Calgary Police Concerned About Grand Theft Auto IV

[Andy Chalk]

Calgary Police Concerned About Grand Theft Auto IV

The pending release of Grand Theft Auto IV [http://www.rockstargames.com/iv] has police in Calgary, Alberta, worried that the game may end up training criminals of the future.

A report in the Calgary Police Service [http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/04/25/5383716-sun.html] perspective, we see these types of videogames as a grave concern," he said.

"Because of the lack of consequences and even reward - [youth] don't understand the impact violence can have," he continued. "In some cases, those very games may be training grounds for people to commit criminal activity." Crookwell said parents must make themselves aware of the games their kids are playing through the warnings on the boxes, which provide detailed descriptions of the game's content.

The Calgary Sun is part of the ESRB [http://www.sunmedia.ca/]and is set for release on April 29.


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[Cousin_IT]

...it just never ends

 

[Anarchemitis]

...Oh No.

 

[Dectilon]

Have they said anything about Die Hard 4?

...didn't think so...

 

[mwhite67]

Don't they understand that pressing A to kick someone in the head and actually kicking someone in the head are completely different. I have played thousands of violent video games and can't imagine curb stomping someone in real life.

 

[Kukakkau]

this reminds me in britain the prime minster wants to introduce "movie style age ratings for games" ...now lets just look at ANY game box and what do we see?
and honestly tom and jerry. hitting each other with hammers and shovels. ok? shooting pixel people is baaadd

i say if children get that influenced by games blame the dumass parents for raising them

 

[Royas]

I guess that Canadian police are just as lacking in common sense as their United States counterparts.

 

[WingedFortress]

The sun is less than drivel. In 20 year's it will only serve as a catalog for prostitutes and cheap dates.

And to hell with the calgary police.

 

[JakubK666]

'I didn't rob the bank and kill hostages...games made me do it!'

Now hire Jack Thompson as your lawyer and you've gotten yourself a "Get out of jail free" card.

 

[boyitsme95]

Grand Theft Childhood

Actual book by I think a Harverd study saying that children who play over about 12 hours of violent video games AND children who don't play video games are more likely to get into more trouble, and I say more LIKELY, not absolutly, but likely. It helps to note how I learned of this not from a news paper, not a news station like FOX, but from watching an episode of X-play. Everyone ignores this except a show based on video games. So F*** you Calgary Police! I played violent video games since around 7, and I felt guilty killing a bee that wanted to sting me! So take that and shove it!

P.S.
This happened to movies, it happened to comic books, and it will happen to video games untill kids who grew up on violent video games are in charge.

EDIT: Here is a link to the book on the Barnes & Noble website.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Grand-Theft-Childhood/Lawrence-Kutner/e/9780743299510/?itm=1

 

[Uskis]

My feelings about this kind of articles can be summed up by the sound Yahtzee makes in the beginning of his Smash Bros. Brawl review. It's like aging 2 years in 2 seconds.

There's a festival here in Denmark, where they had a tent where you could borrow a prejudice, like a cop or a homosexual og a christian, muslim etc. Maybe we should set up stands where parents, cops and other gamehaters could talk to a gamer for a couple of hours to get a positive vibe about gaming and gamers in general...

On second thought it might not be a good idea....

 

[oshin]

People are fast to bash this guy, but hes got a good point, parents should be careful about what game they get there kids, some parents would be horrified if they knew what they were actually getting there kid. GTA generally has a cynical attitude about society and crime, when is fine when taken from an entertainment point of view, but to a young kid might just seem cool.

Im not saying games dont get unfairly bashed by the media, but often gamers go on the hard defensive, often times shooting down good cautionary advice.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

The idiotic parents shouldn'tbuy it for them. It took me three years to convince my father to buy me grand theft auto, and frankly, I respect him enormously for that (and myriad other things) because he had the will and determination to not only stand up to a whiny, aggravating little bastard like myself but also research and find out about the game before making any decision around allowing me to purchase it.

That is responsible parenting. Parents who instantly buy these videogames for little Joshua should be publically humiliated for being downright stupid.

And Rupert Murdoch should be fed to ravenous wolverines, crotch-first.

 

[mwhite67]

I remember when I was about 12 I saw Robocop, and the scene where the dude got his arms and legs blown off was like the most violent thing I have ever seen, but you never hear anything about violence in movies

 

[Kogarian]

People are fast to bash this guy, but hes got a good point, parents should be careful about what game they get there kids, some parents would be horrified if they knew what they were actually getting there kid. GTA generally has a cynical attitude about society and crime, when is fine when taken from an entertainment point of view, but to a young kid might just seem cool.

Im not saying games dont get unfairly bashed by the media, but often gamers go on the hard defensive, often times shooting down good cautionary advice.

Oh my goodness, someone who's not readily agreeing with the horde of pissed off Escaptist gamers. Purge him!

I just wish expert scientists would do some credible, long-term research on how violent video games actually affect people and society...then compare that to violent movies and how messed up some kids get going through high school.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Im not saying games dont get unfairly bashed by the media, but often gamers go on the hard defensive, often times shooting down good cautionary advice.

"parents must make themselves aware of the games their kids are playing through the warnings on the boxes, which provide detailed descriptions of the game's content."
:Good cautionary advice:


"Because of the lack of consequences and even reward - [youth] don't understand the impact violence can have," he continued. "In some cases, those very games may be training grounds for people to commit criminal activity."
:Ill informed, Reactionary & unfounded:

If the people who say this sort of stuff could stick to the former without saying the latter, I expect "gamers" would be less defensive when things like this appear. But whenever a decent point is made they almost always blow it by spowting some deamonising tripe in the same speech/article/press release etc.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

In a country where guns are legal, people are scared of a video game. It is the government who do everything they can to get kids into the army so they can teach them to kill, and then honour them for it. This behaviour makes all video games look tame.

 

[Kazagha]

"the desensitizing effects of violent videogames, television shows and movies on youth."

There is some mention of other violent media's that would have effects on youth. Though I guess mostly video game basing is at hand. Anyone have the full article handy?