Bwwahahaha!

I skipped it and I'm glad. I'm also glad that my work blocks those clips because I don't think I'd want to see them. This kind of mastabatory circle jerk disguised as news is one of the reasons I don't watch "news" anymore. News stations and interviewers are more about spreading their own personal truth then finding what the actual, or at least higher, truth really is.

This "interviewer" already had his own feelings on the subject, his own opinions, and so he sought out two people who share those opinions and pretends to interview them.

What were you expecting? Were you expecting them to be called out on any falsehoods, and wrong assumptions? Did you expect them to actually look at the game? Were you expecting them to say "the flying in the game is actually quite relaxing"?

No, they would feed on their own ignorance, like three snakes eating eachothers tails.

Two things:

1. I love how JT stated that he was suing Target, Walmart, Best Buy and GameStop for training Seung-Hui Cho and Steven Kazmierczak how to kill (never mind that the perpetrators were 23 and 27 respectively, well over the 17 year old minimum to purchase M rated games, but hey, who needs FACTS anyway...)

2. Not going to defend the show, or the idiot behind the desk, but Glen Beck is hardly what you would call "Journalism." His show is an opinion show and, unfortunate as it is, he is allowed to be as stupid as he wants on it.

"Oh Jeeze he is another conservative on t.v. screaming about the dangers of video games!" What a douch. To think, at one time I held a little respect for this guy. Well, I guess things change when someone sleeps with the enemy.

Oh....kay...

I just lost a massive amount of respect for Glenn Beck.

Wow...not only is Glenn a incopitent moron...but he is sexist! Notice when he said "When your son or boyfriend or husband plays GTA..." o_O so now all gamers are men? Im surprized no one has called him out on this. Im not so much of a fan of the GTA franchize, RPGs are more my thing, but I have played III, and my girlfriend absolutely loves the GTA games. We are both non-violent adults who grew up with games.

"Killing is not in human nature..."

...do wha? did someone actually say that!? This proves that he is JT's Beyotch robot. Basic human...no basic instinct of all living creatures are: Eat, Sleep, Procreate, and Survive. The last one dominates all other traits. In humans its even more stronger and violent being as we are some effed up creatures who can do amazing things with knowledge. For as long as there has been man there has been the instinct to kill, even the first offspring of man-kind commited murder (Cane and Able...take that JT). So to say that Humans dont have it in our instincts is BS, just look at all the wars and butchery we have seen in the history of man (Correct me if Im wrong...but Hitler, Dracula (The actual lord that the whole vampire thing is based from Count Dracule or something), Bloody Mary, Gangus Khan and all the other war leaders and people who commited huge killings in the name of conquest, religion, or just plain fun did not have Media to corrupt them.

Its this blind witch hunting that people fuel, all these rightious crusades, and all of the half-truths that the media and people who claim they have expertise in that really piss me off.

and anooother thing...where was the debate? all I saw were three people gang banging. they should be banned for showing children a gang rape of a game! o_O And the whole "Kill prositute and cops" is all user choice...its not in the game as a requirement, its in there to give you a true sence of freedom in a crime rpg, and they fail to point out that for doing twisted stuff there are repercussions, your not rewarded...but punished...noobs.

@JT: get some new material, your like a broken record. Actually get a new brain, yours is defective...actually, just diaf, kthxbye ^_^

"I know that when i say this about 80% of the people in america they hear me and go oh geeze heres a crazy conservative on tv screaming about the dangers of video games..."

lol anyone else think its funny how he followed that bit up there^ with this

"we are training our kids to be killers, and we are teaching our sons to treat women like whores"

really doesnt help convince me that hes not a 'crazy conservative'

What I never understand about these arguments about the military using video games to desensitize soldiers is you'll have the same talk-show host turn around and in another segment talk about how great the military is and how it's a good career and how we should support our troops. Which is it? Are they desensitizing people into killing machines, or creating good citizens? You can't have your pie and eat it too, Glenn Beck. I won't let you.

Is he actually arguing the majority of people had trouble killing each other prior to the invention of targets and dummies? People didn't seem to have much trouble killing each other prior to WWI. And that was more often than not up close with blades.

