Bill O’Reilly Slams PS3 Launch, Gamers, iPods, Digital Tech (not in that order)
Apparently sparked by the PlayStation 3 launch, conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly took off after video game culture and digital technology generally in yesterday’s Radio Factor.
The controversial talk show host, who advertises his program as a “no spin zone” offered the following spin on gamers and much of their favorite gear:
American society is changing for the worse because of the machines… In the past to flee the real world people usually chose drugs or alcohol… now you don’t have to do that, Now all you have to do is have enough money to buy a machine…
Basically what you have is a large portion of the population, mostly younger people under the age of 45, who don’t deal with reality - ever. So they don’t know what day it is; they don’t know temperature it is; they don’t know what their neighbor looks like. They don’t know anything… because they are constantly diverted by a machine. Now what this does is it takes a person away from reality because they’ve created their own reality…
Here comes the PS3 rant:
The newest thing is the PlayStation 3. Now this is a machine that allows you to play games in hi-def and all this other stuff… It’s the newest state of the art system from Sony…. It has a video game console, plays DVDs, connects you to the Internet, tells you how handsome you are. It’s six-hundred bucks. Now people lined up for hours to get this thing. Hours!
Next, O’Reilly recounts some of the various, well-publicized incidents that took place on PS3 lines around the country, before launching into:
The problem with this stuff is that some people can deal with it constructively… but other people get addicted to it, just like opium, just like drugs and alcohol… So this is a big, big problem. It’s going to change every single thing in this country.
At about this point, O’Reilly has Blois Olson of the National Institute on Media & the Family on as a guest. Olson talked about some issues regarding video game addiction, but was quite reasonable. As for O’Reilly? He thinks your video gaming may well doom you to a life of poverty:
The have-nots are growing. Why are they growing? Because the skill set that is necessary to earn a decent living is being deemphasized in a fantasy world of football games and shooting zombies and all that…. Now you have the “knows” and the “know-nots”, because if you spend all your youth being prisoners of machines….. you’re not going to know anything…. You’re gonna fail.
And, even though O’Reilly’s pay site offers a podcast, the pundit rather curiously disses the iPod and seems to equate video gaming with national collapse:
I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.
GP: A big, huge shout-out to reader Jim for the tip… Even if GP did have to shell out $4.95 in order to listen to O’Reilly’s rant. Hey, we spare no expense for our readers.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:38 am
O’Reilly doesn’t seem to consider that the violent crime rate has fallen substantially in the last ten years, moreso since the PS2 came out.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Move along, people, nothing to see hear. Just the delusional ramblings of another Luddite.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Fuck him.
That is all.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:53 am
This is just an, “I want to say something that will anger some people on a topical subject to boost my audience.”
He’s done this before with other things and will do it again. That’s how these people try to earn their living…
November 18th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Too many documentaries on MMO addiction plus lack of interaction with real gamers = these views.
From his unusual views I would suggest that it is he who does not ‘know what his neighbor looks like’, when you consider how many hard-working American adults play video games today.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Guess who has been in a cave on Mars with his eyes shut and his fingers in his ears and yelling, “LALALALA!!!” for the past couple decades.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Bill O’Reilly is a fool. Playing Video games does NOT mean you are going to fail in life. And how are the jihadists conected with video games? It makes no sense.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
“Basically what you have is a large portion of the population…who don’t deal with reality”
well, its good to know he knows what hes talking about.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
For someone who recently bitched and complained about the violence in today’s horror movies, it’s hard to take him seriously anymore.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Don’t worry O’Reilly, with the extent of technology there will soon be at least one game in which you can kiss a lot of ass and lie through your teeth which will help gamers become successful, just like you.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Wow, that was a rant. “I’d never own an iPod”? What the hell is he talking about? Listening to an iPod is beneath him? How’s about a record player? I didn’t hear him say anything about the dangers of watching T.V., I wonder why?
“did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them?” What the hell are you talking about? You should leave the nerds alone O ‘reilly, I’ve heard that one day they may get their revenge.
I guess he has a bad case of Technophobia.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
In all fairness, there are a lot of people on the interw3bs who could stand to turn off the games for a while and spend the time learning to spell. I think he has a point, although it be buried under layers of bothersome hyperbole and exaggeration.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
I live in Ireland, and as a result am not exposed to Bill O’Reilly on a regular basis. Whenever his name pops up, it’s always attached to some kind of insane rambling. Boycott France! War on Christmas! Some kind of connection between videogames and Jihad! To me he seems like some kind of crazy fictional character!
November 18th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
His site has a *picture* of an iPod on the main page next to the “give me money please” link. I would call him a hypocrite, but then I doubt he has any real say in what goes on his site other than his rants. He must have a web team doing the work for him, because there’s no way on earth this guy actually uses the internet.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
It’s like he just had a bunch of seals roll balls around with the names of random things and the ones that ended up in a certain area he picked to use in his rant about video games. I mean, this rant reminds me of when the New York Times critiqued American Dad for having an episode about masturbation on September 11th. It’s like a connect the dots drawing where there is no numbers 4 through 7.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
WHAT?!? Ok, we’re all doomed because we have PS3s and iPods and the Jihadists don’t because they’re too busy killing folks? Good going, idiot. You had to just connect terrorism to not-playing video games. In that same train of thought, playing video games stops terrorism. Stop hating America, Bill. Let us play video games because we’re FREE to do it. Just like you’re FREE to say stupid stuff.
So, when do we send a huge shipment of 360s to Iraq?
November 18th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
“did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them?”
How about the ‘computer geeks’ who are running all the technology for his show. Maybe he should fire them all and run it himself…oh wait, he probably isn’t smart enough to run it.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Its gonna be said sooner or later:
O RLY?
November 18th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
What? I thought video games taught people to be hardcore killers. Everyone keeps saying that, so if the people of the US of A are falling into the video game world, doesn’t that mean we should have a country of harden killers? Those jihadists better watch out, those computer geeks are gonna be kicking some ass soon.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Clicked too soon. I was just trying to get the point across, are we gonna be violent killers from playing this game or mindless zombies? Can’t these people make up their mind.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
“In the past to flee the real world people usually chose drugs or alcohol… now you don’t have to do that, Now all you have to do is have enough money to buy a machine…”
Because nobody uses drugs or alcohol anymore. Especially not teens/20-somethings. And drugs? They were CHEAP! Same with booze.
“So they don’t know what day it is; they don’t know temperature it is; they don’t know what their neighbor looks like.”
It’s Saturday, it’s 38 degrees outside, the neighbor on my left is a middle aged, heavy black woman with 4 or 5 teenage kids and her husband. The neighbor on my right is a 30something thin, tallish black woman with lots of friends over all the time and 5 kids or so. The neighbor across the street is a 20 or 30 year old thin, short white woman who I’ve seen outside once… But maybe I’m just the statistical anomaly…
“It has a video game console, plays DVDs, connects you to the Internet, tells you how handsome you are. It’s six-hundred bucks. ”
I bet Bill has something that costs at least 600 bucks, plays DVDs, connects you to the Internets, tells you how handsome you are and plays video games. (The PS3 tells you how handsome you are? Wha?)
“Now people lined up for hours to get this thing. Hours!”
People lined up to see Santa for hours. People lined up for hours to see (band). People lined up for hours to see Star Wars (and other movies)…
“because if you spend all your youth being prisoners of machines….. you’re not going to know anything….”
Oh THAT explains why nobody in my generation has a college degree or a job! It makes sense!
“the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games.”
I thought they were playing video games?
November 18th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
bill o’reilly is nothing but a biased conservative douchebag,and its pretty sad that little shitbag is afraid of technology,when the real thing thats destroying life is the bullshit he spews out of that mouth of his.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
(Basically what you have is a large portion of the population, mostly younger people under the age of 45, who don’t deal with reality - ever. So they don’t know what day it is; they don’t know temperature it is; they don’t know what their neighbor looks like. They don’t know anything… because they are constantly diverted by a machine. Now what this does is it takes a person away from reality because they’ve created their own reality…)
I am a videogame addict. I am a rabid GTA fan. I DO know what today is.
