I would think that the GTA series wouldn't be the ideal games to play whilst tripping on E. Way too much "bad vibes" to potentially lead to a bad trip. I would imagine something more epic in scope, like Zelda, or when the elusive DJ Hero finally makes it's appearance in the marketplace, that's a definite match.
@walkyourpath: yup, they wouldn't have died. they just need to watch out for dehydration since they won't feel thirst. they'll be short of serotonin and thus down for a couple of days afterwards, nothing life threatening. also their teeth would be chattering while they're on. I don't know how people can make a claim about something they know nothing about. don't mix it with other stuff or just don't use it at all since it's illegal.
Hey kids, if you ever eat any drugs you found in a game case, just watch out for dehydration. Otherwise, it's smooth sailin'.
You can support drug culture all you want, I don't care, but you don't think a 12 year old can die from an ecstasy overdose, you've been drinking too much hallucinogenic Kool-Aid.
Regardless of whether violent video games turn children into murders (which incidentally, I think is bullcrap), the content is rated for a reason. It's inappropriate for minors.
In any case, I think madammina is right, the game was not intended for the 12 year old, but he could have easily stumbled on the box and the pills.
@WarlockSoL: If you feel that way then don't let YOUR kid play the damn game. I played Doom and Heretic and Diablo back when I was 6-7, and I think I turned out just fine. I had a great time playing them. My Dad sat me down and told me about how games were fake and he would always humanize everything for me; explaining that even the bad guys have families too.
That's why I opt for passive runs in games (which is why I love Deus Ex and Fallout 3.)
So, even though I played murder simulators back when I was 6, I think I turned out ok.
@TaylorEatWorld - Imma chargin' mah UBER!: Thing is, the way this father of two is telling the story paints the picture that he doesn't even pay attention to what it is his kids are playing. Surely, if you are going to let them play these games, you should be supervising them; and so it's hard to believe that the situation would ever arise where the 12-year-old would be looking in rated-18 game boxes for some casual gaming.
@Fallible: You really don't know though, he could have talked to them about videogames for years before the incident. I wasn't supervised every time I played Diablo or Doom, my Dad showed me how to put the game disks in and how to be careful with them. He just made sure I knew that everything was fake. Now if my Dad came home with a new game and it had those pills in it, (I wouldn't have consumed them so maybe I'm not the best example) I would have just opened it up and put it in to play it. I had the proper knowledge prior to opening it to know that it was JUST a game.
So, we just don't know enough, certainly not enough to brand him as a bad parent, for fucks sake.
Call me old fashioned but I believe children need some protecting. I'm not saying I think that kids who watch slasher movies or play games like GTA are going to automatically become killers but innocence is a very important thing in the healthy development of the mind.
@TaylorEatWorld - Imma chargin' mah UBER!: It's hard to use yourself as a base, as you're obviously not an idiot. When you have kids who are in their early teens stare at you with a blank face when you say the game their looking for is in alphabetical order on the wall, you start to realize that maybe not everyone is cut out to play M-rated games at that age.
In this case I agree with you, it's a bit much to jump and label this guy as a bad parent. Hell, he could have bought it for his 16 year old daughter, that doesn't mean the 12 year old wouldn't find the pills.
@Sir-Lucius: Sure I can agree with that. Certainly not everyone is cut out to play M rated games.
But you have to take the good with the bad, which is why I'm against making it illegal to sell M rated games to minors. (Or to see R rated movies. At 16, it's a real pain in the ass if I want to go see a movie.) Mind you, it's not because I'm a minor that I feel so strongly about it, I would want my child to go in and buy his own game, use his own earned money, get a feel for doing things without me having to hold his hand. I'm lucky I had such helpful independence growing up, I flew on a plane by myself when I was 13, it wasn't scary at all and I feel like I can almost do anything. Leaving home doesn't seem so hard (other than missing my family of course) now that I feel I can do anything by myself.
We know nothing of this man's 12 year old son or 16 year old daughter, so... yeah, it really is a little much to jump down his throat and call his parenting bad.
@TaylorEatWorld - Imma chargin' mah UBER!: It's obvious from this comment that you don't have kids or younger brothers and sisters in your life. If I found my 12 year old sister holding a copy of Manhunt walking out of Gamestop, I'd be walking in there and looking for blood.
"Bad Guys" in general. People that are killed. Anyone.
Anyone that is killed usually leaves someone behind, he taught me to value life. A good example is when I played Deus Ex.
The NSF were technically "Terrorists", but they had a noble cause, and they were each individuals, they had families, children, ect.
Also, *spoilers* even though UNATCO was technically evil, the UNACTO soldiers were just doing what they were told, they weren't given the whole picture, they were just told to kill on sight because the NSF were "doing bad things". This is where that talk my Dad gave me comes in, I could easily kill these people in the game to get past the level, or I could sneak around them. They weren't REALLY evil, they were just doing evil things.
So right now, in the real world, I am anything but violent. I know action has consequence; if someone is killed, they leave someone behind. Family, friends, children. So "violent" games haven't caused me to be violent, in fact I think they've caused me to be a pacifist.
I know the difference between a UNATCO agent in the game Deus Ex and real people.
So yeah, he made sure I knew that everyone in the games I played were just pixels, but he also told me that even a bad guy has a family. He made me think beyond "shooting bad guys in games", I think that's responsible parenting. Beyond that even, because it's responsible parenting just to make sure your child knows that a game is fake.
I'm really tired so excuse any typos in this post :P
@Fallible: I don't think the game itself is the issue, the pills could have easily been in any other game case. I think that was the father's biggest concern with this, just in case his or some other unlucky 12 (and under) year old opened a copy of Mario Galaxy or Wario Ware or something and thought the treats were candy to be eaten. I mean, I wouldn't be at all surprised if those two games are played more by people on drugs than any other.