Thompson being Thompson.... No comment

This is journalism? THIS IS STUPIDITY!!!

Thanks for the link, Dan. I just sent my email.

Yes, the amount of soldiers who will shoot to kill in wars has gone up since WW2. In vietnam it was 90%!

Now.. if only I could remember when videogames were invented.. must have been just after WW2, right?

i'm 15, i bought gta4 on the first day it came out, i've played Rated M games since i was 10, yet i'm a pacifist....did the video game industry fail to turn me into a killer or something.

@ GenericName

How/where did you manage to get the game?

I love how the general consensus seems to be that just because you "can" do it, means that you will, and that you will therefore become a killer because of it. I mean, the game is being praised as a sandbox kind of game, where you can do whatever you want ... literally, whatever you want. These people seem to only be highlighting the negative aspects of what you can do.

Like most things in life, it's a decision to act in the game in a certain way. Granted, because it's a game, and I think the Greater Internet F*ckwad theory applies here, people will do it. But the fact remains that when playing the game, no one is forcing you to kill the prostitute, sleep with the prostitute, or even kill anyone. I find it disgusting that the fact that we give a choice in the game is what is being attacked.

The logic of "Just because you can, means that you will in every case," doesn't really fly with me. I know personally, I killed a couple prostitutes (whoops) but not every time. The fact of the matter is that more often than not, I made the *choice* to do something different in the game.


Apparently, people can't be trusted to make their own decisions in a video game, let alone real life ....

Whoops, can't edit, meant "but I'm not letting that get in the way of a great game"

"Territory is highly contested between members of the same species and nearly always results in violent displays and often death of one of the two. "

Actually, no that's not quite true. VIolent displays are just that, displays. Serious wounds between members of the same species are uncommon, mortal ones even more so.

Someone needs to tell him that what he said is a bold face lie. The military is not desensitizing soldiers to violence. With both my brothers in the army I take deep offense to this.
I did write to Glen Beck telling him the man he is championing is facing disbarment and has been banned the Florida Supreme Court for his past filings. His coverage of the game was completely one sided, biased and unfair to the gaming community. I believe he was taking the findings he was "quoting" from his ass.

A doubling of the homicide rate in the 1950's from TV? Right. Obviuosly it had nothing to do with a boom in the local population of the united states or ""baby boom" if you will. Try reading a book called Freakonomics which cites the rise and fall of crime rates to that of population control measures such as birth control which was the real reason for the rapid decline in violent crime rates in the mid to late 1980's, not stiffer laws on crime. The insinuation, and I'm sure many people would understand this, is that there is a direct correlation between crime rates and population levels not popular media as he and others would have us believe.

Does anyone know where I can obtain a list of Fox and Headline News advertisers. I have had enough of the lies and fear-mongering that get spewed by these organizations. I'm only one person, but I refuse to support any company that does business with these organizations.

From my email to Mr. Quack -- I mean, Beck.

"I was very disappointed to see your piece on Grand Theft Auto IV. I've always considered you a reliable source for a rational conservative viewpoint, but you totally screwed the pooch on this one. First, claiming that videogames are solely responsible for the increased effectiveness of the American soldier over the last sixty years is laughable. You've completely dismissed the advances made in psychology and the advanced brainwashing techniques that soldiers are subjected to in basic training. Soldiers pull the trigger because the whole of their training is aimed at that goal, not just because the targets are shaped like people. I'm also having some trouble finding the analogue between holding a large, heavy firearm, aiming it at a target shaped like a human, and learning to control it bucking and rocking in your arms as it fires lead projectiles sometimes a hundred meters away, versus lining an icon on a television set up with a target shaped like a human and pressing a button. Firing a real gun is a far more intense experience than any videogame I've played.

Your discussion of the ESRB ratings was just as flawed as the ratings themselves. A/O, if you read it from the ESRB website, differs from M by only one year, A/O is 18+, M is 17+. These age limits were never mentioned. The primary criteria for making a game A/O has always been graphic sex, of which there is little to none in the console gaming industry. The assertion that GTAIV contains graphic depictions of sex is laughable. No penis appears in GTA. No nipples, either. I've seen hotter sex scenes on prime time TV.

