Is it that GTA is inspired by Al-Qaeda, or Al-Qaeda is inspired by GTA?

SolCross

Al-Qaeda are the primary users of this technique, saying its inspired by them is probably true, it doesn't make the game evil or anything.

Strifeh

@everybest: agreed. No, I take that back, it's worse... it's like argueing like ole' Jacko himself... but at least this guy has a little more brains... he really ought to know better...

M. Lobo

@PhantomVI: Slow your roll, man.

He's clearly referencing Jackass 2. Dunno how new you are to the internet, but that's what nearly every insult on the internet boils down to. A movie reference.

DeLoRtEd1

@M. Lobo: It's like arguing with a vegetarian.

everybest

@Mohican: "I loathe Grand Theft Auto and will till the day I die. -->I'm frankly sick at how amoral the video game community is, and how so few of us have the moral perspective, conviction, or care to know when enough is enough, and to put aside our "Right" to be entertained in the interests of preserving moral sanity.<-- You can caterwaul about censorship and people's rights all you want, but ultimately all you are arguing for is the right to eat vomit."

This last paragraph in your "argument" disgusts me, you just GRAVELY insulted an entire community of people you don't even know. Wait to break the internet dumba**.

M. Lobo

@Mohican: @Mohican:

''I didn't say a single word about banning anything in my post. ''

No, you just said you wanted to burn every copy of GTA. Look, I'm not a big GTA guy myself, and I'm sure that an experience like that in life might shift my views towards violence in games. But let's be reasonable: Blaming video games for violent acts is akin to blaming a comb for Donald Trump's hair. People that are ''affected'' by games like GTA are already unhinged, and would've been affected by something else in their life as well to act out....Unless Charles Manson got a REALLY early advance copy of Doom.

Insert_Witty_Comment

@Arsenicberyllium: Uhhh no. It is not unrelated. Let me walk it out for you.

Q: Do you play a criminal in Grand Theft Auto?
A: Yes.

Q: Does this character commit crimes, sometimes murder?
A: Yes.

Q: Is crime real?
A: Yes.

Q: Could Grand Theft Auto thus offend people because it makes criminal acts as common and as repeatable as switching the TV channel?
A: Yes.

I didn't say a single word about banning anything in my post. I said if you witnessed something like this, I would at least HOPE that you'd have an inkling of realizing why GTA is potent and maybe even have a change of heart/ie an inkling of a realization why such things, while not the CAUSE of evil, do not clearly help any case called "good."

Playing a game is not equivalent to reading a book. In a book, an author can control, or at least try to directly influence how the media participant responds to the events and characters. In a game, like GTA, a person has the option to go nuts, if they want, and get cold chills down their spine as they simulate real life criminal acts. There is nothing whatsoever in the GTA universe to hold back this kind of thing... if anything the environment and context encourage it.

I don't care about whether it is banned or not, there is always someone who wants to eat vomit, and vomit should be legal because it is a free country, I just wish more people would stop acting like vomit was so delicious. That's all I'm trying to say - ante up, and stop condemning everyone who differs with GTA as some kind of simian idiot.

Mohican

OMG! I just had a revelation! Space Invaders was inspired by the JFK assassination! We should call Jack Thompson! This is an outrage!

mitsoxfan

Funny. I just finished reading the article on Der Speigel and now I see it here. I thought their conclusion was excellent, as well as not sensationalist.

"It isn't difficult to see Weazel News for what it is: a caricature of the US television channel Fox News [and it's obsession with terrorism]. Which closes the circle: After all, al-Qaida sympathizers on the Web also want to see the terror group as being behind everything, everywhere -- even behind a simple video game."

The one thing I'm really glad the idiot MF who thought this up and posted it didn't mention is that there are orthodox Jews (the ones with the distinct appearance, I think, but I'm no Jew expert, I just know they're dressed like the Hebrew Hammer) in certain areas of Liberty City and although I never tried to, I be shocked to find out you couldn't kill them. If the wrong person were to sensationalize THAT, well let's just say RE5 would have some stiff competition for political incorrectness.

RonJeremy4Pres

@Coors Light is God: Actually every beard is made of pubic hair, pubic hair isn't only on one part of the body...

