My name is Robert Farago and I’m a video game addict. Back in the day, I’d smoke a joint (without inhaling), down a Diet Coke and hit the arcade. I’d play Battlezone or Bezerk until I ran out of quarters or the munchies enforced Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When shoot-’em-ups migrated to consoles, it was bad. It’s one day at a time now. I fill my time by writing for TTAG, single-parenting a ten-year-old, mentoring a brace of Schnauzers and pressing NFW on a ten match.com profiles per day. OK, I fell off the gaming wagon for a few weeks a while back . . .
Sniper Elite V2. It was a timesuck in the sense that a black hole has a negative effect on gravity. But I’m clean now man, I swear. I can look at new gun game without twitching fingers. I haven’t fired-up the PS3 since my eldest had a major Jones for Red Dead Redemption. Genetics. What are you going to do? What I’m not going to do is play gun games all day. And night.
Some of that lack of temptation’s down to the violence in shooting games. Don’t get me wrong: a shooting game without violence is like dickless porn. (If you don’t know what that is you can thank the Internet.) And I’m all about the First Amendment; it’s not for me to tell a game designer where to draw the line (so to speak) on ballistic gore. And I don’t think violent video games lead to real world violence. Much.
But some of today’s gun games are so nihilistic, so blood-soaked that they give me the creeps. This particular game, Hotline Miami, is one of those. The bit where the guy gets chainsawed to death? It doesn’t strike me as clever or funny or challenging or sick in an ironic, post-modern way. It’s just sick. Period. I know: there’s plenty of plot in the game. For lack of a better term, it’s crazy sh*t. Not that I’d know from playing it.
Which means I’ve got no business criticizing it. So I’ll toss this one to TTAG readers who are still gun game addicts. I mean, aficionados. Are [some of] today’s gun games too violent? Does that question even mean anything anymore?
I love how so many people, even on a website like TTAG, are taking for granted that the contested land is “federally owned.” That the federal government thinks it has the constitutional authority to own 90% of Nevada land, is itself the underlying issue. The feds have no more right to that land than does Bundy. Anyone who makes the argument that Bundy is trespassing on federal land is a moron. I’m looking at you, Mark N.
I thinks it’s safe for anyone who’s still in denial and still thinks we live in a free country to come out of the closet and accept reality. The American experiment with liberty and freedom was based on the principle of property rights; without property rights none other exist.
Looks like a Ranger 3…………..
Wow. One of the most worthless gun-related articles I’ve ever read. No useful, technical information. No real substantive reason why snub-nosed revolvers are lacking. No alternatives presented. Thankfully, I didn’t waste too much of my time perusing this drivel.
Asking if gun games are too violent is like asking if p0rn has too much sex. Violence is the whole point of gun games, and a gun game without lots of violence is no better than a dry hump.
And what’s wrong with using a chainsaw? It was always one of my favs to get all the way back on the DOOM series! Fire that badboy up for some CQC! And how many times did I pull the spine out of somebody in Mortal Combat? And you know how homicidal I am? Not at all, I spend 9+ hours a day in a cloth cover cubicle, love my family, can’t wait to scratch my dogs’ head at the end of the day and go fishing in the pond on the farm. It’s just a game, some good, some bad, some just campy in their violence.
The problem seems to be that the government didn’t negotiate with the individual ilke they would a sovereign state, large corporation or individual of power. In those instances there would have been some give and take. Instead the state, by its nature, sees the individual as someone for whom there should be no give and take: ostensibly because of equality under the rule of law, but probably because the individual, especially a lone un-armed one, is powerless.
Native American land claims were one sided with weak tribes. Sovereign territory disputes were one sided with weak nations. Weak individuals are generally not protected by government, especially not a technocratic one devolved from its revolutionary intent.
The downside of games is my kid would rather shoot guns in a game because he doesn’t have to clean them. He likes to shoot real guns, he likes to take them apart and put them back together- but clean them, that just makes the whole deal not worth it to him.