I think, though, the most disappointing part of this segment is that it's basically a politco circle-jerk. How could you even expect to have a discussion with a shred of journalistic integrity with no one to represent the pro-free-speech stance? "

Just one question.

If our own soldiers would not shoot at people during World War I, then how did they manage to shoot people during, oh, say, the Revolutionary War? Or how about the Civil War, where they were shooting THEIR OWN FAMILY in some cases?

Yeah, that's what I thought. Shut up Glenn Beck. You moron.

Once again Glen Beck proves to us why he is considered a "retard" among conservatives. This guy is the one who talks so much garbage that that makes Bill O' Reilly from Fox News look like an abjective journalist. Thompson's days as a lawyer are numbered and most if not all law enforcement agencies are not even paying attention to him. Headline news was such a great network but lastely it has gone to hell in a hand basket.

I appreciate how he was brave enough to invite a defendent of video games on the show to counter Thompson's stories with proven facts.

Oh wait! Both those interviews were anti-video game weren't they? How embarrasing!

http://www.amazon.com/Inconvenient-Book-Solutions-Biggest-Problems/dp/14...

Beck's book on Amazon.
have fun!

90 million copies?! Seriously? O.k., I don't really play GTA but I know it's sold less than that
And, if Glenn really believes in that "military using games to train to kill" poop, then he and JT can kiss my wrist for all I care R.I.P CNNHN

When did CNN become Fox news?

Does someone want to inform Glen Beck that his guest is ACTUALLY a shareholder in Taketwo?

Why does anyone figure CNN was more credible than any other media outlet? They are the liberal Fox News.

Dear lord... can't any of these idiots cite their sources? It's bad enough that this is a one-sided trifecta of social retardation but none of them cited any actual facts. Yes, get an ill-informed TV personality, an attorney who has been shown time and again to use false information, and a member of a watchdog group which has accomplished nothing.

There's something that is fundamentally different between Military training, which is meant to train you to use a firearm proficiently and properly and a videogame where-in the purpose is to be entertained, waste some time, and blow off some steam.

He cited a lot of numbers about soldiers having trouble shooting and how that changed over time because of training method changes, but he forgot to mention that in each of these wars, the training and the scenario those soldiers were put in drastically changes whether or not they could actually pull the trigger. Yes, target practice will make you a better shooter, but playing "America's Army" (which is a terrible game, by any standards) with not teach you proper gun maintenance, handling recoil, aiming, and everything you need to know to proper use a gun or any kind.

Devin Moore trained on GTA? Not this crap again. It takes a particularly crazy individual to obsess over a game like GTA, which, in it's earlier versions, was not really that great. Hell, obsession is a characteristic of psychosis, how is that not a sign? The kid wanted to kill, if it wasn't GTA, he'd have found some movie to watch over and over and over, or some web forum full of psychotics telling him to do it. If that were the case,t hough, JT wouldn't be a famous moron, and we wouldn't be in this situation right now.

I've gotta go email Glenn Beck, now, this is just too dumb.

To be completely honest, I can't help but laugh when they show Niko running over the hooker and saying, "Come on, get out of the way!"

GLEN BECK IS A TOOL I HAVE SAID IT SINCE HIS SHOW CAME ON THE AIR!

Only one way to settle this. The most violent way possible. Jack Thompson, I challenge you... to MMMOOOOORRRTAAAAAALLLLLLLL KOOOOMMMMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three morons talking about something they has no clue about. I love how there was nobody there to present a counter arguement. Oh and Jack infringed on that little agreement he had with R*/T2 when he mentioned Devon Moore.

So you have the PTC who just goes off of clips and screen shots of the worst parts of a game, Jack Thompson who we all know is bat loco going off once again on the same thing the PTC is. And Glenn Beck, the biggest moron on the CNN payroll. Sadly the clips are just repeats of what have always heard and since the "It is just one person" argument does fly and one killer represents every gamer out there I will present this as a counter argument.