Klopfer123

Ah...the good old blame the games type of stuff finally surfaced. Sooner or later, every type of explosion/vehicle crashing/gun use is going to relate to "Al-Qaeda"

Deivion

@SmokeFemur: its a trademark haha

mpar

@Mohican: That's a bullshit argument. You're blatantly trying to use a completely unrelated incident to justify your loathing of the game.
"Hey guys, did you hear? A guy got stabbed to death, and my brother, the cop, was there to see it happen. Oh, and by the way, Grand theft auto is evil."
There's no real justification to it.

Plus, you're essentially arguing for the censorship of all media, ever, save possibly Fox news.
You're saying that any form of media that portrays an act of violence is immediately guilty of mind-poison. I assume you'll want us to burn all our books too, right? Because I totally read a book where James Bond blew up an airplane. That means that it's completely immoral, and anybody who's ever read a book is now a godless sinner, arguing for no less than Satan's domination of Earth.

Arsenicberyllium

@Mohican: @cL9: See? In just mere minutes!

cL9

It's not that much of a stretch. There is no one else in real life right now, or at least in the news, using cell phones to strap bombs to retarded or handicapped people, and sending them into crowds of women and children to be remotely detonated with an AT&T cellular model xs-25.

It's wrong to CONCLUDE that it is inspired by Al-Qaeda, but it isn't wrong to suggest there might be too much similarity.

I loathe Grand Theft Auto. My brother is a policeman. Two weeks ago, I was on the phone while he frantically stuffed a cloth into the spouting chest hole from a stabbing. It was this poor Asian waiter, who died in his arms. He was robbed by a couple thugs looking for cash.

At the very least, when you play Grand Theft Auto, you are sending the message that somehow, somewhere, you understand and are entertained by the attitudes that generate these kinds of crimes, or at the very least you are helping to diminish how seriously crime should be taken. I guarantee if you were on the phone with my brother as I was when he discovered the dying Asian waiter who was walking back to his apartment, you'd want to burn every copy of GTA in existence.

No matter how much the game takes the moral high ground as it tells its stories, you are still being entertained by a sim that lets you re-enact crimes at will... it's a disrespect to society and every victim of every crime ever committed.

I loathe Grand Theft Auto and will till the day I die. I'm frankly sick at how amoral the video game community is, and how so few of us have the moral perspective, conviction, or care to know when enough is enough, and to put aside our "Right" to be entertained in the interests of preserving moral sanity. You can caterwaul about censorship and people's rights all you want, but ultimately all you are arguing for is the right to eat vomit.

Mohican

Don't you love the internet? Every time you think you've seen the most retarded person on the face of the planet, someone comes along and proves that it can get worse. It never fails. I wonder what's next?

cL9

Idiots, ignorants and stupid people are everywhere... the sad part if that some official news *cough FOX NEWS cough* might even pick this up as another lame attempt to blame games for the problems of the world.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

By that logic in any game in which you can suicide with an explosion is related to Al Qaeda, thats just really stupid I mean all those 5 videos showing "proof" were made to make the game look like that, those videos have nothing to do with the story in GTA IV and so the developers have nothing to do with them moron!
I just get so angry when idiotic news think they just came out with a really amazing new by relating ANYTHING to crimes or things like Al Qaeda

HELLSRIDER

Because explosives, car bombs, and violence in general are exclusive to Al-Qaeda

SmokeFemur

you could do these things in previous gta's, why wasn't this picked up on earlier.....because its complete bull thats why :0 why people give them media exposure is beyond even me.

beezley

people these days disappoint me.

Megan Fox iz Hot ^-^ -ph15h

@PhantomVI: His name is a reference to the Coors Light ads that Kotaku ran, which then became an in-joke of sorts.

ShaggE

I think it's funny how people unfamiliar with a game are the quickest to jump all over certain parts of said game that can even somewhat be used as an attack to say that said game is evil. You know, if you kind of squint and turn your head to the side this cloud kind of looks like the easter bunny telling me to kill. We should boycott this game because it's telling children that it's ok to kill as long as the Easter Bunny said so (because it was in a game some kid somewhere played).
Anyone that actually has played GTA before this installment would know that there were exploding cars via wireless remotes in other versions. But you know what? Since it's popular, let's just blame GTA for all of our problems, like communism, hippies, violence, sex, drugs, rock and roll, baby punchers, and anything else that could possibly be contained in one of the games. Because we all know that none of these problems were around until the game came out. Clearly Rockstar is trying to deliberately get children to run around like lunatic terrorists and blow up cars, beat women, drive drunk, have hot coffee, and whatever else may be subliminally contained within the game.

