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CNN: GTA IV ‘training our kids to kill’

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CNN: GTA IV ‘training our kids to kill’

Respected news network in astounding attack on Rockstar release; anchor says title teaches ‘sons to treat women like whores’

American news network CNN has broadcast an astounding attack on Rockstar’s GTA IV – in which presenter Glenn Beck says the game “is training our kids to be killers” and teaches young men to “treat women like whores”.

In the diatribe, which carries the headline ‘Grand Theft Morality’, Beck likens the training soldiers have received through the ages to the experience of playing the game – adding: “It took 75 years and countless billions of dollars to train our soldiers to kill. Today, $60 buys your kid the same thing.”

Other choice quotes from the feature, which you can view on YouTube here, include: “In Grand Theft Auto, your son, husband or boyfriend or whoever, can hire a prostitute, have sex with her and then beat her to death with a baseball bat.

“When a police officer comes after him, he can either light him on fire or cut him in half with chainsaw. This is entertainment?”

Beck signs off wit the line: “Whatever happened to Pong?”

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Koch

Thanks to Kotaku for the link.

just my style

posted by May 02, 2008 at 3:18 pm
1

"hire a prostitute, have sex with her and then beat her to death with a baseball bat"

Where do I sign up?

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Re: just my style

posted by James May 02, 2008 at 3:27 pm
2
James

"hire a prostitute, have sex with her and then beat her to death with a baseball bat"

Oh My God, I've travelled back in time - It's 2001!

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Re: just my style

posted by David May 02, 2008 at 3:37 pm
3
David

How do you cut someone in half with a chain store? Guessing this is a typo?
Seriously though if terrorists realised they could train on a game... FFS!

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Re: just my style

posted by David (rogueX) May 02, 2008 at 3:51 pm
4
David (rogueX)

@2: Thanks. You made my Friday. :)

Seriously, if parents prefer to let GTA teach their kids these important skills rather than do it themselves it should be their call. There's too much pressure on parents these days, even with help from TV and games.

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Re: just my style

posted by Magnus May 02, 2008 at 4:09 pm
5
Magnus

What next? Fox news reporting that Al Qaeda are buying up copies of GTA IV for training purposes? Morons the lot of 'em!

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Re: just my style

posted by Psyanide May 02, 2008 at 4:09 pm
6
Psyanide

Again we have a jumped up moron with a TV camera going after the game content rather than how the hell the kids have gotten hold of the game in the first place...Right on dumbass...

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Re: just my style

posted by Ant May 02, 2008 at 4:13 pm
7
Ant

GTA ate my babies

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Re: just my style

posted by May 02, 2008 at 4:14 pm
8

The "cutting in half with a chain store" line made me laugh my ass off.

The "whatever happened to Pong?" rhetorical question is old and boring. I wish they'd give someone the opportunity to answer it. While we're at it - "whatever happened to Space Hoppers?".

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Re: just my style

posted by Magnus May 02, 2008 at 4:15 pm
9
Magnus

What next? Fox news reporting that Al Qaeda are buying up copies of GTA IV for training purposes? Morons the lot of 'em!

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Re: just my style

posted by May 02, 2008 at 4:52 pm
10

training our kids to kill? Who said GTA was for kids?

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Re: just my style

posted by Roland May 02, 2008 at 4:54 pm
11
Roland

Either Mr. Beck’s ratings are down or he is bored. I think the reality that CNN, Congress and Mr. Bravado, GW has gotten us into throughout this country and the world worrying about GTA4 may productive. After all if it was a real issue that required work on Mr. Beck’s part you would have heard him complaining about the military build up in Call of Duty!

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Re: just my style

posted by FedUp May 02, 2008 at 6:59 pm
12
FedUp

WHAT A SURPRISE! Glenn Beck, the very same pathetic moron who pimped us an illegal war and still defends Bush's fascist policies ... is morally concerned about the evils of GTA4!?

Yet another right wing nut job spews his loud mouth to further demonstrate his deeply entrenched idiocy. This clown is a fraud. My money says he's molesting kids with his pal, Jack Thompson.

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Good By Retarded UK Culture

posted by Tim Horton May 02, 2008 at 8:41 pm
13
Tim Horton

The UK is increasingly becoming a yob culture where sex, booze and violence are its main desires. The only worse than this, is once you've destroyed all that was good about English civility, is that the Mullahs and Imams will wipe out any of the freedoms that you now abuse with abandon.

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Re: Good By Retarded UK Culture

posted by Magnus May 02, 2008 at 8:55 pm
14
Magnus

Wouldn't it have been better to play the game yourself and then perhaps form a more balanced opinion, rather than be influenced by those whose opinion is second or even third hand? The Mail and Express (the andrex of newspapers) are not exactly reliable sources of informationin in this regard and dom't get me started on the Guardian.

