Anti-Gaming Television Episode Earns Official Complaint

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Anti-Gaming Television Episode Earns Official Complaint


U.K. consumers group Gamers' Voice [http://gamersvoice.org.uk/] has filed a formal complaint over an episode of The Wright Stuff that used footage from Modern Warfare 2 while attempting to draw links between violent videogames and a real-life gang killing.

16-year-old Agnes Sina-Inakoju was by all reports a promising student who hoped to study at Oxford before she was gunned down by a pair of scumbags while ordering a slice of pizza. The duo, both of whom were recently The Wright Stuff [http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Leon-Dunkley-And-Mohammed-Smoured-Jailed-For-Life-Over-Gun-Death-Of-Agnes-Sina-Inakoju/Article/201104215970878], but instead of looking at socio-economic factors or the influence of gun culture, the show apparently went for the easy mark: violent videogames.

Video from the Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303143232&sr=8-1] mission "No Russian" depicting a terrorist massacre of Russian civilians was used to introduce the segment, while Daily Mail columnist and regular Wright Stuff panelist Anne Diamond said violent games were obviously to blame for causing violent behavior, and that reports claiming otherwise should be ignored because they're "obviously" funded by the games industry and thus completely biased.

"We don't really need reports to tell us [that violent video games cause anti social behavior] do we?" she asked. "Common sense tells you if you expose a child to violent imagery and a lot of it for many hours a day for many years on end, it's going to have an effect."

Rather than "sinking to the same level as Anne Diamond" by calling people names on the internet, Gamers' Voice called on gamers to respond "eloquently and intellectually." To that end it filed a formal complaint with broadcaster Channel 5 protesting both the "unbalanced content" of the show and the "inexplicable" use of footage from an 18-rated game on a daytime television show. "Apparently at 10.30 in the morning during the school holidays, it's fine to show scenes from an 18 rated game to set context of how it causes violence," the group wrote [http://gamersvoice.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118:the-wright-stuff-discusses-whether-violent-video-games-lead-to-violent-behaviour&catid=3:gv-news&Itemid=3], "which goes in some way the level ignorance of all involved in the program on the subject being discussed."


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BoredDragon

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Holy crap, gamers are actually responding intelligently :O

btw is "The Wright Stuff" the equivalent of FOX in the land of fish and chips?
 

ZtH

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Good to see that Gamer's Voice is keeping it classy and responding the right way, but its a shame to see that they had to.
 

Scott Guthrie

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that is just sickening, their comparing a video game to the (incredibly sad) shooting of a young girl by a local gang. It really sickens me to see broadcasters taking such a low shot at gamers. It is also (in my opinion) deeply dis respective to the girls family, to say that video games caused (or were a contributing factor to her death) when it it clearly social deprivation and gang culture which caused this incident.

and on a side note: a journalist from the mail... giving such points... that doesn't sit right with me
 

new_age_reject

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Generic Gamer said:
BoredDragon said:
Holy crap, gamers are actually responding intelligently :O

btw is "The Wright Stuff" the equivalent of FOX in the land of fish and chips?
Nah, it's a nothing show. I'm not just dissing it for hurting my beloved gaming either, it is of literally no cultural or political interest. They could say whatever they wanted and no one would hear it.
Unfortunately a lot of stay at home mums and middle aged people do watch it and hang on its every word. Thankfully it's not entirely right wing garbage like fox news.
 

Rex Fallout

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Generic Gamer said:
BoredDragon said:
Holy crap, gamers are actually responding intelligently :O

btw is "The Wright Stuff" the equivalent of FOX in the land of fish and chips?
Nah, it's a nothing show. I'm not just dissing it for hurting my beloved gaming either, it is of literally no cultural or political interest. They could say whatever they wanted and no one would hear it.
Sooo.....

Pretty much just like Fox?

Anyways, I'm really getting tired of this kind of crap. Glad to see people are responding in an intelligent way though.
 