Mikebrown

@Coors Light is God: Hey, how's the whole "being a douchebag" thing working out for you?
P.S. Coors Light is horse piss. When you get out of high school, try drinking some real beer.

PhantomVI

@sir_carrot: A cheap shot to a terrorist group...

Seriously?

Coors Light is God

But.. but.. how can you question his article when he provides so much proof? Did you even watch the videos?

everybest

GTA has people in it, therefore it's glorifying the Holocaust, which recent studies show also had people in it! TO ARMS! TO AAAARMS!

ShaggE

Isn't it rather ironic how such moronic things can become headline news for publications and the mainstream media? I mean, when crazy conspiracy theorists talk about the government, military, aliens, or anything in general, it gets panned, but somehow, somewhere, when video games are brought into the equation, everything that the mainstream media is largely ignored or dubbed retarded is somehow brought into life support.

Video games are often targeted as escape-goats for problems that we suffer in our contemporary society.. That's not news, but can, we as fans identify for whatever reason why it is fancied so much? Why does the world spend so much resources on spewing out such unjust correlations when they should be spending their time on real news that really matters.

mr_dimsum

Let's pray they never get their hands on any Bugs Bunny cartoons.....Or we're in deep shit.

Insert_Witty_Comment

@Coors Light is God: Cheap shot.

But yes, the internet does give rise to many an ignorant asshole.

I can't wait till we're all completely digitized and floating around in cyberspace so we can be the ideal pompous prick that we might not have the courage to be in real life.

Wait a minute...

sir_carrot

sounds like bin laden is the scapegoat for everything nowadays... it's the perfect explanation for everything evil and wrong, and the best part is that he can't be found!!!!!

juancriollo

If this guy took an IQ test, I'm pretty sure he'd be the first person ever to fail it.

Does anyone see Jack Thompson jumping into this cesspool of stupidity as well at some point? I can certainly imagine it.

Captain_Goober

Oh my.

evslin

If these are the kind of people supporting Al-Quaeda, I can walk away from this story resting a little easier at night.

Who do you think volunteers to blow themselves up?

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

Wow...just...wow...such indescribably flawed logic from whomever made this idiotic A to B connection.

Erinaceus

Some times stoopidity goes too far D:

(俗・ ) Grey Gecko

Sounds like a bush supporter.

For_the_lulz

"Was Grand Theft Auto IV Inspired by Al-Qaida?"
No.

BigShell

Didn't they take planes out of the game for this reason to begin with?

Murderdolls

wait didn't nazi's use guns too! *gasp* GTA4 is a hitler-sim!

MrBubbuls

Last time I checked, Niko Belic doesn't have a beard made of pubic hair.

Coors Light is God

I think that Final Fantasy VII was inspired by eco-terrorist groups PETA and Greenpeace. The developers saw them protesting damage to the environment, and decided to make a game out of it.

Can I have a front page article about me now?

Arsenicberyllium

Just when I thought people on the internet couldn't get any dumber.

The evidence they have could be used to say that nearly any other action game was inspired by Al-Qaeda. I can throw a grenade at my feet and kill some enemies along with myself in Halo as well. Is Bungie a team of Al-Qaeda sympathizers?

QualityJeverage

Idiots make me a sad man.

who8myrice

Last time I checked GTA IV didn't have planes in the game just for the specific reason of disassociating itself with any terrorist attacks.

Nirolak

@Mohican: Wait, wait, wait. Condemn GTA all you want. That's fine. But don't insinuate that the people who play it are part of "the problem".

In reality, I'm a pacifist, and I look down on murderers, thieves, and the various scum of humanity. But I'm a fan of GTA. Why? Because I can distinguish between fact and fiction, and I've always used games as an outlet for my anger. (I used to have severe anger issues.)

