I guess when you have a lot of time on your hands, you'll do anything to talk to other people.

Prison = loss of freedom

I don't see a problem with it. I'm actually surprised they are allowed to have them in prison anyway.

I think prisons should only be allowed to play the games that the
AVGN reviews.

"Yeah, those seemed like a good idea in 1930s Germany too"


Please tell me you aren't comparing innocent Jewish civilians to worthless criminals. I must be missing your point, that is the only explanation.

But yes. I think a few more criminals in this country need to be given a "shower".

software that enables users to send or receive radio signals

Software? Those game discs make radios all the time! I must have skipped the day in CompSci in how software makes intelligible radio signals. I always thought it was transistors or something. Besides, don't they know that the 360 doesn't come with WiFi in any of the models?

In all seriousness, radio waves are emitted from the built-in WiFi antennas in the PSP, Wii, PS3 & DS. Sure, software is telling it what to say, but the antenna itself is making the noise.

Well, maybe I'm a little bit nuts; but I'm inclined to think prison shouldn't have 500+ $ luxury items anyway, and VG consoles would certainly qualify. Don't misunderstand me, I wouldn't advocate unnecessarily cruel treatment, but denial of video games does not qualify as cruel. Whatever happened to the days when prisoners would read books?

Yes, give them books. But not just any books. Want to rub salt in the wounds? Give them player's guides and gaming magazines. Show them all the fantastic stuff they can't play while behind bars. Mwahahaha.

That's the phrase that scares me most about this: "Top brass barred the Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo DS systems after discovering they contain software that enables users to send or receive radio signals."

In particular the words "discovering". How can you "discover" something that is printed on the box, on the instruction manual, is all over the net, etc. Did they not do any research at all into what to put into jails?

It is indicitive of the gap between the current older generation and the new, tech savvy one which grew up with video games. Whereas we have embraced the medium and watched it grow and mature, the older generation hear video games or Nintendo and all they think is "toys for children".

I don't have a problem with giving prisoners access to TV, movies or games as rewards for good behavior. Incentives help. But yeah, that discovering bit is quite good. Columbus, heh. Anyways, back to my point. It's not like the consoles would be in their cells, they should be kept in common areas anyways; just like the library computers, anyone can see what you are doing there.

@Cyberskull

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that books are the ONLY form of entertainment they should get either. I would not be opposed to simple/basic kinds of things. TV's in common gathering areas in the prison with basic cable only. I wouldn't be against listen-only devices. AM/FM radios and headsets so they could listen to music. I wouldn't be against a music-library they could check out with the books.

I forget who said it, there's a philosopher somewhere who said something about you can tell things about a society by how they treat their prisoners. There's some truth to that, whatever it says about me, there are limits to my sympathy. Prison is supposed to be an unpleasant place, it's supposed to be a punishment, and I fail to see why the taxpayers should have to pay for undue luxury for people in prison. It's true that prison isn't exactly a walk-in-the-park-with-daisies-as-is; but when we're buying consoles that cost 500+ dollars for them and games at 50 a pop, well, that's just over the top for me.

Wanna play games? That's cool - straighten up; get your life right - get out and buy one like the rest of us.

Seriously, video games for prisoners? I'd be up in arms if I found out my government was using tax dollars to buy video games for prisoners.

why did prisoners (that have terror related tendancies apperantly) get to play video game?

in american all they get is cable, tivo, and mabye some HBO/payperview

keeping prisoners occupied is a key problem in prisons. All they have is time on their hands. Now, yes you can have educational programs, but some are not suited to that. And even having them pull kitchen and laundary duty still leaves a LOT of time doing nothing. Personally, I'd rather they are sitting playing computer games than lifting weights... if they come out and are likely to re-offend, I'd rather they be as fat and out of shape as the rest of us. :-)

Terroristgamer357: "Dood we are gonna PWN the london underground"

"in the case of the prison system it’s used as a reward for good behavior. If an inmate is well behaved, they get rewards for their good behavior, cable, television, games, if not, well, that stuff is denied or taken away."



I'm holding firm to the "its prison its supposed to suck". Good behavior be damned. If they have good behavior then maybe they will get a decent meal. If they don't act in a civil manner, bread and water.

@Marlowe

Pretty much what I was going to say once I got my head together. There are a good amount of inmates who are truly remorseful and regret their crimes, and know they have a debt to pay for their crimes. It's the loudmouth gangbangers, the inmates who truly don't give a fuck that deserve the harsh treatment, those who don't want help that get it bad. The ones who do want to correct a behavior and want to get out of the system that deserve a little something for their effort.

Just because the goal is to reform rather than to simply punish, that doesn't mean that prisoners should have video games.

My main issue with it is that it's a lot more expensive than other good-behavior rewards. I say reward good behavior with cheaper things: books, TV time, etc. Money saved by not buying video games for people who don't deserve them can be used to up the pay of the correctional officers, who often don't get paid nearly enough for what they do.

I don't think they should have games anyway - its PRISON FFS. They're supposed to be there to reconsider their lives, not play the latest consoles.

It's the same thing with guns and the Virginia Tech Massacre. I support the second amendment, but not for crazy mofos like Cho. I think it's a right to be able to play video games, but not for terrorists or other murderous people.

In my opinion, this is a good move by the British Prisons. The mere fact that the consoles can indeed be used for communicating should mean the automatic ban of such consoles. It's not really a new issue because any electronic gadget that the prisoners, i believe in any country, can use as means of communication is prohibited. Too bad for the prisoners who honestly just want to play Halo 3 though, but rules are rules.

@Baramos

That is actually correct. I completely agree that they need a form of entertainment and the electronic media is a good way to keep them happy. Books, t.v., video games, movies, all of these, in my opinion are fine, as long as it doesn't contain a device that can make them communicate outside of prison. If the prisoners would have a mean to do so, it would be very dangerous. So if consoles like Xbox 360 has access to communication outside prison, I believe its best if they stick with consoles or other forms of entertainment that do not have the communication feature.

i dont know who you all think u r, well anyway it has always been easy giving comments when your on the outside..
i dare one of u to face a prisoner...