Ralen-Sharr

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"We don't really need reports to tell us [that violent video games cause anti social behavior] do we?" she asked. "Common sense tells you if you expose a child to violent imagery and a lot of it for many hours a day for many years on end, it's going to have an effect."

The biggest flaw in this argument is that they are showing footage from an 18+ game. A child shouldn't be playing that anyway. Any parent that lets their kid play it should be taking responsibility for it anyway, even though they won't. They'll just not give a damn and then act surprised and point fingers IF anything happens. Which if it was going to happen, it would have anyway, regardless of what video games they played.
 

N3vans

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BoredDragon said:
Holy crap, gamers are actually responding intelligently :O

btw is "The Wright Stuff" the equivalent of FOX in the land of fish and chips?
Sort of, it's just a shit TV program on a really bad TV channel. Try the Daily Mail if you want our version of FOX.

OT: No surprises there then, especially from a Daily Mail columnist.
Andy Chalk said:
Anti-Gaming Television Episode Earns Official Complaint

"We don't really need reports to tell us [that violent video games cause anti social behavior] do we?" she asked.
Basically, "You can easily have valid reports stating the contrary, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story." Textbook Daily Fail there.
 

Snotnarok

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"We don't really need reports to tell us [that violent video games cause anti social behavior] do we?" she asked. "Common sense tells you if you expose a child to violent imagery and a lot of it for many hours a day for many years on end, it's going to have an effect."

I grew up watching Terminator, Robocop, X-Files, playing rated M games and other such things and I've never fired a gun in my life and any fights I got into weren't started by me. Where's your common sense now?
 

MetalGearblack

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Apr 14, 2009
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You would think the show world try to connect real life gang violence to video games about gang violence like grand theft auto and saint's row and not call of duty a video game not about gangs.
 

N3vans

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I'll reply eloquently, to quote 'In Bruges': "[Insert name of drooling Daily Mail/ Wright Stuff muppet here] let's face it. And I'm not being funny. I mean no disrespect, but you're a ****. You're a **** now, and you've always been a ****. And the only thing that's going to change is that you're going to be an even bigger ****. Maybe have some more **** kids."
 

Misho-

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Andy Chalk said:
...panelist Anne Diamond said violent games were obviously to blame for causing violent behavior, and that reports claiming otherwise should be ignored because they're "obviously" funded by the games industry and thus completely biased.
Wow ok... That's fair... So basically if you don't agree with us, you are biased and we will ignore you.
 

Woodsey

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BoredDragon said:
Holy crap, gamers are actually responding intelligently :O

btw is "The Wright Stuff" the equivalent of FOX in the land of fish and chips?
Not quite. Its a day time chat show for naive, moral guardian-esque housewives on an incredibly unpopular TV channel.

Our equivalent of FOX is probably the Daily Mail (tabloid paper), which the stupid woman in the article writes for.

Wright himself is just a smug twat.

Rex Fallout said:
Generic Gamer said:
BoredDragon said:
Holy crap, gamers are actually responding intelligently :O

btw is "The Wright Stuff" the equivalent of FOX in the land of fish and chips?
Nah, it's a nothing show. I'm not just dissing it for hurting my beloved gaming either, it is of literally no cultural or political interest. They could say whatever they wanted and no one would hear it.
Sooo.....

Pretty much just like Fox?
Fox has a huge audience all gagging to hear about how anyone further Left than the Republicans are Commies waiting to tax them to hell and assimilate their brains. You shouldn't underestimate the weight that steaming pile of shit holds over the public's opinions.
 

jhlip

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Feb 17, 2011
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Way to be classy and intelligent Gamer's Voice. That is just what we need.
 

Prof. Monkeypox

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Of course there's no need to listen to the arguments and studies that counter your own- what is this, intelligent television?

Seriously, I am tired of people going unchallenged when they make these claims- good on you for calling them out on it, Gamer's Voice.