(Saturday November 18, 2006)
I DO know who my neighbours are.
I KNOW quite a bit.
(The newest thing is the PlayStation 3. Now this is a machine that allows you to play games in hi-def and all this other stuff… It’s the newest state of the art system from Sony…. It has a video game console, plays DVDs, connects you to the Internet, tells you how handsome you are. It’s six-hundred bucks. Now people lined up for hours to get this thing. Hours!)
It doesnt tell how hansome you are STUPID!
Actually It plays PS3, PS2, and PSX games, DVD, and BLu-Ray. It’s a friggin computer that plays videogames on your TV. And a good computer that does all that can cost more than a thousand dollars. This is actually cheaper. And people will line up for anything. New videogame consoles, Harry Potter, Movies,etc.
(The problem with this stuff is that some people can deal with it constructively… but other people get addicted to it, just like opium, just like drugs and alcohol… So this is a big, big problem. It’s going to change every single thing in this country.)
What, becuase you don’t understand it?
(The have-nots are growing. Why are they growing? Because the skill set that is necessary to earn a decent living is being deemphasized in a fantasy world of football games and shooting zombies and all that…. Now you have the “knows” and the “know-nots”, because if you spend all your youth being prisoners of machines….. you’re not going to know anything…. You’re gonna fail.)
And you know this becuase…
(I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America…)
Like what?
(did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …)
Have you really tried? What about the computer geeks that run your stupid show?
(I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.)
So we should be killing people over here too? Just what are you saying here?
Just another old, out of touch asshole who is trying to talk about something that he doesen’t know anything about.
Hey O’Reilly, STFU!
- Warren Lewis
November 18th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
You see, I’m not angry at what he said. It’s Bill O’Reilly, after all… But in fact I’m sincerely HAPPY of his anti-game bashing.
You know why ? Actually, I have no problem having things in common with someone I strongly disagree with (or even despise). And on the opposite, I have no problem having serious points of disagreement with someone I love or deeply respect, although I can regret it. This is why I’m happy about the French culture minister’s policy supporting video games, although this is almost the only thing I approve of him.
But in the case of O’Reilly… I’m glad that his rant on videogames, gamers, etc… confirms exactly what I think of him. And I really prefer to disagree with him on that subject.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
@Bissel
(Warning: About to generalize based on personal observation)
Nono, it’s the left wingers who believe that people, such as jihadists, only do bad things when forced to do so by the influence of evil, such as guns or video games. Thus, ban guns video games and people will become paragons of virtue.
The right wingers prefer to think that people are responsible for their own actions. Therefore, if they attack games, it’s because they think we should quit with the fake stuff and start living a “real” life, full of responsible activity.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Mr. O’reilly
A) Google the words “Tickle Me Elmo”. Slap in the face, isn’t it?
B) You’re using a machine to get your message out. Those same machines had people just like you in the past deliver the same message. How many slaps can you take?
C) I live in an apartment. I know all my neighbors except one. Scratch that, we became friends when he saw me come home with an EB Games bag. This is close to a TKO.
D) As a personal trainer I have to help clients through such issues as obesity, family illness histories, anorexia, depression, and all the social ills from being out of shape to all the social ills of being in shape. I also just found out my ex-girlfriend (whom I wanted to marry) is now pregnant with a guy who is unemployed. Don’t tell me I don’t deal with reality.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
What O’ Reilly seems to be overlooking is the fact that the majority of the people in line are not gamers. They’re overzealous parents and wannabe entrepreneurs. They’re either trying to get a console for their kids or are looking to make uber-profit selling it on Ebay.
Games ain’t the catalyst to the madness. It’s greed.
Andrew
November 18th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Some gamer is o going to h4xx0r Bill’s site.
You know it’s going to happen.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
“The have-nots are growing. Why are they growing? Because the skill set that is necessary to earn a decent living is being deemphasized in a fantasy world of football games and shooting zombies and all that…. ”
I thought it was because Bush and co. was laying thier fiddles on the white house roof while the corperations ran off with the jobs….or are you saying you have to go to collage 3 time and have 3 or 5 degress and BAs in this and that jsut to be middle class….mmmmm
———————–
“American society is changing for the worse because of the machines…”
All societies grow and change over time…….
———————————-
“”I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.”"
So what your saying is you would be more happy if teens and kids were on drugs and killing each other daily??…..then of corse you would say
*I am sitting here,watching them….playing )these games((takeing drugs and killing each other)…and I cant do a thing to stop it*
sad sad little man O’rilye…sad ….you are now Rush Jr….
November 18th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
@Rigor Mortis
– No no, what I meant was, I thought the jihadists were coming out with various video games (I don’t remember the titles off the top of my head…) (and the 9-11-01 hijackers, I thought, trained a little on Flight Simulator)
November 18th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
‘did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them?’
….He has obviously never bothered. Maybe it’s because ‘Computer Geeks’ have access to things he can’t understand, like, possibly, the fact there’s such a thing as the ‘rest of the world’?
November 18th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
I like how he blames people not having jobs on things like “the job-seekers sit around playing games all day” and not “the job-givers outsourced everything overseas where people work for pennies on the dollar.”
November 18th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
Sorry for the double post, but try talking to a musician about Music or a Quantum Physicist about Quantum Physics. You’ll soon get lost.
Is it the other persons fault for knowing more than you Bill?
November 18th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Does the man ever realize what he says? I know my old Current Events teacher liked hearing him (maybe to find something to either talk about as discussion or just to contest with his thoughts), but god does he like his own voice.
There are people out there that specify with the field of their choice. Business men like to talk about business, while artists like to discuss things about art. It should be a no-brainer that Computer “geeks” enjoy talking about computers. The field is so wide-spread that it extends the arms to more than one field to know (Computer hardware, software, programing, etc) so it’s no surprise that gamer’s would discuss things on gaming. It’s the whole human psyche of likes and dislikes that make unique beings co-exist with others that do the very same.
…some may call it friendship, or maybe even love.
November 18th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Dustin1986 and EvilZombie are right. This is just an open show of anti-nerd hatred. He makes it look like as if you can’t carry on a conversation with a computer geek as if they have no social skills, when in fact he shouldn’t be talking as they maintain his website and the cameras that get his sagging old conservative nutty viewpoints out there. And when I mean nutty, I don’t mean a can full of Planters nuts nutty, but undigested peanuty turd nutty. That describes O’Reilly perfectly.
I’m a tad sick of this anti-nerd bias in this country. To sum it up, it’s like “I hate you and think you are undesirable and unsociable and you deserve to be bashed or ignored you stupid nerd! Now make my fucking cell phone, video game, computer, maintain my computer and net connection, etc.” Why don’t we “geeks” get appreciated? Why is it that we have so many people in the news and in sitcom writing that feel it is OK to just bash the nerds anyways? And why the hell don’t we have our own civil rights organization or group to defend us when we are bashed? It’s about time somebody steps up for us and tells these people to knock it off. Can’t make fun of black people, Hispanics, women, etc. because that would be sexist or racist, but bashing geeks seems to be perfectly OK. Why?
He acts like as if our focus is on machines and not being smart and succesful. Tell that to Will Wright, Warren Spector, Mark Rein, Ed Boon, John Tobias, and the throngs of other men and women who have had success with game business, design, art, and competition you damned old fart! Saying that we are unsocial, unsmart, and future unsuccessful people is just writing us off without giving us a chance to be such. If he really doesn’t like those of us that are, why doesn’t he work to do something about it to begin with instead of just turning into a talking head that just bitches about it?
And by the way Mr. O’Reilly, the whole anti-game and anti-geek bias in this country that you are very much a part of will be decimated. And OMG! Did I learn the word “decimated” in school? No! I learned it from a game of Warcraft II.’
