Moz - there are no real laws about R-rated movies. They're just guidelines exactly like the ESRB. You're not the only one thought -- lots and lots of people are under the impression that movie ratings carry the weight of law. Must be something in the way that industry has promoted them, or the fact that more people simple recognize movies appeal to the full spectrum of ages and tastes. I have a feeling that for many people who don't know much about gaming, a "mature" video game means its appropriate for older kids, like 14 or 15 year olds. They just don't think of people older than that as playing games, which is unfortunate.
BTW Moz you'll love this. IGN editor says GTA is overrated garbage. He rags on the fact that there are no mechanics systems to master like in a fighting game or a deep racer:
"Not one of the game's play mechanics is especially well done, most are sloppy at best. There is no depth to Grand Theft Auto gameplay. There are no systems to master. There is nothing but a multitude of shallow options."
http://blogs.ign.com/MarkRyan-IGN/2008/05/02/88528/
Personally, I don't have to have those mechanics in every game I play. I like different games for different reasons, but whatever. Bought GTA late last night. As soon as my wife and a buddy of mine come home I'm busting it out.
Lets Talk About GTA
You have nothing to worry about. Aside from a few successes many moons ago, JT has lived a career full of failure after failure, with hundreds of empty threats and promises thrown in the mix. The guy is completely fucking worthless to himself. He never accomplishes his own goals. He just continues to embarrass himself, and soon his license will be taken away, which means all he can continue to do is chase ambulances. He'll probably always have a spot on Fox News waiting for him during each event, but no one who watches Fox News is of any concern to us. It seems most of the other stations finally did a little homework on the man and stopped asking him to come on down.devilmyarse wrote:I hate to agree with JT but he's right. The only thing that worries me is if he wins and forces the industry to rethink how it rates games and how it chooses to enforce the sale of mature content, he'll move on to the obesity in children by banning games altogether as they are seen to be the reason kids are sat on their arse all do doing nothing.
RadarScope, loved the link. Well said.
I just think that he is finally onto something as far the violence in video gaming goes. My fiancée recently just did a paper on violence in media. It triggered me into really reading into this stuff. It's quite interesting how the system works in the US compared to the UK. For once I think that the way it works in the UK is by far and away much better than how it is for you. I feel sorry for you guys in the way that the your society views video games.
I would be disgusted if I had kids and that they could go in any shop and pick up any game regardless of it's content. All the parents that i've talked to wouldn't dream of letting their kids play GTA or any violent game whatsoever. They let them play morally decent games instead. The parents that let their kids play violent games or watch violent movies are generally little shits who have no morals and just go around terrorizing the neighborhood by being mischievous little skallies!
I would be disgusted if I had kids and that they could go in any shop and pick up any game regardless of it's content. All the parents that i've talked to wouldn't dream of letting their kids play GTA or any violent game whatsoever. They let them play morally decent games instead. The parents that let their kids play violent games or watch violent movies are generally little shits who have no morals and just go around terrorizing the neighborhood by being mischievous little skallies!
Marurun wrote:Don’t mind-shart your pants, guys
Hmm...I wonder about a few comments made so far.
I've always thought Thompson's appearances on Fox News were rather strange, as Hillary Clinton has always been a big supporter of his. While the Fox News claim about "Fair and Balanced" means leaning to the Right Wing, Thompson supports policies that belong on the Left in his support for government regulation and censorship. While he often brings up interesting points about media's affect on children and people, and he does at least a minimum of research, his outlandish statements and unruly legal style usually result in many people thinking he is a joke, much like the Lyndon LaRouche political campaign.
As far as the UK is concerned, video games have an enemy in Keith Vaz, who's made quite a few disturbing comments about violence in video games. I, and many people I know, feel the UK has slowly begun over-regulating everything, and I'm actually quite worried about the protection of freedoms of the British people. Also, the UK has the most fun government to watch on C-SPAN.
