U.S. Senator Says Violent Games Are "Practice Simulators"

[Stillgard]

I play Dark Souls on my pc with an Xbox controller... does this qualify as a practice which I can use in real life????

I'm not sure that rolling around on the floor will do me much good versus someone who has a gun. I should probably mention that I don't own any type of firearm.... I live in Denmark afterall.

But yeah... be very afraid of my awesome skills at drinking coffee WHILE I rotate the camera......

We can always try killing them with kindness. Sadly not making much progress on that front.

 

[acturisme]

Quick! Blame something! someone! anyone but the killers themselves because we have no control over them.

 

[I.Muir]

So why then say such an unfounded statement? It may very well be just another person who fears something they don't understand and too old to try at their time of life. If that is the case how likely are they to make an unbiased and informed decision which would be using that intelligence they apparently posses.

And that's my point. She "may very well be just another person who fears something [she] doesn't understand", but that's an assumption on your part. She may also have made that unbiased and informed decision, but just because it falls out against your side, you dismiss her as being "too old to try [and understand] at [her] time of life". And speaking of biases, that last part is just slander, plain and simple.

Well that's the thing.
I don't think any decision made against video games with such flimsy support to back it up CAN be an unbiased and informed decision. My personal bias does not help but as an example if It were up to me I wouldn't ban Justin Bieber music because it causes teen pregnancy without seeing some damn evidence of this being the case first.

Then again being a politician she may be blindly lashing out at something/ anything to please the people.

Remind me again exactly what part is slander and why?

I completely agree with the fact that it probably wasn't an informed decision, but in that case the best thing to do is write to her and explain your (/our) side of the argument. Telling the internet that she's too old to try and understand doesn't help anyone or anything, least of all the legislative process.
And as to why saying that she's too old to try and understand is slander, it's because it simply isn't true. Most politicians actually want to hear what their voters think. They need to hear what's in the public's interest, because that's the only way they're going to survive as politicians.
To name Feinstein as an example; she was one of the co-sponsors of PIPA. Now, most of the advice that went into proposals such as SOPA and PIPA came from Hollywood and game and music publishers, because big business has a more efficient lobbying infrastructure in Washington. And it's not surprising that Feinstein sat up and took notice. After all, piracy has become a big problem and millions of jobs in entertainment industry are affected by it.
The SOPA/PIPA affair got publicity, other arguments came out against it and PIPA was dropped. That doesn't mean that Feinstein co-sponsored the act out of sheer neglect, but it also doesn't help to attack her competence. There isn't a single politician out there, or even a single person, who has a flawless record wherein they make the right choice on every single issue. If there was, that person would be president for ever.

Would she listen to somebody who is not a citizen of the us? It does affect us all.

 

[Saxnot]

what? a US senator tries to score easy points by bashing the vidya games? surely not! they are all such reasonable and well-researched people who never spout off about thing they know nothing about!

is this really still news? could we just make it a given that a dumbass politician is making stupid remarks about vieo games every week?

 

[Terramax]

The military trains people to kill too.

Lets ban those.

Basically that statement implicitly concedes the point that violent games train people to kill. And assuming that you're being sarcastic, you're also saying that it's fine for video games to do that, because the military does it too. Just... think about this kind of stuff before you post it... I do like your avatar though.

In this case, I was being sarcastic. And you're above logic only works if you assume I support the military. Which I don't.

Just... think carefully, and don't assume you know a person's believes before you post... and thank for liking my avatar.

 

[Drejer43]

And in other news "old lady yells at clouds"

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I'm not sure if this is a different thread from another thread like this or if I'm seeing the same one again. In either case, I highly doubt Dianne Feinstein is even entirely familiar with what a videogame actually is, let alone gone as far as to have played one.

This isn't someone who's wrong about something. This is someone who probably doesn't even know what they're talking about to begin with.

 

[Scrythe]

I didn't want to prematurely declare this, so I'm sure this is obvious to most, if not all of you.

However, I can now say this with 100% certainty:

[HEADING=1]Ladies and gentleman, we have our new Jack Thompson![/HEADING]

Warm up the popcorn and grab yourself a stiff drink, this is going to be one hell of a ride.

 

[Farther than stars]

Would she listen to somebody who is not a citizen of the us? It does affect us all.