I don’t even notice the blood, it actually annoys me cause it in the way of what im doing lol
Most of the games I play for the story. I love a good story,like Battle Field, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, SW: Knights of the Old Republic, Splinter Cell Black list, Tomb Raider, Saints Row for example.
There are some games that got weird and can no longer enjoy (MGS2, a rollerskating obese midget in a bomb suit anyone?)
I dont play games just for the sheer violence, thats not fun, I play them because they have certain aspects I like such as the characters, gameplay style, and of course a good story.
Most of the games I play for the story.
That’s what old guys say about why they read Playboy back in the day. For the stories.
Guess what? They lie.
But but but, wait! NOONE IS COMING FOR YOUR GUNS. Why not register them? It couldn’t hurt, right?
/s/
Can anyone name a time when registration did not lead to some kind of confiscation? Seriously.
Considering most college police departments carry firearms….
This thread and the ones related to it have been rather fascinating to read. A lot of lawyerly types on here have written numerous comments on this website showing that they do not reflexively back the government in any way, shape, or form and frequently tear down the government’s action with far greater precision and wit than 99% of the posters on here. However, as soon as they read up on the case, reviewing the actual evidence and the case law instead of PR bullshit and rumor, and point out that due process was not only followed every inch of the way but also delayed for 20 years, they’re called bootlicking communists. When the people who actually put in the effort to read the details, to translate the legalese, to go beyond the headlines and the noise and find out what actually happened, point out that the rancher might have misrepresented the facts, perhaps we should listen instead of calling them paid government stooges. Don’t fall for Confirmation Bias the way antigunners do.
The truth is, it’s not really [gun] violence at issue.
Some people can’t differentiate between reality and fantasy very well, and the lines can sometimes get a little blurred. That’s not the full extent, either, though.
By and large, people who pursue mass-casualty violence in real life are usually doing so to feel like they’re regaining control over their lives; it’s often a desperate, twisted way to right wrongs, to dispense justice that they feel will never come through using ‘the system,’ or to otherwise prove they’re in control of their situation. Because violence without consequence is often used as part of a plot progression or to solve a particular problem in popular media, sick people can view it as a viable solution to working through their problems. ‘Kill the bad guys, happily ever after’ is the summarized plot line of so many movies, TV shows, games, and (to a lesser extent) books, that some people who aren’t wired quite right think of it as the eventual solution rather than some other, more realistic and logical answer.
This level made me ill: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UgNtA-WfwcI
Life is violent, Mother Nature is a brutal bitch, plain and simple.
Watch some Nat Geo if you don’t understand what I mean.
And, anyone talking about video games being too violent needs to get real. Because guess what, you can find the same violence in the real world, people kill each in real life. And, it’s been that way since way before video games, I assure you.
I will say that I think video games makes kids weaker, but not emotionally, just mentally and physically. Video games give a false sense of accomplishment (why play football, you can just play madden and be a Super Bowl champ) and makes kids sit on their asses more.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight . . . .” An idea with giving some thought to.
+1. I am ancient and I don’t play any games beyond the non-electronic versions of Scrabble, Monopoly, checkers, etc. Hence, I am not qualified to render an opinion in re computer game violence. I do know, however, that there are only 24 hours in a day and that too many Americans spend far too much time in worthless pursuits. Ignorance is as great an enemy to our freedoms as the anti-gunners are. There are ESPN addicts who know what brand of glove every benchwarming pitcher in MLB wears, but who don’t know what the 2nd (or any) Amendment says. Most college students and recent graduates have never read anything by Cicero, Edmund Burke, John Adams, etc. and most of them don’t even know who they are. If you want to be useful in the fight for freedom read the books that form the foundation of our civilization. Start with the Bible and move forward from there.
44, 45, whatever it takes.