But then again, the PS3 riots don’t exactly help the gamer image with people robbing stores at gunpoint and people getting wild because of shortages. Does anyone smell another opportunity opened up for He Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken to get his face in the spotlight and say “See! I told you games turn people violent!”?
/rant
November 18th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
[…] More amusingly, GamePolitics is reporting on a hilarious “IT’S THE MACHINES” style rant from none other than Bill O’Reilly. Americans will need no introduction but here’s a taster of the O’Reilly style for those not so familiar with him. Video: […]
November 18th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
“In the past to flee the real world people usually chose drugs or alcohol… now you don’t have to do that, Now all you have to do is have enough money to buy a machine…”
Ya those were the good old days when real men bought drugs to get away from society!
“Now what this does is it takes a person away from reality because they’ve created their own reality…”
HAHAHAHA! I love this, a FOX News employee, and Bill O’ Reily no less, accusing OTHER people of creating their own reality.
“Now you have the “knows” and the “know-nots”, because if you spend all your youth being prisoners of machines….. you’re not going to know anything…. You’re gonna fail.”
No, the knows and the know-nots come from an American education system that has failed its children due to funding cuts. Your conservatives at work!
November 18th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Good thing O’reilly hasn’t made a difference in years… he’s just another symbol of a generation that refueses to adapt.
November 18th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
I’d like to see or hear the no spin zone put Dennis or Andrew on. He’d be too stubborn to concede anything with either of them, but it would definately be a great debate with deserving people instead of the usual media whores out there.
And just so we’re clear, I am NOT saying Dennis or Andrew are media whores
November 18th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Oh so it was another “LOLZ IR BIG STRONG MANLY MAN MAN MAN! ME NOT NEED TEKNOLOGY! NERDS R B SMASHED!” rant?
Seriously, he has at least one of those a day. It’s either about how evil this newfangled technological advance (that he obviously dosen’t understand, but he dosen’t need to because understanding things is unnessasary for a manly man), or how lame that new “chick flick” (like, you know, anything that isn’t about WWII soldiers led by John Wayne kicking nazi ass) is, andhow he’d never watch that because he’s a manly blah. Hell, he even finds a way to insert it into his daily ego stroking: “Well, those girly men at random local newspaper said something about me again. You know, if I wasen’t such a manly man I’d point out that *my* show is way more popular than them. So there, neener neener, suck it you lame nerds lols!”
And that’s why I finally stopped listening, well, that and I’d broken two radios…
November 18th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Whew…. Can’t stop laughing! Since when did GamePolitics start posting stand-up comedy routines? Gotta love that he bashes iPods and his site offers a Podcast! LOL!
O’ Reilly’s comment=lies, ignorance, half-truths, and fear. Nothing else to it. He’s the one who can’t handle the real world.
Did he actually support drug and alcohol abuse? Come on even the biggest moron on the planet wouldn’t dream of suggesting people abuse controlled substances to “flee” the real world. Does he really think if all the gamers started coming home and, rather than playing Warcraft or FInal Fantasy 12, got drunk and/or high they would suddenly know thier neighbors and the temperature, if they already didn’t? I’ve never even heard of a gamer running around in 20 degree weather naked, or assaulting an officer, but you can be sure a drunk or a stoner has done so and ended up on the evening news. They probably will do so again, too.
I’m not proud of the reaction to the PS3 launch. Whether they were parents, gamers, or violent rabid beasts, it was a shame. People don’t act in such a manner. The recent troubles weren’t so much an issue of a new game coming out, but really proof that ignorant, selfish, disrepectful, and violent people come in all shapes, sizes, creeds, and colors (see Bill O’ Reilly). As many others have pointed out, similar incidents have occured with movies, games, and even Tickle Me Elmo. It’s not gamer culture but a sad fact of human nature. If there was a food-shortage and only enough for 10% of the populace to eat you can bet there would be mass riots. I’d bet money Bill would be among them if he didn’t already have a stock of his own. That’s not a perfect example, I’ll admit that. Still my point is: it’s humans that did that, not the PS3. Not one PS3, or XBox360, or Tickle Me Elmo, killed, mugged, or raped anyone.
Hey Bill, do me a favor. Protect your kids. Don’t protect me. I don’t want you to.
November 18th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
screw bill o’reilly. I didnt think negatively of him before cause my dad watches his show all the time, but now…..what a dirty dick.
November 18th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
About Bill O’Reilly and videogames… remember his 1988 report about Nintendo’s NES success ?
Check it there : http://youtube.com/watch?v=yGFRi_ueq-M
November 18th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
This just in: Bill says somthing stupidly ignorant and offensive. More at 11!{/sarcasm}
Interesting that Ben grimm isn’t replying to this at all.
November 18th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
At one time O’rilye was right leaning but had alot of common sense that made sense now he has to try hard to meet the expectations of the base hes pandering to and well…hes becoem rush……
November 18th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Ok. Deep, calming breaths everyone. I was irritated when I read the article myself; but I think we need to look at what is, in my opinion, the underlying point.
As a society we have become incredibly reliant upon machines for everything. I’m not saying that’s good or bad but it does present certain problems that we’ve never had before.
Lets look at the recent mutli-day lines and some of the ensuing violence that broke out with the release of the PS3 for example. It IS a little nuts to wait outside a store for three or more days just so you can get a PS3 before someone else. Its even more nuts to shoot someone over it. These can be seen as an example of spme people thinking that a game system has more importance than a human life. I mean what employer is going to be ok with you taking off that many days of work just so you can buy a game system?
There’s also the problem of addiction. There are people out there who become so enamored of a game, MMO, or similair product that they lose their sense of self. I don’t know how common it is, but it can happen and we need to acknowledge it.
I’m a traditionalist myself, anyone here who knows me will know that about me. I can see where Mr. O’Riely is coming from, though I may not agree with all of it. Yelling and cursing him out solves nothing. The matter needs to be approached without condescention and a mind open to the debate. Otherwise we’re just handing the anti-game crowd a victory before the fight’s even won.
November 18th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
American society is changing for the worse because of the machines… In the past to flee the real world people usually chose drugs or alcohol… now you don’t have to do that, Now all you have to do is have enough money to buy a machine…
This is a good thing, you can not get arrested for drving after 6 hours of heavy video game playing (unless it causes you to be sleepy), a video game addiciton doesn’t support drug dealers, video games don’t need to be smuggled into this country. With games you can turn the game off and go back to the real world in a flash you cannot become sober or not high in an instant. Also a heavy addict would probably spend more money on drugs than a hardcore gamer.
Basically what you have is a large portion of the population, mostly younger people under the age of 45, who don’t deal with reality - ever. So they don’t know what day it is; they don’t know temperature it is; they don’t know what their neighbor looks like. They don’t know anything… because they are constantly diverted by a machine.
So basically anyone under the age of 45 is stupid and can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction? Keep talking O’Reily you’re doing a great job of making people think you’re senile.
Now what this does is it takes a person away from reality because they’ve created their own reality…
The same thing could be said about every novel ever made well actually it can’t because with novels you go into a reality someone has created for you, instead of having to create one as you said.
The newest thing is the PlayStation 3. Now this is a machine that allows you to play games in hi-def and all this other stuff… It’s the newest state of the art system from Sony…. It has a video game console, plays DVDs, connects you to the Internet, tells you how handsome you are. It’s six-hundred bucks. Now people lined up for hours to get this thing. Hours!
Days would be a lot more accurate, and I do believe people camped out for star wars movies.
The problem with this stuff is that some people can deal with it constructively… but other people get addicted to it, just like opium, just like drugs and alcohol… So this is a big, big problem. It’s going to change every single thing in this country.
People get addicted to a bunch of stuff,as stated before people can get addicted to golf. ‘It’s going to change everything in the country’ is an exxageration at best.
The have-nots are growing. Why are they growing? Because the skill set that is necessary to earn a decent living is being deemphasized in a fantasy world of football games and shooting zombies and all that…. Now you have the “knows” and the “know-nots”, because if you spend all your youth being prisoners of machines….. you’re not going to know anything…. You’re gonna fail.