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Re: Good By Retarded UK Culture

posted by May 03, 2008 at 2:25 am
15

GTA is for people over 18!!! not underage kids... as for husbands well I'm sure they don't go around planning to attack prostitues with baseball bat "GET OUT OF MY GARDEN!"..chases her..

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Re: Good By Retarded UK Culture

posted by Aaron May 03, 2008 at 10:24 am
16
Aaron

@ fed up he's stated he DOES NOT support G.W.B. , but after this I don't think I will watch him anymore. Now were am I supposed to get the view from the others side from somebody who isn't a complete D-bag'!?!?

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Re: Good By Retarded UK Culture

posted by May 03, 2008 at 11:44 am
17

obviously he is an idiot etc but having played GTA IV for 2days non stop it IS obvious the game encouarages you to think of women as whores etc....the first hour or 2 non stop is all about trying to get laid and that annoying cousin talking about tits and shagging etc! obviously its hysteria but he DID have one or two valid points, speaking from an unbiased POV. Having said that....it is an AMAZING game...a work of art! def 10/10

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Re: 9 out of 10 terrorists love GTA

posted by Strey May 05, 2008 at 1:46 pm
18
Strey

I use GTA to teach my terroroists kids how to steal and kill random people when they grow up..
Thank you GTA I owe you one...
Why yesterday my youngest child killed his first prostitute with a flame thrower. We had food for weeks..The ones with STD's taste the best..XD

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Re: 9 out of 10 terrorists love GTA

posted by matty May 06, 2008 at 12:11 pm
19
matty

“It took 75 years and countless billions of dollars to train our soldiers to kill. Today, $60 buys your kid the same thing...”

So why does the American Govt. waste so much money on training their soldiers to kill innocents in illegal wars when they could just go and buy each potential soldier a copy of the game? < / cynical >

GET A LIFE!

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Whatever happened to PONG

posted by ADE_1977 May 09, 2008 at 11:22 am
20

Officially it became outdated as jumps in hardware gave rise to more complicated games.
The real truth though is this. Due to Pongs obvious hyper-violent nature, the perpetual hitting of a defenceless ball by a pair of sticks was starting to provoke the children of the world into a life of violence, drugs and organised crime. Possibly this was due to societies evils and the game had no real bearing on it, but, news was slow at the time and no-one wanted to look closer to home for the real reasons, so a scapegoat was made.

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Re: Whatever happened to PONG

posted by April Hale May 09, 2008 at 7:12 pm
21
April Hale

Okay this article really makes me angry. A video game does NOT teach someone how to kill. I certainly don't know how to shoot a gun yet I have all the GTA series except for GTA IV (money issues). I definitely couldn't outrun a police officer. (I'm fat, and even when I was a skinny little kid, I couldn't run very fast. I also probably wouldn't be able to manage actually killing someone in real life because 1, I don't have the guts (I'm the type who can't watch animal planet because it has all the suffering animals or any shows that have real human bodies being cut open...) and 2, I still don't know how to shoot, and three, I'm not mentally messed up like those idiot people who do the school shootings... Those people are seriously deranged.

Do I know how to steal a car from playing GTA? Nope... I don't even know how to drive one yet...

Do I know how to break into a building... Uh... No.

Do I know how to rob a bank? Nope...

The majority of people who play the GTA series or any other violent game, are not going to go outside and start shooting people for no apparent reason. It's the nut jobs who get on the news for such things. Do I have issues? A bit, I have Bipolar disorder, but like I said, I only kill little pixel people... Driving over pedestrians made of pixels is stress relief for me. Would I do it in real life, NOPE...

I think I know what I'm talking about. I used the GTA series along with Doom and other violent games, as examples for a 9th grade paper that got full marks... (I hate school but games are one of my passions...)

Will I let my kids play violent video games when I am a mother? Probably, because I played violent video games as young as seven years old and didn't turn out too bad.

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Cnn Grow Up

posted by Caption obvious May 17, 2008 at 8:14 pm
22
Caption obvious

When Did a Gta Game go Now Kids You must grab an knife and KILL EVERYONE hmm yep your dumb cnn play the game the school shoot outs are done by weird teens and their life suck ok

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Cnn Grow Up

posted by Caption obvious May 17, 2008 at 8:14 pm
23
Caption obvious

When Did a Gta Game go Now Kids You must grab an knife and KILL EVERYONE hmm yep your dumb cnn play the game the school shoot outs are done by weird teens and their life sucks ok

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