CNN's Nancy Grace's inflammatory interview on gaming

[CptStern]

"As you read this transcript, pay attention to how Grace and her guests frame their sentences. Although this plays out like an off-the-cuff debate, each and every spoken word is primed to invoke outrage. There are plenty of loaded words and phrases in there: 'murder simulators', 'rewire the brain', an attack on Bill Gates for personally allowing this game to exist (as if he himself is out there coding it), and so forth. The program also showed photos of real police officers who were killed in the line of duty at the same time the game's preview trailer was on screen."


"As you read this transcript, pay attention to how Grace and her guests frame their sentences. Although this plays out like an off-the-cuff debate, each and every spoken word is primed to invoke outrage. There are plenty of loaded words and phrases in there: 'murder simulators', 'rewire the brain', an attack on Bill Gates for personally allowing this game to exist (as if he himself is out there coding it), and so forth. The program also showed photos of real police officers who were killed in the line of duty at the same time the game's preview trailer was on screen."


source + transcript




from the transcript:


"So we know that these cop-killing games are leading to these killings because that`s what they are, they`re murder simulators. Xbox, of course, which this game will be available on, along with Sony`s Playstation 2 -- you have to ask Bill Gates, What are you thinking? Here`s a philanthropist and a powerful man, the richest man in the world, and yet he`s making available to children around the world on Xbox a cop-killing game. The military, Nancy, uses these murder simulators, killing simulators... to break down the inhibition of new recruits to kill. And therefore, of course it`ll have that same effect on teenage civilians. So the reality is that these games are leading to deaths, and in fact, there`s a University of Indiana study that came out three days ago that showed that kids process these games in the part of the brain that leads to copycatting."





god I just hate Jack Thompson

 

[JellyWorld]

Hey if she wants to shoot herself in her foot by blaming Bill Gates for everything let her.

 

[CptStern]

ya but this was on CNN millions of people witnessed her knee-jerk flaming rhetoric aimed at gaming ...the sad thing is that people who've never played games will believe her



yet parents are not responsible

 

[Icarusintel]

and this is why i don;t watch the news on tv anymore, they're all stupid and only helping parents to pass the buck, both of them should go drink chlorox

 

[Kangy]

I hope Bill buys CNN and has her fired.

 

[ríomhaire]

Stern, you should seriously talk against this (I would but obviously noone will listen to me as I am a 15 year old child with his brian re-wired from video games.)
Edit:
these games are training of course. If you pay atention to24 the terrerists used an Alienware PC to lanch the missle
And what happened to the edit on the move function?

 

[A True Canadian]

Will someone tell Jack Thompson and the others that this game is rated M??!!??!!


IT IS FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE! THE MATURE AUDIENCE IS NOT CHILDREN!


He even complains that American children are not covered by the 1st Amendment. Wha?? Suddenly Children don't have rights anymore?



I'm usually quite calm and collected, ignoring and even laughing at the sillyness of their arguments, but now it's just getting too annoying. Not annoying because they're repeatedly getting their facts wrong, but because I know that there are many parents out there who will take this seriously.


Ok, calming down now...

 

[Lemonking]

omg....how sad
this world is going down the US have other problems they should concentrate on




yeah stern you really should audition for an interview

 

[No Limit]

ya but this was on CNN millions of people witnessed her knee-jerk flaming rhetoric aimed at gaming ...the sad thing is that people who've never played games will believe her

Here are her ratings:

8pm: O'Reilly: 2,496,000 / Zahn: 397,000 / Countdown: 387,000 / Grace: 647,000 / Contender: 116,000

Its sad that the 2 biggest idiots in America have the 2 top shows on cable in that time slot. As crazy as this bitch is she does have a powerful influance.

 

[ríomhaire]

You know, Dino Lombardi, I`ve only got one minute left. But in the last Tennessee shooting, where a kid shot two cops and a third person, they had been watching this Grand Theft Auto for days on end. It said life is like a video game. And you`re still telling me this is OK?

WTF is she talking about?

Lombardi: We have movies where cops are killed, and we have many instances of people who have killed...
Grace: But kids can get this!

Now, THAT is hypocracy to the EXTREME!

