Ben-DutkaThe most annoying part about this is that Burnett's ignorant, presumptuous diatribe will be seen by millions, while Jaffe's defense will probably only be seen by gamers and a few mainstream journalists who summarily dismiss the video game industry as childish and potentially damaging.
Legendary designer/developer David Jaffe felt the need to defend our industry against the legions of politicians and journalists lining up to bash it in the wake of another terrible shooting tragedy. He really rips into CNN anchor Erin Burnett and if you had seen her piece, you would know his words are plenty justified.
My favorite part is the opening paragraph:
"Dear @ErinBurnett : you, ma'am, are at best an idiot that @cnn should be ashamed to have as an anchor. At worst, you are the worst kind of American: one who has allowed the healthy desire for success to morph into a capitalistic cancer that makes it ok to ignore the facts in order to make your product more appealing, regardless of the consequences. To make matters worse, your own views about video games- which you seem to have no problem sharing with your hundreds of thousands of viewers- clearly have not been formed by any actual research or real life experience with the medium."
Jaffe goes on to accuse Burnett of doing no research on the matter and hence, forming baseless conclusions. He also attacked her choice of words; she said the man who killed all those children in Norway "trained" on violent games before committing the act. Jaffe's response:
"The fact that you think a guy who 'trains'* on a shooting video game would be granted the skill to horrifically, tragically kill those CHILDREN in Norway only serves to show how little research you do before you open your mouth in front of your world wide audience under the guise of delivering news. I'm not sure what makes your argument look more ignorant: the fact that you don't back up your idiotic statement by showing a correlation to the current health of America's agriculture sector with the popularity of Farmville OR the fact that the sick, deranged evil loser who killed those poor kids in Norway had picked such a poor 'training' tool that after 700 hours of play, he was only capable of hitting little kids with his bullets versus the well armed pretend terrorists and highly skilled virtual soldiers that he was battling in the game."
We're posting this up simply to expand the reach of Jaffe's comeback, if only by a little. It's incredibly frustrating that the only people who are heard in this debate are also the most ill-informed individuals on the subject. That's completely backwards and downright absurd.
I just don't understand where the blame on videogames came from? Did the shooter have a high speed internet and a Ps3 in his basement? How did people come to a conclusion that it was videogames? Are they trying to get publicity? Maybe they should shift focus to the problem, the guns. Someone willing to go to a school and shoot elementary kids doesn't have a videogame addiction, no, most likely the individual suffered mental health problems.
Blaming guns is just as retarded as blaming video games!! Politicians and big pharmaceutical companies want you to have these arguments. They demonize guns in YOUR head and then throw an alternative out there to keep you dumb while they take over your life. Guns should be honored and respected as a tool that twarts evil and violence, yet you allow the mass media to fill your head with nonsense, while gun-supports buy into the evil of games… Neither of you want your freedoms taken, and if you WAKE UP you can both keep your freedoms!! Let's start having a REAL conversation, ignore games as the culprit, ignore guns as the culprit… How about some logical questions? Why is big pharma the biggest supporter of the EBT program? Is it because the poor aren't educated in health and fitness and they will squander MY tax dollars on poison for their bodies? Could it be that after they poison their bodies that big pharma will be there to rescue them with MORE drugs that have been turning people psycotic? There is such a health epidemic thanks to the pharma industry it's not even funny… they want us to be unhealthy… more money for them!!!! All these shootings are simply collateral damage for them, they don't care when they are counting their bank accounts. WAKE UP DUMMIES, it's time to take our lives back. VOTE OUT BIG PHARMA… oh, wait… Ron Paul won't run again, so I guess you're all screwed!!
Also, you think HR 3962 (aka Obamacare) is going to help families? Hahaha, this is the biggest government takeover of the free market in the history of free markets, and I wonder who is positioned to profit the most from it? Definitely not pharmaceutical companies!!! Nope, no reason to even question politicians or any of the propaganda they shove down our throats!!! Just guns!!! Please start banning the only tool we have to stop global dictatorship!!!
Both arguments are correct, gun control or not, we're just going in circles. It's a never endind roundabout. Doesn't matter what you think, doesn't matter what I think, we can't "change" each other.
However, a videogame wasn't the cause of killing. It was a weapon used to kill children at an elementary school, wich by the way, the weapon was easily obtainable. My argument here is that videogames have nothing to do about it.
And yes I think Obama is the only president in this country who is trying to push change.
And how the hell do guns stop dictatorship?
