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The blame game.
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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by reaper47 on Sun Feb 25th at 6:49pm 2007

Many of you might not care about the controversy about violent video games causing all the evil in the world.

But I am actually affected by this. The last Steam updates turned all soldiers in HL1 into robots. They don't bleed when you shoot them or show anything you could use to guess whether you hit or not. Not even a spark. If they're caught in an explosion they freeze in movement and slowly fade into transparency. There is no blood or bodies lying around, just super-clean, sterile environments. The aliens don't even bleed yellow. If barney dies he sits down and shakes his head. It's a disturbing mix of censorship probably aimed at 6-year olds and a game that is clearly made for adults. Imagine the Bonnie Situation from Pulp Fiction without blood. Here's a pic of robots slowly becoming invisible while standing still in the middle of a giant explosion:

image

And thanks to wonderful Steam there is no way I can fix this. Even though in my country there is no censorship of any kind. From one day to the other I got this and according to Steam support the only thing I can do is import a new copy from another country. It worked in the past when I switched to English language, now they decided to "change their policy" (or Germany forced them to). Now a non-kids-friendly version of a game about SHOOTING STUFF is verboten. Change a file and Steam will lock the game and re-download the censored one. Great. Like I didn't need another reason to hate Steam.

And Germany is lobbying to abandon "Killer-Spiele" and make it illegal to distribute them within the EU.

Actually, the reason I started this thread is because I found this very interesting post over at Penny Arcade which (if it's authentic, and I have no reason to doubt that) explains the recent events of a kid in America beating a bum to death and now blames video games for it. It's a response letter by a woman who actually had to deal with this kid for several years, making it very clear what she thinks about him blaming video games for his violent outbreaks. Interesting read, and an argument I like to see being spread among gamers who have to live with censorship and ignorant politicians who don't even know the difference between a Super Nintendo and a PC. Nothing surprising for me but a nice example for how this trend works.


Why snark works.



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Stadric on Sun Feb 25th at 8:04pm 2007

What the mother f***?


Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by FatStrings on Sun Feb 25th at 8:31pm 2007

curses, this is why my senior project is arguing against blaming video games for kid's violence, next they'll be remaking all movies as cartoons with robots



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by ding on Sun Feb 25th at 9:36pm 2007

If you have bought the German version of HL1 at the release (version 1.0+) all soldiers were replaced by robots by default. That's why I got the US/UK version a few months later image

Scary that they included this in latest Steam updates, though!
If they want to boost up piracy - head on!

I can't stand the term "Killerspiele" anymore ("Killergames" in English). They are FPS - FIRST PERSON SHOOTER - please you mighty media - use the correct term for it since I call you "media" and not "make-people-stupid-establishment".



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Orpheus on Sun Feb 25th at 9:49pm 2007

I fear that the "Bend to the trend" mentality will eventually ruin all gaming.





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by fishy on Sun Feb 25th at 11:18pm 2007

if you used a UK gcf file to replace your own, then i can understand that steam would cry about it, but extracting the contents into the right places in your game directory should work.

i remember seeing the robot models for the german version of tfc. after that, i found it hard to understand why there were so many german players.




i eat paint



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by asterix_vader on Sun Feb 25th at 11:50pm 2007

right now i'm looking at my box of HL1. i see an icon from ESRB and there's a big M there, and it says MATURE.

now i go to www.esrb.com and read:

? quoting ESRB
MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

it's for 17+, not for kids, why would they censor it?
why don't they censor or delete forever games like GTA? THAT is a very violent game, way, way worse than half-life.

i think that HL1 is fun to play, all those gibs, all those models, all that blood. if you take that serious, you're stupid. if you don't, it's ok.

by the way fishy, is the guy in your avatar the legendary Gman?





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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by OtZman on Mon Feb 26th at 12:28am 2007

Wow. Honestly, that's fking ridiculous. As asterix_vader points out THIS IS A GAME FOR 17+. Are there no parents any longer, or is it the case that they don't give a fk? If they ban violent games because underaged users are affected in a bad way, they should hurry up and ban alcohol and a whole heap of others things real quick, including many movies and books. Why not ban fat food and candy while they're at it? I'm sure many of those have a MUCH bigger impact on children and their wellbeing.

