Grand Theft Auto: Vice City . . . - the Game Makers sued

thearchgu · Post by **thearchgu** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 2:23 pm

Well I was watching Fox News Yesterday. They had a lawyer on, and asking him about a case that he was filing. The guy is suing the Game Makers for making a violent game, and people are using it as training tools to create real crimes. The suit due to a gang of kids - who when questioned said something to the effect of - We train for these crimes with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

The Lawyer thinks that he has a case because if an author inspires a murder, he is liable for wrongful death suits. So it's just natural to think upward to a video game, if they inspire a murder or a crime, then they are liable.

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My opinion - These are Video Games - meant for Entertainment purposes only. If you are unhinged enough from reality to the point you would actually considering doing something like this then you desperately need to seek professional help (psychatric - not Mob Professional).

And that's my two cents

Fixer · Post by **Fixer** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 2:47 pm

The problem is not with the games, it is with the idiot parents. If a game says it has a mature rating, that means it is not for people under 18. Duh! Sue the parents, not the game companies. The game companies give all the warnings they should, even label and rate the correctly.

Highest rating I let my son play is Teen, because that is where the blood/gore doesn't show up and the chracters are obviously not real people. I realize he is not a teen but the games rated "E" are just plain boring most of the time or require too much thought or reading for a 4-year-old. If my son goes and tries to break open barrels to get life containers out of them, I expect to get sued for him breaking the barrels and I will deal with him, but so far that has not been an issue (he can't lift the barrels yet.

)

Post by **Martin Blank** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:07 pm

He actually might have an easier time with this one. I saw an article the other day that a lot of flight schools have started using MS Flight Simulator 2003 and 2004 as training tools. Still, those games are a lot more detailed than pressing a button to get into any random car and being able to drive around.

Salvation122 · Post by **Salvation122** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:31 pm

The Air Force Academy was one of the schools that started using MSFS, if I remember correctly, though the PCGamer that had the article in it is three hours north-west so I can't verify that.

Post by **Blaze** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:45 pm

Not to go off subject here, but isn't x-plane actually a more acurate simulator (save graphically) to train by? The physics and what not are more detailed, I think.

Geuss what, he'll loose his suit for the same reason nobody can ever sucessfully sue the gun companies. They make these games for an express purpose and put the warnings they need to on them. If they get misused, it's not the maker's fault.

BadMonkey · Post by **BadMonkey** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:56 pm

Blaze, yeah, no doubt. But y'know, Microsoft.

Prospero · Post by **Prospero** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 5:09 pm

How come no one said anything about revolvers, shot guns, TNT, bombs, smoking, tobacco, knives, and swords in Looney Toons back in the day? Fucking hypocrites!

Dj Nautinto · Post by **Dj Nautinto** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 6:45 am

Yah, fuckin hypocrites... It's just that what people don't understand they fear, and what they fear, they'll sue. I've tried to make my mom to play, but she always sais that "that's to childish". How can they judge if they don't even know what they are talking about? I'd blame the idiot kids, who just found a "good excuse" for what they did.
A couple of years ago some kid here in Finland (or maybe it was Sweden) got killed. The press found out, that he played role playing games, and started blaming the boys gamer friends, who "obviously had killed him in some roleplaying ritual". This story was on the front page with big letters, but when the cops caught the actual killer (a junkie who needed money), they just wrote a short article about it in some of the funny pages (or something similar). What the deal?

mikehendo · Post by **mikehendo** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:27 am

[quote="Glue";p="193210"]How come no one said anything about revolvers, shot guns, TNT, bombs, smoking, tobacco, knives, and swords in Looney Toons back in the day? Fucking hypocrites![/quote]

I guess kiddies are just stupider now. It can only go downhill from here.. Why back in my day we didn thave stupid people suing just for money. And we had to walk up to school through 12 feet of snow, uphill both ways in our bare feet and shorts. You kids today with your long pants and heavy coats..

0bb3 · Post by **0bb3** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:23 am

Damnit, when are people gonna get it, games and movies aren't the cause of violence, sheesh. If so, Sweden would have been one of the most violent countries in the world, we almost have no censorship at all.

Mr.Shroom · Post by **Mr.Shroom** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 11:16 am

Fixer really touched on the big problem here. Game companies have gone out of their way to insure that parents KNOW what type of material is in their video games, and the fact that certain impressionable crowds or persons with a poor grasp of reality\common sense (be they child or adult), should not purchase certain games due to their content.

The real issue is that the rating system is not being enforced in the stores. An eight year old can buy an M rated game from your average store without the cashier even batting an eye. If the money is good, theres more often than not no question on the sale. And thats OBVIOUSLY not they way these things should be done.

Its time for a bit of intervention. Both store and buyer, if found selling/buying a video game determined to be of a mature nature to a young child, should be punished for doing so. However, this shouldn't apply to a parent buying their child a video-game of this nature. IDEALLY, a parent would know if their kid was mature enough to handle the content of a video game or movie without walking away with a distorted sense of reality and judgement. It'd be a fine line, trying to define age and such, and of course vigilance would be needed to protect civil rights (the fine line between regulation and flat-out censorship)...but something along the lines of such a punishment system will soon need to be instituted before things get out of hand.

BillyBlaze · Post by **BillyBlaze** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 12:07 pm

Books arent regulated and rated. Games are. If these people were under 18 the parents are the ones responsible. But you see, the one thing that all us non-parents and not-so-dumb-parents (the few that exist.) don't see, is that parents don't WANT to admit they are resonisble for the way they raise their children, otherwise they have to take responsebility for the horrible children they raise. So they pass the blame onto someone else. And the fact that this country is filled with bottom feeding slime-bags (aka lawyers) doesn't help.

Mr.Shroom · Post by **Mr.Shroom** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 12:18 pm

Actually, I was thinking about that fact as I typed up my post,the issue of books and regulation. The very nature of a book forces a need for one to have a modicum of intelligence and maturity inorder to glean an idea or concept from inorder to be truly dangerous. In that instance, it would be not the fault of media or a impressionable immature mind, but rather one a maligned world view. An minor exception to the rule would be a simplistic illustrated 'How To Build Guns 'N Bombs' book, which would lead more for the need for supervision of family and friends to one of a maligned nature, immature or otherwise. Hence, the need to regulate books isn't as needed as it is to keep tabs on a friend's mental health.

That in turn leads to your on comment on responsibility. I whole-heartidly agree upon you on that matter. Its a long-standing issue, thats gone on for years, and its only recently has the full scope and consequence of this parental method come to light, as both the world 'shrinks' and thus opens doors for catastrophy. Though your comments on lawyers are ever-so slightly extreme (though sadly not by much), the 'Sue America' attitude cries out more and more for a TRUE solution to be found rather than a flood of unhealthy and unproductive legal battles.

BillyBlaze · Post by **BillyBlaze** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 1:17 pm

Laws need to be made not just to protect speech, but artistic expression. And if a video game doesn't qualify, I don't know what does.

Mr.Shroom · Post by **Mr.Shroom** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 2:05 pm

They also need to protect the consumers rights as well. Like I said, its a fine line between regulation and censorship. Thats more why such processes take so long, because of the many sides to such an issue there are to review and go over and hammer out.

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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City . . . - the Game Makers sued

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