<font color = lightgreen> "Claims by teenage boys in Tennessee that they were acting out the Grand Theft Auto game when they shot at vehicles are threatening to put the US entertainment industry back on trial".

Full story at bbc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3104892.stm


One man was killed and a woman was badly hurt when William Buckner, 16, and his step-brother Joshua, 14, decided to relieve their boredom by opening fire on traffic on Interstate 40 with a .22-calibre rifle.

Lawyer Jack Thompson has taken up the case and plans to sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto

Mr Thompson said if manufacturers wanted to keep selling violent games to children, they should be prepared for the consequences he believes repeated playing can have on young and impressionable minds.


I know many of you may like this game but I found it pointless and actualy a bit sick but I detest censorship even more. Should it be banned, restricted or made shareware for everyone [img]tongue.gif[/img]

What do you guys think? </font>

If your're 16 years old your're old enough to understand that it's wrong and illegal to randomly shoot at cars with rifles. I don't see any excuses for this. They might not be able to send these boys to jail but surely the boys understood what they were doing.

It is. No where did we read about how a kid got this rifle, or WHY the parents didn't hide or put a loop-lock on the trigger....

there are alot of factors regarding this... parents, video, environment.. anything is possible.

[img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img] I get so incredibly pissed off at people who act like that! At how the gaming industry is responsible for such behaviour! And how f&#^$cking prepostorous the judicial system in the USA is, that a lawyer is going to sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto!
How many people have played that game? 3 million? 4 million? And how many people are such idiots that they go out and shoot at cars? 2? Now who is really wrong here! [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rant.gif[/img]

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...ons/icon32.gif

I don't think you can blame the whole incident on a game. I've played GTA and find it pretty sick (that's sick in a bad way) and would never buy the game. Perhaps the kids had family problems, on drugs etc.

You would also have to have a pretty weak mind if you got influenced by GTA - it's only a game, no matter how violent it is.

Plus, young kids shouldn't even be able to buy games such as GTA. Too many times have I seen parents buying their kids GTA, not even aware of the graphic violence and sexual references depicted in the game.

[ 09-15-2003, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: GokuZool ]

<font color=skyblue>Taking the scientific approach, this lawyer's theory is neither a valid deductive nor a strong inductive argument, thus it is fallacious, because the case in trial compared to the sample size is far less than 50%. </font>

I have played both GTA and Mafia. They are both violent like any other "gangster"-game or movie. Mafia never gets critizised because it has a very serious approach, GTA is a bit more on the "fun" side. They are however both as violent as movies or games get and in being realistic games they only relate facts. GTA does promote violence but I don't think it's more sick than the average godfather movie. There are however games out there (e.g. Messiah) who do promote violence in a way that even I find abhorrent.
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Yes, there are people who play GTA and then go on a killing spree. But these are as few as people who go crazy after being treated unfairly at the Burger Place. And I'm sure that the Katharsis-effect of violent video games and movies by far outweighs the few people going crazy.
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Just imagine for a moment that there where no violent games, no violent movies, no violent sports. That probably wouldn't stop real violence (war, crime,...) still being a part of our society. But if there is no "virtual violence" people would either go crazy and act out their agressions on every occasion leading to a lot more assault charges or bottle up and let it loose after some years leading us to even more killing sprees (which we now can't conveniently blame games for).

I also heard about this and it makes me so angry kids like these are going to ruin gaming. i mean dont these kids have any commom sense you play a game to simulate because you cant actully kill people in real life and put in r1 r1 o r2 up down up down up down in and make it all better id like to meet these kids myself and kick their @$$e$ myself then go to their parents and do the same because why wasnt the gun locked up or hidden????? This kids need life in prison if you ask me they commited a hugh crime in my book they put gaming on the line.

It is. No where did we read about how a kid got this rifle, or WHY the parents didn't hide or put a loop-lock on the trigger.... </font>[/QUOTE]By the time I was 14 years old I was hunting on my own and had been shooting (with adults) for years... kids that age, when properly trained, can hunt responsibly IMO. I'd be more interested in knowing where the parents were when these kids were playing such a violent game for hours on end. I played and enjoyed Mafia, and I let my 6 and 12 year olds play the challenges (they were all driving oriented)... but the 12 year old broke the rules (I caught him thumping someone to steal their car) and within a day he was banned from the game. My kids wouldn't be allowed within a mile of GTA.