(Fox News) "Is Bulletstorm the Worst Video Game in the World?"

I can think of a lot of games more deserving of "Worst Video Game in the World". Superman 64, E.T., Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Limbo of the Lost... Custer's Revenge...

Someone at Fox did not do their research.

I know what's going on the boxart.

I wouldn't be surprised if fox or it's buddies had a hand in the game somehow, trying to drive up sales for their horrible game.

Yeah with the stuff they've been doing for the advertising it wouldn't surprise me if they played it to the nines

I'm not a big fan of rating systems myself, namely because nobody wants to make them universal among all media. I know growing up I read plenty of quite adult books and nobody blinked an eye.

I'm actually less concerned about desensitization to violence than I am about dehumanization of the worth of the other. Or in other words, I think Fox News is worse than 99% of video games out there.

That said, yes, the fact that little kids tend to mimic what they see is a good reason to keep it out of their hands, but yeah I'm talking about pre-teens.

Age is an issue, I know a literal 6 year old who plays MW 2 and I worry about whether it is effecting how he sees violence.

They have found, and proven, that children who watch violence will repeat that violence so I can see the issues with children under 10, who tended to be the most responsive, playing these games.

Children who play video games might imitate the games, but does this actually lead to real violence or is it just things like pretending a stick is a gun? When I was 5 years old I played Quake II with my dad, and while I might have gone around pretending to shoot things afterward, that's the worst that came of it. Is there any evidence that imitating "play" violence leads to "real" violence?

Fucking hell it actually went through? They just did it to get California off their backs, didn't they?

I forget, is it legal to sell an R-rated movie to a minor?

As for the OP, I'll crosspost something from the original Video Games forum topic:

Oh, and not the games with actual rape in them?

Also this

edited 9th Feb '11 9:30:21 AM by Pykrete

@killa: Not directly acting out what they said but general violent behaviour that my go in excess of what they saw.

It's not illegal for a minor to view an R movie in theaters or for a theater to allow them in, so I can't see why it would be illegal to rent a film.

I used to imitate wrestling moves I saw on the tv, THAT was bad. I've never tried to slay a dragon, luckily.

@mike: It is, at least in California.

IIRC the theaters around here can't legally let a lone 9-year-old into Puppy Slayer: The Revenge. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be able to go ahead and enforce the ESRB stuff and prohibit sales of M-rated games to said kid as well (indeed some places already do this — I got carded for Mass Effect a couple years ago).

Supervised is another matter entirely. If the parent is handing over the credit card, all bets are off, though the retailer should probably ask to make sure the parent knows what they're getting.

edited 9th Feb '11 10:14:01 AM by Pykrete

Wow. I love how FOX says the ESRB doesn't want to get too graphic with the description, except if you click the actual link to the ESRB page, they have this to say.

This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a space pirate who must escape a planet populated by mutant cannibals. Players use futuristic machine guns, shotguns, magnum revolvers, assault rifles, and chain guns to perform over-the-top kills that dismember and decapitate foes. Injured enemies emit large sprays of blood that stain the ground and surrounding walls. Specialty kills (i.e., Skillshots) represent the most intense instances of violence: enemies can be dismembered with explosives; impaled on spikes; and drilled into walls, resulting in body parts breaking into pieces. During the course of the game, players can consume alcohol and kill enemies in order to receive an Intoxicated Skillshot; the screen turns blurry during these sequences. The dialogue contains numerous jokes and comments that reference sexual acts, venereal diseases, and having sex with one's mother (e.g., "Guess I know where the ol' gal got that limp."). The names of some Skillshots are infused with sexual innuendo (e.g., Gag Reflex, Rear Entry, Drilldo, Mile High Club); one Skillshot (i.e., Fire in the Hole) allows players to shoot at enemies' exposed buttocks. Language such as "f**k," "sh*t," "p*ssy," and "c*ck" can be heard in dialogue.

Also, video games don't necessarily cause violence.

edited 9th Feb '11 10:46:45 AM by Marioguy128

Don't forget their classic bit about Scribblenauts letting you attach steak to a baby to attract lions

New Media Are Evil. That is all.

edited 9th Feb '11 10:54:32 AM by Deathonabun

I played Doom and Duke Nukem 3d with my dad growing up, at a young age. Looking back though, that might have been a mistake.

Shit, for my kids? 13 would be the barrier for ultra-violent games. He can watch me play, but he ain't getting free reign in anything that isn't Civilization style violence until I decide so.

I have to question their studies. If that were true of every child there would be more problems with the issue. Many have played graphically violent video games and not acted out negatively due to them.

Like Barkey has stated if it was his own kid, it is ultimately up to the parent to police their own child.

Ah, Faux News, the mouth piece of the Fundamentalist Christian Party of America.

Not this Fundamentalist Christian...

pvtnum, you're hardly a fundamentalist, you're one of the most moderate, sane people regardless of religion or lack thereof on this website.

I remember when people discussing Mass Effect on Fox asked why, if it's for adults, it didn't carry an Adults Only classification. Oh, I don't know, just that AO is typically reserved for porn and won't be stocked in shops.

Besides, I only call people fundamentalists when they show a complete lack of sense and blind faith in their particular idea. This is particularly common in the Republican and Tea Parties.

pvtnum, you're hardly a fundamentalist, you're one of the most moderate, sane people regardless of religion or lack thereof on this website.

Being a fundamentalist doesn't preclude you from being sane and moderate, and pvtnum has expressed plenty of fundamentalist viewpoints before.

Ah, but "fundamentalist" means "person [speaker] doesn't like". If you're not a ridiculous strawman, clearly you can't be a fundamentalist.

You speak the truth, sir.

I wonder if they know that the ESRB rating is one of the most followed ratings systems...

As far as "kids who watch violence=>violence" it's not clear where the cause and effect is (already violent kids like to watch violence, or watching violence makes them violence), furthermore easily available TV is just as violent, if it's just watching=imitation we should be banning anything violent kids should see. Oh wait, that's right, we let parents do their goddamn job in those situations. Almost nobody advocates pulling violent programming off Television, which is just as, if not more readily accessible to children than violent video games.

There has never been, to my knowledge, a rigorous, long term study linking video game playing to increased violent tenancies. I think there may have been one that showed no correlation, however.

I still can't we haven't gotten past New Media Are Evil for video games yet. They've been around long enough...

edited 9th Feb '11 8:16:35 PM by deathjavu