@2NinjasTapedTogether: Comment of the Day, imo.

jesterspawn

Well what-do-ya-know. I am in Tallahassee right now. I am actually 2-5 minutes driving time from the State capital building.

Quicksilver4648

For crying out loud, write a letter to his supervisor instead:

hmaldonado@wkmg.com

Kamesen

Hey give this guy a break. He just got 50 internets about this today!

terraform

Hey guys, this is serious. I just got the Halo 3 recon armor by sending the guys at Bungie a crotch shot. Plus, some dude found all of the hidden pigeons in GTA4 for me when I told him I could fit my whole fist in my mouth!

shaker28

They don't name the game(s) they are talking about! Handy for when those slander lawsuits start flying.

hagridore

The last game I played that involved points was Space Invaders Extreme and I'll admit it does involve arresting visuals. Just not that kind.

Repsode

@scotty: "(I am lolikon though...)"

TMI, man. TMI.

I Think We're Property

Lousy "gamers". Always running around stomping on "goombas" and "owning" the "Countered Strike", clogging up the "internal net" with their "laughing out loud cats" and their "zerging rushes". It makes me "sick".

Piffle, I say! Piffle!

ShaggE

""Kids are playing games, and they are being asked to take photos of themselves naked in order to get game points."

"I believe he was referring to some of the fantasy games where players go on quests to be awarded points and different levels."

I've played many fantasy games where I've gone on quests and been award points (of some description) and gained levels.

None of those quest involed my sending in any nude pictures of myself. :s

Kafeen

haha, this is a perfect example of modern journalism, and the mentality of "someone said it? it's probably true. an authority figure said it? it is cold hard FACT." rawesome

3inst3in

if this was true Id be rich in WoW

agthang

Feh, American journalism in general is in the toilet right now, largely thanks to the spread of lazy hacks like this guy.

cynopt

Wtf @ journalism.

That's all I got.

WTF.

karasu is my homeboy

Journalism and the responsiblity of reporting now a days is disgusting. Makes me cringe to think that some of these people actually studied the field in school.

I mean something AS SIMPLE AS A FACT CHECK!

I blame it on blogs and the ADD generation. Not that I'm against either of the two, but shit's out of control.

FunKrusher

@Belabras: What is there to debunk? How do you disprove facts and information that wasn't presented?

ctuck

@Nutlink: Hey, the problem isn't that parents don't pay attention to what their children are really doing or that they haphazardly buy things so their kids can raise themselves. The real problem is evil people make evil things that trap kids into doing evil things and the ONLY way to protect your kids is to watch scary news reports and wish evil scary things wouldn't exist.

ctuck

well I think this is just to make some kind of "bad promotion" of gaming to push the videogame-law in the US; you know elections year, campains, goverment, ... votes?

carlosgames

I rarely get involved in things like this. Usually I just get pissed and complain. But I wrote Mr. Donald Forbes an email about the situation.

Sensationalism and yellow journalism FTW!

arepeegee

I already commented about this on the other headline, but man, these people are some sort of stupid.

Does the head of the 'cybercrimes' unit actually know what the fuck an 'online game' is, or does he simply sit at home and think this crap up: "Hey, if I were some sort of cyber-pedophile.. WHICH I'M TOTALLY NOT! REALLY! This is what I'd like to do.. Tee hee....!"

I'm so tired of these people talking about stuff they have no clue about. Ok, GTA IV gives you 'points' for driving drunk. Mass Effect allows you to "rape" women, even alien women (which is apparently worse). And I bet Donkey Kong is anti-semitic...

Jesus tap dancing christ, can all these people just shut up? What happened to journalistic integrity? Why can people just make stuff up and all of a sudden it's ok????

mitsoxfan

I think McCain should blame this on Obama to get more votes!

Commercial storyboard:

Does your children play online games?!?! (obama...osama)

Are they massively lvling at a quick rate?!?! (hussein!! hussein!!)

MCCAIN WILL KEEP YOUR CHILDREN SAFE FROM ONLINE PREDATORS!!! (AMERICA!!! FUCK YEAH!!!)

I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

/end

JCVD

this is the greatest news story of the year, fuck the election.

Aparanoidandroi

God damnit! This is what makes people hate video games! There are no facts at all and I bet there saying point so that people who played pong and Mario way back then and havnt touched a game since can understand it!

Still there giving gamers a bad name!

darktoad450

I'm not an "asshole" so I don't understand what he means by this statement. But now I want to be a journalist cause I'm sick of having to actually research and be learned in order to do my job.