Nice. Excellent movie.
get back to smoking cigars Robert. Life is too short otherwise
Now Carnik Con needs to add this to his AK videos , I love the rap song at the end
The $50 gift certificate for KVAR should help cover some of the ridiculously high shipping charges KVAR is notorious for.
Seriously?
Comrade Zimmerman suggest that guns of Motherland are loose? I am disappoint.
Looks cool but 1300 for an AK?
I just turned down buying a used Arsenal milled recvr AK with green furniture. Not sure what parts get mfrd where and what parts get put together where but I thought it looked like a parts gun and not something completely manufactured and assembled at the same place. It looked and felt cheap. I had a Polytech Legend milled receiver AK many years ago and sold it (wish I hadn’t). That was a solid hunk of metal with good fit and finish. No way in hell I would pay $1300 for an AK. There’s a blue million(s) of them out there and they will eventually go the way of the AR (complete upper and lower for less than $500 total including transfer and frt.) unless the gubment does something silly.
So what film is captain stabby from?
Far be it for me to suggest something, but has anyone checked out the property masters? You don’t just walk in and grab a weapon. You have to sign for it. at the desk. on a clipboard. Ergo, I will say, I bet one of the property masters stole it. There, I said it.
Holy f^&(*ing stupidity……
Hotline Miami is no different than Night Trap in the 90s when Leiberdouche started his crusade against games.
There is an underlying human psychology issue we keep ignoring here. Video games 400 years ago a.k.a. tribal warfare.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it isn’t the farmers land and he hasn’t paid a fee to use the public place in years despite other farmers doing so.
And the benefit of such extreme balancing is??? Seems like a waste of time to me.
In 20 seconds, I should be able to call my shotgun-armed neighbor across the street, with time to spare for drawing my handgun. Hopefully, the two of us can put the guy down before he can get through my wrought-iron screen door.
What does Dick Cheney shoot? For all that money, I’ll buy a Remi at Wally World and ask the auto dept to spin it and add wheel weights.
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I’m all for violence in video games. If someone plays, say, Sniper Elite V2, and sees through the X-Ray Kill Cam what a bullet can do to someone, then they’re going to appreciate how dangerous a gun is. They’ll realise guns are not harmless toys. And also, violent video games are good for stress management. I came back from school one day, and I’d had a bad day. I was bullied, punched, punched back. I was really angry. So I popped on some CoD, shot the ever-loving f**k out of some enemies, and the stress disappeared with every massively incorrectly modelled gun-shot. I’m all for it. If it means they take their anger out on the enemies in-game rather than go out on a spree shoot, then it must be a good thing, right guys?
I didn’t have much sympathy, but when you start with that buffoon William Lind’s ridiculous “fourth generation of warfare” nonsense, you lose all credibility.
If you use someone else’s land, then you follow their rules. Whining about it is not argument. Someone needs to express some coherent argument as to why we should care, why the government is wrong, and why the ranchers are right. Until then, it just comes off as cranky.
Yeah… Never a brilliant idea to steal a cop’s taser, tase him with it, then point it at his head and make threats. If you do, and you happen to get shot in the process – and you’re terribly surprised about that – well, then, you’re a fucking moron …and a proud winner of a Darwin award.
Of course, who knows what really happened, or what ‘suspicious’ activity is exactly, but regardless…. you can’t do that shit. If the story happened as told (who knows about that, the ‘off-duty part is a bit troubling honestly), it seems likely to be a justified killing – just as if you as a citizen ended up in a similar situation. I’m not waiting to be shot in the head with a taser so the attacker can take my weapon. Are you?
Our local police are just people too… and good ones mostly. Just as an segment of any population, there’s always one asshat in any crowd. We support them as a community, and they support us. After all, they are us. They live with us and go to the same Churches and our kids go to the same schools, and play on the same baseball teams, and on and on. Never separate the Police from the community they are protecting – like seems to happen in cities (and apparently in Rhode Island too).
VF77