The morning Inbox discusses the disappointments of Games for Gold and how 61% of Britons think playing games makes you violent.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk.
Entitled to complain?
I think Commodore Fan made an interesting and all too relevant point about gaming fans. So many of us geeks have been given a sniff of empowerment, whether through the Web as a platform of anonymous expression or through companies bowing to the constant pressure we exert.
Too often, though, it reveals a very ugly side of fandom, with constant uninformed whining and campaigning which often straddles the border between genuine concern and malevolence. I’ll leave it to others to distinguish between the furore surrounding Mass Effect 3′s ending, Microsoft’s policies, and Ben Affleck’s casting as Batman.
But it seems there’s a fine line between being empowered and being spoiled, over-entitled, and self-righteous. A little bit of humility can go a long way and that doesn’t just apply to the bigwig executives.
Respect has to be earned, so we should always look at how gaming represents itself before we complain too much about how wider society regards it.
Panda
Failed promotion
I remember being underwhelmed at E3 when Microsoft announced Games with Gold. Halo 3 and Assassin’s Creed II are both fairly old games. The reality of the situation is that those two (and Dead Rising 2) have been the highlights of the promotion.
PlayStation Plus may have given us an unreal expectation of entitlement when it comes to getting value from our subscription and comparing the two deals is pointless as the Games with Gold is an added bonus to something you are already paying for.
However, it seems to me that its purpose would be to keep you subscribed to the Gold service and in that respect it is a failure. I fail to see the added value that I’m meant to be getting from these old titles and Gold doesn’t hold any appeal to me anymore.
I’m now just a few short weeks away from my subscription running out and have little to no interest in renewing.
Andy Irve
Adding to the experience
Regarding songs that should have been in GTA V. GC quite rightly point out that Californication can’t exist in the GTA universe, however I couldn’t help but think they missed a trick not putting in American Idiot by Green Day. Would’ve worked perfectly.
They would really be onto something releasing further tracks or radio stations as downloadable content. I wouldn’t necessarily pay for new songs, but new radio stations? I think I would dabble. I love listening to the music, satirical adverts, and DJ chat on my rounds in Los Santos. Love it! It’s a big part of the GTA experience for me.
Razzledazzle
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The 61 per cent
I don’t know whether to laugh out loud or cry after reading the recent YouGov survey on video games and connection with real life violence. I will however add a few observations of my own on the survey. These 61% of people surveyed wouldn’t be amongst the same ones queuing up at the likes of GAME with a copy of GTA for their under 18s now would they? Does the term hypocrites register in their vocabulary I wonder?
OK, cut some slack said people on the survey probably don’t think it’s an issue with all video games but just the violent ones and they are likely to say the same about violent films. If that’s the case then why is it that Jimmy who is under 18 is being bought or allowed to play adult games? Why don’t the same people and parents monitor what their children play and keep playing time in moderation?
And finally why when there are other brilliant games out such as Rayman Legends are they pandering to the hype of GTA for their Jimmy? The fact that Rayman Legends is now out of the top 10 after just a week is a travesty of justice, but that’s a debate for another time.
On a more positive note these 61% are probably the older generation of non-gamers so naturally give it a few more years and they’ll soon pass by, to be thankfully replaced by older gamers who are much more clued up with the industry and no doubt better educated on the impact of violent video games.
Sam
‘As pollsters go YouGov are about as respected as you get, and they’ve found that 61 per cent of British people agree with the statement that games can be ‘a cause of real-world violence and aggression’.
This statement tells me that 61% of British people have never played games and are ignorant enough to believe all the hype they read in the crass press. Get a life.
Steve
GC: Are you saying you’ve never wanted to throw a joypad against the wall in anger while playing a game?
Stabiliser wheels
Lego City Undercover wasn’t a bad suggestion as a younger version of GTA, although we don’t have a Wii U so can’t get it. What I was thinking with GTA Lite for kids was giving them the chance to play something with realistic looks and physics in the game. It’s great when you’re a kid to sometimes do ‘grown-up’ things, I remember my dad letting me drive his car when I was about 10 (it was the 80s and shops were closed on Sundays so there were lots of empty car parks).
He only let me drive it once and he seemed a bit pale afterwards. I think giving the youth something that seems dangerous but is actually safe and structured is a great thing. Anyway I’m off to build a human catapult now. I think a sack of potatoes weighs about the same as a small child so I’ll test it with that first. I can’t wait to see their happy faces as they fly over the roof of the house into the huge pile of pillows on the other side.
Fassin Taak
GTA Kidz
RE: Fassin Taak’s wish for a sanitised GTA, Simpsons: Hit & Run fit that bill to a degree as well. It wasn’t entirely successful and had some odd elements such as car theft. Instead of actually stealing the car, with Bart and Lisa at least, they just got in the passenger seat and forced the random, oddly compliant, driver to go wherever they wanted. I think the whole game ended up being something to do with aliens. Strange.
Martin Smith
Vision of the future
I’ve just read that Psycosoft have backtracked on the controversial features for their upcoming new console Xcox Uno. Psycosoft spokesman Hill Pharrison said, ‘When we designed the Xcox Uno, we looked into the future. Far into the future. But we now realise that a nanotech console the size of an atom that can read the user’s mind and save the information on our quantum singularity servers is not what the passionate Xcox community wants.’
‘They complained that such a device would be invisible to the naked eye, they don’t want all their deepest personal thoughts recorded, and that they still want to consume games on disks. So we have listened to our fans and will instead release a traditional console. But we feel that everyone has over-reacted, and haven’t understood that we were only trying to improve the gaming experience, therefore we’re sure, with time, gamers will realise ‘Hey, those were really great ideas’ and come around to our way of thinking’’.
Jon Edwards
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
His choice
I wanted to give my 2 cents on the whole age rating argument that is starting because I think the whole thing has to be taken into context. I let my 4-year-old son play games by himself and I am happy for him to play what he wants, same as when he watches videos on a popular video site. As a parent I inform him of the naughty words that the videos say and why he can’t watch them which he understands.
In regards to games, His choice is Mario and Sonic games rather than Manhunt and GTA type games but recently he has asked for Injustice from Santa. He played the demo and got enjoyment out of Wonder Woman hitting Batman and himself winning but he knows it is naughty to hit other people (BTW Santa isn’t bringing it, just Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and Lego Marvel!).
The whole thing should always be in context, as children are impressionable but with the right parenting they will always know right from wrong. I wouldn’t let my son play a violent game in the sense of shooting people, etc. and will wait until he is much older before I am OK with that. At the end of the day I played games at 10-11 and nothing ended up wrong with me, it is parent’s prerogative what they want for their own kids. The most important thing about it is that you make the parents buy the game in the first place so they have made that choice.
Sacred_Innocence (PSN ID)
Inbox also-rans
I am so sick of hearing about GTA V. No, not because I’m a killjoy but because my copy got lost in the post and they’re having to send another one. It’s driving me crazy!
Ornie
Playing GTA V a few days ago, I helped a man get his push iron back after it had been robbed. He has just sent me $100,000 in shares for Animal Ark saying, he’s rich and thanks. Cool!
Geoff
GC: His what?
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader MAINEVENTMAFIA (PSN ID), who asks what has been your most anticipated video game release of all time?
In the wake of Grand Theft Auto V’s launch which game (including GTA itself) have you been most excited by and how closely did the final product match with what you had hoped for? What game has lived up to your expectations the best and which has been the biggest disappointment?
You can include games not yet released, as well as forthcoming hardware launches such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but what are you realistic expectations for them and do you worry that too much hype can ruin any game, no matter how good it is?
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