Please show me an example of a youth who spends every single second playing games. You can;t then be quiet. Oh and calling gamers know-nots shows just how senile you are (especially when you use the term know-nots).
Bill keeps talking about being prisoner of machines and not understandingh reality because of machines. I think he’s been watching too many Terminator movies.
November 18th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
O RLY?
November 18th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Bill O Riely:
-Control freak
-The type of guy who would burn new technology and call it ‘witchcraft’
-That guy from the TGI Friday’s commercial (the one with the guy using that old 70’s cell phone)
-Trying to be the new Jack.
-But is more like the new Joseph McCarthy.
“Trouble coming everyday.”
November 18th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
Yup, his name reminds me of O’RLY too….
You know, if Bill would have used the anonimity of the internet a few years back, maybe he wouldn’t have had to pay off that one woman that he tried to force into dirty conversations.
O’RLY’s a dick about 90% of the time, but there is an occasional moment where he says something that’s either right or agreeable with. If I had a choice as to who to send to the moon without any oxygen or a space suit between him and Nancy Grace, it’d be a hard choice though I think I’d favor ol’Tweety.
November 18th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Let me one up that
I ask: O RLY?
And he responds: YA RLY!
I am shocked: NO WAI!
November 18th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Isn’t Bill O’Reilly’s core audience people who have a hard time dealing with reality? You’d think he wouldn’t be insulting them.
Ironic isn’t it that O’Reilly makes his living by diverting people’s attention with a machine that lets them escape from reality?
Using drugs and alcohol to escape reality is a better choice than video games? He didn’t come right out and say it, but he certainly implied it.
November 18th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
Please PHOENIXZERO, don’t make me vomit at the thought of Nancy Grace. Don’t mean to sound sexist but she is a real bitch.
Anyways, I’m kind of sick of this mindless fear of technological and cultural advancement.
November 18th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
“I FEAR CHANGE!!”
November 18th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I’m not standing on either side of this fence, but I can certainly see where he is coming from.
I know some kids that put their livelihoods (jobs) and educations (college) at risk just to get in line for a Playstation. Skipping out on work or school for a videogame is ridiculous, no matter how you slice it. Let’s stop ignoring the fact that we all know people like this. Sure, O’Reilly was a bit extreme with his rant, but he has a point to a certain extent.
We all know some of those kids that spend way too much time on games, MMOs, Live Action RPGs, or just pen and paper RPGs. Some of those kids can’t have normal conversations outside of games, and we all know this to be true. We should acknowledge this fact and say, while they are some people like that, it’s not the complete truth. I, for one, had a roommate who did nothing but play World of Warcraft. He played, all night, every night. When I was getting up to go to class, he was going to bed because he had just played 13 hours straight. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before he flunked out. And I know several people who follow this pattern. We have to stop acting like this isn’t true.
Also, on the IPOD. I met a guy who said he didn’t feel like a real college student until he had one. Come on. That’s ridiculous. People are getting too concerned with technology and letting it define who they are. It’s a problem that we have to deal with. Get over it. Sure O’Reilly says a lot of nonsense, but he made some valid points in his argument.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
I think that, unlike Jack Thompson, Bill O Reilly poses no real threat to our games. He is just an old man who can’t understand why people like to blow things up in a fantasy world. Well it’s because it’s fun and entertaining. As for all gamers failing in life, that’s bunk and he knows it. I’ve played for many years and I only would really say my life revolved around a game once in my life. One time in my life, everything was bad for a few months, so my whole world was Mortal Kombat 4, but that was many years ago and I’m very greatful to the game for taking me out of a crappy reality. This man is old and old fashioned and he’s just wrong. It helps you escape the real world when everything is bad and is a very good source of entertainment.
However, it did really irritate me when he said that these games were like drugs and alcohol. These games are not at all like that. If they were, you couldn’t play and then drive. They don’t turn players into the living dead, like drugs do, and that’s what I was complaining about a few posts ago. Some countries ban these innocent games as though they were drugs and alcohol. They don’t have the damaging effects of drugs and alcohol, so the entire notion is ridiculous. That misconception is very dangerous to our games and I hope no one buys it. Then again, Bill O Reilly is no Jack Thompson, so I don’t think we have to worry about him as much as about Jack Thompson. He doesn’t write letters to judges and politicians trying to get games banned, but he represents the kind of thinking that is behind it and that’s not good.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
@Marisu
I see where your coming from. But although he did have some points, he still shows that there are more than enough people that will look at another group and ignore the vast majority of people who are OK in favor of those few that are not OK. This is just an example of saying we are all becoming a little too dependent on technology based on what some individuals are doing. These people who riot for a PS3 represent a portion of the game community, not all of it, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Mr. O’Reilly. When a few from a certain group screw up, for some reason it represents everyone in that group for some stupid people. It is sad but unfortunately true.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
OldschoolVgamer,
I agree with you completely. But just because the problem is on a small scales, does not mean that we should ignore it’s existance. And that goes for anything that people delve into too much to escape reality. Whether it’s gambling, sports, eating, exercising. All of these activities can pose problems for those who become dependent on them. Instead of getting automatically getting defensive, like a lot of the responses above, we need to say, “Hey, that’s not all of us, but a small portion need help”. We can’t ignore it.
And escapism can be healthy, especailly if the alternate is unhealthy. But when people are ignorning their personal and professional obligations, no matter what the vice is, they need help. And that happens to be a big problem in video gaming.
Videogame addiction is no more shameful than gambling, eating, or a sports addiction. It’s a problem that mah people have and should be taken seriously. Not ignored.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Bill O’Reilly is, as usual, slathering on layer after layer of hyporitical nonsense.
First off, O’Reilly’s claim to fame is his TV show - you know, the one on that ‘machine’ that everybody is diverted by, which they sit in front of to escape reality?
Speaking of escaping reality, isn’t that what viewers and listeners of O’Reilly’s shows do every day by watching and listening to him? I think that people who consider themselves ‘informed’ after listening to O’Reilly are a far greater threat than game consoles.
Amazing how so many people forget that just a few years ago, people referred to television as “that machine” that “degrades social skills.” At least with video games, I’m not being yelled at by an ultra-right wing loudmouth every night.
And I love how in O’Reilly’s world, everybody under the age of 45 has yet to experience reality. I’m guessing that makes most employees and execs at FOX and O’Reilly’s radio show a bunch of dolts.
It’s a good thing O’Reilly was able to come forward and speak the truth - I always had my suspicions that everybody under 45 was living in a delusional haze.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
OHNOES! INVASION OF THE MACHINES! THEY SPENT HOURS TO GET IT! HOURS!
1982 here we come!
November 18th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
According to my brother, Bill is a satanist.
This anti-game shit is getting dumb. I’m starting to think that Gamers should ruthlessly google-bomb and hack every Censorcrat site there is, while the game industry goes rambo with lawsuits.
Then again, maybe it’s just making games more popular.
November 18th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
this one time i farted real lous and poeple look at me like wft
November 18th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
@Marisu
Gotcha. I as well think that the few who do take it too far need help. There is such a difference between escapism and gutless denial and refusal to deal with reality.
It is a good thing that the problem is brought out and should be addressed, but not by O’Reilly and other generally un-game educated people because their opinion is almost always automatically slanted in one direction before going on and voicing themselves. I’d rather someone goes on and talks about such issues in the gaming community who first sit on the fence in a neutral position and then form their opinions based on stuff they find out rather than go in with a slanted viewpoint.
O’Reilly is not one of those types to be neutral. You know fully well that he is going to take a right-wing conservative take on an issue and it sure as hell isn’t a neutral one, like it should be. Because he panders to a certain crowd he is going to make his opinion of games a certain way to please them.
Anyone know of a news organization or network that has those with a more neutral view or don’t they exist? It would work better than Bill here.