Yes, I commit virtual atrocities on my computer and console every night, but even Sim City allows you to annihilate millions of people with a click of the mouse. I'd even venture a guess that the body count of the average Sim City session is higher than any GTA, or even all of the GTAs combined. But I bet you don't bat an eye when someone calls themselves a Sim fan.

Why, pray tell? Because the people in Sim City are little dots, and you are disconnected from them? Sounds pretty sociopathic to me. It's not much of a stretch to say that everyone who purposefully destroys a city in the game probably has a future as a dictator or a terrorist. (I don't actually think that, but I'm playing devil's advocate here)

ShaggE

I can't wait until people start tearing into Metal Gear Solid 4

laughingmangits

@M. Lobo: ... ... typo... "I've seen quite a few ideas that implemented the idea of bombs triggered by a cell phone call"

meant to say "seen quite a few movies" not ideas >.>"

M. Lobo

Hey Kotaku readers, how about instead of feigning outrage you just yawn, say whatever and not give these people the attention they want.

Does anyone here seriously think gaming is going to go away because of some right wing looney? Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry with its own lawyers and lobbyists. Gaming isn't going anywhere and the so called controversial games will keep getting made because they sell really well and keep stock holders happy.

So quit acting like scared sheep whenever someone says boo about gaming and learn to ignore.

Turtlestack

@Strifeh: saying that a cell phone bomb is inspired by Al-Qaeda is like saying Chrono Trigger was inspired by the Terminator. I've seen quite a few ideas that implemented the idea of bombs triggered by a cell phone call, it's nothing new to western pop culture, you ever thought R* got the idea from there?

M. Lobo

@Mohican: You're a little high-strung. Just gotta relax and enjoy what the developers have to offer. Sure Megaman might lead to some cannon-related deaths, but unless you're gonna go protest it, buy it, enjoy it, and revel in the fact that you aren't one to go out and attach a cannon to your arm.

everybest

To make my previous comment clearer, what I meant was that whoever said that GTA IV violence was linked to al-qaeda did not mean that GTA inspired alqaeda or even that the developers were thinking of alqaeda - they clearly weren't

What he meant was that their methods of car bombing and cellphone detonation have entered the public conciousness and were now being depicted in mainstream media such as gaming. It isn't as stupid as it appears at first.

Strifeh

@Mohican: 99% of all human actions do not help the cause of good. If your focus is on that, you should be out protesting how amoral taking a leisurely stroll. Instead of doing that, you could be handing out food to the poor. Or, instead of pointlessly protesting harmless actions, you could go and help out habitats for humanity, or protest the legality of owning guns. Because a hell of a lot more gun owners kill people than any video game has ever done.
Or are you more concerned about how people could be offended by it?
Because if you're going to be that PC, you're just as much in favor of censorship. I had a relative killed by drunk driving (I never actually met them, but still), does that mean every form of media is somehow spewing up vomit if they bring up the concept drunk driving? No. They're just addressing something that really exists.

As for your issue about how Books cannot conjure up the context and setting that a video game can, I once again direct you to James Bond, and in addition, Tom Clancy. Both series glorify violence in the same exact way any video game does.

Arsenicberyllium

Q: Do i like grand theft auto 4 (the video game)

A: Yes

Q: Do i like crime (real life)

A: No

Q: Do i like vomit

A: It's none of your business

beezley

this just in, street fighter 2 is inspired by the kkk cuz there is interracial violence.

maraxusofk

Great headline.

Story doesn't surprise me in the least.

klinsek

@Mohican: You know, I probably would have responded nicely to your post had you not added that last part - but since you did, I'm just gonna make fun of your post:

Q: Do you play a knife-stabbingly cool rogue in World of Warcraft?
A: Yes.

Q: Does this character commit crimes, sometimes murdering bunny rabbits for their leather?
A: Yes.

Q: Are bunnies real?
A: Yes.

Q: Could World of Warcraft thus offend rabbit enthusiasts because it makes criminal acts such as killing cute little animals as common and as repeatable as eating a hamburger?
A: Yes.

BAN WORLD OF WARCRAFT!!!!!1!!!ONE!!!11

DeLoRtEd1

I wonder if any at Spiegel realizes that their article sounds like something that GTA would be parodying.

Siskoraban

Wow this person clearly does not need a brain at all.

