The U.K. has a gun problem? I thought the U.K. had guns under control and just had a knife problem?

Andrew
What they are trying to do is nitpick what their adult populace can do, they should relax and let "the boxing tits" alone(sex and violence) stick with kiddy porn,snuff films and weapons building(?).

That or do what the Japanese do and censor porn.....0-o

"...overwhelmingly the preserve of adolescent boys"? Ridiculous! I mean has this guy not seen any of the demographic information? Most gamers are in their 20s and 30s. Heck, I'm in my mid 40s. Or is he saying that 40 year-olds are adolescent boys too?

He's a Telegraph columnist. In other words, a nobody. This is just further proof that these self-important media types are out of touch with us modern gamers.

i hate the" video gamez r for teh teenaze boyys" rap that everyone spews now of days. in not a teenager, and im definatly not a guy, but im still a GAMER

"But in such cases it is more the easy availability of real guns, rather than their virtual counterparts, that lies at the heart of the problem."

Didn't expect to see that there.

-P

"Since we occasionally hear of some maniac shooting up his high school in middle America after a marathon session on some gory game"

Really? Did he really just write that? Would he care to cite these occasions?

He's a pretentious jackass who shouldn't be allowed near a typewriter, let alone a computer and the internet. If he's so completely unable to understand the topic that he's writing about and to do the tiniest bit of research then he shouldn't speak in a public forum and his editor should fire him or, at the very least, refuse to publish this baseless crap.

Here's our problem. We get offended when someone says video games are kids toys, so we tell them how violent or sexual a game is and we say "This is not a kids game". Then, they force on us about how the violence in the game is going to cause us to go on shotting rampages and what not....

So, no matter what, gamers are going to always lose an argument.

sigh.

FOR THE LAST TIME GAMERS ARE OF ALL RACES AGES AND SEXES!!!

But in such cases it is more the easy availability of real guns, rather than their virtual counterparts, that lies at the heart of the problem.

Oh, spare me, Mr. White. Guns can do nothing without some whacked-up nut job pulling the trigger. What need is to watch for the signs and conditions that produce the kind of psychopaths that will shoot up a school.

"But in such cases it is more the easy availability of real guns, rather than their virtual counterparts, that lies at the heart of the problem."
Though I like her assertion that video games are not the problem, I don't blame guns either. I agree with Jabrwock that this is a multi-faceted issue that no one has taken the time to explore.

@ chrislovespills

i doubt that it will be allowed.
The UK seems to hate rockstar

"nanny state approach"

What a nice way of saying "A oppressive, controlling, tyrannical police state"

I love that for so long they've been ignoring the fact the the majority of gamers are closer to 30 than 15.

I was going to go off on a huge point here about society, violence, etc., but then decided I just don't have the heart at the moment. Screw it. They never learn.

Between the last few Game based reports from the Times, and this, I'm now certain taht the broadsheets as a whole are utterly not the sort of publication who considers Gamers as a major part of the readership.

Whcih is bizarre as the Guardian, Herald and teh Scotsman are all fairly Gamer-friendly. (it's a relative concept sadly)

I really can't say anything polite on this subject right now.

@Monkeythumbs

that makes them the perfect example

@ Shaesyco

I think you may have a point there, mores the pity. If only Westmister would realise what an artistic and economic goldmine they were sitting on, then maybe they wouldn't be so reactionary.

@ Monkeythumbs

hind sight is 20/20(I hope i spelled that right)

@Matthew

for the sake of arguement lets say that is does lead to a ban on video games of all kinds?

What happens to the gamers there?

@ Matthew

I hope you're wearing asbestos underwear...

@Shayesco:

a) Quite. What if they did it again? Would it work any better this time?

c) Mass bans on games would be protested by the public, the industry, and other government members and bodies. It could happen but would not last. The UK has more wiggle room than the US for introducing stupid laws.

b) I know you're not, and I'm sorry if it sounded like I was sounding off against you. It was more disdain at seeing a UK-based article in the RSS feed and already knowing what 30% of the comment thread would be about. Time for a table!

US: Bans on any example of any media deemed unconstitutional. Games sometimes censored or heavily targeted when sex is involved (e.g. Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, Mass Effect). Much lolling and money wasting when someone suggests a ban.
UK: Some media may be restricted for sale if it fails BBFC tests, but ownership is OK. Bans are appealed and generally lifted, or followed with tedious to-ing and fro-ing in the news and Westminster.
Germany: Games may be censored for particularly brutal or mid-1900's content. Citizens import.
China: Personal freedom is so hot-button that a sentence on a GP comment thread really can't do it justice.
City 17: Total ban on video games. Citizens not overly pleased with the decision; attempts made to go outside and play old-fashioned sports tend to result in violent beatings.

the funny thing is if you go to the ESA site or (and this is hilarious) even google 'average age of gamer' you get the ESA site in the first few entries that says:

Fact 3 -The average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years.


