Games...

[johnny]

Originally posted by Kaltia: My younger brother is thirteen. He plays GTAIII all the time, yet hasn't killed anyone or nicked a car. Nevertheless, I hear some truly disturbing comments from his room. "Hey, Kyra, wanna see me kill an old granny?" "Oi, Kyra, come watch me kill this kid!" "HAH! I've stolen an ambulance and I'm running people over with it!" So, the question is: Should we let him continue, because violent games make him less likely to actually start carjacking, or grandmother-killing, or should we take the game away? From the gusto of his comments, would he do what he enjoys in real-life? Or would he be a normal citizen? (I have noticed his language has gotten worse since he started to play GTA and Soldier of Fortune. Oh, and his knowledge of the human anatomy.) However, he also plays Baldur's Gate and other RPG's. Because of this, he is generally more vocabulary-gifted than other thirteen year olds. When he's not cussing, of course.

Cursing is pretty much normal behaviour. If your little bro is a normal kid, games like GTA will not turn him into some kind of little demon. My brother's son, who is only 8, plays it too. Maybe he's too young for that type of games, but as soon as he goes outside, he doesn't act like he wants to shoot everyone in his sight, he just wants to play football. So let the kids play.

[Kaltia]

Thing is, Johnny, we live opposite a retirement home! No! And GTA will *Obviously* brainwash him into shooting all the old ladies!

...What I *meant* to say was, I didn't believe my own post-I was playing devil's advocate, and not very well [img]tongue.gif[/img] *. I mean, if I were to believe Baldur's Gate, I'd stick a bit of metal onto a stick and claim it was a quarterstaff+5! ^^


*God, I need a drink.

[johnny]

You still in the basement ? There's plenty of drinks down there, just switch on the light.

[Gangrell]

Originally posted by Kaltia: Thing is, Johnny, we live opposite a retirement home! No! And GTA will *Obviously* brainwash him into shooting all the old ladies!

Why? That's the same attitude that lawyers have against games, just because he likes running people over and hear a little voice go ahhh doesn't mean he'll actually do it [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Kaltia]

Originally posted by johnny: You still in the basement ? There's plenty of drinks down there, just switch on the light.

I did. Then I discovered it was a dragon you chatted up when you were inebriated and lost both my eyebrows

[Animal]

I think it boils down to the parents and how responsible each is in governing what their child is playing/doing. As long as the child is capable of distinguishing between fantasy and reality I see no real problems with most games, but when that line becomes blurred then the problems start. Just like a TV, a PC is not a babysitter and shouldn't be treated as such.

Good parental supervision is a must. I won't allow my daughter to play such games as GTA3 (not that she wants to) but I feel that the language and content are inappropriate for her.

Now granted, I've never played games that have such content, but I feel she sees enough criminal and disturbed behaviour in real life and doesn't need to be exposed to any more. When a child asks you to watch him/her "blow away some old granny," that should be an indication that something is wrong. I fail to see how shooting defenseless old age pensioners could be seen as entertaining.

[Gangrell]

Originally posted by Animal: When a child asks you to watch him/her "blow away some old granny," that should be an indication that something is wrong.

What if a teenager says it? [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img]

[johnny]

Originally posted by Kaltia: quote: Originally posted by johnny: You still in the basement ? There's plenty of drinks down there, just switch on the light.

I did. Then I discovered it was a dragon you chatted up when you were inebriated and lost both my eyebrows [/QUOTE].... um... yeah, sorry about that. I didn't pay my bill in time, and i got disconnected, hence the dragon. Won't happen again though, promise.

[Animal]

Originally posted by Gangrell: quote: Originally posted by Animal: When a child asks you to watch him/her "blow away some old granny," that should be an indication that something is wrong.

What if a teenager says it? [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img] [/QUOTE]I would probably consider it disturbing no matter who said it, child, teenager or adult.

[Zuvio]

I grew up bi-linguistic: Dutch (prime language) and English. Why? Games and movies. I got into a total of 3 fights in my life which I didn't start. I'm 2 years away from university. Games are bad? uh-UH...