November 18th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
What’s wrong with his face? Has he been dirty on the phone again, becuase it looks like his face exploded in acne.
November 18th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
That’s right, O’Reilly. Video games are corrupting this culture and leaving us down the road to poverty and materialism. I mean, it certainly couldn’t be your parent company paying O.J. Simpson $3.5 million to tell the world how he would kill his wife… if he did it.
Pundits like O’Reilly make me laugh. I’m glad there are people like Colbert to show how absurd these vainglorious demagogues really are.
November 18th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
OldschoolVgamer:
“I’m a tad sick of this anti-nerd bias in this country. […] Why is it that we have so many people in the news and in sitcom writing that feel it is OK to just bash the nerds anyways? And why the hell don’t we have our own civil rights organization or group to defend us when we are bashed?”
Because we’ve got better things to do.
On a related note, perhaps we can agree that no one should reply to O’Reilly on these issues? He is notorious for being a troll, inciting people into e-mailing flames to him, which he gets to mock on the air. O’Reilly is garbage and not worth your time or mine.
November 18th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
This really reminds me of an episode of the Twilight Zone.
November 18th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
@Kyouryuu
Good point. It is better to ignore these people and watch it because they aren’t really worth it, but at one point I think it goes a little too far. I find it disappointing that kind of thing is what I’m seen as.
Anyways, why the hell is Bill O’Reilly so popular anyways? Is it because he likes to rile people up over his words for shock value to get attention from those that agree with him or what?
November 18th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
O’Reilly is just an irrelevant old man, who is afraid of change. He is even more afraid of becoming totally irrelevant. He spends time attacking Stewart, Colbert, and now Playstation 3 when he should be spending his time getting an education, so that we wouldn’t have to hear so much ignoranant garbage spewing from his mouth.
November 18th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
I know my neighbors…
Next door, on the left is the Detective Sgt. trying to become a Lt., his bitchass wife, and their little slut of a daughter who goes to the Catholic High School for girls.
On the right is the single mother with a retarded son. They’re good people.
Across the street on the left is the furniture salesman, his wife the obsessive compulsive who is so bad she vacumes the driveway every day, and their son, the delinquent.
On the right is the guy who bought the house as an investment, lives in one side, and rents the other. He paid alot of money to buy his place from the state, and now he’s suing them because of the lunatic who used to piss in the corner and light fires in the living room.
So, I know my neighbors, Bill. All too well.
November 18th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Bill O’Reilly complaining about not being able to carry on a conversation with someone is funny when you consider what his idea of ‘debate’ consists of. Almost as funny as his ironic use of the term ‘No Spin Zone’.
November 18th, 2006 at 10:33 pm
I like how someone - who comes from a society that constantly ignores the fact that there is a world outside America - actually bashes on the population group most likely to know more than himself.
November 18th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
“did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them?”
Of course he can’t carry on a conversation with us - Because we’re more intelligent than him.
But, I mean, we don’t know anything, right? dee-de-dee.
November 18th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Sorry to double post, but I had to:
Bill O’Reilly:
November 18th, 2006 at 10:55 pm
Curse your non-html friendly site, Dennis.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4190/howdaruls1.jpg
November 18th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
It seems to me that Mr. O-Dumbass is making broad generalizations about the whole of gamers based upon a specific minority of us that really do need help.
Dear Mr. O-Dumbass,
The vast majority of gamers play games as a means of simple stress relief, or casually for fun. Most of us do know our neighbors. Most of us do interact with the real world very well. Most of us are very normal people. There is a minority of gamers who do need some help dealing with the real world, but it is my guess that these people would be doing something aside from gaming if they didn’t have a “machine” to plug into (probably obsessive reading of fantasy material, or D&D/other role playing games).
You are usually an intelligent person, so please do some research and THINK before talking about gamers in such a bigoted, knee-jerk way again. You are steriotyping a HUGE percentage of the population, and as a person in your position such an action is extremely irresponsable. Bringing in someone from NIMF without bringing in a gamer to dispute their claims was also quite short-sighted. Essentially, you formed your own opinions and brought in a “yes man” to confirm them. Congratulations, I hope you’re happy with yourself.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
Now I’m off to go do some painting with my WIFE, and then help out one of my NEIGHBORS with his computer problems.
November 18th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
I hate it when I get to the party late and everyone’s already covered everything I wanted to say! =)
I would like to attest, however, that the iPod is definitely beneficial to one’s health…I’d never go to the gym without it. (24 Hour Fitness never changes their music and working in a nightclub, I’ve heard enough hip-hop to last me ten lifetimes.)
November 18th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
[…] He’s not the only one firing. Bill O’ Reilly of FOX NEWS, also slammed the PlayStation 3. The newest thing is the PlayStation 3. Now this is a machine that allows you to play games in hi-def and all this other stuff… It’s the newest state of the art system from Sony…. It has a video game console, plays DVDs, connects you to the Internet, tells you how handsome you are. It’s six-hundred bucks. Now people lined up for hours to get this thing. Hours! […]
November 18th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
//O’Reilly doesn’t seem to consider that the violent crime rate has fallen substantially in the last ten years, moreso since the PS2 came out.//
Well, technically, he’s complaining about how video game addicition is at an all-time high.
He does make some good points (albeit he could’ve said them WAY better) about how the addicition is happening. True, not EVERY gamer does what he says, but there are a number who do. Sure, maybe not knowing the temperature off-hand isn’t the most important thing in the world, but the point he’s trying to get across is that sometimes you should just put the controller down, and go hang out in the sun and make sure you’re actually living a life.
However, if I read right, that’s what the other guy is saying, and this guy is just taking the whole issue to a new level.
November 19th, 2006 at 12:20 am
Classic! His show (really any television news program) is a sign of the very problem he is supposedly addressing. People don’t know enough about issues in this country because of shows like his which reduce complex issues into meaningless sound bites. If he wanted to create more people in the know he wouldn’t be making his living off a media system which trickles down enough information so people think their informed when they are actually completely oblivious to what real going on in the world.
You want to know a real problem with America: our over inflated egos which have stifled our progress as a nation. The ego masturbation that passes for informing television today is a big part of the problem.
I admit these pundits may have good points at times but I for one don’t feel like digging through a pound of feces (their egos) to find the one oz. of chocolate (their points) buried underneath.
November 19th, 2006 at 1:21 am
I’ve been reading GP for a fairly long time, and I have to say I never cease to be surprised by the complete and total ignorance that large sections of our society live in. You’d think after all this time one would be numb to it.
What really gets me is the quote about the “computer geeks,” I mean, there ARE the classic reclusive computer-type people out there, but by and large programmers, sys admins, game devs, etc etc etc that I’ve known and worked with throughout the years have been some of the smartest most informed, most interesting people I’ve ever met.
His rant actually made me feel like puking ;p
November 19th, 2006 at 1:49 am
As stated before, anything can be addictive, even things that make you go “eeeeew!” A purely psychological addiction is so totally different than drug addiction, that only a complete moron would equate them.
I’ve got three words for you, Billy O’: Cabbage Patch Kids. What actually incites these behaviors is GREED. It isn’t video game related at all.
November 19th, 2006 at 2:26 am
Bill Butler is correct here. We must destroy the abominations of God which are machines made in the likeness of man’s mind, and kill all those who assist them! Death to the unbelievers!
Seriously. What a luddite.
November 19th, 2006 at 6:03 am
Correct me if I’m wrong. But it seems to me that the less that is understood about something the louder the ignorant shouting. Where as those who know stuff seem to be swept under the carpet no matter how hard they try to ge the info out.
November 19th, 2006 at 6:31 am
So, regarding that last paragraph, is he saying gamers aren’t killing any real people? Can we have that on paper from him, so we can shove it down his throat next time he’s blaming computer game violence for actual violence?
Hell! Maybe we should give the terrorists some PS3s!
November 19th, 2006 at 8:19 am
AHH! Mr.Loofah attacks again!
