Background before reading this article:
Kotaku - Perhaps The Stupidest Anti-GTA Vid You'll See Today
Glenn Beck - GTA4Caution: This is an opinion...made at 2AM. I still defend my point, but I am slightly off balance. And nothing is more wooooooooooo than writing a piece at 2AM, sleepy, angry, and exhausted. Also, there may be typos!
Before I start this article, please watch the Kotaku video link that shows the clip of Glenn Beck talking about GTA4 in order to see what I am talking about. Also, yes. I have played this series. I honestly haven't started playing GTA4 yet (finals week), but I have played the rest of the GTA series (especially GTA Vice City, woo hoo!) and I do know the violent content within the games. I started playing the GTA series when I was 12, and to this day (I'm 18) I still can't kill a human. Does that say something?
"Oh jeez, here's a crazy conservative screaming about the danger of video games!" That's what Glenn Beck says he thinks people will say in response to his opinion of Grand Theft Auto IV. In my opinion, it's more like...
"Oh jeez, here's ANOTHER uninformed, overzealous bastard trying to corrupt the minds of millions of Americans by his biased views on video games!"Once again, another journalist yapping about the destructive nature of video games and how they are corrupting the young American minds with their manipulative banter. With the release of Grand Theft Auto on the 29th, journalists are already whipping out their e-peens and giving their opinions of GTA. However, where do these people get the idea that their opinion is actually valid? It becomes worse whenever CNN journalists like Glenn Beck actually get a camera and mic and display to
millions of American viewers his biased views on this inspiring and thrilling
game.
I am here to poke out the faults in his absurd argument against GTA IV. I know I am not alone in my own opinions, but hopefully someone outside the gaming scene will come to understand that these television journalists are biased in their opinions and very uninformed about the games they criticize. Most of the people who criticize ANY game on television or on other sites do not even play games in the first place! What gives them the right to blindly make accusations on these games? It's
slander against a new digital
art form.
His point:
We are training our kids to be killers.Me: /facepalm
This is the most overstated statement in all arguments against video games. How do video games teach how to kill? First argument, Grand Theft Auto is rated M - Mature (ages 17+) by the ESRB. If the child gets their hands on this game and is younger, it is up to the
parents to ensure that this child is even mentally capable to play this game. The video game industry does not intend for these games to be played by children, but gives that option for the kids who can actually
handle that imagery of violence. But going off that, there is
no solid evidence (no case study or anything) that has legitimately proved that video games teach kids to kill nor desensitize that child to the point of causing crimes. There have been attempts at studies, but regardless, no case study can be seriously taken if they evaluate in a laboratory (as so many of these studies have been performed in) opposed to the real setting of a kid sitting in front of his 360 at home playing the game.
He argues about how video games somehow originally came from the Pentagon. He starts with the "human silhouette" example that soldiers were conditioned to hit human targets because humans do not have a natural instinct to kill. Acceptable, he makes reason here. However, he states that now these targets are replaced by digital interactive human targets and that video games were created by the Pentagon in order to train how to kill.
You want to know where video games started from kiddies? Do ya? The pentagon! That's what Glenn Beck says, despite the fact that the first game Spacewar! was created by former MIT programmer Steve Russell and was intended for
enjoyment and
entertainment, not targeting practice.
Thank you Beck, though, for saying that you can't blame video games solely for all of society's problems. But hey, why in the world are you saying video games are a part of society's problems? The only problems that have risen from violence in video games are the people who criticize it and the people who perform crimes/see crimes and blame it on video games (mainly talking about the people like Jack Thompson who have tried to place blame of the Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and NIU shootings solely
on video games).
For kicks, I like to say I kinda like how he called it "Grand Theft Auto:
Version 4". That already tells you, he hasn't played this game. It's not a new "version" of the other games or anything like that. Let me iterate here that GTA has had 4 games in the series, but every game has its own individual story and city (for example, GTA4 is in Liberty City with the main character Niko whereas GTA: Vice City is in Vice City with the main character Tommy Vercetti). But yes, this man has not played this game. He does note that in game, you can have sex with a hooker, then beat her to death with a baseball bat. Uhm, yes. We all know that, because every single journalist, gamer, and American has said that word of mouth >_> But rather than that? This man does not know this game. And the fact that he is trying to demean this game's integrity and the game itself without playing it firstly is absolutely retarded.
So, he addresses the parents into the matter. Oh snap, GG! This guy is getting
serious!
No, not really. He's still pretty sad. He starts with "This game celebrates murder". GTA4 does not "celebrate" murder, but it does include murder and uses it to illustrate a point. Sure, you can get in game and start running people over with a car and shooting them up, but there is a police system to that. Every time you kill, you get police stars - which means you will get your ass lit up by the cops. If you kill more cops, you will get SWAT and eventually the MILITARY on you. This game is not senseless violence - there is a law enforcement system within the game. You will have a
bad time if you try to go on a killing spree in this game, for instance "mowing down pedestrians on the sidewalk". You will gain even MORE stars by killing more people and that is not fun play. You will eventually have helicopters gunning you down, military tanks blocking your paths, and cops shooting you on sight. You will be sent to the cops/hospital, have all your weapons taken from you, money taken from you, or fail the mission. There is negative feedback when killing in this game.
This paragraph is a very biased statement, I'm just ranting off in this one: Oh, and I'm saying this because I'm a girl gamer and I'm tired of these journalists yapping about gamers. GIRLS ARE GAMERS TOO - so this goes for your son, your DAUGHTER, your husband OR wife, or boyfriend OR girlfriend. I hate how they try to pin this all on one side of the spectrum whenever there are more than just males among all gamers.
His last words are basically that the government spends million of dollars to desensitize soldiers and now it only takes $60 by playing this game. Um, no. This game is
entertainment, which unfortunately many journalists like people to believe otherwise. The game does not teach violence, but satires how our society is today with all the
current corruption that takes place under our noses. It shows a story that extends beyond violence, exploring humanity at the core. If the player cannot differentiate between real and simulation in this game, that player should not even be playing the game at all - let alone watch any other television show, video, or movie. Other than that, this game is a simulative experience that is entertaining, not manipulating.
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