Fox News Host Wants to Monitor Your Gaming Habits

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
Jan 5, 2013
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Fox News Host Wants to Monitor Your Gaming Habits


Fox & Friends host Elizabeth Hasselbeck has suggested that the government monitor game purchases in the wake of the DC Navy Yard shooting.

In case you've been too busy playing mind corrupting videogames to check up on the news, the Washingtion D.C. Navy Yard found itself the scene of a mass shooting a few days ago that, sadly, claimed the lives of thirteen people and injured another eight. The shooting, naturally, has led many to ask why these sorts of things happen, a question that, of course, has led some to look at videogames.

The culprit this time would be Fox News which, at several points during a discussion on the shooting, turned its attention shooter Aaron Alexis' background as a gamer. "He's got a friend, who said, 'Yeah, he had an obsession with video games,'" said co-host Brian Kilmeade. "He would come over and he would be playing so long - these video games, these shooting games - we'd have to give him dinner, we'd have to feed him while he continued to stay on them.'"

Host Elizabeth Hasselbeck meanwhile suggested that perhaps the government should begin monitoring game purchases to help single out "people susceptible to playing videogames." While she affirmed that she's not one that wants the government to "monitor everything" she rolled around the idea that perhaps we should start "looking at frequency of [game] purchases" and "how often they're playing."

There are, of course, a few things to note about this Fox & Friends conversation. The first few minutes of the segment, for instance, don't talk about videogames but rather about supporters of gun control using this latest shooting as a jumping point to reignite the gun debate. We're not going to weigh in on that argument, but it is pretty clear that Hasselbeck and company would prefer that guns remain unrestricted. That in mind, the somewhat sudden switch to "hey, what about those videogames?" comes across almost like a parent jiggling their keys to distract a scared child. It's not really a bad strategy either, especially considering <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122351-Majority-of-Americans-Believe-Games-Contribute-to-Violence>how many Americans still think videogames contribute to real world violence even though studies would <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125351-New-Study-Dismisses-Link-Between-Violence-and-Videogames>suggest otherwise.

Source: <a href=http://kotaku.com/after-mass-shooting-fox-news-host-wonders-if-gamers-sh-1335462866>Kotaku


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Tireseas_v1legacy

Plop plop plop
Sep 28, 2009
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The registration and tracking of firearms sales? Absurd.

The registration and tracking of video games sales? Totally legit.

Only in America.
 

Tahaneira

Social Justice Rogue
Feb 1, 2011
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I don't know. They are really starting to come across as desperate about the whole 'games cause violence' issue.

I wonder if they're worrying about losing funding from anti-gaming people and are trying to pander to them.
 

snekadid

Lord of the Salt
Mar 29, 2012
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I've been playing alot of smite lately, so obviously the Government should be watching me since I'm apparently training for when Jesus comes back. THAT'S RIGHT CHRIST! I'M READY FOR YOU!!!

I'd like to point out that this is coming from an organization that calls itself Fox NEWS while readily admitting they don't provide a NEWS service. They obviously speak only in lies and thus solves the first part of the riddle, now to find the organization that speaks only in truths and then we can open the damn door.
 

revjay

Everybody's dead, Dave.
Nov 19, 2007
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This story proves one thing without doubt. Video games lead to rude behavior such as overstaying your welcome and causing polite people to feed you instead of asking you to leave.. With that said, I have a friend with an xbox and I'm STARVING. See ya!!
 

Zer0Saber

New member
Aug 20, 2008
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I cannot palm my face any harder. I'm tired of these.......lets say asshats...gaining momentum on this. Now I've played M rated games when I was in my young teens, and I was well aware that it wasn't real, nor did it every make me want to go on a murder spree. I'm playing GTA5 now and I still don't feel the urge to kill.
 

CriticalMiss

New member
Jan 18, 2013
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"He's got a friend, who said, 'Yeah, he had an obsession with video games,'" said co-host Brian Kilmeade.
Ah, second-hand anecdotal evidence. Scientific proof of a link between videogames and violence!
 

Gizmo1990

Insert funny title here
Oct 19, 2010
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I know that it is not perfect but I always get a great feeling of appreciation for the BBC when I read stuff like this. At least in england this carp is confined to newspapers so you know to avoid them, and nobody belives newspapers anyway. I would hate to live in a country where people have to listen to this crap.

My sympathy to all the American esacpists out their.
 

Ninja_Bob117

New member
May 7, 2013
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All guess what all shooting have in common Guns and in most cases a history of mental problems god damm it fox news
 

Jennacide

New member
Dec 6, 2007
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The Gentleman said:
The registration and tracking of firearms sales? Absurd.

The registration and tracking of video games sales? Totally legit.

Only in America.
Where's the reddit up arrow when I need it?

What continues to shock me is comments like "he used to play for so long we had to feed him." So you knew he had an addiction to something that does not have physically addictive properties, you enabled this psychological addiction, and it never occured to you that mental health might be the issue? Or here's a fun idea, there have been crazy people since before videogames existed, and maybe, just maybe, crazy people will continue to exist.
 

Frezzato

New member
Oct 17, 2012
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I find it hilarious that Fox News, long time advocates of smaller government and less intrusion into private lives, would even dare to suggest that the government track individual purchases of games. Federal, state, and local governments can't even track adopted children for crying out loud. How would they remain aware of millions of game purchases?

National Geographic online linked to a study that doesn't link violence to games.

Link here [http://www.springer.com/about+springer/media/springer+select?SGWID=0-11001-6-1433942-0]. It would be great if somebody on The Escapist staff could request a copy of the full study, which I believe is free with journalist credentials.

National Geographic also linked to a study, co-authored by the US Secret Service in 2002, using data from school shootings from 1974 to 2000. Of the ten key findings:

"...There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.

...Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.

...The use of profiles...is not an effective approach to identifying students who may pose a risk for targeted school violence...."

Link to PDF. [http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ssi_final_report.pdf]
"No accurate or useful profile". What do I take that as? Games were not a common link.
 

Fox12

AccursedT- see you space cowboy
Jun 6, 2013
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So the party that claims to be small government, and is supposedly against spying thinks that we should monitor the free market? What a bunch of hypocrites, Fox makes me sick.

Where's Ron Paul when you need him? Come back to congress!
 

Smooth Operator

New member
Oct 5, 2010
8,162
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I think we need registration and tracking of stupidity first, because that mount of dumb on a single couch should be downright illegal.
 

Mr. Omega

ANTI-LIFE JUSTIFIES MY HATE!
Jul 1, 2010
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A nice summary of American conservatism in general right there. "Big Government is bad!... Unless it's for people or things we don't like. Then Big Government is the most awesome thing ever!"

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go bludgeon people to death with WiiU tablets. According to these people, it's far more dangerous than a gun.
 

go-10

New member
Feb 3, 2010
1,557
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a guy that can't take a couple of minutes from gaming to eat and socialize clearly has bigger problems than "violent video games" clearly this dude had bigger issues than went unresolved which might have led to his ultimate decision

but if he was yelling things out like 'fag, gay, get back in the kitchen, and numerous racial slurs' while he opened fire then yeah video games are probably to blame