quote:

Originally posted by Allegory Ezekiel brought up many good points in his post, but I think the real emphasis here is that we're all old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. But many kids don't, and this is the targeted demographic. It's really sad that 50 cent takes pride in promoting himself as a thug. Yes, it's all PR but it's kind of difficult for teenagers of really impoverished ghettos to process reality and fiction. In fact, I come from an middle to upper class anglophone suburb in montreal where so much violence has grown, possibly out of boredom. I pretty much come from the breakfast club days of petty bullying. When my younger sister of five years went to school she would recount stories of people being stabbed in the courtyard! stabbed! because someone gave them a dirty look, or something petty. I also am familiar with these areas in the US. Some high schools don't even have heating or functional classrooms, let alone afford current curriculum. I think it would be great if these rappers could at least attempt at not promoting rape, assault, murder, and "oh it's so cool that my claim to fame relies on the fact that I was a crack dealer, so you become a crack dealer and you'll make it too!" sorry, I'm a a little sensitive about this subject. Unfortunately prohibitive age laws don't work. Kids will still play these games and watch these awful movies and live vicariously through 50 cent and DMX...

Agreed, although I think the parents here need to take responsibility as well because they're the ones who are supposed to be enforcing those ratings. Don't get me wrong, 50 cent is a slimebucket and I agree with John that this is a new low for the industry - but most teens, especially the ones who are most likely to be affected by this schlock, can't even afford video games. I came from a middle-class family and had to save up every penny I had for 6 weeks to buy a video game, and that was when games cost $30.

All the parents really have to is say "sorry, you aren't playing that". Let the kids call child welfare. I'm sure they'll be really sympathetic over the fact that their parents took away their fiddy cent video game.

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50 cents game looks dumb... and cheesey


GTA tho is always a FUN game , and thats what games are suppose to be about

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trance: (n)
a feeling of invicibility which you cannot escape as you succumb to the onslaught of sound.

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced The real question is....are some of these M rated games under rated. Have a rating system similar to movies. Games like GTA and 50 cents game should probably have a higher rating then M. I would suggest a system such as: F - family...safe for all ages T - Teen - 14 + (games with unrealistic violence) M - Mature - 16 + (games with violence, language) A - Adult - 18+ (games with realistic violence, nudity, sexual themes)

Why? Because GTA depicts violence? It's not an educational game, and never tried to be. It doesn' teach violence, just lets you play around with it.

One of my favourite games is UT. It's ultra violent and I suck at it, but that doesn't mean anything. After a long day at school or work or anything else, UT is a great stress reliever. I get to vent my frustrations in a sea of exploding limbs and bullets. Which, imo, is a much better solution than me not playing the game and then likely snapping at everybody around me cause I'm stressed.

I play violent games because they're fun to play. Games are supposed to let you try things that you wouldn't otherwise try in real life. GTA falls in this category.

And not all violent content is bad, even if it is ultra-realistic. Call of Duty is a great example. I felt quite a bit of remorse when I was fighting the Nazis with my group of men, and was watching them go down like flies right in front of me. I reloaded many times purely because I was upset with the amount of men I lost, even if we passed the objective. The battle of Stalingrad, for example, made it a lot easier to visualize the horror that ensued in real life during WW2. If anything, that taught me to be a more compassionate person rather than a bloody killer.

Lastly, the 'violent games make kids violent' argument is tired and stupid. If your kid got the idea that it's okay to kill cops because you can run from them in a stolen car from GTA, then he could have got the same idea from a movie, TV show, or a book. If your kid is stupid enough to not be able to distinguish between reality and fiction, then it's really not GTA's fault that he does something stupid.

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quote:

Originally posted by simms327 Best Console = N64 Best Games = Mario Golf - Mario Tennis - Mario Kart 64 - Mario Party 1/2/3 NO VIOLENCE - TONS OF FUN!!

Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

Best.Game.Ever.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur Why? Because GTA depicts violence? It's not an educational game, and never tried to be. It doesn' teach violence, just lets you play around with it. One of my favourite games is UT. It's ultra violent and I suck at it, but that doesn't mean anything. After a long day at school or work or anything else, UT is a great stress reliever. I get to vent my frustrations in a sea of exploding limbs and bullets. Which, imo, is a much better solution than me not playing the game and then likely snapping at everybody around me cause I'm stressed. I play violent games because they're fun to play. Games are supposed to let you try things that you wouldn't otherwise try in real life. GTA falls in this category. And not all violent content is bad, even if it is ultra-realistic. Call of Duty is a great example. I felt quite a bit of remorse when I was fighting the Nazis with my group of men, and was watching them go down like flies right in front of me. I reloaded many times purely because I was upset with the amount of men I lost, even if we passed the objective. The battle of Stalingrad, for example, made it a lot easier to visualize the horror that ensued in real life during WW2. If anything, that taught me to be a more compassionate person rather than a bloody killer. Lastly, the 'violent games make kids violent' argument is tired and stupid. If your kid got the idea that it's okay to kill cops because you can run from them in a stolen car from GTA, then he could have got the same idea from a movie, TV show, or a book. If your kid is stupid enough to not be able to distinguish between reality and fiction, then it's really not GTA's fault that he does something stupid.

As I pointed out earlier, I've always seen the ratings mostly as guidelines for parents, who should and will ultimately be making the decision on what their kids can play (at least until those kids are in their late teens).

I think it's good to have those ratings simply because no parent has the time to research every single game and every single CD that their kid might want. The ratings really aren't hurting anybody, and they give parents at least enough information to make a semi-informed decision. They're like the nutritional information panel on food.

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2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
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I never said I was against the idea of ratings.

although maybe instead of giving a desired age-range for the game, they should just have a little box giving a synopsis of the violence and sexuality present in the game, and let the parent make their own decision if they think their 13-yeard old can handle the game.

___________________
I'm the trouble starter, fuckin' instigator.
I'm the fear-addicted, danger illustrated.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur I never said I was against the idea of ratings. although maybe instead of giving a desired age-range for the game, they should just have a little box giving a synopsis of the violence and sexuality present in the game, and let the parent make their own decision if they think their 13-yeard old can handle the game.

That's essentially what it is, though... rather than having a long disclaimer, they can just stick an "M" on it and the parents know, this game is violent. I actually agree with ChemEnhanced that they should have an "A" rating which implies that there's also nudity or sex. A single-letter rating is the most effective system, it's worked fairly well in the movie industry for a long time now. It doesn't work so well in the music industry because parents don't pay attention to the ratings, but that's their fault, not the industry's or the rating system's fault.

The age ratings are just suggestions... it's not as if they're enforceable anyway.

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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut I actually agree with ChemEnhanced that they should have an "A" rating which implies that there's also nudity or sex.

umm... it's existed for a long time:



But there aren't that many games with it. Mostly porno-computer games.

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