Boston Globe Columnist's Dream World Doesn't Include GTA

Boston Globe Columnist's Dream World Doesn't Include GTA

April 1, 2008
In today's Boston Globe, columnist Alex Beam zings Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto series:
What if there was one day a year when people all over the world decided to behave in a manner worthy of the species? What would they call that day?

...It's bracing to imagine the day when video-game manufacturer Rockstar announces: "We don't want to make money off a game that encourages elementary school students to kill 'hos' and assassinate grand jury witnesses. We're taking Grand Theft Auto off the market."

...What if there were one day a year when everyone behaved in a manner worthy of the species? What would they call that day? They would call it April Fools' Day.

The Massachusetts Legislature, of course, is currently considering a proposal which would treat violent video games in a manner similar to pornography.

Comments

@Void Munashii
That’s a hell of a news flash. So you play as an elementary school student in GTA4? I guess the facial hair fooled me into thinking he was older than that.

Well when I was a kid, our school had book week where on one day you were encouraged to dress up as a character in the book. I had the novelisation of Raiders Of The Lost Ark and so I went as indiana jones with charcoal (or to be more accurate, extremely burned toast) rubbed on my cheeks to give me an unshaven look. Maybe Niko is doing the same...
Elementary assassins? It's brilliant!
thats a shitty joke right there man
Hey Mr. Journalist. It's called an M Rating. See? It's right there. Can't you read? People these days can't get it through their thick skulls this one simple facts.

NOT ALL VIDEO GAMES = FOR KIDS.

This stupid pegging of all games as a small child's plaything seriously needs to STOP.
Rockstar are a m,manufacturer now? I would've thought the distinction between that and developer (or publisher, distributor for that matter) would be pretty clear.
Love to see a left-of-centre paper railing on games. No mention of choice and parental responsability?
@Pen Gun
I wasn't aware that my downplaying of Alex Beam's article was meant to be funny.
Before we all become too defensive, let's remember he only talks about GTA and Rockstar Games, not about video games in general, and not EVEN about violent video games. This columnist has objections against GTA... but like many fellow gamers, actually.

So let him rant on GTA because after all it's his right, and let us keep our anger for the people who really deserve it.
I was commenting on the article not your post.
i'm getting very sick of the "i support free speech, unless it's speech i don't like" bullshit.
Man, Marvel Comics' Agent X already did the heavily armed schoolchildren bit years ago. Why not try some original material. (They were threataning to shoot up the place unless they got the Game Boys that were (falsely) promised to them.)
Are people aware of the fact that GTA isn't the only game in existence(besides pacman, mario, and pong)? Sometimes, I wonder...
@ Me, I'm pretty sure it was Agent X, though it could have been Deadpool too. I'll have to ask my sister.
@cyberskull

I'm pretty sure that it was Agent X. I don't remember seeing anything like that in Deadpool series
Dear Alex Beam,

Besides sounding like a 1980s porn star, you have apparently misunderstood GTA's concept. Its a game for 18 year olds and above. Its the parents and the critics who are blind,dumb,retarded or simply inept that cannot even see a label the size of a quarter on a game box.

I personally do not know how you got your job in the first place but apparently the Globe were short of freelancers so they had to give it to you.

Next time you write an article please...print out the rating labels on the ESRB.org website, stick on Jack Thompson's ass and give it a big kiss.

Thank You,
Nash
Before we all get defensive, what day is it today?

April Fools day.

Take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt.
is that the corret spelling of 'hos'

i always imagined it would be 'ho's' i dont know why
What would be the day that journalists reported the news, and didn't pepper 'reports' with their own personal prejudices against new media? Show me where GTA "encourages elementary school students to kill ‘hos’ and assassinate grand jury witnesses". I might as well be saying that Saw IV causes infants to stab people and beg for their lives. Just because something is in a movie/game/book doesn't mean everyone will imitate it, let alone the fact that IT'S NOT A KIDS GAME. If an parent left a gun around the house, and the kid got ahold of it, it's no the guns fault. It's the parents' fault. I remember back in the day, my parents actually said the word "NO" once in a while. Generally, it was to let me know that they don't approve. Something that parents are apparently unable to do on their own.
His ignorance is noted. Moving on...
@paul
I always thought it was "hoes" - hang on I'll find a pimp and ask him.


"Excuse me good sir - do you have a moment?"

"Baby I always gots time for a mark - and such a find dressed one as yoself"

"Thanks - listen what is the correct spelling of the word you use to describe your *ahem* 'employees'"

"Whoa slow down baby - that'll cost you"

"What? How much?!"

"twenty george washingtons baby"

"But this is Australia..."

"Don't matter baby - now you wanna know how to spell that sheeet or not playa?"

