Florida News Station Warns Of Pedophiles Offering Game Points For Photos

[huntedannoyed]

It seems that more and more often, in any given situation, you are going to find sick people once in a while. I think that the report, which I have heard before from other news orginizations, is a very good warning to parents. Ultimatly, it is up to the parents to decide which games are appropriate for their children to play, but just because the game has a user friendly rating dos not mean that the parents should not observe their childs actions within the game. The report, to me, is saying "Hey, there are bad things out there. Don't let the games be the babysitter."

 

[personofaperson]

anyone who is saying this new cast is made up by the station apparently doesn't leave there homes very often because this can easily be explained as true. "Games points" as they say could be used to describe any point system in a game that requires real money in order to buy something. Microsoft points is one example. and you can easily go to the nearest Walgreen's buy $20 worth of them and then give the code to get them to some preteen boy. People often use these cards if they are under 18 and are using there parents credit card and cannot purchase Microsoft points online. This also refer to many computer games such as "Maple Story" which is quite popular with younger gamers. But lets not also forget the possibility of "gamer points" being misunderstood as actual in game money which if your not familiar with games could easily happen, and its not like nobody has heard of someone selling gold in WoW or gil sellers in FFXI. I'm not to familiar with PS3 or the Wii but i don't doubt there could be a way to buy whatever form of game currency they may use for a local target.

The fact is the new report is fully plausible.

Saying that my opinion on the whole topic is that I'm more surprised it hasn't been brought up sooner and i believe there are 3 groups at wrong here. first the pedophiles of course. second the parents for buying and letting there child use something they them self don't understand. and third the child for being so irresponsibly stupid to the point of taking a naked picture of them self.

(forgive any spelling/grammar error please)

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Anyone who is saying this Newscast is made up by the station apparently doesn't leave their homes very often. This can easily be true. "Game points" can be used to describe any point system in a game that requires real money in order to buy something. Microsoft points is one example. You can easily go to the nearest Walgreen's and buy $20 worth of them and then give the code to some preteen boy. People often use these cards if they are under 18 and are using there parents credit card and due to parental controls cannot purchase Microsoft points online. This also refers to many computer games such as "Maple Story" which is quite popular with younger gamers. But lets not also forget the possibility of "gamer points" being misunderstood as actual in game money which if your not familiar with games could easily happen. Its not like nobody has heard of someone selling gold in WoW or gil sellers in FFXI. I'm not too familiar with the PS3 or the Nintendo Wii but I don't doubt that there could be a way to buy whatever form of game currency they may use for a local target.

The fact is the news report is fully plausible.

My opinion on the whole topic is that I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up before this (Probably has- ed.) and i believe there are Three groups in the wrong here. The first group is the pedophiles. Second is the parents for buying and letting their child use something they themselves don't understand and the third party is the child for being so irresponsibly stupid to the point of taking a naked picture of them self.

That being said I doubt that the game's referenced above have that kind of feature. I also have serious concerns if Nintendo is allowing children to buy things for their products online. (Is there even DLC for the Wii)

Edited your post because I was bored.

 

[Aardvark Soup]

The video report accompanying the article is as compelling and informative as one would expect, saying that children on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and "even Wii" are at risk and...

Yeah right. But only after those children entered the 10-digit friend code of the pedophile and somehow managed to communicate trough extremely limited or nonexistent ways...

 

[personofaperson]

Anyone who is saying this Newscast is made up by the station apparently doesn't leave their homes very often. This can easily be true. "Game points" can be used to describe any point system in a game that requires real money in order to buy something. Microsoft points is one example. You can easily go to the nearest Walgreen's and buy $20 worth of them and then give the code to some preteen boy. People often use these cards if they are under 18 and are using there parents credit card and due to parental controls cannot purchase Microsoft points online. This also refers to many computer games such as "Maple Story" which is quite popular with younger gamers. But lets not also forget the possibility of "gamer points" being misunderstood as actual in game money which if your not familiar with games could easily happen. Its not like nobody has heard of someone selling gold in WoW or gil sellers in FFXI. I'm not too familiar with the PS3 or the Nintendo Wii but I don't doubt that there could be a way to buy whatever form of game currency they may use for a local target.

The fact is the news report is fully plausible.

My opinion on the whole topic is that I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up before this (Probably has- ed.) and i believe there are Three groups in the wrong here. The first group is the pedophiles. Second is the parents for buying and letting their child use something they themselves don't understand and the third party is the child for being so irresponsibly stupid to the point of taking a naked picture of them self.

That being said I doubt that the game's referenced above have that kind of feature. I also have serious concerns if Nintendo is allowing children to buy things for their products online. (Is there even DLC for the Wii)

Edited your post because I was bored.

When you say "I doubt that the game's referenced above have that kind of feature" do you mean halo3, cod4 and such? and when u say "feature" if your talking about buying Microsoft points from a store they DO have it. its not for the GAME but for the system. I've done it before, you give the clerk $10 and then they give you a card with a 9 or so digit code on it and you enter that code into your xbox and you have the corresponding amount of Microsoft points added to your account. A pedophile could easily say "hey little boy if u show me your penis ill give you this code for 1000 Microsoft points"

 

[Jumplion]

When you say "I doubt that the game's referenced above have that kind of feature" do you mean halo3, cod4 and such? and when u say "feature" if talking about buying Microsoft points from a store they DO have it. its not for the GAME but for for the system I've done it before, you give the clerk $10 and then they give you a card with a 9 or so diget code on it and you enter that code into you xbox and you have the coresponding amount of Microsoft point added to you account. a pedifile could easily say "hey little boy if u show me your penis ill give you this code for 1000 Microsoft points"

If the kid actually does what the pedophille says then there's something wrong with both of them. I mean, the kid has to have some common sense...right? Plus, it depends on how old of the kid we're talking about. If it's 8 years old then most likely he or she will learn to not talk to strangers, if its 15 or so then the kids an idiot.