As for unhealthy americans, I have no idea
Last edited by Killa Tequilla on 2/2/2013 3:06:36 PM
If you think that taking guns away is going to eliminate violent crimes, you're a moron. Secondly, you say video games have nothing to do with this, but you have no argument to back your claims. Thirdly, Obama works for the same people as Bush. His foreign warfare policies are exactly the same… We are still at war in Iraq and Afaganistan, our "defense spending" (I prefer to call it Imperial Spending), has only gone up under both presidents, the patriot act (which ignores the 1st, 4th and 5th amendments) is supported by both, the TSA, the "war on drugs", the CIA rendition program, suspension of habeas corpus, the use of czars, the distribution of TARP funds, FORCING banks to accept TARP money, converting federal loans to common stock, massive contributions to anti-constitution groups like La Raza, lobbyists (didn't Obama make this promise as the backbone of his "change"), closed-door secret meetings, control of healthcare (yes, Bush had his own HR plan that his constituents squashed, anyone here want Bushcare???), bailing out European countries with the money of tax-paying Americans… (I could do this all day)… This point is, BOTH presidents are more similar than you may think, so to say he is the ONLY president to offer any [bad] change, is uninformed.
How do guns stop dictatorship? Do they not teach you in history class about revolutions like the one that happened in 1776? That might have been a monarchy that was fought but the type of tyrant is not the point… The only reason we don't have a single global government is BECAUSE Americans and the Swiss have guns, if it wasn't for us AND our guns, there would be a single power controlling everything. The Rothschilds, the Russells, the Van Duyns, the Rockefellers, the Bundys, these are only a few family names that would control every aspect of your life… and since these families have worked tirelessly to take our freedoms since the founding of the United States, they have largely been successful. Also, they won't be showing their true intent until guns are gone and there can be no REAL resistence.
I'm not going to convince anybody with a closed mind to propaganda… just providing information, do as you wish with it.
I blame people with guns.
It doesn't help that some of the people responsible for these acts, the ones taken alive at least, say that they've played such and such game. The so-called media jumps all over stuff like that.
@World, the average murder rate at a mass shooting that is covered by the media is 18, the average murder rate at a mass shooting NOT covered by the media is 2. Want to know why the latter is not sensationalized?? Because the mass shooter was SHOT and STOPPED by a citizen with a gun. We wouldn't want to glorify an amazing tool for self defense!! To "blame people with guns" is absolutely single-minded, absurd and idiotic. I own multiple guns and I refuse to take blame for such horror, so go f–k yourself with your closed-minded crap for brains. You idiots piss me off more that any other anti-gun retard.
Like I said, never ending roundabout. Just one big circle.
Just relax man, I never ment for you to get pissed off.
It's single minded to say what happened?
Guns don't kill people. Rappers do. So said Goldie looking Chain.
This is the problem. People are too quick to blame someone or something else. Other countries in the world have similar gun laws, yet the majority of school shootings happen in the US. That says leagues. We need to ask why. So instead of pointing the finger, lead with an open palm and try and help each other.
Good Lord! Where is a barf bag when you need one? Yes, citizens need even more guns here in United States so we can better defend ourselves :/. 10,728 people died in the United States last year from handguns alone. The closest other first world country was Canada. 52 people died there from handguns last year. We accidently killed ourselves approximately 600 times last year with handguns! That's more deaths from handguns than the entire free world combined…and I am just talking about the accidental deaths that make up a tiny portion of the 10,728 overall deaths. We got a systemic problem here in the United States. We need to to overhaul our gun laws. I'm not advocating a ban but something needs to be done. There are third world countries with political unrest that rate better than we do.
As for videogames and violent media. Countries like Canada and Great Britian have the same violent influences we have. What they don't have is sheer amount of guns we have here on the streets and a population armed to the teeth.
@Killa, I wasn't pissed at you… I was pissed at World for blaming me for mass shootings. @Excelsior, you simply stated factoids about guns, conveniently leaving out tons of other information. If you want to focus on guns as the ONLY weapon available then you're a retard. Violent crimes in the UK last year surpassed 1.3 million, in the US it was just passed 1.4 million… the US has FIVE TIMES the population as the UK, yet their violent crime has SKYROCKETED since the banning of guns. The United States per capita violent crime is one of the lowest in the world. 75% of our gun violence is related to our idiotic "war on drugs", and just because people get beat to death in other countries with knuckles and baseball bats doesn't make it any safer. I think it's funny that soon after gun bans in the UK it was rated the most dangerous country in the European Union and morons around the world still want gun control. World leaders and elitists will always carry guns, therefor… so will I.
Last edited by PSN French on 2/3/2013 5:32:45 AM
@psn french… you sound like a nut with anger issues. im terrified that someone like you owns multiple guns. gun loving americans are the problem, and something needs to be done about that.