Bluejuan85

Yet I can't recall anyone complaining about Call of duty 4 and the martyrdom perk.

lordargent

Two words: Personal fucking responsibility.

If you're not a stable enough human being to handle playing a video game without acting out, then do us all a favor: stop reading books, stop watching TV and movies, stop listening to music and stop browsing the internet. Get yourself a box, crawl inside, and don't come back out. Ever.

Captain Impulse

@Mohican: You know I really can see your point, after playing GTA4 I have raped hookers, beat the cripple, jacked a persons car then got right out (they ran away didn't get back in of course), killed 5000 cops, every time I was hurt I put in a cheat code of course, then I got a baseball bat and beat my mom, sister, brother, and grandma to death, collected there floating cash, jacked a Helicopter, killed about 500 more random people, then got out of the circle so the cops stopped coming after me.

If playing a game makes you commit a act of violence your mentally ill and will sooner or later do something anyway.

D Mitsuki

@Captain Impulse: Gotta disagree there. Unstable people can't help being unstable. It's a disease. You wouldn't tell a person with muscular dystrophy to crawl into a box, would you?

ShaggE

Well you can't blame him, seeing that we now know that Child soldiers in Somalia were trained on Wolfenstien 3D.

polarenvy

lol, they had cell phone triggered bombs in die hard 3, and not that they mention it, but the idea of flying planes into buildings has been done before too, like in a 1982 book by a famous author that I can't name or it would ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it.

Sam_Lowry

@kidnicky: Did he say you had to like GTA? He said you have to respect it for what it is. It's a freedom of expression, a technically impressive game, and (I've heard) a compelling and intriguing plot.
We defend ideals and morals, not the game particularly.

I know this is hyperbole, but you don't have to like Schindler's List, but you have to respect it for what it is.
How is that any different than GTA? I mean, except for the fact that Schindler's List is well, incredible on a level that few books, and maybe only two movies have matched. The point is that GTA is quality, whether you like it or not.

Palladium

@kidnicky: Way to be an elitist, buddy. So, if somebody likes something that you dislike, that means they are "the lowest common denominator"? You may want to get that messiah complex treated. I should add that, as a GTA player, the only descriptor you mentioned that fits is "Monster energy drink consumer". I find that it helps with hangovers. As for the other things, you couldn't be more wrong.

So stop with the sweeping generalizations. They are never accurate, and the "holier than thou" attitude is very unbecoming.

I'd love to see what games you play, by the way. I'm sure I can point out many things that are immature about them.

ShaggE

@Arsenicberyllium:
Well if you don't like it,why stand up for it? Why waste your energy? If you're into video games,you MUST like GTA or you're an asshole. Why?
A lot of people consider games as equal to Hollywood these days,but Freddy Vs. Jason didn't get an Oscar. So why the universal acclaim for GTA?

kidnicky

@kidnicky: Ooh. Nice ad hominem attack using the term "GamErz", a term only used derogatorily. Hell, "Fucking loser otaku" has had nicer connotations at time.

And, actually, I can't stand the Grand Theft Auto series either, but I don't go out and insult everybody involved with it, calling them trash, and the sons of satan himself. I respect that it appeals to a different group than the one I subscribe to (Liberal in availability of ideas, and support of charities(including welfare), Catholic Conservative in my personal actions(I've never even played evil in Fable or KoToR).

And the reason we all got offended at Mohican was because he said that we were all morally repugnant, that we were essentially horrible people. People don't like it when you say that to them.

Arsenicberyllium

Spiegel cites a member of a message board populated by "cyber-jihadists and al-Qa[e]da sympathizers"

How much time has this guy spent searching for and reading message boards such as this? He must have gone the extra mile to make this fear-mongering waste of text work. Problem is, it doesn't work. The article has no point, just assumptions and opinions that the author pretends are fact.

Also, I feel the urge to point out this line:

Weazel News, the news radio station in the game (Motto: "Your station for sports, weather and the war on terror") serves to reflect our society's ongoing obsession with terrorism. In fact, you could say that the game's designers have incorporated terrorism-related paranoia into the game's atmosphere.

There is so many things wrong with this statement I don't even know where or how to start breaking it down.