"ummm...no kthxbye"



Sorry - I wasn't much help, plus the feather in his hat kept tickling me, I suppose it'll just remain a mystery...
They should make the vuidja gaem cases out of harder plastic and make the "M" embossed, that way it will leave a big ol' fuckin' imprint/bump on their forehead when you hit them with it! xD
That's a hell of a news flash. So you play as an elementary school student in GTA4? I guess the facial hair fooled me into thinking he was older than that.

I agree, it would be nice if people behaved in a manner worthy of the species (it wouldn't take much), but I'd rather worry about the behaviour of the real people instead of the fictional ones.

If this IS an April Fool's Joke, it's not a particularly good one.
HA-HA! You're ill informed!
Maybe these idiots think [M] stands for "Mild" or something. But, then again, it does Mature 17+ right above the [M] as well, so who knows what the hell is going on in these idiot's heads.
Remember, people are naturally idiots to begin with, So the first two sentences are obviously the joke.
…What if there were one day a year when everyone behaved in a manner worthy of the species? What would they call that day? They would call it April Fools’ Day.

That pretty much says it all about the article. Not the best joke I've seen by far, but not the worst joke either.
I think people who talk about acting 'worthy of the species' have a depressingly ignorant view of humanity and need to spend some serious time looking at humans relative to other real creatures. Take away idealistic models, rose tinted history, made up aliens or mythological creatures, and humans are a damn good species.
You know what else Boston needs to ban to make it a perfect world? LITE BRITE. plz believe.
What would a day be like where politicians actually addressed the serious issues facing the communities they represent, rather than take money away from their constituients to squander on their own foolish moral pursuits and lavish lifestyles?
@Zerodash

LOL
I disagree with her assertion on that being the best definition of April fools day... Faux News reporting FACTS ONLY would truly define April fools.

What if there was one day a year when people all over the world decided to behave in a manner worthy of the species?


Does this include those who stage moral panic by delivering outright falsehoods about certain facets of mass media?
Nevar Forget. 1-31-07
A "ho" is a hooker, and a "hoe" is a gardening tool. Stay with me, people.

I love some of the other points on Beam's wishlist, though. In his magical world, every single problem has a single cause that can be reversed in one fell swoop. Hey, as long as we're dreaming, I'd like the Sens to win the cup for the next five years running and the big N to put games on the Virtual Console that people actually want to play. And maybe I'll buy a unicorn.
@paul

"I always imagined it would be ‘ho’s’ i dont know why"

Apostrophes never denote plurals. They are for possessive nouns or contractions. What in the world is a "ho is"?
What part of "Not all video games are made for kids" is it that these people do not comprehend?
@Pen Gun
Sorry about that PG, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.
Ahh, columnists. They never need to do research. Just like bloggers!
it's fine
What if there were one day a year when anti-videogame columnists, polititions, soon to be ex-lawyers, and Fox News behaved in a manner worthy of the species? What would they call that day? They would call it April Fools’ Day.

Fixed
"What if there were one day a year when everyone behaved in a manner worthy of the species?"

Our species is the single most bloodthirsty and most violent and destructive to have ever existed on this world IF THERE WAS A DAY LIKE YOU ASK FOR THEN I DOUBT THERE WOULD BE ANY SURVIVORS...
A manner worthy of the species? History says we're doing ok on that front.
GTA is your example of humans acting poorley? Really that is what you find most objectionable, not say the genocide in Darfur, starvatian across the world, many perfectly treatable diseases continuing because there is no profit for drug companies, GTA is really your example of a world gone mad?
I know what's going through their head when they see the m on the box is :

M must stand for minor. Those fiends are marketing this game to 12 ear olds.
I dream of a day when the media stops using scare tactics and sensationalism. Ah, we can dream can't we?
"What if there were one day a year when everyone behaved in a manner worthy of the species? What would they call that day? They would call it April Fools’ Day."


Is anyone noticing the last line? It's an April Fools joke.
We should hold a large, large, VERY large conference.
There'll be politicians, journalists, parents, kids, the works.
And the key speakers will be nothing but GAMERS.
We'll tell it to 'em straight.
No more scapegoating bullcrap.
We've had it with the damn lie spreading.

That would be awesome.
And I would cry.

But it isn't possible...
GTAIV actually looks worth a play.
A lot of the people posting here are simply wanting to be offended.

"…What if there were one day a year when everyone behaved in a manner worthy of the species? What would they call that day? They would call it April Fools’ Day."

"They would call it April Fools’ Day."

"April Fools’ Day."

"APRIL FOOLS' DAY."

Are some people even trying to read through the articles before posting?

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beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
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ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
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JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
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JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
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