Well, that's an interesting thought experiment. On the one hand, she has no reason to listen to you because you can't vote for her. On the other hand, the fact that it affects all gamers, and through supply and demand all jobs that are related to games, means that Silicon Valley (part of her constituency) and a large global industry are marginalized and deterred from making games and selling them in the U.S.
But we don't need to find out. As I explained in my original post, this initiative has no hope of being enforced for purely political reasons. All the societal consequences are purely hypothetical. For an academic debate, this has been fun though. I always enjoy thinking about the political process. All the best.

 

[Farther than stars]

The military trains people to kill too.

Lets ban those.

Basically that statement implicitly concedes the point that violent games train people to kill. And assuming that you're being sarcastic, you're also saying that it's fine for video games to do that, because the military does it too. Just... think about this kind of stuff before you post it... I do like your avatar though.

In this case, I was being sarcastic. And you're above logic only works if you assume I support the military. Which I don't.

Just... think carefully, and don't assume you know a person's believes before you post... and thank for liking my avatar.

But with a statement like that you can't be both sarcastic and be against the military. It just doesn't make any sense. And if you're against it, that's fine, but my first point still stands.

 

[DataSnake]

So, does that mean playing a lot of Arkham City qualifies me to be Batman? AWESOME!

 

[Arctodus_Simus]

Gotta admit, stuff like this doesn't really help :-/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123270-UFC-Fighter-Learned-Cool-Moves-From-Tekken

P/S/ I don't know how to link properly....

Captcha: Happy Clappy....

 

[DTWolfwood]

"First Amendment rights protection! Come at me bro!" ~Violent Videogames.

Are video games art or a valid form of freedom of expression?? All it would take is enough people in office to vote nay or say they do stand up to the miller test, and we would have a huge issue on our hands. That alone could strip a lot video games the same protection as books, movies/animation and other legit forms of art have which we all enjoy.

"I of course think games are worthy of 1st amendment protection"

You must not have heard, videogames were granted first amendment rights protection. They are to be treated the same as books and movies.

 

[xdiesp]

How do you expect people whose hobby is videogames, and whose culture is mostly limited to it, to speak ill of vydeagems? Most of the people here would see no reason against the president talking about Call of Duty in between his address to the nation. "It would be awesome!". People completely ignorant of gaming take akward generalized swipes at them, of course, but insiders like you aren't independent enough from the matter at hand to be trusted.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Damn old'uns today, don't remember they were born! *waggles candy cane*

You. I like you. C:

But really, this anti-gaming attitude from senile politicians is starting to bore me into apathy. Can't we pass a bill that criminalizes this kind of shit-talking from ignorant people in positions of power?

 

[Jegsimmons]

U.S. Senator Says Violent Games Are "Practice Simulators"

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein says violent videogames give budding mass-murderers the opportunity to practice their craft.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is back in the news after saying on MSNBC's Morning Joe yesterday that violent videogames are essentially trainers for killers. "I think the really violent videogame becomes a kind of simulator to practice on. And it enables the individual to become much more familiar with that depiction of death and blood," she said. "Of course it's not the way it is in real life."

The comment builds upon statements she made last week during an address in San Francisco, where she issued a thinly-veiled deranged gamer [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123118-California-Senator-Wants-Fewer-Guns-in-Games]" who was trying to rack up points for a "score sheet."

If the term "murder simulator" rings a bell, it's likely because it was a favorite landslide [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/80969-Jack-Thompson-Releases-Grand-Theft-Auto-IV-Statement] with more than 62 percent of the vote and setting a record for the most votes cast for a single candidate in one election.

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/news/violent-games-can-enable-would-be-mass-murderers-say-ca-senator-6406843]


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Just remember all you left wingers and anti-gun supporters of the escapist.....after they take our guns....the only thing left is our games.

 

[Drizzitdude]

yup playing devil may cry sure trains me on how to summon my inner demon to slash through people with my demon axe and sword moves that generate enough momentum to launch me into the air. Watch out.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

If Call of Duty is considered a practice "murder simulator," then Persona 4 must have made me well-trained in the arts of god killing and getting all of teh bitches.

Fuck yeah.​

OT: Eh, not like we haven't heard this before; An older government person saying that video games are bad so that they look good in the public eye of elders and stay-at-home moms.