光物

Also,it's pretty sad how people like D Mitsuki respond to Mohican the same way they would Jack Thompson--even though Mohican's stated point of view is nothing like Thompson's.

kidnicky

This is what I hate about the "GamErz" community. As soon as someone like Mohican says he doesn't like GTA,everyone has to jump all over him and say he's a Fox News supporter and book burner and so forth.
I don't understand why we all HAVE to defend GTA. I certainly don't like the game,it's not a concept that's appealing to me. Frankly,it's aimed at the lowest common denominator-The rap fan,the Monster energy drink consumer,the Fast and the Furious viewer. I don't have anything in common with these people,nor do I want to.
And no,before you bash me,I'm not asking for anything to be banned or censored and I don't watch Fox News unless I'm looking for unintentional comedy.

kidnicky

@ShaggE: What? Haven't you been watching Fox News?

Everybody knows insanity is a choice, just like being gay and/or crippled.

Arsenicberyllium

@lordargent:

MARTYRDOM SUCKS. There. :D

@kidnicky:

Funny, I thought it was marketed to people who like to play video games.

jello44

@kidnicky: you've clearly demonstrated that you know nothing about GTA & that you don't even have the decency to thoroughly read through the actual discussion at hand before leaving a ludicrous comment about it. FYI, we're on Mohican's case not because of his obvious lack of knowledge of the game, like yourself. But because of his generalization of the gaming community as the amoral scum of the earth. Considering that's there's a good chance I have a far greater understating of what's right & wrong with this world than he ever will, his accusation is quite ludicrous.

M. Lobo

@kidnicky: Just for the record, I don't even like GTA4 >_> So I guess to you I'm a contradictory asshole :D

D Mitsuki

sigh...they just want attention

krontopia

Dog bites man.

AtomicPlayboy

@kidnicky:
Hahaha, "gamERZ". I've never heard nor seen anyone use such a term in my life.

If Al-Qaeda is looking for pointers, it seems to me that they'd have better luck watching a few of our US TV shows (can't speak for the rest of the world) and movies.

ChellABD

Funny thing is, I saw cell phone detonation in movies before I seen them in video games. And to be frank, most of what goes through Al Qaeda sympathizers websites is just bull crap propaganda borrowed from fantasies, part truths, mail chain hoax letters and video game/movie screens or clips. Doesn't fall off far of the tree of any other fanatic groups either.

What happens in the field though with Al Qaeda insurgency is pure 80s CIA training gone wrong.

@Coors Light is God: You seem to mix an ideology with a racial profile, Impressive skills! The world could use more reliable intelligence informants, here is a cookie.

Plsk1n

@Palladium: I'm sorry but GTA is not some hallmark of video games, not even close, its a solid 8, I can respect it for what it is, but its not the video gaming equvilant to the second coming of Jesus, from a technological perspective and just the overall game from my perspective as a gamer. This game was not perfect, no game is, this game doesn't even come close, and all the well undeserved recivings I got made me want to puke, just putting that out there.

Note this is not trying to disprove the point of what you said is "We defend ideals and morals, not the game particularly." just saying GTA isn't all that and a bag of chips.

D Mitsuki

@DeLoRtEd1: Comparing to rabbits is eh.... The removal of pests is a bit different to cold blooded murder.

@Arsenicberyllium: James Bond and Tom Clancy don't have prolific killing of civilians. And most books/ movies that do have the killing of civilians will make you feel some kind of loss or remorse for that person/s unless the author steered your attitudes against that character. Whereas games like GTA make it your right to be able to kill a passerby just because you want their car - and the fact you feel no remorse in the slightest is different. I don't have anything against GTA but I think it can have an affect on our subconsciousness/pysche; even if only small. When you walk down the street after a 3 hour session of GTA and in your mind you are jacking cars and killing people as they drive past you've crossed the line in my opinion. I noticed myself swearing more, and did think of violence more outside of the game after long sessions with this game (and as a personal decision chose to get rid of it; GTA has never been my sort of game anyway).

@M. Lobo: "Considering that's there's a good chance I have a far greater understating of what's right & wrong with this world than he ever will, his accusation is quite ludicrous." - Just so you could see what that statement looks like in someone elses post.

juliopalio

EVERYTHING is Al-Qaeda! It's in your water! It's in your food! It's in your pants! It's in your kitchen eating ALL your cold cuts! It's hiding under your bed! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! YOU ARE NEVER SAFE FROM TERRORISM!

