http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/03/22/ ... ideo-games

I say games are merely the scapegoat. You have to be wrong in the head to begin with to even contemplate committing violent attrocities after playing video games in my opinion.

so shad

this is <LOOK MA, I AM SWEARING> ridiculous...
all this effort on banning games that are played to unwind. i think they have over looked the tiny little issue of how kids are able to get there hands on loaded guns in the first place O.o
gund dont kill people GTA does.
how about we ban and confiscate ALL games and replacing them with guns and see if crime goes up or down?

also, all these supposed mentaly screwd kids are going to look for something else to kill time with once games are gone. any suggestions on what that would be?

OH OH WILL, I know, pick me pick me.

All mental kids want to errm, Work in old peoples homes, that's right isn't it?

Countries can make guns illegal, but the fact is that if people want to get hold of guns to cause harm, they will get hold of them through some means regardless of the law. The only thing it does is prevents law abiding citizens from trying to defend themselves from some violent nut-case.

It's called the Black market.

But typical knee jerk reaction. ZOMG MUST BE GAMEZ. If you banned every game with a "weapon" in it, there would be basically nothing but AudioSurf left tbh... And even then you could argue that you are mowing down square shaped objects with your vehicle.

I don't even think I could name a game where something doesnt get fried/disappear/blow up/get shot etc.

Actually, most these school shootings and such could be stopped with gun control. The kids go grazy, but they don't plan to the extent of getting illegal guns and such. Well, we don' get many shootings here.

Pong's sound effects could cause mental instability over a long period of time it has to be banned!

ban games, films, books, anything that may provoke thoughts or actions. It's a ridiculous argument imo. I play video games and don't go out to get a 5man clutch.

An interesting argument is that when the media covers stories on suicides - suicidal rates increase having seen this story. Not that exactly but drug overdoes or something like that (;x) does increase.

Anyway, that's not the point. Games are perfectly healthy - no more so than when I watch James Bond I don't feel the need to try out gadgets and save with the world (although the beautiful girls do apply ^^)

Kids aren't SUPPOSED to be able to buy violent video games O.o

Its because parents are idiots that they get what they want

Not necessarilly, kids can often get hold of things under their parents noses, and parents might easily be clueless as to what's happening.

And even if they notice their child playing a game, that child might easily be able to make sure there is no violent event going on at the time. GTA could easily translate as 'racing game'. Uneducated (in games) parents would have no idea.

If laws upon selling to minors are enforced with stronger consequences (like they ought to be) then there would be no problem. that only leaves the parents buying the games as for that I can only suggest that parents be told that when it has eighteen on the box and your child is six, they really oughtn't get the game at all

remember some violent games can be knocked down age groups by turnign off blood and makign enemies vanish unnaturally

15 -> 12?

yes they can be knocked down on that.

I started playing PC games when I was 16, I played GTA before but I found it incredibly boring. Don't think I've ever really played these psycho-creating games!

TBH, parents just need to look at the damn ratings. I've heard plenty of stories of 12 year old kids getting their parents to buy them GTA in a shop. I don't think the shop can legally refuse, either, but I might be wrong.

I've played plenty of psycho games, and I use them as stress relief, they make me nicer, not a psycho killer

They can't, the age is for people to purchase the game, they can't say for sure they will allow their kids to play it lol.

Maybe they should ban chess as well? Afterall, it all about killing your opponents army and murdering their queen and king.
If people want to get something, they will. No law can really stop anything nowadays. I would view that people spending time on games keeps them off the street from killing people in real life, showing that games can have benefits. Also people who play high action fps games are shown to have an increase in contrast sensitivity in their eyes which is a medical benefit.

And the bible, that has incest, murder, rape, slavery and genocide!

True.

I was in Game in Glos last Summer buying... errm... Something xD And I went upto the till and like an 8 year old was infront of me with a copy of one of the GTA games.

The guy quite rightly said "Your not old enough to buy and play this game" to which the kid replied "I'll just get my mum to come back and buy it later."

I was like.... "That's ridiculous"

I think Parents should be forced to watch a video of the game they are purchasing and then they can decide on whether or not they want their children to play it. I mean crikey, Dad though Eternal Champions was "too old" for me and my Bro when we were 5/6 because it had blkood guts, people being eaten, mown down by mobsters, burnt alive, electrocution etc