@TrueProphecy22 Actually, it will. It sets an example rather than just letting people off because they apologized. It doesn't work that way for people, it certainly shouldn't work that way for companies considering how much more responsibility they should have. If you do something stupid, you get fined and/or go to jail, you don't get to skip it because you're sorry. End of story. The only sad thing is £250k is pennies to Sony, should have hit them for 10 times that.
"Buy a year-long sub to a system that will be dated and obsolete by Fall when we release PS4 so we can has s'more of your money!" Is what I'm hearing. As much as devs are harping over needing next-gen tech in order to 'advance' (which is BS), I have no doubt in my worthwhile games will stop releasing for the PS3 ~very~ soon. PS+ may have some benefit for PS4, but it will likely need more than what's left on your sub by that point to build its library and be worth the price of entry, and that's only for those insane enough to drop the inevitably huge amount of money the system itself will cost.
@bluearmenian @Timaetaj Religion: You are allowed to have your own opinions, not your own facts. No part of religion has ever proven itself as fact. Your argument fails.
@nigelholden The problem is this isn't a new discussion, it's been done and no one at this point is uninformed about anything save those that choose to keep themselves ignorant. The idea that video games desensitize people to real life violence is not only ridiculous, it's offensive. I challenge every CoD player out there to enlist and see what it's like to actually take the life of someone; no amount of video games will ever prepare you for that. People see violence and gore all the time to the point that they can probably find humor in it, but God forbid someone die in a horrible car accident and everyone's rubber-necking in shock at the tragedy. Fictional violence is FICTION, it's not the same as actually killing someone or seeing someone lose their lives right in front of you, the comparison between the two should never be allowed to happen.
@Zetona @nathangray There shouldn't be anything hard to understand about it. What you are insisting is several logical fallacies affirming one another in an allegorical circle-jerk. It's perfectly understandable how people insist one thing regardless of the facts, religion is the ultimate testament to this. That doesn't make it correct, nor should it infringe on or censor anything or anyone, particularly those who have the facts to back up their rebuttal. That may come off as harsher than intended, but surely you can see how, "I just don't get it," is not a valid argument by any stretch.
@Zetona You're confusing influence for fantasy. Fantasy is what drives people to play with their light sabers like harmless little nerdlings, influence is what makes them run out and start dismembering people while pretending to wield the force which, to my knowledge, has yet to happen.
"However, in our rush to condemn those who have taken an aggressive stance against our favorite pastime, we've turned a blind eye toward any culpability we may have." Are we really going to do this? Violence is indeed a prevalent part of our entertainment media. Unfortunately, it's quotes like the above that give ammunition (punny) to the already zealotous lot homing in on video games. The violence in our media is NOTHING compared to the violence in folk lore (let alone real life) from long before any of us were born. Hell, it's not even anything compared to violent movies the majority of people visiting this site are too young to know about. You want gratuitous? Look up Men Behind The Sun, Caligula or the Ilsa trilogy. Our entertainment today is comparatively prudish.
Let's go a stop further; The holocaust, various genocides, the salem trials, the torture and death of the Templars, etc., etc., all mass murders and killings far worse than anything that exists in real life today, most of which happened long before video games or movies ever had a chance to cause concern. Violence is actually on the decline, and sadly is higher in the US than many other countries that *gasp* also have far less censorship than we do. Gee, do you think that might be because the two HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ONE ANOTHER?
Eyes are not being turned from culpability because there is none. It's both scientific and observable fact that fictional violence and real life violence have nothing to do with one another. That one person may not be in favor of the growing violence in video games is no excuse for them to use real life tragedy as a soap box to skew opinions in their favor. It's disgusting, so stop and, at the very least, don't make the nut cases' jobs easier for them. There are certain topics that, evidently, certain staff members are woefully under-qualified to speak on; this is one of them.
@anonymousicko @Zloth2 Actually, the average japanese gamer is comparable to the average gamer in the UK, between 20-25, whereas in the states its 30-35. Teenagers are not the average in any gaming culture, anywhere.
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