Listen up people, inanimate objects are NOT what needs blamed… Guns don't kill people, video games don't kill people, PEOPLE kill people… What needs blamed are the wack'a'dos out there that for what ever reason deside to use an inanimate object in their drive to harm others.
You want gun control? Put EVERYONE(Baring those who have mental issues such as unchecked anger and such) through a gun handling course and give them the choice to then own a gun or not. That way there would be someone w/ a gun close at had that could stop a violent crime early on and not let it turn into a massacre. Taking guns away only takes away from those honest people who follow the law, it doesn't effect criminals in the least and that can be seen in EVERY country that has very restrictive gun laws. A criminal isn't going to stop and go "Oh man I shouldn't be doing this w/ this gun, it's against the law!" and to think they are is really asinine to believe.
@Say… What scares me are those sheople out there that mindlessly gobble up what ever dribble is spouted from their perfered source like the mindless drones the source knows they are…
I'm getting really tired of people not taking the blame for their own stupidity, it's always something or someone else, it's NEVER their own screwed in the head thoughts causing it… I'm sick and tired of hearing "Guns killed" or "Mother Nature destoryed" or the rest of the asinine comments about such things that would never have happened if HUMANS weren't involved… Gawds this world makes me sick of being a human sometimes.
Don't those pesky facts just bite? I picked the 600 accidental deaths from just handguns in the United States last year versus the overall amount of deaths in the entire free world combined for a reason. That number can't be twisted nor is up for interpetation. Sheesh. I'll say it again. We accidiently kill ourselves with handguns 600 times a year. There are more people accidently killing themselves or each other with handguns here than there are overall handgun related deaths of any kind in the entire free world combined.
@SayWord, you go ahead and be ignorant.
@Excelsior, you're not getting the point… still little factoids… feel free to continue being a tool for the Rothschilds.
Last edited by PSN French on 2/4/2013 10:37:05 AM
@SayWord…
You are a hating, uninformed, moron if you actually think "gun loving Americans" are the problem. My gun loving buddy, with a LEGAL conceal and carry permit (issued by the local Chief of Police, after a background check, and a full gun safety course) was the only reason he and I didn't get MUGGED last night. One flash of steel, and they ran.
Now tell me guns are bad?
Screw off with your anti-american drivel!
@PSN French
You know… There are a lot of points, especially on gun rights, that I agree with you on. I'm glad some people have not forgotten that the ONLY reason The United States of America even EXISTS, is because we pointed our rifles at the government that oppressed us, and we said NO! We will not take it anymore!
To all the people dismissing your comments, if they want to see gun control in action… Look to EVERY dictatorship that has ever existed, and they can study up on the subject all they like. It's good to see people like you standing up for our rights, and more importantly… Understanding WHY they are so critically important!
Last edited by richfiles on 2/7/2013 1:10:02 AM
Very well said by Jaffe! I shared the link to hopefully get more people reading this well constructed letter.
You tell'em Jaffe. Yet another case of an ill-informed self righteous idiot parading baseless claims as fact on a topic they clearly know nothing about.
How is this even happening? The only people who seem to have any sensibility on the topic are the ones supposedly being contaminated by it.
Is that their angle? To dismiss the defense of everyone who has an interest in gaming because we're so polluted by it's evil that they need to save us from it? This is ignorance of mass proportions, and it makes me sad…
As a plumber I always go fight dinosaurs, mushrooms that walk, turtles, walking bombs, bullets that can see and have mouths, etc. I get on my trusty companion who happens to be a green dinosaur btw and go around burning evil creatures for coins. Sometimes I like to dress up as a raccoon but that's another story. So I don't know what you guys are talking about, her story seems pretty legit to me. hehehe
+1 Excellent comment!
Mario is sooo violent. Hide your kittens!
Go Jaffe!
Obviously, violence in media can have an effect on an insecure mind, be that an unstable person or a child. Basically, anything associated with developmental or abnormal psychology. Those are the fields of study that need to be involved in these studies, imo.
But what I'm missing is not only causation of video games to these tragedies, but any proven correlation. There is speculation about these mass murderers playing video games, but never any proof. True, the guy in Norway tried to say he trained on… um… World of Warcraft…. yeah…. but that's it.
I'm sorry, but you just can't dictate causation due to circumstance. You need to measure these things in controlled scientific studies. Which -HAS- happened. And what did we see? Children who indulge in overly violent (usually to the extremes of gore) can show very mild increases in aggression. But there has been no study to show them ever becoming physically violent. And in adults who are deemed psychologically fit, there is little change. Some show mild increases in tension, while most typically show no change, and some even being able to relax MORE as it is used as a sort of venting mechanism.