Last I checked, statistically the amount of children that manage to get an M-rated game is roughly 40%. The amount of children capable of sneaking into R-rated films was about 38%. The arguments often heard against the ESRB's function is often very similar to what was stated about the MPAA during its creation in the 1970s. I actually agree with the MPAA's judgment on many movies, but they often refused to classify films NC-17, or X when it was still that, simply because American theaters refused to play such movies, because many people found the kind of content in said movies distasteful, and theaters thought they looked better in the eyes of the community by refusing these films. The same currently goes for the ESRB, so the AO rating is void since the ESRB knows from a business sense it's a death sentence in the retail world. A few games have managed to earn an AO rating. They are either sold online(where it is ultimately impossible to tell the age of the buyer), in specialty stores(often accompanied by things far worse than video games), or willingly go through a process to remove content that brings the rating that high. In the meantime, the press goes nuts and the game gets an incredible amount of publicity, further increasing sales upon its release. In a way, it's a win-win situation for the ESRB(who looks good) and the game company(who makes more money). Good for business, you know.
Now if we factored in government control, that increases government spending(something I dislike) and it becomes the job of government to create a new system to regulate how citizens should view violence and sex in their media. Games are forced to go by strict governmental guidelines and true censorship occurs. As government in this country often doesn't understand the difference between games, mods, and free titles on the internet, this will also lead to regulation of the internet. Think of it like the Greek anti-gambling law that effectively banned portable and arcade gaming.
Between the two choices, I will stick with the ESRB.
As for media's affect on children, I've watched the argument long enough to realize that both sides have valid points. While I think violent media will not cause my child to become a violent criminals, I realize that proper parenting is required to make sure they come up with the correct assumptions and impressions. In other words, as long as I'm not stupid about raising my kids and I take an active role in my children's gaming, they should be ok.
I've always thought Thompson's appearances on Fox News were rather strange, as Hillary Clinton has always been a big supporter of his. While the Fox News claim about "Fair and Balanced" means leaning to the Right Wing, Thompson supports policies that belong on the Left in his support for government regulation and censorship. While he often brings up interesting points about media's affect on children and people, and he does at least a minimum of research, his outlandish statements and unruly legal style usually result in many people thinking he is a joke, much like the Lyndon LaRouche political campaign.
As far as the UK is concerned, video games have an enemy in Keith Vaz, who's made quite a few disturbing comments about violence in video games. I, and many people I know, feel the UK has slowly begun over-regulating everything, and I'm actually quite worried about the protection of freedoms of the British people. Also, the UK has the most fun government to watch on C-SPAN.
Last I checked, statistically the amount of children that manage to get an M-rated game is roughly 40%. The amount of children capable of sneaking into R-rated films was about 38%. The arguments often heard against the ESRB's function is often very similar to what was stated about the MPAA during its creation in the 1970s. I actually agree with the MPAA's judgment on many movies, but they often refused to classify films NC-17, or X when it was still that, simply because American theaters refused to play such movies, because many people found the kind of content in said movies distasteful, and theaters thought they looked better in the eyes of the community by refusing these films. The same currently goes for the ESRB, so the AO rating is void since the ESRB knows from a business sense it's a death sentence in the retail world. A few games have managed to earn an AO rating. They are either sold online(where it is ultimately impossible to tell the age of the buyer), in specialty stores(often accompanied by things far worse than video games), or willingly go through a process to remove content that brings the rating that high. In the meantime, the press goes nuts and the game gets an incredible amount of publicity, further increasing sales upon its release. In a way, it's a win-win situation for the ESRB(who looks good) and the game company(who makes more money). Good for business, you know.
Now if we factored in government control, that increases government spending(something I dislike) and it becomes the job of government to create a new system to regulate how citizens should view violence and sex in their media. Games are forced to go by strict governmental guidelines and true censorship occurs. As government in this country often doesn't understand the difference between games, mods, and free titles on the internet, this will also lead to regulation of the internet. Think of it like the Greek anti-gambling law that effectively banned portable and arcade gaming.