Yes. The 1st Amendment, people who understand the 1st Amendment know does not protect the right of a company to sell an M-rated game to a child

1: They don't sell them to children, they sell them to parents
2: The companies don't sell them to children, the companies sell them to shops, the shops sell them to children

Children don`t have a 1st Amendment...

Simply, WTF?!

Exactly. And there`s no penalty, except in Illinois... if you sell...a game like this to a child.

Yes, there is (but not in Ireland )

 

[CptStern]

funny how knee-jerk reactionist right-wingers seem to be all the rage these days ...where are all the moderate conservatives?

 

[Steve]

The neo's ate them.

 

[Icarusintel]

funny how knee-jerk reactionist right-wingers seem to be all the rage these days ...where are all the moderate conservatives?

i'm more looking for moderate liberals, all these loony leftys are really getting to me

 

[Ennui]

More anti-gaming bullshit you've managed to find I see, eh Stern?

This always gets me mad.

 

[Steve]

i'm more looking for moderate liberals, all these loony leftys are really getting to me

/me waves


...or did you mean on T.V.?

 

[Icarusintel]

/me waves


...or did you mean on T.V.?

yeah, tv, the media, all of it, i know there's plenty in society, i just wish more would pipe up in the media, or be allowed to pipe up

 

[Steve]

I'm majoring in journalism with a minor in Poli Sci...

so we'll see!

 

[CptStern]

I dont get the "liberal" label ...people who practice common sense are "liberal", people who dont support the war are "liberal", anyone who hates america is "liberal" ...you use that term so loosely to describe anyone who doesnt agree with you (or right-wing fanaticism) that it's lost all meaning


"hey look there goes a liberal, must be a frenchmen"



the "looney" left is such a stupid moniker considering that the Left uses facts whereas the "rabid right" use fear-mongering and intimidation


like this beauty of a gem:



"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction."

Dick Cheney August 26, 2002

or this little scare mongering tactic that tells us nothing except to be afraid ...sounds like the "red-scare" from the 50's


"If we wait for the danger to become clear, it could be too late."

Sen. Joseph Biden D-Del., September 4, 2002

 

[Icarusintel]

I'm majoring in journalism with a minor in Poli Sci...

so we'll see!

sounds good

Stern, the loss of meaning for it goes for the right too, anyone who shows some inkling of support for the war automatically gets branded a right-wing nut, which is ridiculous, they're just very general terms that are nice and easy to throw around, i was poking fun at your generalization

 

[CptStern]

More anti-gaming bullshit you've managed to find I see, eh Stern?

This always gets me mad.

it's actually one story ...25 to life is getting attacked from every rabble rousing extremist religious zealot/reactionary parent groups that's out there ...it's just a matter of time before self-censorship becomes the norm ,....that's their ultimate goal ..heavily regulate the gaming industry so that developers are so afraid of litigation that they wont bother to create anything that may be deemed "questionable" by these extremist groups

 

[CptStern]

sounds good

Stern, the loss of meaning for it goes for the right too, anyone who shows some inkling of support for the war automatically gets branded a right-wing nut, which is ridiculous

no it's not rediculous ...how anyone can still cling to the stupid notion that the war in iraq was justified is beyond me. They deserve to be rediculed for lacking a spine and the willpower to question the motivations of an admin who lied their way into iraq

 

[ríomhaire]

I would like to add that they always bring up prostitutes and killing cops which are not needed to be done to complete the game (except in a few missions) and they always avoid the fact that you have to put out fires, drive an ambulance to save people's lives and deliver pizzas and hence be a productive member of society to complete the game.

 

[CptStern]

I remember Jack thompson saying something about needing to decapitate a prostitute with a chain saw in VC ...I dont seem to recall that part

 

[ríomhaire]

I remember Jack thompson saying something about needing to decapitate a prostitute with a chain saw in VC ...I dont seem to recall that part

Niether do, and I completed it 100% and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
An idiot again showing his lack of knowledge of the game, in no GTA can you decapitate anyone with a chainsaw.

 

[CptStern]

but it makes for a good soundbite:

Jack Thompson Freedom-loving Lawyer: "Parents of America! video games are training your children to decapitate prostitutes!"


overexaggerated hysterical god-fearing mother: "wont someone please think of the children!!!!"

