Detroit: UK MP and Childline (charity) founder call for a ban/editing

[StrickenBiged]

Story: http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2017/12/uk_politicians_and_campaigners_lobby_against_detroit_become_human

 

____________________

 

This is ridiculous. Movies, TV, heck, even soap operas (which are on at dinner time) have depicted domestic violence, child abuse, murder, etc, for years. 

 

Seems like old-fogeys that haven't realised that the majority of gamers are adults now. We have adult interests and can handle adult themes in the media we consume. 

 

There always has been and always will be a problem with children getting hold of entertainment which is not age appropriate for them. The same has always been true of books, movies, TV shows too. 

[dermarx]

From the article: A Daily Mail article quotes Childline founder Esther Rantzen, who’s described the title as “sick and repulsive” and has asked Sony to either “withdraw [the] game […] or at least remove this scene where a virtual child is put in life-threatening danger”. Her statement concludes:“If you don’t, real children may suffer.”

 

Yeah, sure. It's not a game which is hurting people. It's the people who are hurting people.

What's next? Censorship of CoD, Battlefield, Wolfenstein, what ever because you can kill people and - following this argument - real people may be killed

Don't get me wrong. Hurting people is never a good thing. But people like her should focus on the real world problems, not the problems in a virtual reality.

Edited December 4, 2017 by dermarx

[Undead Wolf]

What's with our MP's being even more retarded then usual lately?  And how exactly do they figure the very existence of this scene in a video game will lead to real child abuse? I'm genuinely curious... It's like they think we're all idiots.

 

"Domestic violence is not a game and this simply trivialises it". If anything, I think it helps raise awareness for this kind of stuff. Nobody I know watched that scene and felt good about it afterwards. I would be surprised if anyone did.

[StrickenBiged]

5 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

What's with our MP's being even more retarded then usual lately?

 

In general, I think that social media is a big part of it. It seems that every time they open their mouths or pick up their pens, they're wondering how to reduce what they're saying to a 10-20s soundbyte or 2-4 sentences which could go viral. This means that there's no room for nuance, doubt or argument - they have to take a strong position on everything, the more extreme the better because it's more likely to get shared/RT'd/discussed. 

 

In this case though, it's probably just the British tabloids dredging up trouble. I doubt anyone quoted has heard of Quantic Dream or is familiar with their work. 

[Beyondthegrave07]

This is sooo stupid. Did they lobby against The Hunger Games movie? Because that's children being put through a game to murder each other so that the big wigs have something"fun" to watch. Which is freaking horrific when you think about it...

 

I don't want to read this hypocritical nonsense from a politician too narrow-minded to open his/her eyes. This stuff is everywhere in books, TV, and especially movies and targeting video games and taking such a stance makes you look oblivious of the entire issue completely.

 

This is like saying playing CoD will cause more wars.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Beyondthegrave07

[DrBloodmoney]

Im from the UK.

 

Esther Rantzen is a well known crackpot who no one of consequence takes seriously, and the Daily Mail is not a newspaper, it’s a fundraising pamphlet for the older generation of radical rightwingers.

 

the same paper tried to blame a murder a few years back on Dark Souls for crying out loud.

 

This is not a story. It’ll only last until the next thing for the cranks to whinge about comes along. Calm down.

[nyonmyan]

UK is that country where they imprison for "offensive" jokes, while female genital mutilation is de-facto legal, right?

[StrickenBiged]

3 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

the same paper tried to blame a murder a few years back on Dark Souls for crying out loud.

 

Source.

 

An achievement hunter T-shirt eh,? How do they know that it wasn't because he was an XBox owner? Or that he didn't feel like his gamescore was too low? 

[DrBloodmoney]

6 minutes ago, StrickenBiged said:

 

Source.

 

An achievement hunter T-shirt eh,? How do they know that it wasn't because he was an XBox owner? Or that he didn't feel like his gamescore was too low? 

 

That’s the one - I couldn’t remember the details, just my feeling of complete distain upon seeing it...

[StrickenBiged]

1 minute ago, nyonmyan said:

UK is that country where they imprison for "offensive" jokes, while female genital mutilation is de-facto legal, right?

 

FGM is definitely illegal. There hasn't been a successful prosecution - leading to conviction - of anyone for it yet though, AFAIK. 

 

As for jokes, you're absolutely right. We don't have true freedom of speech here in the UK. Ironically, the European Convention on Human Rights came in which stated the "right" to freedom of expression, but has massive caveats that gave states a really wide leeway to legislate to restrict speech. (See Article 10(2) here.) Freedom of Speech has been getting worse in the UK ever since because, once something is banned, good fucking luck getting that reversed. IMO, you should assume the right exists when drafting rights legislation, and restrict the state's ability to mess with it (see USA's First Amendment). How can it be a "right" if it has to be stated? Doesn't make sense to me on a philosophical level to be "granted" a right. 