Seriously. I guess those people that camp out for Star Wars and James Bond are also addicted to movies like alcohol and drugs, and also created a reality for themselves? What do you say to that Bill?
November 19th, 2006 at 9:13 am
Anyone else old enough to remeber the sea’s of people wanting Cabbage Patch kid dolls way back in the day? Yeah we are so wrong and different from our forefathers on that one…..
November 19th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Bill O’Reilly == Career Troll
November 19th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
I am an avid gamer, and I do believe that gaming is an addiction. Activities like video gaming can put you on a dopamine high, and once you pop, you can’t stop. And neither does the fun. Well done, Bill.
Alas, may I direct you to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_addiction.
November 19th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Did he just say video games were worse than alcohol and drugs?
I swear, Bill O’Reilly has to be one of the stupidest humans alive today. He thinks WE have social issues and aare unaware of our surroundings, he should take a look in the mirror. RRRGGH! It makes me so angry. I take this as a personal insult.
“Can you carry on a conversation with them?”
Yep, yep I can. I often-times do, since talking to people like Bill O’Reilly is like debating with a log…except that’s probably insulting the logs of the world.
November 19th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
@Heath Richards
In reference to supposed game addiction related deaths: pics or it didn’t happen.
November 19th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Well, you are not going to believe this. I found some one who believes it! Believes it! Agrees with O’Reilly! I don’t think I could stress that enough!
And the irony? He’s arguing about it. On the Internet. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure computers qualify under the definition of machines. Along with the fact everything we own is manufactured with the aid of machines.
November 19th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
@Heath J. Chaney
Well, I’m willing to bet that you are a damn troll. If you can come up with some sufficient evidence, I think the GP community would be most grateful, as the link you gave LEADS TO NOTHING. It just leads to an article that doesn’t exist on the WP page.
November 19th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Heath J. Chaney
same for movies same for books same for date….anything can give you that rush …so should we never leave our caves or think so we will never be flustered??
November 19th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
[…] Damn, so by me listening to my iPod and playing Gears of War, I’m contributing to terrorism? Is there nothing a young man can do to past the time besides spend it with real people? Source: [GamePolitics] […]
November 19th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
“Addicted to a machine” look who’s talking. If the video camera had a dick O’Reilly would suck it.
November 19th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
O’Reilly is quite brilliant, really.
He says things to say things, and to get a rise out of people, which is what he’s done.
Unless I’ve missed something and completely overestimated his intelligence.
…Taking Bill O’Reilly at face value leaves me with a cheapened feeling.
November 19th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
[…] Conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly slammed gamers and iPod users on his show this week arguing that PS3 creates a generation of delinquents who are out of touch with reality. Says O’Reilly: In the past to flee the real world people usually chose drugs or alcohol… now you don’t have to do that, Now all you have to do is have enough money to buy a machine. […]
November 19th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Bill Gates is a gamer, Is his life a dead end?
There is a saying “don’t dis’ it until you have tried it” I seriously doubt that O’Reilly has played a single game in his life with an open mind. And people vote for bush..
Why are people like O’Reilly on TV?
November 19th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
O’Rile-er is up tight because he fell for the straight life , booze and drugs instead of counter culture web games …and now all us under 45 will pay. ..O’Riler must be over 45? ….I can see it now and soon…”drop-outs” that become gamers, and then gamer love-ins, then exploited gamers and gamer backlash…THEN “Gamer-Detox”…and “Gamer Half-Way Houses” and “Gamer Welfare”..OH no! its the sixties all over again and O’Really missed it again. There is no justice for a “American Lame” anymore….hey man …try the evangelists, they love negative , lost souls like you.
November 19th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
[…] Via: GamePolitics.com - Bill O’Reilly Slams PS3 Launch, Gamers, iPods, Digital Tech (not in that order) […]
November 19th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
I like that people consider heavy computer usage/escapism a horrible thing unto itself. This is extremely retarded, as there is a reason why people are engaging in escapsim, even more so the kids. They may have real problems in their life that their parents and those around them are failing to recognize or assist the kid with. The parents themselves might be the problem; abusive and dangerous, rendering the kid to either flee the house as often as possible or while they are occupied in the house, lock themselves up into some solo activity. Either reading, painting, or - you guessed it, engaging in just playing. A game, electronic or not.
When they have options for normality, they’ll explore it in a heart-beat. But until their have that option, they’ll continue with the paths presented to them. I just wish Billy boy here would stop with the rhetoric which is both damaging and useless.
He isn’t helping. Only reinforcing incorrect sterotypes and applying more negative pressure to the kids who need help (Hey kids! You’re doomed to be failures forever.
And you can’t do anything about it! 
), IF they even need help in the first place.
November 19th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
Most of O’Reilly’s demographic can remember when the TV was invented. Really.
November 19th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Yes! He has it perfectly!
We should spend more time waving our countrie’s flag and singing the national anthem while dancing the national jig, talking to people that are too busy to pay attention to us, writing letters to them and shivvering with glee as they get glanced over and ignored for lack of mindless praise.
In fact, all of our free time should be spent worshipping both government and god.
Oh and let’s not forget the military, simply supporting our soldiers and staff isn’t good enough, we must gather our collective psychic power and beam love and joy over to them through means of magic arse crystals.
While we’re at it, we should also spend more time yelling over far seas at cave-dwelling warlords. Showing them our displeasure, as they shread our suggestive letters, and ignore us.
November 20th, 2006 at 2:29 am
Bill,
I am really very tried of your attempts to attack the New Generation. You attacked hip hop and now you attack video games. You are a right wing shock-jock and this is why.
Everyone knows what a Left wing shock-jock is… i.e. Howard Stern. But Bill are the opposite. Hip Hop is Billion dollar industry with Millions of listener’s worldwide. Video games are no different. With the Playstation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii release for this Christmas it is sure to be the top of everyone’s list, young and old. The hype of this is, the biggest Computer and Gaming industry has seen, and this being the tech age and the release of the new windows that’s pretty big. And you Bill taking it, (spin-doctoring if you will) and use it to wide your listen audience. Bill you are full of it. By Shocking the nation again and spinning the hype for own good you are a hypocrite. No different than Dennis Rodman, Madonna or Stern.
You clam that Video Games are the down fall of the youth. You mis-informed, dumb or really smart ( See last par.) Video Games are not like Pac Man anymore. In Video Games you must earn money, to stay competitive. Muti-task, you must monitor your heath, radar, team members, ammo and enemies. In Sports you can have full control of your favorite team. Trade players even draft players from your NCAA game to your Pro game. With games like Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Do your homework, as sells of GTA went up, crime alone the same lines of in the game went down. The US Army said that soldiers who grew up playing video games are better . And Video Games trains you to be a soldier by use tactics to win ( things you should be happy about unless you are a Kerr supporter). And with Online ability in all of the Next Gen systems the world is your neighbor. You are able the talk to people around the world and play with or against them. All of these skill can help you in your adult life.
BILL, I challenge you to air this Full email without edit to your TV show and Radio show!!! Because you may have a lot good points on many issues ( I to side mostly with the right wing ) but attacks on hip hop and video games because it’s big news or business. Bill, Stop attacking peoples fun, entertainment, and hobbies. You sound like the people that attack Elvis for dancing on a stage. And Bill what do you do for a hobby, read books, RPG’s are interactive books. Play tennis, the Wii makes you run around the room and swinging the controller like a racket to play. So next time you want to hit the court and its raining theirs an idea. and Bill you say boy-cot the thing you do not like. You said “I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod…” I hope apple and the rest of the tech industry will thing about boy-cotting you. And Finally the underlining problem with the youths is this… The Parents! The Parents are the only true problem with our children. Like computers garbage in garbage out. Parents and You should not take games away from children but spent time on there interest (Video Games, Sports, and etc.) and show them love and not a $699 babysitter.