Fact 8- Thirty-eight percent of all game players are women


wow.. guess we arent all adolescent boys are we. Nice you did your research Jim White

@Shaesyco: (Sorry for Shayesco before. No idea where that came from.)

c) I doubt it would be like that, but yes. Restriction of liberties tends to result in that sort of thing. As does having more than three British people outside together at any one time. It would be pleasantly ironic to violently protest a ban on violent games too, so I'm sure the public would jump at the chance.

I like the fact that people run their mouths about video games, but then they keep running away from the research.

@dbroad

This is why we gotta fight for net neutrality. If you disconnect everyone on the internet for downloading something illegal, I could make for certain that about 75% of the people who populate the internet would be disconnected.

Althou, if you think about it, this is the tightest part of the crap tunnel gamers have to go through to be accepted as an art and a medium that can be left alone, like movies or music. I think in a few years, games will stop taking so much flak. The retaliation of the Mass Effect story is a good start for gamers to start sticking up for themselves, but now more then ever, we need to stop playing defense and go on the offensive on these unlawful and unconstitutional movements on the industry we love and support.

Sorry if I'm missing something, I don't know much about who is on the Telegraph journalist team, but isn't Jim White, a sports editor? Maybe he should stick to that subject, as he clearly doesn't know anything about gaming if he goes to the age old sterotype.

sigh....its getting harder to keep listening to these morons
i loose IQ points every time

@Zippy

Yeah, I know, right? If video games get banned, there are only gonna be people who work around that and will get them anyway. Honestly, politicians need to update their information and stop being misinformed d-bags.

Oh sorry. I thought we were picking up from where we left off last time. My bad.

Um Dennis at the end of the article she clearly says the whole thing is much ado about nothing (although not in those words). Why don't you report that?

Methinks you enjoy stirring us up since this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

hmm I like what he said...but I don't at the same time...damn...anyway related but slightly separate question is there some kind of youth crime spree or something in Britain cause the more I find out about the Mosquito the more cruel it sounds and after hearing it I got angrier like feeling violent angry really making teens less trustful and angrier is supposed to STOP violence...what kind of idiots...actually its a lot like video games stupid precedent thats completely wrong but believed because its easier to accept then reality also fun reminder to all: everyone who has ever eaten food has died so starve your babies XD

Andrew
About 30-50% of new hentai video is censored in japan and released stateside in a uncensored state, Japanese Porn is censored twice as much if not more thats why the underground stuff took off because its uncensored.

Censored(mosaic) porn is the most oxymoronic divide by zero stuff I have ever seen.


Father Time
because she wont let off on the subject and furthers misconceptions over it.

The sad part is that we can't even say that it is democratic considering the Gordon Brown took the reins off Tony Blair, yes we voted the party in but on the basis of the ideals of the old leader, so we now have an unelected man, losing in the opinion polls trying to bolster his political standing, or even worse he'll make it so that the new laws come into effect just after an election so that the new parliament has to deal with the fallout. Not only is it censorship but effectively it is a sad point in democracy where the person crafting the laws only cares about trying to make a splash so that it is acknowlegded that he was in power, especially as if you think about it, by the next election it will of been forgotten by the general public making him blameless.
Britain is currently in the crisis of the government losing the trust of the police due to pay rises which didn't happen(the police are meant to be given pay rises in accordance to the findings of an independent review which the government promises to follow but now haven't due to giving themselves a pay rise) and the realisation that the parents and education system have failed miserably at giving the youth a sense of culpability, mixed in with media hype. Nevermind the fact we messed up when it came to the fine details of human rights (yes humans have rights but the whole system in britain has become silly due to citizens having less rights than the criminals). We are also in the grip of a compensation culture where the criminals are more likely to sue the victims. Thus meaning the populace have lost faith in the government, prompting the government to create illogical laws to try and appease the situation.

@ father time

i thought at the end of teh article he said
"That's usually what happens with kids and computer games: they grow out of them."

.. i mean i find the fact that the media repeatedly misrepresent a group, whilst claiming knowledge, is an important issue :S

(sorry if you meant the actual womans report instead! may have got wrong end of stick!)

@Gift

When I make 30, 40 is old. When I make 40, 50 is old. And so on.

To answer your question, it is, because i'm not there yet. Fucking 26 is old.

Visit the Peak Oil online communities and if you're 30, you're considered a young pup.

@Monkeythumbs

:D

It really beggars belief, when the world economy is coming off the rails and we are involved in two wars, that the Government is putting time and energy into suppressing video games. When there isn’t any problem.