[DrBloodmoney]

10 minutes ago, nyonmyan said:

UK is that country where they imprison for "offensive" jokes, while female genital mutilation is de-facto legal, right?

 

No. 

 

There are entire divisions of the police force assigned to stamping out FGM in those communities that still try to practice it, and, as far as jokes go - Frankie Boyle is not in jail, so I’d say ‘offensive’ jokes are as safe as can be.

 

Nice try tho.

[nyonmyan]

It's really cool how British police is "stamping out" crime with not a single successful prosecution in decades. Reminds me of that Rotherham scandal.

[Nitro]

Wow.... for once it's not Australia being retarded.

[Undead Wolf]

22 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

No. 

 

There are entire divisions of the police force assigned to stamping out FGM in those communities that still try to practice it, and, as far as jokes go - Frankie Boyle is not in jail, so I’d say ‘offensive’ jokes are as safe as can be.

 

Nice try tho.

 

So I'm guessing you haven't heard of a youtuber named Count Dankula then? Source

 

He faces jail time for making this video:

(The original got taken down recently)

 

So yeah, making an "offensive" joke in the UK isn't as safe as you think it is.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Undead Wolf

[StrickenBiged]

35 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

I’d say ‘offensive’ jokes are as safe as can be.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/man-behind-nazi-pug-video-11495282

 

^prosecution for an off-colour YT video. 

 

(Edit: just seen that @Undead Wolf beat me to it. Sorry, internet being screwy today.)

Edited December 4, 2017 by StrickenBiged

[OnlyCass]

Meanwhile in coronation street...

 

'Bethany Platt to become a lapdancer in controversial new storyline after sex abuse ordeal.'

 

'David Platt to be raped in harrowing story line... as the show tackles male sexual assault'

 

What a stupid load of bollocks..

[Katt]

Quote

"fuck off, don't mess with my game" - David Cage

 

Just kidding, but that would be epic.

[LunchCannon54]

Apparently we're also offended, and as an Australian I'm offended as well that David Cage is still allowed to make video games. They are all terrible. 

Edited December 4, 2017 by LunchCannon54

[Lance_87]

That's Weinstein to you.

 

Btw that guy deserves jail for stalking the poor dog not for the nazi crap lol.

[Bloodytears1666]

So I play Downpour now, why they didn't care back in the day, only for now.

 

From 15 minute

Spoiler

 

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by Bloodytears1666

[ShadowStar83x]

Think of the children!

[FawltyPowers]

I do feel there is a difference from movies and TV that you watch and games that you interact and participate in.

 

I know how immersed I became playing Heavy Rain and making decisions that would affect certain outcomes, it felt way more personal and emotional than watching a film that you have no way of influencing, especially when children are involved.

 

I just watched the video in the link you sent and I think playing it will be an extremely emotional journey and at times uncomfortable and I really do understand the concerns but I also feel that as long as this is aimed at a mature audience and as long as the abuse isn't too graphic and is handled well it should stand. If it isn't then there is justification for certain edits.

 

Games have evolved enormously and cover a wider audience, so too will the subject matter and scrutiny of what is acceptable.

[StrickenBiged]

3 minutes ago, FawltyPowers said:

I just watched the video in the link you sent and I think playing it will be an extremely emotional journey and at times uncomfortable and I really do understand the concerns but I also feel that as long as this is aimed at a mature audience and as long as the abuse isn't too graphic and is handled well it should stand. If it isn't then there is justification for certain edits.

 

I think the central point re the content in the Detroit trailer is that it in no way looks as if the game is glorifying the child abuse. It is clearly presented as the worst possible outcome. This is a far cry from a game like Hatred which was wantonly violent against virtual, innocent people. A hypothetical Hatred-like game where you are encouraged to abuse children would be distasteful in the extreme - but that is not what Detroit seems to be about from what we have seen so far. The abuser is an NPC whom you are supposed to prevent from abusing the child. Some of the approbrium which is thrown at the game based on this trailer makes it sound like the trailer glorified the child abuse somehow, which I never got from the trailer personally.... Maybe someone could explain it to me.  

[Cobby]

To be honest, the fact that the main quote comes from "Daily Mail", it's nothing to worry about, they're the most unreliable shitbags in actual Journalism.

[AvengedEvil]

Never really cared about this game until yet. After reading the article and watching the trailer I'm thinking about pre-ordering the game. I think this wasn't Daily Mail's intention.