Between the two choices, I will stick with the ESRB.
As for media's affect on children, I've watched the argument long enough to realize that both sides have valid points. While I think violent media will not cause my child to become a violent criminals, I realize that proper parenting is required to make sure they come up with the correct assumptions and impressions. In other words, as long as I'm not stupid about raising my kids and I take an active role in my children's gaming, they should be ok.
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D.D.D.
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Well here's a difference, even if my potential-future-kids could go and buy anything, that's were a parent has to do their job and be aware of what their kids are doing and take care of that shite~ I hate when parents these days blame others or media for their lack of parenting ability.devilmyarse wrote:I would be disgusted if I had kids and that they could go in any shop and pick up any game regardless of it's content. All the parents that i've talked to wouldn't dream of letting their kids play GTA or any violent game whatsoever. They let them play morally decent games instead. The parents that let their kids play violent games or watch violent movies are generally little shits who have no morals and just go around terrorizing the neighborhood by being mischievous little skallies!
My kids will get to play Super Mario and everything that I played before video game violence was prevalent and enjoy tons of great games. The GTA games are pretty damn fun and I will let my kids play GTA, when they're 16 or 17 depending on their maturity level and their ability to discern reality and the make-believe world, that and if they actually want to~
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metaleggman
- 128-bit
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Since when are perfect games boring at any point? I understand the easy for the first missions, but the game shouldn't be boring at any point in the game if it's a game worthy of all 10s.AwesomeMonstar wrote:You're playing the first missions, of course it's easy and boring. GTA, like many games, requires a little bit of patience before you get into the real beef of the game
Lol, sounds like someone's just jealous I have a "million dollar video card". Crysis's levels are pretty big and on my computer had a huge draw distance iirc. The only time I would ever have a pause would be when it saves. I remember some of the saves vividly, lol. I think what you're saying is that it's a feat of technical optimization, as there are much better looking games on the 360, PC, and PS3. And who said Resolution and texture have anything to do with it? I never consider resolution when thinking of graphics nowadays, considering everything seems to either run in HD, or if you're playing on your computer, runs at whatever your monitor is capable of running (within reason). As to textures, if I saw the clips right, GTA4 seems to use a cell shading technique, which helps with taking away the need for tons of textures. Reminds me of how CoD4's models had less polys than Cod2.gradualmeltdown wrote:metaleggman,
So resolution and texture quality are the only measurement of technical advancements in video games? Guess that giant amazing 3D city that absolutely no other game can touch doesn't count for much. Keep playing Crysis if you like, justify that million dollar video card.
Yeah there is a kind of paint filter on the entire game. I find it quite aesthetically pleasing though. Every now and then you're treated to some truly fantastic photo-realistic moments. The graphics aren't fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, but the gritty realism coupled with some realistic physics helps the immersion factor immensely. Every now and then you notice the neat little touches like how pedestrians react to a tonne of metal on wheels heading their way at 40mph. Or how civilians react to you holding a gun to their face. Some run and cower, others instantly put their hands up and drop cash, some pull a gun on you. I haven't seen the exact same reaction twice yet, but i haven't been playing that long.gradualmeltdown wrote: As to textures, if I saw the clips right, GTA4 seems to use a cell shading technique, which helps with taking away the need for tons of textures. Reminds me of how CoD4's models had less polys than Cod2.
A feeling I keep getting while playing is, when is the game gonna stop being new, when will I start seeing things repeating, repeated content, systematic processes governing the way pedestrians react, when will I start seeing the patterns like in every other GTA game that i've played. I kinda don't want that moment to ever come as i'm having quite a lot of fun.
I don't think that the game is worth perfect 10's, it's far from a perfect game. As an immersive experience it's second to none as far as being able to do anything I want, whenever I want.
I can't wait to read Edge's review on the game.
Marurun wrote:Don’t mind-shart your pants, guys