Signed
Shawn Talbott
Husband and Father
middle class citizen
and 28 y/o Gamer 4 life
November 20th, 2006 at 3:07 am
Looks like someone’s grumpy over the Republican defeat. Quick, someone get this man a PS3 so he can blow off some steam.
November 20th, 2006 at 6:52 am
“I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.” How so very insulting to anyone who is a fan of video games. Bill I would love you to have a sit down with me. I feel like I could really help you “grow-up” a little bit. As I get older I grow more and more afraid of how every generation befor me didn’t have a clue either.
November 20th, 2006 at 11:23 am
[…] GamePolitics.com caught this gem from the Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly: I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there. […]
November 20th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
im suprised that bag of wind didn’t go the pearl harbor 2 route
November 20th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
I love that terminator 44 can’t even spell, but he can talk about luddites. That just makes my day. What an ass.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
I generally disagree with Bill O’Reilly, but I agree with him 100 percent on this. Frankly I’m disappointed with those members of my generation who choose sloth over the active pursuit of self-education and productive contributions to our society.
November 20th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
[…] Well… Apparently Bill O’Reilly believes there’s something fundamentally evil about computer geeks. The iPod and all the other fancy technology we have today is leading to America’s downfall. Somehow it all leads back to the jihadists in the middle-east…but I’m not quite sure how… […]
November 20th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
[…] Then, he bashed video gamers, which is fine and dandy, until you realize this his employer forked out $650 million for IGN, the largest video game publisher. […]
November 20th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
I like that once I pose a conflicting opinion, I am classified as a “troll”. And, OldschoolVgamer, by the way, the link I provided had a period on the end of it, so that’s why it led nowhere.
Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_addiction
November 20th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
The trackbacks aren’t apparently working, so here you go: http://warriorvisions.blogspot.com/2006/11/bill-oreilly-talk-to-me.html
November 20th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Your Wiki source was branded with this:
“The factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.”
This suggests to me that the information isn’t neccesarly of the unbiased sort which wikipedia strives for. That combined with the warning about neutrality of the article suggests that the article is less then credible.
November 20th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
[…] Bill O’Reilly Slams PS3 Launch, Gamers, iPods, Digital Tech (not in that order) [via] GamePolitics.com […]
November 20th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
To be honest, those warnings weren’t there when I first visited the site last week, and you’re right. But all I’m trying to say is, at least have an open mind to the idea that video games may be addictive to some people.
Oh, and thanks for not calling me a troll.
November 20th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Oh and let’s not forget the military, simply supporting our soldiers and staff isn’t good enough, we must gather our collective psychic power and beam love and joy over to them through means of magic arse crystals.
Magic? Crystals? Sounds like you’ve been playing that Finally Fantasies game thing. That’s just the sort of game the terrorists want us playing. While they’re there shooting bombs and dropping bullets on us, you’re going to be there trying to summon Ifrit, and then we’ll all be dead because he’s not real.
You people make me sick.
November 20th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
What’s wrong with the iPod?
I just use mine to listen to beautiful music, from pop to classics, plus some family pix and the odd video.
The man is really very odd.
November 20th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
O’Reilly used to be somewhat more moderate now im convinced, hes lost it. Oh well at least Hannity isnt nuts
November 20th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
[…] Oh boy. Let the mud fly. […]
November 20th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
[…] Bill OReilly: What a Dick GamePolitics.com caught this gem from the Radio Factor with Bill OReilly:I dont own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod If this is your primary focus in life - the machines its going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? Theyre not playing the video games. Theyre killing real people over there. __________________ Dr. Phil Made Me Who I Am […]
November 20th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
BillOReilly.com allows users to click an Apple iPod for information about how to become a “Premium Member” to enjoy audio podcasts, backstage video podcasts, and photos of Bill O’Reilly on your iPod. Also included are links and instructions for adding O’Reilly’s podcasts to Apple’s iTunes. More info: http://www.billoreilly.com/membership.
Tell one of your underpaid handlers to look up the definition of “hypocrite” when you get a moment, Bill, and have them explain it in simple words for you.
November 20th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
“It’s a series of tubes!”
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
I can’t wait until these old, ultra-conservative types are gone for good. Let them shrivel up, and be miserable without spreading their misery to everyone else.
I really dislike Conservative Republicans. *They* are what is wrong with this country. Selfish bastards!
November 20th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
[…] Now, this amuses me to no end. iPods and Jihad… I don’t see a correlation, but what do I know? I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there. […]
November 20th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
The Buddhist , say when you die if you bad ,you come back as a lower life.
A rat sound like miserable O’Reillys rebrith.
November 20th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Who is Bill O’Reilly and why does anybody care?
November 20th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
@Heath J. Chaney
OK, it’s my fault. I thought you were just trolling as you stated something with a link that was off making me think it was an opinion. I was just too busy at the time to notice that it had a period in it. I was doing something else at that moment and I was kind of thrown off. Sorry for that.
I fully well know that gaming can be an addiction, but as Ashla said the article may be slanted and non-neutral which is common to some Wikipedia pages making them either biased or advertising (take it from an on and off amateur editor there), so I’m not so sure of the accuracy of info there.
“I am an avid gamer, and I do believe that gaming is an addiction. Activities like video gaming can put you on a dopamine high, and once you pop, you can’t stop. And neither does the fun. Well done, Bill.”
In a matter of semantics, you said you “believe that gaming IS an addiction” when considering the sentence afterwards say it “CAN put you on a dopamine high”, the first should be “gaming CAN BE an addiction” but not necessarily IS. Sorry for the nitpicking there.
But yes, I do agree that it can be an addiction as I have read stories of other people doing things after playing games like MMOs or over a game system such as the PS3 riots prove.
Also, the fact that a dopamine high can cause people to come back for more and not be able to stop is true (although I’m not a science expert so I wouldn’t know so I’ll just use the WP info here), but then again the effects of anything with the brain ranges from person to person as you probably already know.
A person could walk away from a game addiction feeling withdrawal symptoms and anger, while other addicts might not feel or do anything different from what they normally do if they didn’t have the addiction. It greatly depends on other factors like the environment and way they grew up and were raised that would factor in as well. So the term “game addiction” and it’s definition and effects is up for question depending on who you ask. Science can’t explain everything
But, I think that these people who can’t talk to anyone normally or riot over a PS3 are game addicts that took it way too far in a direction of depending on a machine, whichever they chose, to be their source of satisfaction, social life, and the thing they wanted, choosing either anti-social behaivor or violence which isn’t healthy. People prone to stuff like this over A DAMN MACHINE need help badly either medically, physically and/or psychologically.
Just my two cents and sorry for the long rant. These are just my two cents and I may be wrong considering those people who may not feel effects from game addiction may not have a game addiction but game obsession.
November 20th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
He is what’s wrong with America. Another loud-mouth complainer out for publicity. Sad. Very sad.
“You aren’t fixing anything Bill. You are not doing anyone but yourself a service.”
“Be a doer not a nagger.”
November 20th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Yeah Bill is right! All children want to do these days is listen to the grunge music and ride around on skatingboards! In my day children had the common sense to work 25 hours a day in the coal mines. But kids today would rather use the Walkmans then die of blacklung. Lazy good for nothings.