(This comment sponsored by Fox News.)

Johnny_Under

The german press coverage about videogames is crap. If you play videogames in germany, you must be a children or social retarded.

x_x

sofiabudapest

not sure how cell phone bombs are amazingly new and created by Al Qaeda....for one, you get them from Packie. He's irish-american. Ever think it might be referencing to the car bombs in Ireland? gee no way, it has to be all those irish al qaeda....yeah that must be it....give me a break.

jhgoforth

@D Mitsuki: "Hmm, its human nature to do things like this isn't it? It feels so natural"

Is it?

juliopalio

@D Mitsuki: For goodness snake

I really laughed at that comment* My typo's make me look like a retarded monkey.

D Mitsuki

@Captain Impulse: I misunderstood what your post's intention was. Sorry about that. I get a little touchy anout how the mentally ill are recieved, having spent a lot of time in and out of live-in therapy/psych wards.

ShaggE

@Captain Impulse: Are really laughed at that comment, just because your name is Captain Impulse, sweet irony huh LOL.

D Mitsuki

@ShaggE: Let's not venture into the range of physical instability. I meant mental instability; if you're that easily influenced, you have the potential to be dangerous.

Basically, don't put a box of matches in a pyromaniac's hand. Don't put a video game controller in the hands of someone so unstable they might act out on what they see.

Captain Impulse

@juliopalio: After playing GTA 4 for about 2 hours I said to myself "You know, who is that guy I just killed. What did those cops back there REALLY do besides there jobs? Is it just right for me to be mowing down these people, knowing absolutely nothing about them? Maybe this man was on his way to pick up his daughter from work, maybe this woman was going to get married, or pregnant. Maybe there all there own unique induvisals who need to be respected, who the hell am I to just end there lives" During this I was standing in the middle of a street, a guy hit me, that made me angry so I took his car and ran him over with it, the cops cought on to me so I shot the way then ran away shooting people.

For a second there, I was feeling morally bad for what I was doing, then I remembered, "Hmm, its human nature to do things like this isn't it? It feels so natural, well I'm glad I HAVE THIS GAME TO DO IT IN SO I DON'T HAVE TO DO IT IN REAL LIFE" Once done playing I wasn't angry, I was relaxed, and overall felt fantastic. So fantastic, that I went outside, slept with three women at the same time, left them all before they woke up, got drunk, and did some drag racing with the popo. I think I have a point in there somewhere, but spending last night in jail makes it hard to remember.

But seriously, random acts of violence in video games help prevent random acts of violence in the real world.

D Mitsuki

@juliopalio: Do you know how much murdering there is in World of Warcraft?

Even if I mentioned rabbits, that doesn't negate the fact that you mercilessly slaughter them for their leather. You're still murdering them regardless.

It was a stupid analogy in response to an even dumber one. And I guess a sad attempt at humour, seeing as how you took it seriously.

DeLoRtEd1

@DeLoRtEd1: I chose to focus on the analogy rather than the !!!!1111oneoneone!111!!1!oneone!!no1n1on1oNOn1on!On1!On11O!o which showed it was an attempt at humour.

juliopalio

@juliopalio: Primal instincts, we have them, just have the brains not to cater to them, unless of course there are no consequence's, then only few people have a moral mind set to uphold a civilized way of being, this is why we need things like government and law.

D Mitsuki

@ShaggE: No problem. ^_^

Captain Impulse

lol i love the line '....and graphic artists in the video game world were inspired by Al qaeda'

How has a GRAPHICS artist be inspired by Al Qaeda?

smoke... explosions... fire... what... did Al Qaeda create these things in the real world? wow they have the power of gods. I mean wow hes totally right , these things didnt exist before Al Qaeda and theres no way the graphics artists could have drawn fire, smoke, and explosions without being inspired by them is there.

I mean lets lok at the evidence, regular NON Al Qaeda inspired smoke fire and explosions in the real world look totally different. Regular fire is green and gelatinous right? this is definitley Al Qaeda brand fire in GTA since its orange. I mean come on people. Orange Fire. Where else could that have come from?