There are many studies available via google search, even. I myself did a paper back in the day, and psychological journals agree.
Here's what's going to happen in the states in respect to video games:
The pres. of the ol' U.S. of A. is ordering up some official studies. They are going to uncover the exact same findings that have already been uncovered and built upon. They will find that violent media, not just games, affects children negatively. They will find insignificant changes in adults to draw finite conclusions. Just as what has been already done. They will decide, based on the research, that they should concoct a way to determine which games are inappropriate for children and that they should limit children's access to such content. Then they will discover the ESRB already exists. They will consult the FCC and discover the FCC believes it to be the most reliable ratings on the market.
And they will say to themselves… oh shnikies… this shit's already in place! hmm…. well, we can't just do nothing after all that, we're going to have to either increase fines for selling to minors, incorporate a tax on M rated games, or both.
Sheesh…
Last edited by Underdog15 on 2/2/2013 12:21:14 PM
Does anyone have a link to Erin Burnett's rant, I can't find it anywhere. Maybe someone found her to be so ignorant that the video has been buried?
Jaffe's retort is a thing of beauty however.
touchyourtoes,
Here's the only video I could find anywhere on Erin Burnett discussing the guns & videogame controversy.
But I must say it's pretty tame & it really doesn't come off as a rant as much.
And especially, when some many of our own political & ignorant, despicable, self-agenda, GDB's ("GOVERNMENT DUNG BEETLES" are coming out of their hot steaming piles of manure-based eatery's to spew their foul acting double-chewed phobia-feces all over America.
Anyways, enough of my own rant……here, the video starts off about what the downside will be to both, the manufacturers, & our economy, if semi-automatic guns are banned & how many people will have to be laid off.
And then it switches over to our "video games" at the 2:19 mark.
Erin Burnett: Is Someone That Kills A Prostitute Playing GTA More Likely To Kill People?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blH3Shg3nX8
Last edited by BikerSaint on 2/2/2013 4:38:44 PM
Thanks Biker, it is rather tame, so much so I actually would retract my is she ignorant comment if I could. Jaffe's still right about her needing to do more research before airing a story such as this.
I'm in Canada and I'm getting pissed off with so many of your political "leaders" pointing the finger at our past time, and only our past time. Why is it so hard for those fools to see that we have the same damn games here in the great white north, but we don't have deranged assholes shooting up schools/offices/malls/etc. Our deranged assholes shooting up these places are gangsters shooting other gangsters.
Stronger rules to keep the GTA's and COD's out of young children's hands sure, but another tax and attacking the rest of us isn't going to stop the fruitcakes from going postal.
Last edited by touchyourtoes on 2/2/2013 10:59:27 PM
Keeping, or rather TEACHING, kids from violence shouldn't be the task of any government possition but that of the PARENTS… THAT is where the world, at least the Western world, is falling apart, no one wants to take account for their offspring and what they do/learn. It's actually pretty sad.
It amazes me that people here in the USA have forgotten what happened when a government body had too much control over our day to day lives…. 1776…
I think more developers need to stand up like Jaffe has.
why are'nt more devs/publishers stepping up to defend
not only themselves but also the gamming industry?
glad to see at least one dev step up to the plate,
way to go Jaffe!
This is coming from the guy who says it's wrong to buy used games. Screw Jaffe.
End of Line.
They're all the same.
"VIDEO GAMES ARE TO BLAME"
"VIDEO GAMES ARE BAD INFLUENCE TO CHILDREN"
"VIDEO GAMES ARE RESPONSIBLE"
Ok, prove it or your statement doesn't count, it's that easy.
And I wish there were more developers like Jaffe coming out to defend the industry.
I can't believe with all the jabs and insults, Jaffe is the only out to stand up.
I may be in the minority on this, but I think Jaffe went a little too easy on her.
He did because not a single **** came out of his mouth. He uses that word a lot.
Jaffe said it. Oddly enough, being him and all, i personally would have been much more uhhh. Whats a good word. Vulgar? Yeah i would have had a BEEP every 2 seconds.
And that would've fed the flames even more for the accusers.
"See how violent and abusive these games make people? Look at how they talk."
Last edited by Geobaldi on 2/2/2013 6:02:14 PM
Perfect retort by Jaffe.
Is it weird that i was reading his response in my head with HIS voice??