Also, as has been mentioned a thousand times, if someone, child or not, goes out and kick the s**t out of a bum because of a computer/video game they are SICK, and games are not the problem.

There are a bunch of violent games out there that I consider to be pure art. Have they ever considered banning paintings and other traditional artwork forms depicting violence? If they start banning/censoring games I think they should.

I know Snarkpit's policy on piracy and everything, but I suggest you go download HL1 illegally. What the hell, I'll even help you find it if you want. Forcing those that have already paid for the game to import it from another country is BS.

If there's a petition against this someplace, send it my way and I'll sign it right away. If not, I suggest someone that knows all the details create one.




What the Snarkpitters listen to!



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Gwil on Mon Feb 26th at 12:32am 2007

My biggest problem with blaming videogames lies in the fact that many carry M+ ratings, in the UK they even carry 18+ (the same as movie boxes) certificates and parents buy them for the kids. There's no way kids can afford or legally buy such games from vendors, so the parents musta been the ones to buy them in the first place.

Sticking little Joe Bloggs in front of the telly with his video games is the easy life, noone bothers to check what such games are. Theres lot of other strands about societal morals and whatnot, but ultimately only the parents are legally and financially able to buy these games - so they are to blame. Not the designers.




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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Feb 26th at 12:50am 2007

Wow, another reason why I wish you would not have ridiculed me when i said "man this 'STEAM' deal is gonna suck!"

That said, This censorship is getting out of hand! the only thing I can think of that we can do is start killing a burning! I saw it on this cool Killer-Spiel!

What CAN we do? We've allowed too much "big brotherism" control over our games by now.

This is why i like to BUY CDs of my games. not download it.




I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Gwil on Mon Feb 26th at 12:53am 2007

This is more a question of national censorship policies rather than Steam, surely?




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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Feb 26th at 12:59am 2007

well, gwil, Steam didn't HAVE TO change the models on their 17+ game to happy robots. not every nation censors as much as guilt-crippled Germany.


I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Gwil on Mon Feb 26th at 1:16am 2007

But surely thats a national issue rather than a Steam issue? Steam would have to adhere to or at least fall in line with general opinion for its consumer base.




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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Orpheus on Mon Feb 26th at 1:18am 2007

Dude Nickel, steam would be the way it is, with or without anyone giving you a hard time. I think its a bit of a stretch to think that if no one picked on you that you'd still be available to do some griping. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/heee.gif">

Geez, people been ragging on me for 6 years. I throw a tantrum ever once in a while, then settle back in for another round.

Grow some nads man. :P

ON TOPIC: I think my biggest issue with this whole games thing is that the world, or the portion in charge whats everyone to believe that kids are as gullible as a bunch of cow eyed girls. I mean seriously, how can anyone think that all these violent kids got that way by gaming?

WTF did the violent kids do before the transistor was invented?





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Naklajat on Mon Feb 26th at 1:38am 2007

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html
Now if only the big news corporations that 95% of the population look at reported stuff like that...


=o



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Feb 26th at 1:40am 2007

I don't think that the general consensus of gamers is that we need less violence in games. I think it's that we need more parenting and less babysitting by the TV.

Orpheus, I've got nads aplenty. Don't be insulting me.




I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Orpheus on Mon Feb 26th at 2:13am 2007

? quoting Nickelplate
I don't think that the general consensus of gamers is that we need less violence in games. I think it's that we need more parenting and less babysitting by the TV.

Dude, you're never going to convince parents that thats where the trouble lies.

Think about it. If they thought for a moment that it was a parenting issue, they'd be blaming OTHER PARENTS.

I'm sorry but most parents have no scruples at all when it comes to blaming other parents for children with issues.

We'll discuss your jewels later. :P





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Feb 26th at 2:47am 2007

Hey, man... Parents already DO think it's every other parent! what about "It takes a whole village to raise a child" That bullcrap has been taking the responsibility away from parents for a long time.

I stand firmly by the thought that it is bad parenting in most cases.

No need to discuss me jewels, Guvnah.




I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Stadric on Mon Feb 26th at 3:04am 2007

Are you honestly suggesting mass murdering of parents, Orpheus?
.
.
.
Because I'm up for that.


Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying



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 Re: The blame game.
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Feb 26th at 3:12am 2007

What video game did you get THAT idea from, you sick kid?!


I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com




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