November 20th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
[…] …and not because of how I voted two weeks ago. Nope, Bill-O has reached full blown “kids on mah lawn!” mode blaming the inevitable fall of all things American on “the machines” and specifically video games and iPods. Pretty soon he’ll be ranting about TV and that Rock and/or Roll all the kids are hooked on. […]
November 20th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
wanna know why bill dont like comps? bill works for the machine and he loves every co*ksuckin minuite of it, the longer you play games watch movies and listen to music the longer your not listening to the propaganda box with people like him on it telling you what you should think is right and wrong. you create your own reality for a little while, whats wrong with that, its not as if the real reality is any better.
in bill’s words - “They don’t know anything… because they are constantly diverted by a machine”. i may be a hardcore gamer but I do know that the machine im typing this post on gives me to access any news source from anywhere in the world in an instant, giving me access to 100000 times more independent information than any TV channel would ever provide and, more importantly, without a slanted,distorted or bias to it.
i stopped watching tv months ago and rarely read a newspaper and you know something? the world is a whole lot different when you find your own news. people dont need a bill o’RLY or a bill fu&king anyone to tell them the news while chucking in their (or their network’s) two cents in on top.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Does anyone have the full transcript of that rant? I want to give a copy of it to some O’Reilly fans who “don’t believe he’d say something like that” but I don’t care to give O’Reilly my money to do it.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
[…] This right wing idiot has been spouting off for years now. His latest rant against video games (and ipods and pretty much any of those evil "machines" as he calls them) really takes the cake though […]
November 20th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, I say. Bill wants to declare a boycott on all those things he claims he offended by (phone sex apparently not being one of them)? Fine. Let’s do as he says and fight the “real enemy”.
It’s time for a good, ol’fashioned Podcast burning. Light’em up!
http://warriorvisions.blogspot.com/2006/11/burn-podcast-to-show-bill-you-care.html
November 20th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
wow…that has to be one of the most ignorant things i’ve ever read. “did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them?” What the hell is up with this comment? I would consider myself a geek, and granted we have our own lingo, but I find it just as easy to get my point across as the next public speaker. Apparently our vocabulary isn’t as sophisticated or as refined as his is, but when I talk, I at least know what I’m talking about and don’t base it off of unbiased, unfounded assumptions that you can’t defend with anything other than, its my opinion or I think…Jeez even the specialist didn’t agree with you. Crawl back into the dark hole you came out of because nobody cares what your opinion is. Do your homework next time.
November 20th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
I’m of the same generation as that fool, O’Reilly. I am so glad that so many of you are wise to this moron!
If I met him socially, I would bawl him out in a VERY loud voice for being such a jug-headed, wonky-eared, bullshit-sprewin’ BULLY!
He’s my generation’s stereotypical “cranky old fart”. Feel free to disregard any claims he makes to be in a no-spin zone. The man is constantly spinning, which is what makes him so god-damned dizzy.
November 20th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
[…] [Transcript courtesy of GamePolitics.com] American society is changing for the worse because of the machines… In the past to flee the real world people usually chose drugs or alcohol… now you don’t have to do that, Now all you have to do is have enough money to buy a machine… […]
November 20th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Tell Bill that President Bush owns an iPod. How about the folks that buy all of Bill’s books and get them autographed, printed books made by machines? Bill has every right to rant and rave since that’s what the USA is all about. Remind Bill that the machines is what puts his face on the airwaves and sends him a paycheck!
November 20th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
[…] Not content to leave the video game bashing to Democrats like Hillary and Joementum, Bill O’Reilly has decided to turn luddite, and open fire on gaming and technology, in the process demanding that all of you kids get off of his lawn. GamePolitics has the story, complete with money quotes: Basically what you have is a large portion of the population, mostly younger people under the age of 45, who don’t deal with reality - ever. So they don’t know what day it is; they don’t know temperature it is; they don’t know what their neighbor looks like. They don’t know anything… because they are constantly diverted by a machine. Now what this does is it takes a person away from reality because they’ve created their own reality… […]
November 21st, 2006 at 12:26 am
[…] The following comes from a rant by Fox’s Bill O’Reilly during his radio show, The Radio Factor, with Bill O’Reilly. In this little rant, O’Reilly slams people who “wear” iPods as technogeeks whose primary focus in life is entertainment instead of… killing people? I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there. […]
November 21st, 2006 at 12:34 am
anyone else wonder if sony actually paid the guy? the rant offers some odd choices - “Now this is a machine that allows you to play games in hi-def and all this other stuff… It’s the newest state of the art system from Sony…. It has a video game console, plays DVDs, connects you to the Internet,”…
i mean, it sounds like a plug for the damn thing!?
November 21st, 2006 at 12:39 am
[…] Read about it here with a rebuttal from Arik Hesseldahl here who points out that Ronald Regan thought games are great, they can train soldiers for USA to use. Excuse me, I’m off to play America’s Army and draft myself up for the next Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) war. […]
November 21st, 2006 at 12:54 am
Looks like somebody’s grumpy about midterm elections.
November 21st, 2006 at 1:24 am
Wow, this guy needs to go actually meet some gamers so he knows what he’s talking about before spouting that sort of crap.
OH SHIT GUYS, I’M A GAMER WITH FRIENDS AND SKILLS HANDY FOR AN OCCUPATION! HOW COULD THIS BE?
November 21st, 2006 at 1:39 am
[…] Click to read it. […]
November 21st, 2006 at 4:12 am
O’Reilly is a stupid cunt.
It really is as simple as that.
November 21st, 2006 at 8:48 am
WAIT A MINUTE!
has no one noticed the obvious …. what’s Bill O’Reilly doing with a paysite that contains podcasts if he’s totally against ipods and technology?
or does he use this tool to reach out to the “know nots” ? lol
its actually scary the amount of people in real power in both the USA and UK who are so out of touch like this.
i am from the UK. when i was younger i was in a car wreck with a friend. i had to give evidence in court to help my friend (as he was being charged with careless driving).
at one point giving evidence, the Judge asked me to estimate the distance that the other car was behind us when we stopped.
I answered with “about 200 metres”.
“In feet!” demanded the judge!
“i’m sorry, i was only taught the metric system at school, i wouldnt be able to estimate accurately in inches” i replied
The judge then repeated his question and demand for it in inches, to which i replied something like …
“You are a JUDGE, YOU should know yourself what the measurement is in both metres and inches, i dont HAVE to know”
(which was followed by a few chuckles from around the court).
It’s people like this that need booted OUT of the system to make room for new and forward thinkers. The world has changed so much in the time that they have had their positions that i think it just scares them and they lash out like that.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:29 am
What is he like 50? Duh he would be mad because he doesn\’t understand what video games are.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:51 am
Unfortunately he does have a few points, even though I disagree that “video games are all bad”, he has to realize that SOCIETY itself is fucked up, free market capitalism is a fucked up system, the lower you are on the economic totem poll the more enslaved you are, you’re worse off then tribes that existed 1,000’s of years ago in terms of control over where your time is spent.
He needs to look deeper at why people are checking out to drugs, alcohol, tv, and games in the first place - the society and economic social order itself.
People socialize less or socialize around virtual environments with many people they will most likely never meet.
Although he misses the positives: Isolated people who have trouble socializing without machines get some form of socialization at least esp if they live in communities far away from urban centers..
November 21st, 2006 at 11:00 am
Wait a tic, I’m a computer geek.. Oh Bill, tell us how to make it all better, we’ve been so lost without you.. With our good jobs, lack of serious drug habits and informed decision making. Oh the humanity
November 21st, 2006 at 11:37 am
[…] As seen in this podcast description of his frothy/ing radio show, O’Reilly’s actions clearly can have only one justification. […]
November 21st, 2006 at 11:52 am
Isn’t he pushing the same views at the unibomber? Look how socially well adjusted that guy was.
You tell ‘em.
November 21st, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Couple counter points to be made.
People 45 and over are likely having a mid-life crisis and running out to buy a new car to escape from the reality of aging.
So much for O’Reilly’s war on escapism there..
As for blaming technology for all of scieities problems.. Well, now he’s just sounding like a coot. “Dern kids playin’ their Vid’ja games and spending time doing things!.. GET OFF MY LAWN!” That’s about the impression that I get from him.
Can’t he just go back to blaming Christmas for all the world’s problems? That was much more entertaining.
November 21st, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Bill O’Reilly is an idiot. He should go figure out his own problems instead of trying to dissect others. I am a gamer, have a job, house, family AND friends. Oh my gosh I am also 35 years old!! What, how is this possible he may ask.. Because I am a MAN, not a wet towel you jackass.
November 21st, 2006 at 1:18 pm
he’s right—you fuckin’ nerds! get a life!