game that involves grafitti.
Silly, I know, but that's the only reason. The whole comission is a bit silly. They banned this game and 50 Cent's Bulletproof, but allowed San Andreas.
Wow. Another example as to how God™ has become a corporate icon. Nice to know that the catholic pardoners of old are still alive and well, and will to sell you salvation for the special one-time offer of three easy payments of $19.95.
Azeroth Interrupted: Casuals are good players too
Aug 21st 2007 5:11AM (WoW)Time to learn from your mistakes and realize that such sweeping generalizations are a bad idea and sometimes it's easier to just apologize and say "I was wrong" instead of putting another bullet in your foot.
WoW fans deconstruct South Park
Oct 10th 2006 6:44PM (Joystiq)Left Behind demo now available
Sep 1st 2006 2:54AM (Joystiq)Personally, I think it's hypocritical. I'm sure people like Hilary Clinton will jump all over it and praise how it's educational and pure and this and that, but if I remember correctly, religion has been making people kill each other longer than video games.
Personally, it makes me sick and I think games like this cause more damage than Grand Theft Auto and gallons of blood stuffed in the carcass of a sheep that's slowly being ripped apart by rabid dogs who are getting their heads stomped in by horses because people actually TEACH these things.
G4, Jack Thompson yell at each other
Aug 11th 2006 9:00AM (Joystiq)@ #25 -
What you say is true, but I think it's easy in this day and age to pin video games as the be all and end all of violent media. Give an unstable person any form of media and with enough justification they can turn the puriest form of art into a patsy to pin murder and cruelty on. Before video games, murders were copying movies. Before movies, radio. Before radio, books. Before books, ideas.
When you get down to the bare bones of the issue - yes, media can insight media in those that don't have the ability to actively process the difference between fantasy and reality. Damning the medium and all that make use of it is both puerile and short sighted and Jack Thompson has been sounding that same trumpet for years now.
Spend ten minutes in a game store and you'll see that it's usually not minors buying violent video games, it's their parents buying them for their kids. I don't have a problem with some of what Jacko proposes, I just disagree in the way he's going about it. In the end, I think the issue would be better won by letting the parents decide what is good for their kids.
As far as the interview, I think it was kind of refreshing to see that Adam was as passionate about the issue as he was. It was nice to see Jack having an interview on another channel besides CNN, where they seem to hang on his every word.
# 49 - Banning children under 17 from playing games like Grand Theft Auto isn't going to solve anything. You allude to the fact that not every child has a good upbringing, but if that's the case, aren't they going to get their hands of the game anyway? Like I said, chances are very rare you'll seen an underage person buying a game like GTA - it's the parents. Your argument pretty much shies away from video games and focuses on the fundamentals of the problem, such as bad parenting, abandonment, etc. Unfortunately, those aren't problems that any one person can solve.
Marc Ecko raps about the games industry
Feb 21st 2006 5:29PM (Joystiq)#4 -
Yeah, here in Australia the only problem the government had with the game was the grafitti. It wasn't so much the artistic type as the people going around and tagging their names, and since the government is trying to crack down on it they banned a game that involves grafitti.
Silly, I know, but that's the only reason. The whole comission is a bit silly. They banned this game and 50 Cent's Bulletproof, but allowed San Andreas.
Religious rapper: Christ was a Space Invader
Jan 29th 2006 6:31AM (Joystiq)