Okay, first e-mail:
Though this is a bit off-topic, you protests against violent video games are very unreasonable. Kids are able to tell the difference between fiction and reality, well, with the exception of preschool-aged kids, but they're to young to be able to play the games. How do I know this? Well, for one, I am a kid, and playing violent games does not give me sadistic urges. Playing Counter Strike didn't cause the Virginia Tech shooting, the kid being denied treatment caused the shooting. He was an insane person that happened to play Counter Strike. That doesn't mean that Counter strike caused the guy to go nuts. He was nuts to begin with. And the "GTA Gives people points for running people over" thing was just plain inaccurate. Doing it too much can actually be BAD for the player, causing virtual "cops" to appear and take away their virtual weapons. The closest thing to that is getting rep. (short for reputation) for flinging raw sewage at houses in Saint's Row 2. And the "kid being able to walk into a store and buy any game" thing? That's just plain wrong. There's no way that a kid could be able to pick up an AO-rated game. They could probably get an M-rated game at Wal-Mart, Target, or K-Mart if they were tall enough, but an AO-rated game? The clerk would have to be either completely stoned, or, as Ben Croshaw would put it, "Pants-on-Head Retarded". Besides, for every one psycho that happened to be a gamer, there are millions more that don't even have a criminal record. Heck, the only crime that I've ever committed was shoplifting, and what was a while before I started gaming. I didn't even know it was a crime yet, 'cause I was only 2 years old. Gamers don't spend their time plotting murders, they spend their time reading webcomics like 8-bit Theatre, and Bob & George, or watching machinima like Red Vs. Blue. Gamers aren't violent, mentally unstabl e nutjobs, they're either jocks, cool kids, or socially inept nerds. So, your allegations, while awfully funny, are just untrue. Oh, and about the Resident Evil 5 trailer, in the immortal words of Australian Game Critic, Ben Croshaw, "Capcom aren't evil, they're just stupid". In summary: Games aren't evil, it's just that some of the troubled youth find gaming to be a very good pastime
Second E-mail:
Lies? I'm a kid myself. As far as I can tell, there are no people out there above the age of three, other than those with an I.Q. below 70, that can't tell the difference between reality and fiction We children and teenagers are much smarter than you believe. I, myself, think that GTA-style games are pretty fun, but not only me, but most people my age (12, just 'cause you're probably wondering what it is) don't have the urge to go jack cars after playing a GTA Clone. I am not the liar, but you are. There has been no recorded case of a child with a perfectly stable mind committing crimes because they saw them in Video Games. The reason kids blame video games is because they think it will get them out of trouble. The problem isn't that the kids are being influenced by the games to do the crimes, it's that they thought that blaming the game would get them out of trouble. Wanna know how I know this? 'Cause, if I didn't know that it would just make it more likely that games would be banned, I'd just blame the game for what I did, too.
Third E-mail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWhkepxdB1M&feature=related
http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2009/06/finals-episode-25-violence-is-golden.html
Everything you need to know is there. To quote moviebob: "You want a statistic? Zero. The number of studies in existance even starting to prove a link between violence in video games, and real-world violence". Oh, and about that Moviebob guy, he's a fucking GENIUS.
Fourth E-mail (note that I'm just quoting moviebob in this one):
Sure, GTA4 shoudn't be played by little kids (duh), but answer me this, if it's soooo bad, then why does it place you in the shoes of an immigrant, trying to survive in an urban hellscape and live his idealized American Dream? Bioshock engages one in an existential debate on the limits of objectivist political philosophy if carried to utopian extremes. Assasin's creed discusses concepts of legacy and historical perception, along with taking a bitingly cynical look at the cultural mythology of the crusades.
Fifth e-mail was the same as Tabor Mallory's post
Sixth e-mail:
Dude, you're being outsmarted by a fucking twelve-year-old. Oh, and scientists DO agree with me, hell, there have been NO studies that have proved what you are saying to be correct. Can over eleven million people be wrong about you being a nutjob???