 

[Melaisis]

Haha! Well at least this station is trying to be a little more gaming literate. Despite the fact that its, well, still a load of crap. '50 to 300,000 at any one time'? A bit low, don't you think? Besides, there's age limits on these games for a reason, and they all do say the experience could change during online play.

 

[personofaperson]

When you say "I doubt that the game's referenced above have that kind of feature" do you mean halo3, cod4 and such? and when u say "feature" if talking about buying Microsoft points from a store they DO have it. its not for the GAME but for for the system I've done it before, you give the clerk $10 and then they give you a card with a 9 or so diget code on it and you enter that code into you xbox and you have the coresponding amount of Microsoft point added to you account. a pedifile could easily say "hey little boy if u show me your penis ill give you this code for 1000 Microsoft points"

If the kid actually does what the pedophille says then there's something wrong with both of them. I mean, the kid has to have some common sense...right? Plus, it depends on how old of the kid we're talking about. If it's 8 years old then most likely he or she will learn to not talk to strangers, if its 15 or so then the kids an idiot.

Exactly thats why the blame should be based on 3 groups. Perverted pedophiles, ignorant parents, and irresponsible and stupid children. in that order.

 

[Cyclomega]

It reminded me of when Faux News told everybody that pedos could harass your children with their Nintendo DS, or that PSPs were manufactured to download pr0n...

A bunch of bull made to cash in on the craving of the average 'merican on fear...

 

[PurpleRain]

Innocent children as young as 5 are being exposed to mind altering games, that are being asked to take take part in terrorist activities in order to get 'level points'.

My theory on it is that terrorists are going to go where kids are, and kids are playing videogames so it's a perfect place for them to be and brainwash your children!

You think they're just watching a normal friendly plumbing game, but they are really playing and talking to a lot of different people that could be pedophiles, black people or even terrorists.

There can be 5 to 300 people on the 'interweb-machine' playing the most popular Internet-connected games, a number seemingly as random as the statements made by Maurer and Magana. Games cited by Forbes as being popular with children today include Halo 2, Call For Duty, Final Fantasy 6 and Mario. And while the majority of gamers online only want to play some games, according to the report, "Some of them are looking for more than just gaming action." Porn, drugs and terrorist mind washing has become a huge part of video games today.


Ok, finished my report. Now to send it off to Fox and make big $$$.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I can't think of any point where Facebook offers you a reward for photos or information. I'm not familiar with Bebo, but I'm 100% sure that Facebook doesn't have "points".

I can't be certain (as I don't have Facebook) but does this sound familiar? [http://www.bluelinerny.com/blog/2007/10/11/facebooks-foodfight-a-marketers-data-dream-field/]

 

[Cyclomega]

Depends also on the mentality of the kid.
One of my best friend had a girl in 10th or 11th grade who, at 16 and with a quite poor family, admitted she already was sleeping with boys picked up from night clubs in exchange for presents and money to buy herself trendy threads and stuff... And was proud she was clever enough to choose the easiest way...

Some "kids" are so materialistic and venal that they feel whoring oneself is AWWWRIIIIIGHT...
I just can hope they're not that many, but again...

 

[Danny Ocean]

"They might be in contact with THOUSANDS of people.. some of which are looking for more than gaming. Some of them might be chatting with your child, or even talking directly to them!"

Just like real life.

How many games use webcams anyway?

 

[Cyclomega]

No idea, but this sounds oddly like Fox News warning about pedos using DS to contact your kids while driving in their cars (look on youtube).

Yeah, I'm repeating myself (partly because it rings a hueg* bell).

*liek xbox

 

[Alex_P]

These articles really should have quotes in the titles, like many newspapers and websites do. Specifically, this article title should be "Florida News Station Warns of Pedophiles Offering 'Game Points' for Photos." As a way to emphasize that the "game points" are their claim, not yours.

Or, if you want to get snarky, "Florida 'News Station' Warns of Pedophiles Offering 'Game Points' for Photos."

... Although I guess if you start emulating newspaper headlines then you're going to end up with horribly deceptive titles and mangled, near-unintelligible grammar. So, nevermind.

-- Alex

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Ok, but thats not possible for the Ps3, as it doesn't try to rip us off with points. So, this is a 360 only problem. Yet again. (The others being costly memory upgrades, uncooperative and rude online users and paying for online).

Sony_Lapdog is forgetting that PC games, too, can have cameras and online currency (whence come gold farmers) and Home is getting to the stage that it'll support both... assuming Sony ever gets it off the ground, that is.

This isn't an issue of "my platform is better than yours", it's an issue of talking heads saying scary and poorly-researched things for ratings that will, in the end, hurt all gamers. Let's deal with that, eh?

-- Steve

 

[SteinFaust]

ugh these stupid, STUPID people. wtf, "looking at a game"??? "get through the game" ????
i'm sorry, but the network would have to have PAID these people to be this blatantly stupid. but fine, if they want to take such action, we would have no problem banning your children from Live. after all, everyone else is smart enough to NOT take pictures of themselves for people. and after that, when the pedos realize there are no more kids they will either leave or do something stupid enough to get banned.