25 to Life

[Missy]

New York Senator Charles E. Schumer claims upcoming shooter is an "all-time low" and teaches "Little Johnny" to kill cops.

Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) is embarking on a crusade against Eidos, telling the New York Daily News that the British publisher is readying a game that makes "Grand Theft Auto look like Romper Room." The game is 25 to Life, an action title where players take on the role of a drug dealer named Freeze who gets into gunfights with police officers, uses civilians as human shields, and shoots rival gang members.

Schumer is calling on New York retailers not to stock the game or sell it. "There is nowhere that the value of the police force is felt more strongly than here in New York, and to sell a video game that denigrates their value is simply unacceptable," Schumer said. "You certainly don't need a degree in criminal justice to understand that when you make sport of behavior that is dangerous and destructive you reinforce it. The last thing we need here in New York is to reinforce a destructive culture of violence and disrespect for the law."

A press release from Schumer's camp calls 25 to Life one of the worst in a string of violent games, finding that it "sets gang members against police and sends them on a mission to fight their way through the streets, killing whatever gets in the way."

Not only is Schumer urging retailers not to sell the game, but he is also asking that Sony and Microsoft end their licensing agreements with Eidos. "Little Johnny should be learning how to read, not how to kill cops," Schumer said. "The bottom line is that games that are aimed and marketed at kids shouldn't desensitize them to death and destruction."

First, it's an M-rated game, so this twat needs to look at the parents who let their underage kids play such games long before he petitions to have it banned in New York.

Second, if he did his homework (which he obviously hasn't), he would know that you can play as the police too. (This might be an online/co-op option only, but you can play as them nonetheless.)

Third, I take great offense at him (and anyone, really) putting New Yorkers on a pedestal, claiming they respect police officers more than citizens of any other city. That's shit.

Last... Little Johnny? How out of touch with reality is this guy that he still calls kids "Little Johnny"?

[tglancy]

Heidenreich is going to be pissed if Little Johnny keeps getting bad mouthed.

Anyways, while I do agree that a lot of shit in video games is way over the top and totally uncalled for, that's what the ratings are there for. Call the game tasteless and crass, but don't blame the developers because parents can't be bothered to know what their kids are up to.

[Kscriv]

Good god how long will it take these idiots to learn the facts on the games they're blasting. I can't wait until the day where someone does this and a senator/congressman/whatever from the opposing party calls him on this shit and makes him look like a total idiot

[Kris R]

The problem here isn't that the game is M-rated, it's that game/film/music classifications have no effect when they aren't enforced. When a parent allows their children access to restricted content then they are taking a shit on the classification system designed to protect their children from unsuitable content. This point is too difficult and unpopular to argue however so it's far easier to simply target the artists (I include game designers under that banner) and push the blame onto them.

There's another issue here. This problem wouldn't exist in Australia. Why? Our citizens aren't armed to the teeth. It is exceedingly difficult to purchase a firearm here and automatic and semi-automatic weapons are illegal for all, regardless of what use you might have for them. The process of acquiring a licence is lengthy and involved so, short of those in the Olympic shooting team, most don't own firearms at all. The illegal trade of firearms is not sufficient to create too much of a problem so, by and large, we don't need to worry too much about our police officers being shot down by "kids warped by video games." Perhaps if Americans (and I know I'm generalising here) didn't carry wallets in their left pockets and guns in their right then the problem wouldn't be so large. Again, that's a difficult and unpopular argument to make so let's just blame Eidos.

[Missy]

Interesting point about guns there.

[James D.]

Charles Schumer is a fucking jackass. Anyone who follows politics knows this. So, personally, I'm not surprised in the least by this. Moron.

Edited June 25, 2005 by James D.

[Skyre]

Good point Kris. The gun issue is also a big one. A lot of people in the States don't even like the idea of registering firearms for some reason. I mean you have to register a car and that isn't even a weapon.

[Kris R]

Well, it depends on who is driving. It is certainly a weapon in the hands of some.

Hames, most American politicians just seem to blend into each other to the rest of us. I hear so many things during election campaigns that just make me laugh uncontrollably that nothing an American politician says takes me by surprise anymore.

Yoda, were you being serious or sarcastic? I can never tell as everything comes out from that debonaire facade.

[Missy]

I was being 100% serious.

[Kris R]

Good. I really believe everything I wrote in that post.

After Hames' comment I did a little reading on the guy and I'm really not surprised that he would make a comment like this. What's amusing to me is that it's usually the Republicans in your country and the Liberals in ours (both ridiculously branded the "religious right") who are accused of trying to censor everything.

[James D.]

Good. I really believe everything I wrote in that post.

After Hames' comment I did a little reading on the guy and I'm really not surprised that he would make a comment like this. What's amusing to me is that it's usually the Republicans in your country and the Liberals in ours (both ridiculously branded the "religious right") who are accused of trying to censor everything.

Many Republicans and Democrats want varying levels of censorship on different aspects of life. One party is just as bad as the other here.

[Kris R]

I realise that entirely and, without wanting to turn this thread into a political discussion, I just find it at times amusing and at others annoying that people seem to forget that it isn't only the erroneously branded "religious right" parties that are seeking censorship.

[Johnny MC]

I really think that it's more of a parenting problem than a media problem. I'm going to be a serious advocate that kids are smarter than people give them. Myself at 18 years old, my dad never really shielded me from anything.

I saw Natural Born Killers at a young age, as well as all the Tarentino movies. I own all the Grand Theft Auto games, and never ever ever once have I ever given a thought towards actually killing someone.

[Missy]

I saw Natural Born Killers at a young age, as well as all the Tarentino movies. I own all the Grand Theft Auto games, and never ever ever once have I ever given a thought towards actually killing someone.

That's a lie and you know, young man! You know you've personally killed sixteen of your classmates in the last week. Admit it! And blame GTA... do it! Or I'll admit it for you!

[Johnny MC]

I saw Natural Born Killers at a young age, as well as all the Tarentino movies. I own all the Grand Theft Auto games, and never ever ever once have I ever given a thought towards actually killing someone.

That's a lie and you know, young man! You know you've personally killed sixteen of your classmates in the last week. Admit it! And blame GTA... do it! Or I'll admit it for you!

I honestly hate it when people blame video games to violent behavior. Maybe if these parents actually knew what they were doing in raising their kids and perhaps raised them in a loving environment they would not go off and snap on people. This game will probably sell millions of copies and it'll be a handful of kids that actually go out and try it. The ones that were much more screwed up before they even got their hands on the game.