 

[A True Canadian]

it's actually one story ...25 to life is getting attacked from every rabble rousing extremist religious zealot/reactionary parent groups that's out there ...it's just a matter of time before self-censorship becomes the norm ,....that's their ultimate goal ..heavily regulate the gaming industry so that developers are so afraid of litigation that they wont bother to create anything that may be deemed "questionable" by these extremist groups

Isn't Germany already something like that? If I remember correctly, game developers need to edit any area where you are fighting humans, out of their games if they wish to sell them in the German market. I remember that robots replaced the marines in the German version of Half-Life.

 

[CptStern]

Isn't Germany already something like that? If I remember correctly, game developers need to edit any area where you are fighting humans, out of their games if they wish to sell them in the German market. I remember that robots replaced the marines in the German version of Half-Life.

yes, so you can imagine if it happened in the US where most game developers call home

 

[clarky003]

in my mind games are a great way of channeling negative energy along with frustration away from the real world, so I dont know where people get all this crap from, playing games can be benifactual, it really depends on the human being.

 

[blahblahblah]

In 10 years, the average politician will be somebody who has grown up in the video game generation. I'm not worried at all. I find it more amusing than anything.

'scuse me while I run over some more pedistrians in GTA:SA

 

[Edgar]

These things just bug me. Parents buy their kids M-Rated games, and music with warning labels on them without thinking about it..

Hell, ask the parents who buy their kids M-Rated games if they will buy their kids porn.

The reaction is classic.

But really, Parents need to pay attention to the ratings.. that way they won't buy it and
see the "shocking content" and go bitch about it and bring media attention to it.

 

[bliink]

I hope Bill buys CNN and has her fired.

I'd actually enjoy seeing that happen. Normally I don't like MS's monopolistic "buy 'em out" tactics, but this'd be gold!


Also, why are you people bring the left/right debate into this?
clearly, both sides should find this something worthy of unison over: The anti-video game lobby are a bunch of misinformed, knee-jerk fanatics who seize every chance to make a quick buck and dump their own responsibility at the feet of game developers. They feel that by attempting to choke one area of technological advancement that they are somehow advancing society? Shirking responsibility and hiding from the obvious has never been a way for advancement, and it is close-minded, ignorant fools such as these that pursue such an end.

 

[Viperidae]

Niether do, and I completed it 100% and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
An idiot again showing his lack of knowledge of the game, in no GTA can you decapitate anyone with a chainsaw.

Exactly. I remember in this one interview, Thompson stated something along the lines of 'What about the case in [some state, don't remember], where kids we're trained to steal cars by Grand Theft Auto?' As soon as I heard this, I stopped listening. In no way does GTA teach you anything about stealing cars. Unless, of course, everyone in the world leaves their doors unlocked and their keys in their ignition.

 

[ríomhaire]

Does anyone have screens of the robots from Germanland HL2?
I heard a guy got fined 5000 somethingorothers because he imported GTA for his son.

 

[Glirk Dient]

Wow, she is completely ignorant and is only trying to bring people to her side who have no experience with games nor look under the surface of the issue. I sure hope there are some intelligent people speaking in defense of games, movies can get away with worse, so what is the big deal?

Honestly, there are rating on games for a reason. If parents are too lazy or just don't care to protect their children from games they shouldn't be playing, it is the parents fault not the company that made the game.

Also, if she thinks games are training kids to kill, she is completely wrong. Sure a kid may be able to get an awsome kill to death ration in a game, but when he picks up a real gun, he wouldn't even know how to load it, much less aim with gravity and wind.

Wait...maybe I'm wrong...I forgot about h4x. If course a kid will turn on his map h4x and bunny hop around with his auto-aim h4x and get headshots from across the "map" and shoot through walls. Games are a real danger.

 

[Reaktor4]

stupid ****ing ****.

 

[iyfyoufhl]

guys, guys, guys, don't worry, gaming will not die as long as it's making money, trust me

dumb people can say whatever they want (free speech) but they can't stop the GAMERS OF THE WORLD

 

[Sparta]

I still can't get over how much they hate games, even though there are fair worse things on TV shows like "The Shield" or "CSI" (which isn't as intense as The Shield but can certainly be just as graphic) and so on.

Of course they'd retort with something like "we dont let our children watch these shows" then why do you let them play these games?. Morons. Christ, at least videogames are more interactive then sitting infront of a TV for 8 hours a day