"Senators Target Game Violence"

**Shnay** · 04-10-2003, 10:32 PM

Since the political atmosphere is so calm right now...

From Gamespot:

Senators Lieberman and Brownback plan to open another front in the war on video game violence.

US Senators Joe Lieberman and Sam Brownback said Wednesday that they intend to introduce legislation that would fund research on how exposure to different forms of media affects children. Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat, singled out video games as a particular area of concern and took yet another swing at Grand Theft Auto III, the best-selling PlayStation 2 game.

Lieberman said in the statement that the game links violence with sex and rewards players for degrading and killing women. "This is sick and indefensible," Lieberman said. "But beyond being offensive to our values, we should know whether this is helping to nurture misogynistic views and behaviors among young boys."

The planned legislation would create a program within the National Institutes of Health to fund studies measuring the health effects of media on children.

"Although our research base on the power of interactive media to influence children's learning and development is growing, it is still small," said Brownback, a Kansas Republican. "If this nation wants to realize the best for its youth, then additional research funding is essential to provide the information parents need to make informed decisions about their children's health."

Violent video games have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. Rep. Joe Baca (D-California) introduced legislation last year that would have made it a federal crime to sell or rent a violent video game to a minor. The government of Australia banned Grand Theft Auto III, deeming it unsuitable for minors. And a federal appeals court in St. Louis is reviewing local legislation that bans the sale of violent video games to minors.

Any comments?

**Jeff Harris** · 04-10-2003, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by Shnay

Any comments?

Just one.

With all the crap that's going on outside this country and the economical downward spiral we're still going through, the use of violence in video games should not be of importance and quite frankly, I like the people that supposed to represent me to actually work on ways to solve real problems, not to appease the soccer mom from Crater Lake, WY who happened to see her little boy skipping soccer practice to play something called Grand Theft Auto Vice City, a game she bought for him thinking that it would be safe for him .

**Nin-Nin69** · 04-10-2003, 10:56 PM

In other news today, the Earth is Round.

He's still squaking about GTA? I would be more worried about the release of Postal 2 right now than GTA.

**Weatherman** · 04-10-2003, 11:01 PM

True, we do have bigger issues right now, but I personally am concerned that there are way too many kids playing videogames that just aren't good for them. Not 10-year-old should be playing GTA3 or VC, as my GF's younger brother does. Granted, his parents bought him the games without a seccond thought, but it does make me wonder why the game was so appealing to him.

While Mr. Liberman may have his priorities a little out of place, he does raise questions that really do need to be looked at seriously, without the ad hominiem attacks.

**Shnay** · 04-10-2003, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by Weatherman

True, we do have bigger issues right now, but I personally am concerned that there are way too many kids playing videogames that just aren't good for them. Not 10-year-old should be playing GTA3 or VC, as my GF's younger brother does. Granted, his parents bought him the games without a seccond thought, but it does make me wonder why the game was so appealing to him.

While Mr. Liberman may have his priorities a little out of place, he does raise questions that really do need to be looked at seriously, without the ad hominiem attacks.

I agree completely. But the events going on now are of such dire importance that it seems like these Senators could be working on things that are much more productive.

Originally Posted by Nin-Nin69

He's still squaking about GTA? I would be more worried about the release of Postal 2 right now than GTA.

Well, he probably doesn't know about it yet. But, man, oh, man...we all better prepare for impact with that one. It's going to be nuts when they get wind of that one. And maybe rightly so.

**Skiptastic** · 04-10-2003, 11:29 PM

BTW, Lieberman should kick his old ass nose out of video games. This is pushing me towards Republicanism more than anything.

**RZetlin** · 04-11-2003, 12:09 AM

I guess Mr. Liberman forgot to check the M rating on the game. If he did he would have known that Grand Theft Auto III is not for little boys.

**Opaque** · 04-11-2003, 12:13 AM

can't wait fo the day when Video Games are treated like movies... no one gives Movies a hardtime because they have adult content... Video games should have the same freedom...

**Mynd Hed** · 04-11-2003, 12:32 AM

Originally Posted by Weatherman

Granted, his parents bought him the games without a seccond thought, but it does make me wonder why the game was so appealing to him.

