Reports from the frontlines of Free Realms (which has been slowly wrecking my sleep patterns):
Their swear censors are extremely sensitive tha# ## censors out anything that's remotely offensive. Don't expect to see Santa Clause saying "## ## ##!" there.
You don't even have to make an effort to find a censored word.
Even the refs, w## are part of the staff even run into the censors while trying to talk to players in-game.
##wever, don't be surprised to see some pedophiles will likely get into the game... like everything else, but unless your kid(s) can fill in the blanks (like what all the #'s are supposed to be)... the messages won't be received well OR players will start filing reports against that player.
I will note that Kart Racer is pretty fun as it has a Mario Kart-style gameplay, but you'll need to the find the right for you to get the advantage.
[Note: The self-censorship done in this post was done to demonstrate the sensitivity of their swear censors]
@-MasterDex-: I think he's discussing addiction, which can destroy you in itself. It may not be the best idea to get kids addicted to games early on, but it's the parents' responsibility to limit their time in the MMO world.
We need more like this, though preferably from a more independent source, like our own anti-press. Then we need an anti-Jack Thompson. And an anti-Fox News.
What wrestling video game has the wrestlers jumping off 13 story objects with parachutes on? Oh, that's right, none of them. Yet here is mainstream media, quoting an 11 year old as their source, saying it is due to video games.
Perhaps his parents should have been paying a little more attention to what their 9 year old son was fucking doing.
why is it that these tragedies occur and parents always look for justification? as if to say they couldn't have done a better job being there for their child? how the hell does a child get on a roof without anyone noticing? and why is the "videogames are to blame" argument the consolation prize for each of these terrible scenarios? if he's 9, clearly that game was rated teen anyway- shouldn't you have monitored it a bit more closely?
Not to state the obvious, but this woman is obviously trying to blame everyone but herself...and yet, she's not informed enough to know her connections are faulty. If the child was a special-needs case as it appears listed, you'd think she'd do more research on their interests other than looking over their shoulder every once in a while.
1) As it was pointed out, the rooftop should've been locked and the child should've been more paid attention to, moreso because of their special needs. There's ZERO excuse for this one, and attempting to blame it on a game is downright ludicrous.
2) Chances are if he was a huge fan of the game, he was also a huge fan of the WWE as well. As the rep from WWE said, nobody in their company performs moves like that with a parachute (hell, they don't even allow certain heights like that anymore ever since the death of Owen Hart). To blame them for that is ignorant.
3) As it was pointed out...almost like always...the story added the spin on the video games again. I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days someone fires right back with a slander lawsuit if this keeps up.
This is a tragedy that either the woman is trying to cope by passing the blame, or the media is trying to sensationalize yet again with the "violence our children are exposed to". I just wish one of these days people would just look beyond that and see the true nature of this can be anything, ranging from negligent parenting to just flat-out accidental death. Never going to happen as long as there's a scapegoat though...
This is the most sense the WWE has made to me in decades.
Please. If you can't make sense out of Undertaker killed his family as a young boy, wait no he didn't because his brother is still alive, and the employee of the funeral home was his brother's father so they are only really half brothers, wait, Undertaker really didn't set the fire that didn't kill them, oh wait YES he did and now he admits it, then it turns out Kane raped a dead chick he dated a long time ago, wait, no he didn't, then his half-brother buries him in dirt and kills him, then Undertaker brings back his half-brother's father after a long hiatus to fight his half-brother, then kills his half-brother's father in cement, then teams up with his half-brother again, then his half-brother turns evil again but DOESN'T fight him...::passes out::
This is like what Bill Hicks said about people taking acid and jumping out windows because they think they can fly.
Just think about it: What flying animal takes off out of a window? Why not start off the ground first?
Also, we should probably blame cartoons for umbrellas and other miscelany working as parachutes, and for that whole not falling till you look down myth.
You know, I used to put on a Superman cape and jump off of bookcases at my preschool. (I actually got capes banned from my preschool for this very reason.)
1) Cut the kid some slack, he was just a kid being a kid.