@Fallible: "Thing is, the way this father of two is telling the story paints the picture that he doesn't even pay attention to what it is his kids are playing."
Actually I didn't get that from the post. I haven't bothered to click on the source but it sounds as if to me, he bought the games for himself, and if not, at least he had the decency to open the box and look through the contents of the case first. I don't think that is bad parenting at all.
@NecronomiconUK: Glad someone said it. It's fair enough if the kid is actually mature enough to be able to distinguish between reality and fiction but it's still a parent's responsibility to set boundaries while they still can.
@NeVeRMoRe666: In one of 50 states, I'm pretty sure he's getting somewhere in Utah, I think I read something like that. But still, good job on the jab. ~
@Saigin: I'm pretty sure if you get disbarred from one state you get your license revoked across most if not all states. The reason being is that if you get disbarred from the American Bar Association and another state has adopted its model of conduct, then you are automatically disqualified from that jurisdiction. I guess there could be room for a few states that haven't adopted to the new rulings, but they are few and fair between thankfully. The whole debacle in Utah is good old jack working through the legislative process rather than the judicial process. So yes, in essence, he's now trying to make laws rather than enforce it. :( Hopefully his disbarment hurts his credibility to do much damage.
@drweazel: Gamestation. Not Gamestop, not yet anyways. Who knows when gamestop shall extend it's tendrils across the globe, devouring all who oppose them, a corporate cthulhu awoken from D'allas?
It's always the same problem with these watches and similar "luxury" merchandise, isn't it? They don't look too bad, but for the same price, you can get something much classier. So, the only question is: how much of a fan are you, and how badly do you need that little logo? (OK, that's two questions...)
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Hey kids, if you ever eat any drugs you found in a game case, just watch out for dehydration. Otherwise, it's smooth sailin'.
You can support drug culture all you want, I don't care, but you don't think a 12 year old can die from an ecstasy overdose, you've been drinking too much hallucinogenic Kool-Aid.
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Did I play the bad parenting card correctly?
Anyway, yes, tragic to hear that drugs have been found in the case of a game that glorifies said culture.
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Regardless of whether violent video games turn children into murders (which incidentally, I think is bullcrap), the content is rated for a reason. It's inappropriate for minors.
In any case, I think madammina is right, the game was not intended for the 12 year old, but he could have easily stumbled on the box and the pills.
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I used to watch slasher flicks when I was really young, nudity, death, foul language, the works.
It wasn't ok for me, it harmed and scared me so bad.
That's why today I'm a mass murderer who goes around killing naked campers in lakes.
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That's why I opt for passive runs in games (which is why I love Deus Ex and Fallout 3.)
So, even though I played murder simulators back when I was 6, I think I turned out ok.
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And that, in essence, is bad parenting.
@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: It could have, but it didn't. Not everyone is as mentally sound as you, though.
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So, we just don't know enough, certainly not enough to brand him as a bad parent, for fucks sake.
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Call me old fashioned but I believe children need some protecting. I'm not saying I think that kids who watch slasher movies or play games like GTA are going to automatically become killers but innocence is a very important thing in the healthy development of the mind.
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In this case I agree with you, it's a bit much to jump and label this guy as a bad parent. Hell, he could have bought it for his 16 year old daughter, that doesn't mean the 12 year old wouldn't find the pills.
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But you have to take the good with the bad, which is why I'm against making it illegal to sell M rated games to minors. (Or to see R rated movies. At 16, it's a real pain in the ass if I want to go see a movie.) Mind you, it's not because I'm a minor that I feel so strongly about it, I would want my child to go in and buy his own game, use his own earned money, get a feel for doing things without me having to hold his hand. I'm lucky I had such helpful independence growing up, I flew on a plane by myself when I was 13, it wasn't scary at all and I feel like I can almost do anything. Leaving home doesn't seem so hard (other than missing my family of course) now that I feel I can do anything by myself.
We know nothing of this man's 12 year old son or 16 year old daughter, so... yeah, it really is a little much to jump down his throat and call his parenting bad.
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"Bad Guys" in general. People that are killed. Anyone.
Anyone that is killed usually leaves someone behind, he taught me to value life. A good example is when I played Deus Ex.
The NSF were technically "Terrorists", but they had a noble cause, and they were each individuals, they had families, children, ect.
Also, *spoilers* even though UNATCO was technically evil, the UNACTO soldiers were just doing what they were told, they weren't given the whole picture, they were just told to kill on sight because the NSF were "doing bad things". This is where that talk my Dad gave me comes in, I could easily kill these people in the game to get past the level, or I could sneak around them. They weren't REALLY evil, they were just doing evil things.
So right now, in the real world, I am anything but violent. I know action has consequence; if someone is killed, they leave someone behind. Family, friends, children. So "violent" games haven't caused me to be violent, in fact I think they've caused me to be a pacifist.
I know the difference between a UNATCO agent in the game Deus Ex and real people.
So yeah, he made sure I knew that everyone in the games I played were just pixels, but he also told me that even a bad guy has a family. He made me think beyond "shooting bad guys in games", I think that's responsible parenting. Beyond that even, because it's responsible parenting just to make sure your child knows that a game is fake.
I'm really tired so excuse any typos in this post :P
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Actually I didn't get that from the post. I haven't bothered to click on the source but it sounds as if to me, he bought the games for himself, and if not, at least he had the decency to open the box and look through the contents of the case first. I don't think that is bad parenting at all.
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ESRB ratings are suggestions, that's it.
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Who says the guy who traded it in put it in there? If the cases are on the shelf, it could have been anyone, even an employee.
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There are lots better looking watches on ebay and for much less. Not like anyone wears watches these days anyway.
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