Wonder Cheese

Ninja Gaiden is a good game, but Itagaki couldn't possibly be a bigger, more pretentious douche than he already is.

Interesting how, in the earlier post about Brownback, the word Republican is in the first sentence. Strangely, the word Democrat doesn't appear in this entire summary. And yes, he's a D. Strange omission, or maybe not so strange.

"oh come on, like the fragdolls are actually good at videogames?"

or hot.

"I note that you don't offer any facts to support your claim."

Which claim? Stating that the video game community is thin skinned about any and every criticism is my opinion from observation. If you refer to my view that people's thinking and behavior, particularly youth, are affected by media input (of various types) I'm sure there are plenty of "facts" on both sides. I'm just going on common sense and what I observe. Discussing to what extent people are affected is interesting to me, but if you believe it has zero effect, than I guess we have nothing to discuss.

"I see that you don't offer any reason to believe that banning violent video games forever will improve any situation."

I'm not on that fringe, and I think very few are. Who is talking about banning? Not me, and I don't believe the senator was either. So I'm not sure what you misunderstood.

"I see that you admit that there are greater causes to the problem than video games, but that you are unwilling to do anything about the greater problem."

Of course I admit that there are greater causes. But I'm not simply going to deny that video games have any influence whatsoever. As for whether I'm willing to do anything about the greater problem, that's quite a large scope issue. My belief that poverty will never be completely eradicated does not in any way mean I don't think that it should be addressed. You seem to be attributing things to my comments that I didn't mean at all.

"Ok WC... you basically said instead of trying to work to help alleviate poverty... you'd rather have laws passed against videogames... Wow."

No, my point was that poverty won't ever be eliminated. Of course everyone should have opportunity, but there will always be people who refuse to take it. I have no problem with people trying to come up with a feasible ratings system, and expecting it to be enforced. It's not the be all end all, but it's something.

"Sure it may not be the easiest thing to do and nigh impossible, but i rather have congressmen working towards alleviating problems with poverty than knee jerk reactions like blaming columbine on video games."

Agreed. And I do think it's pretty much a waste of time. But when the issue is brought forward by whomever, Congress people who are going to comment, for better or worse. And I would agree that most of them are extremely uninformed on the issue. But when the issue is brought forward, comments will be made. Doesn't automatically make them all stupid. Most are.

"and how are we being thin skinned and reactionary?"

Within just a few comments, the man was called a "fool", "racist", "classist" among other things, with very little actual analysis of what he really said.

"Crime has been around before video games and will always be a part of society, but to blame it on something that has only come about in the last 20 years is stupid."

I guess the issue is whether the blame is put solely on one thing (obviously stupid), or whether intelligent people can discuss whether certain things can be negative contributors, and if so, how do we respond responsibly.

"You sir are the one that cant have an honest conversation."

Maybe it came off that way. My worldview may be competely different than most. I do believe that media influences have a strong impact on youth. I believe we have a sub-culture (nothing to do with race) that is very impacted by certain music, video games, movies, etc. that glorify everything that is destructive, and mock everything that is good. And I believe that gives a certain validation to some people to behave a certain way. I'm not supporting censorship, but I do believe an honest discussion on regulation and responsibility in marketing can be valuable. Of course media influences aren't going to be the sole reason someone twists off, but to deny any impact from them, in my opinion, is ridiculous. Game on.

"I'll tell you why, because its much easier to scapegoat video games instead of ending poverty"

Good luck with that.

And thanks, everyone, for proving my point. Thin skinned and reactionary. No chance for an honest conversation.

"I think Wonder Cheese is really good ol' Jack Thompson in disguise. :)"

Nah, I'm just a gamer who thinks the gaming community, in general, is really thin skinned. There are plenty of stupid criticisms of video games. But the gaming community and especially this site can't seem to have a decent discussion of any criticism, because the automatic reaction is to spaz, instead of taking the criticism and thinking of whether it might be accurate. There's an extreme lack of logic and an abundance of knee-jerk middle fingers in the air. I'll attack a bad criticism any time I see one, but I'll at least take the time to analyze it first.

If you believe that media (video games, tv, movies, books, etc.) have no effect on thinking and behavior, especially of the more vulnerable amongst us, go ahead and state it. If you're realistic and realize that they can and do have an effect, then we can have a discussion on the nitty gritty. If you want me to agree that congress discussing this instead of other issues is a waste of time, I agree whole heartedly. But that wasn't the issue with most of you. Most of you just can't stand any criticism of video games, and so any attempt at it becomes rally time against "the man".

Oh, and if you think children aren't affected by what they watch...see...hear...I'm wondering why my brother and I pummelled each every time we finished watching a Popeye cartoon. ;)

"Simpletons? Hardly. The fact that you'd defend a man who would prevent the 99.999% of well-adjusted kids from playing a violent game"

False. They're discussing making it more difficult for children to obtain these games, and encouraging game makers to exercise a little social responsibility. So this man isn't trying to prevent the 99.999% of other kids from playing a violent game. False argument. -1 point.

"because of the handful of idiots that might actually try and mimic something they saw in GTA makes you the simpleton. Go lobby for censorship somewhere else and don't try and sell out my right to buy or play violent video games."

I'm not lobbying for censorship, and neither was he. They were discussing the ratings system. There's a huge difference between regulation and censorship. False argument #2. -1 point.
-2 points overall, try again.

"They're blaming the last straw for the broken back. The game may have pushed them over the edge, but in an environment of that sort something else is bound to do it unless they themselves have the resolve to do better."

So you're saying it could contribute, but it's only one thing. So don't try to regulate individual contributors when it comes to children? So if someone is bound to fall over the edge eventually, go ahead and push em a little extra? Is that the logic?

You sheep are incredibly reactionary, politically correct lemmings. He didn't claim to be misquoted. He disagreed with the way his comments were portrayed, meaning the way Jon Stewart did an immitation of him and added words in that immitation. Yes, it's a comedy show, and just about anything is fair game. But you can't fault a person for not appreciating being mocked. Understand a little nuance you simpletons.

Now, to the real issue. What he said is absolutely correct. His obvious point is that a kid who's already in a bad environment is more likely to be affected by one more glorification of violence and anti-social behavior than somebody who isn't already bombarded with that crap to such an extent. Anyone ready to knuckle up and actually try to say that he's wrong, or are you just a bunch of overly sensitive knee-jerk creeps? If the obvious truth is offensive to you, might as well cover your ears and stop listening.