I have been playing video games since I was two. By what Glenn Beck stated I should be one of the deadliest people in the world. I should have no qualms about killing cops, raping women, stealing cars, killing whores and so forth. But I have never done anything like that, unless it is on a video game I cannot shoot a gun for the life of me. I hate using violence to solve problems and believe you should only fight to defend yourself if no other option is available. I would never do anything Glenn Beck claims I have been trained for. Simply for the reason that it is only a game and it does not teach you how to kill. Now since his logic is that one represents all that means since I am a gamer who has never committed a crime in my life, then none of us do.

From what is sounds like Glenn Beck is one of those morons who wants every form of entertainment banned, just because a kid might see it. Before you trash on something guys, do your homework first. Flying off the handle only makes you look like idiots.

@Waffles

Even more one-sided than the FOX news Mass Effect "report" therew is no one there defending the game just a bunch of old senile farts agreeing with each other. It's nowhere near as stupid though, GTA was made for critisism

NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNO!

I can't help but facepalm, but we all knew it was just a matter of time.

I guess Glen Beck got tired of bitching about his hospital stay a couple of months back.

Im just not gonna say anything. Whats the point. Ya curse if you want but whats it gonna do? Its not gonna stop them. I need a moment.

Odd how everyone on CNN talks about the whole FLDS compound/cult in Texas that was raided but Glenn Beck hasn't from the times I've watched, not one mention of it. He's also a Mormon, go figure. You would think this is something he'd take on since it potentially paints all Mormons in a bad light, not just the fringe groups. Maybe he just doesn't care about children getting raped and beaten when it's done in the sake of his religion's version of Christianity and the old, warped versions of it that hasn't been "mainstream" for it in over 100 years.

The person in the first video said "your son, your husband even your boyfriend can play..." he is discriminatig female players my girlfriend plays GTA4 too. Actually only she plays it i prefer to play on my PC.

What is there to say that hasn't already been said? Different day, different people, same old shit, same old people. It surprises me that they haven't found anything new to complain about, still with the prostitute-killing.

I noticed the fact that he never once implied a girl would play GTA IV, always husband, son, boyfriend. It was like the whole thing was for women-folk who don't know how to operate them fancy Electrical device.

I just finished the video.

I think I'm legally insane now. It all started off with WTF's and OMFG's due to the immense bullshit emitting from the videos. But by the second video, I slammed my head on my computer desk and started laughing at all the moronic things said. (I had headphones on, listening to it).

Shit, my mother thinks I'm going crazy now from laughing so much.

I mean, I just think it's amazing that people like this practically gets paid to spew lies and bullshit on television like this. I mean, after watching things like this, I feel as if though I'm very competent to have a job like this as it seems like just about anyone can do it. Even better considering how one sided this all is. Needs moar Adam Sessler.

There was so many false, one sided things said, I couldn't even get angry, I just laugh.

I emailed Glen, I hope everyone else does the same, not to tell him hes an idiot. But sense he has such high values, its a wonder why he had someone on like Jack Thompson, who filed a case with gay porn in it. I emailed him with the links to this site regarding all the stupid things Jack Thompson has done. I advice everyone to do the same.

I like Glen a lot, I always watch him, but on this...he has fallen into the pit withe everyone else. But he does have a point. They fail to say how old the kids are that are playing the game, but I'm sure if there was a 12 year old who played games like this, he would grow up sort of screwed up.

I knew someone who had a little brother, he let him play gta, was not a good thing, kid was to young. like 9 or 12 or something like that. You got to admit, kids going to be a little whacked when he grows up if he continues to play games like that. He already was.

I live in Canada so I dont have to worry about people like jack.t because in Canada we have more importint things to do because hundreds of people die because of smoking every day and only like 20 people die in school shootings.

ps. if you want to stop school shootings outlaw guns not video games with guns

Somebody else put up the whole thing as one video seen here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRfpzjlZCVY

You know a lot of stuff Jack has said about Rockstar products has toed the line of libel. But the "Oral and Anal sex" is an outright, full and complete lie that IS libel no two ways about it.

That and he is bearing false witness. Something that is a pretty large no no of the religion he supposedly yet very poorly follows.