NovaBlack

Maybe this is a good thing. If Al Qaeda thinks that British developers are making "Pro" games, perhaps they'll bugger off and leave us alone now.

I doubt it, though...

Fullforce

This guy is even dumber than Jack Thompson. Ther, I said it.

KM91

Just Forget, and move on. There only doing it for a news story.

Just Forget, and move on.

Jagzthebest

I only see winners in this story. Don't complain.

- GTA gets a bit more attention.
- Extremists kids can look like they exist.
- Newspapers have a new juicy story.
- Gamers community get one more stupid attack to show.
- Kotaku gets a laugh and comments.

...but more than anything, you should see the weird quality of the article. Though Spiegel dug the story:

- they laugh at it themselves
- they call in their specialist and show it's bs
- they praise the game's stance and caricature

I mean.
Hurray for Der Spiegel, whish there was more of them.

AndyBass

I cannot believe I just saw "Schindler's List",a film based on the true story of a guy helping Jews get out of Nazi Germany,compared to a video game where you kill innocent people and steal their cars. Seriously?

kidnicky

It's too easy to make fun of this mental midget.. but why bother? Let's just hope that guy did truly believe the nonsense that typed out from his fingers.

Kerrell

@ShaggE: I'm not sure that using it as an "outlet for anger" is exactly healthy. That somewhat suggests that your anger deserves a place where it can enact atrocities. Don't look now, but this is the exact kind of thing I mentioned in my earlier post when I referred to "allowing people to get cold chills as they go nuts."

I would never be so shallow or stupid as to blame a game solely for anything that takes place in the real world... and I don't think you or even anyone I know who plays it is going to end up committing crimes in real life, but people are like sponges... what you soak them with is what comes out when they are squeezed.

It's the same way in a violent movie, although less interactive and tied to the will than a game is. GTA represents our "real world" loosely, so in many ways it it assigning itself inherent moral responsibility associated with such.

I guess my larger question would be, if you had serious, serious anger problems, is there a way for you as a person to overcome that anger without having to use Grand Theft Auto as an outlet?

It's the availability of these emotions and acts that scares me... and the common celebration of such with what looks like total blindness as to what the real world, i.e., someone who knows nothing about gaming, would think of such.

Mohican

@D Mitsuki: I don't think you actually read my posts.

Mohican

@Mohican:

Good point about the real world,but you forgot to point out what the internet pretends isn't true:
In the real world,the most popular system out of the current 3 is the one without GTA.

kidnicky

I am kind of dissapointed in kotaku. If you read the article he ends it by saying that no, al queida did not inspire this. It would be as if saying they invented violence.

Kotaku, if you are going to take on these stories, please save your credibility for something that actually merrits the interwebz attention.

Piratedoom

It must be true because violence didn't exist before GTA.

AUAnonymous

GTA IV TOTALLY PROMOTES TERRORISM. I just download the mod called "Iraq Yo Mama" which allows Nico to give female characters "a pound" - better known on Fix News as "a terrorist fist-bump".

We have to make laws against this sort of thing. WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?!

The Incredible OMG! Ponies!

Wow how did he write that much on that story? Its like he had a minimum word count by his editor or something.

svenhoek

Aside: Just yesterday someone on COD4 was talking about how much he hated "Martydom" and "Martydom users". As in, presumably, "Kingdom of He Who is Named Marty".

Fact.

autogol

Why do so many people feel comfortable using the words retard or retarded in their posts? Couldn't you come up with a better description without demeaning people with cognitive impairment? Really makes me upset to see it used this way. **************Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best 2008. (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg00050000000102)

ShyamalaMeshuggah

@ShyamalaMeshuggah: Because in this day and age it usually means something that is stupid not the actual disability of being a retard. Kinda like how "gay" is used as something that is also pointless/stupid as opposed to being gay.

And whoever works at Spiegel just wanted to get page views.

Coors Light is God

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Match Type: Search and Destroy

Plant a suitcase/cellphone bomb at one of two pre-designated locations. Your team is either terrorist OR allied. Sometimes, you're playing the good guy.

mynameisDJ

This game is obviously teaching our children to be terrorists, rob banks, and go bowling. And that hot-dog stands are packed to the brim with C4 explosives.

Talleh

............

freespeech