I guess that's how popular videogame developers are getting now. Sadly not popular enough to break through to mass media. But i'm going to find this article on face book and share it
I think it was great that he wasnt that vulgar. The media already portray us as immature and assume us all to be in the 8-21 demographic. Though sometimes it boils my blood, i think his response was great
I'm training to unleash an army of cute monsters on mankind?
Can I catch 'em all?
Ni No Kuni > Pokemon
O boy here I go with the knowledge of expected responses.
3 years ago there were a number of researches done to find out if video games influence games in anyway. I remember one report that was conducted by a skeptic who was surprised to discover that certain genres of video game do affect gamers physiologically as well as psychologically. Simply, video games get aggressive. specifically with violent games such as the CoD's games. They also found it starts with players getting frustrated leading to anger and aggression. The social aspect of the game where players communicate online during play and antagonized each other compounding it if not actually the catalyst in some cases.
Now even then they said that the affect levels are dependent on the individual but the affect is there.
I wish I had the report BUT like I said this was years ago. AND both side of the issue disagreed with it. One that it did not go far enough and the other just refusing to accept it. You can guess which said is which.
The rationals in the world KNOW that games are one one of the many mediums who influence how people think and react. Such as television, movie, music, advertising and even books.
Point is when the gaming community is being "attacked" as some have put it the response is verbal abuse and totally denial. The verbal abuse unfortunately make the gaming community looked bad and supports the opposition stance. Wrongly or not.
Games do influence us, I have seen friends get angry during games, mostly the online FPS games. One reason the CoD's games of the world do not interest me. Those games are not meant to be all flowers and faeries. Its combat, its suppose to frustrating and aggressive.
The main point is Video Games are not the sole cause of violent influence. Just one or many. As adults we need to recognize that in ourselves and parents need to recognize that letting your kids play these games at early ages along with all the other mediums out there for entertainment…may not be a good idea… at least unsupervised.
Keep playing!
Sure they affect us, but among those with mostly or fully formed brains that effect is very temporary and doesn't translate to everyday life. Children are more impressionable, and everyone in the media seems to think games like CoD are made for children because parents let them have anything they want.
I'm betting the effect of hours of hardcore porn on children isn't good either, hence the laws surrounding it. A certain amount of discretion has to be left to parents though or we are not free.
I remember that study, but they said that the effect was relatively short lived and that people generally returned to 'normal' after a period of time.
The thing about games influencing us is that all media influences us. Ads influence us to buy things, movies can make us excited, angry, happy or incredibly sad, so can TV and anime. So for that matter can games. The ability to change a person's mood 100% indicates that whatever is changing the mood is by definition influencing that person. So, there is no question as to whether a game could influence someone, the question is about the depth and persistence of the influence.
For a vulnerable mind looking for answers on how to behave, a constant diet of violent entertainment and/or violent environment, may teach that vulnerable mind to be more aggressive and violent, and that would become a permanent behavioral change. But that would be an exception and not representative of the general situation.
Perhaps the correlation that people see is not that the video games cause the shooters to shoot, but perhaps the shooters are interested in action games because they satisfy the urges inside them – preventing them from acting in the real world. In other words, perhaps violent people seek out games to self medicate themselves and prevent abhorrent behavior from occurring. In which case, withdrawing games from such individuals might result in more attacks, not fewer.
Jaffe…..being the "Voice of reason"
I love it!!!!!!
I'd still bounce on her.
I'm sure she did a lot of bouncing to get where she is.
I hate talk politics on gaming or any other site that isn't political, but I keep it short and to the point. One there is no evidence linking video games violence to real world violence and two there is evidence of gun related violence going up since the assault gun ban expired back in 2005. No one is saying banning all guns only these high power guns like AR-15s and these high-capacity clips which serve no purpose other than killing a whole bunch of people in a short amount of time. And anyone saying otherwise is lying their asses off.
To PSN French here's a quick history lesson on Obama care, its roots belongs with the conservative think tank Heritage foundation and later in 1994 Republican Bob Dole used it as a counter healthcare plan to Hillary Clinton's plan. So yeah I notice a difference when there was a president that actually went against the constitution I didn't hear much of anything from the folks that hold the constitution so dear.
Back to Jaffe, he has to put folks like Burnett on blast with force because stuff like that gets repeated by other talking heads. Because a lot of these jokers have a negative stereotype about gamers and our community is easily disregard nevermind the video game industry ranks in billions of dollars in a year and a majority of us live very productive lives outside the console or keyboard.
Every game designer should aspire to be more like jafe. He has so much style its not even cool. I like how he didn't drop one f bomb, you could tell he did but had to back space several times.
I'm playing Lollipop Chainsaw, so I'm ready to kill some Zombies.