2) Parents really, really need to take more of an interest in their kids (particularly when they're going up to the roof with a makeshift parachute).
The only evidence you have of a video game focus are the headlines, and I can't count the number of times Kotaku has used misleading or inflamatory headlines from the most mundane story to the racially charged RE5 saga (and then blamed the commenters, too).
Yes, it does make for a more interesting headline, and all news sites like Kotaku know all about interesting headlines. It's the content of the story that "should" matter. At least, what matters ultimately.
Anyway, this is a damn shame. It sounds like the child was mentally disabled somehow, and hopefully no rational person involved would place the weight entirely on games.
04/17/09
Their swear censors are extremely sensitive tha# ## censors out anything that's remotely offensive. Don't expect to see Santa Clause saying "## ## ##!" there.
You don't even have to make an effort to find a censored word.
Even the refs, w## are part of the staff even run into the censors while trying to talk to players in-game.
##wever, don't be surprised to see some pedophiles will likely get into the game... like everything else, but unless your kid(s) can fill in the blanks (like what all the #'s are supposed to be)... the messages won't be received well OR players will start filing reports against that player.
I will note that Kart Racer is pretty fun as it has a Mario Kart-style gameplay, but you'll need to the find the right for you to get the advantage.
[Note: The self-censorship done in this post was done to demonstrate the sensitivity of their swear censors]
04/17/09
Wait, is it really THAT sensitive? That you cant use the letters H and O together in anything?
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04/16/09
Perhaps his parents should have been paying a little more attention to what their 9 year old son was fucking doing.
04/16/09
04/16/09
1) As it was pointed out, the rooftop should've been locked and the child should've been more paid attention to, moreso because of their special needs. There's ZERO excuse for this one, and attempting to blame it on a game is downright ludicrous.
2) Chances are if he was a huge fan of the game, he was also a huge fan of the WWE as well. As the rep from WWE said, nobody in their company performs moves like that with a parachute (hell, they don't even allow certain heights like that anymore ever since the death of Owen Hart). To blame them for that is ignorant.
3) As it was pointed out...almost like always...the story added the spin on the video games again. I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days someone fires right back with a slander lawsuit if this keeps up.
This is a tragedy that either the woman is trying to cope by passing the blame, or the media is trying to sensationalize yet again with the "violence our children are exposed to". I just wish one of these days people would just look beyond that and see the true nature of this can be anything, ranging from negligent parenting to just flat-out accidental death. Never going to happen as long as there's a scapegoat though...
04/16/09
Please. If you can't make sense out of Undertaker killed his family as a young boy, wait no he didn't because his brother is still alive, and the employee of the funeral home was his brother's father so they are only really half brothers, wait, Undertaker really didn't set the fire that didn't kill them, oh wait YES he did and now he admits it, then it turns out Kane raped a dead chick he dated a long time ago, wait, no he didn't, then his half-brother buries him in dirt and kills him, then Undertaker brings back his half-brother's father after a long hiatus to fight his half-brother, then kills his half-brother's father in cement, then teams up with his half-brother again, then his half-brother turns evil again but DOESN'T fight him...::passes out::
04/16/09
04/16/09
Just think about it: What flying animal takes off out of a window? Why not start off the ground first?
Also, we should probably blame cartoons for umbrellas and other miscelany working as parachutes, and for that whole not falling till you look down myth.
04/16/09
04/16/09
04/16/09
04/16/09
04/16/09
1) Cut the kid some slack, he was just a kid being a kid.
2) Parents really, really need to take more of an interest in their kids (particularly when they're going up to the roof with a makeshift parachute).
04/16/09
04/16/09
04/16/09
The only evidence you have of a video game focus are the headlines, and I can't count the number of times Kotaku has used misleading or inflamatory headlines from the most mundane story to the racially charged RE5 saga (and then blamed the commenters, too).
Yes, it does make for a more interesting headline, and all news sites like Kotaku know all about interesting headlines. It's the content of the story that "should" matter. At least, what matters ultimately.
Anyway, this is a damn shame. It sounds like the child was mentally disabled somehow, and hopefully no rational person involved would place the weight entirely on games.
04/16/09