They're appealing because when you tell certain children of a certain age that they can't have certain things, those things instantly become the things that they want the most in the entire world. I was the same way as a kid-- it was the coolest thing in the world to get into an R rated movie or see thirty seconds of porn. Kids always want to get into stuff that they're not supposed to. It has very little to do with the games themselves and much more to do with the fact that it's something that's forbidden.

**ohmrbill** · 04-11-2003, 02:04 AM

"...rewards players for degrading and killing women."

This is the one of the statements that really piss me off about their whole logic. Both sexes are degraded and killed equally.

But anyway, I would have no problems with forbidding minor from purchasing M-rated games if the rating system wasn't a complete joke and games were rated accurately (how the hell could something as tame as ZOE earn an M rating?!).

**Robin2099** · 04-11-2003, 02:05 AM

Originally Posted by ohmrbill

"...rewards players for degrading and killing women."

This is the one of the statements that really piss me off about their whole logic. Both sexes are degraded and killed equally.

But anyway, I would have no problems with forbidding minor from purchasing M-rated games if the rating system wasn't a complete joke and games were rated accurately (how the hell could something as tame as ZOE earn an M rating?!).

Whats really funny is when games like this become banned, it just makes the kids want to try and seek it out to play it even more. Just like now when I try to find any horror movie from when I was a kid. I try to find them because I thought they looked cool and couldn't rent them at that age. It will be the same thing for these kids too.

**Curt** · 04-11-2003, 07:57 AM

A majority of violent video games suck anyway. Including the GTA series.

**Nick Biped** · 04-11-2003, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by Curt

A majority of violent video games suck anyway. Including the GTA series.

That's just your opinion.

Anyways, I've always thought it was up to the parents to decide what's appropriate for kids and what isn't. If they're not keeping an eye on what their children are doing, then whose fault is that?

At any rate, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with trying to educate parents about violent video games, but I think the U.S. government has considerably more pressing matters right now.

**Skiptastic** · 04-11-2003, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by ohmrbill

"...rewards players for degrading and killing women."

This is the one of the statements that really piss me off about their whole logic. Both sexes are degraded and killed equally.

Well, the game does not reward you free health by getting a male hooker then killing him to get your money back after you have regained your health. So, in that way, it does reward you for degrading and killing women.

**skojoe** · 04-11-2003, 12:41 PM

I wish the senators would get over it. we have the ESRB in place. Most stores are actually checking to make sure people are old enough to buy the M rated games... Maybe they should study what the effects of haveing all these news networks playing 24 hours of live war coverage.

**Shnay** · 04-11-2003, 02:50 PM

Well, the game does not reward you free health by getting a male hooker then killing him to get your money back after you have regained your health. So, in that way, it does reward you for degrading and killing women.

The thing is, though, you get money if you kill anybody. It's been people's assumptions that killing the prostitute is a way of "getting your money back," but that's really not the case. You are not getting money back, you're simply getting money, as you would from any other person in the game world. The fact that you get money for killing people at all should probably be the focus of these people's arguments, not the fact that there are prostitutes in the game that the player can also "acquire" money from.

I certainly wouldn't say that women are treated with a great deal of respect in the game, but I think that that one point, that prostitutes can be killed, and you get money for it, has been too large of a focus in many of these reports.

There's a lot of things to complain about if you're one who's "against" the game, I find it a bit odd that so many against it pick that one point (that's founded on a bit of iffy logic) as the main example in their argument.

**Skiptastic** · 04-11-2003, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by Shnay

New Headline: Shut Up

I was just making the point that yeah, you can get money from killing anyone most of the time, but if you kill a hooker after you sleep with her, you get more money. Thats it. Besides, if you are going to say that no one does that trick, then you are fooling yourself.

**Shnay** · 04-11-2003, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by Skiptastic

I was just making the point that yeah, you can get money from killing anyone most of the time, but if you kill a hooker after you sleep with her, you get more money. Thats it. Besides, if you are going to say that no one does that trick, then you are fooling yourself.

Do you get more? I thought all the money stuff was random. Whatever. Either way, I'm not trying to defend the game's content as being "not all that bad." It obviously is; it's a world of depravity and violence taken to extremes. What's debatable are the effects of playing such a game, and how (or if) its distribution should be handled.

On another note, I think Lieberman is going to be talking about GTA3 even after the next game in the GTA series comes out.