Absent Blue

I don't care.. I STILL WANT MY GAMEPOINTS!! I SENT THAT PICTURE ONE WEEK AGO! WHERE ARE MY GAMEPOINTS! Damn stupid pedophiles! Never keep their promises! :(

CockroachMan

Funny how the games they listed are rated Mature. So where are the parents when the kids are playing these games? Parents not talking to their kids about what is and is not acceptable while allowing them to play this stuff is just flat out irresponsible. Raise your children with a sense of pride, responsibility, and a definition of right or wrong and this kind of stuff would never happen.

Nutlink

Hey I can make up BS too! Maybe I can be a journalist?!

Wreckoner

There should be a journalist's license, just so this guy can have his revoked.

I'm guessing the article isn't up to AP standards.

Billkwando

@ctuck: Yeah, it's ripe for the picking. I studied Journalism in college and realized what a sham it all is. Classmates who go on to be successful are the ones who look cute and act dumb. The ones who really care and ask a lot of tough questions just end up disillusioned. I'm so glad I got out.

kidko

Im sure the station feels safe publishing these kind of stories since the average parent wont check the facts.

Well at lease Forbes left his email address...

Ra is on That 70s Show

Hmm, this is one of the few times that I can say that I am ashamed to live in Florida. At least I'm in the north-east, it's more like South Georgia anyways.

AcidCrownie

Kids are being given gold in WoW to show nude images on other words?

weasl

paedo: i will give you uber massive points!!!

granny pretending to be kid: kool! How do i get em???

paedo: Just gimme pics of ure bum!!!!

"Paedo then got ownt"

LoganForge

@lilkao:

You just reminded me of this:

[uk]

+ Watch video

Dayvie

This still doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. I mean, on the one hand, I completely understand that it is possible to make errors in a story about something that you have no knowledge about.

Still, as a reporter, isn't it his job to make sure his story is as accurate as possible? Surely he knows one person who plays games, whether that person is a co-worker, a co-worker's son or daughter, or someone else. It would have taken 5 minutes to have him or her take a look at the article, realize that it makes no sense, and work to make it better.

kylenalepa

Any body else read this and see wonderful career opportunities? If that's detective work and journalism then I think I could really be a success.

ctuck

maybe they're talking bout xbox live. Bribing kid with Microsoft "points" for a video chat (all u need is the little eyetoy thing). sounds plausible

KingParappa

@dapoktan: that's the new york times you are thinking of I believe... Nobody holds small fry pieces of crap like this to any level of integrity

atuck

I think you can do this in Uno on Live... and no I have no evidence of anyone ever doing it ever for never ever.

sisedi

I need to find these "points" so I may start "giving" them to "gamers" who are worth it.

I am not a pedophile.

(I am lolikon though...)

scotty

I'm still trying to get over this whole thing. It literally boggles the mind. In actuality, my brain is now a Boggle game and the only words I can find on it are:

WHAT
THE
FUCK

Do you think it means something?

2NinjasTapedTogether

rofl

I want to see this game, the developer probably is writhing under lawsuits.

Ignatius

I wonder what you'll have to show them to get an achievement.

ZombieRace

I wish this guy was the new Smokey the Bear. I can see his reporting now...

Only you can prevent forest fires. That we told you existed-- or really, hinted, maybe, but didn't tell you where they were. Or necessarily who told us. Or showed you any photos of. So go. Find those forest fires we're sure exist. Maybe. And put them out, because they're fires. Hot fires. The orange kind with a little blue.

wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!

i was asked last night to get naked for some gamer points, i gladly accepted this point quest.

KennyLanzJr

I believe the common phrase in World of Warcraft is "Screenshot or it didn't happen."

gaijira

The fantasy games where you can go on quests to be awarded different levels are my personal favourite. Just last night I completed the "Kick ten Babies" quest in Ironforge and got awarded three yellow and a blue level. I then used these different levels to open the gate to eternal damnation. At the moment I'm working on getting a group together to go on the "Blasphemy" quest. I can solo the swear in church and desecrate graves part, but I need a few orcs to help me out with the raping of nuns.

It's all worth it though, I bet I'm getting some pretty sweet levels and maybe even points for it!

Nico8332

@Fikus:

well, XP - experience points. You can't expect people who don't play these games to know our specialized vocabulary. That being said, it doesn't excuse this "reporter" from shoddy journalism.

arkitex

"gamer"

Kenny

the pedobear does not aprove this
Note: im NOT the pedobear

lilkao

@Fikus:

They have to be talking about Wow here, right? It's the only thing that would make any sense seeing as you can give away items and money to other players and there is in-game chat (not sure where the webcam comes into it). I'm not 100% on the info here because I've played the game for about 5 minutes total, which is okay because I'm not writing a fucking article on it.

Sundermania

Debunk the story and make them post a retraction. Forbes will be in hot water with his boss if you do.

Belabras

Arent there rules for this type of thing?
Wasnt there a big fuss with fact checking and engineered articles that shook the journalism industry not that many years back?.. uh..

dapoktan

He's not a "gamer"? By gamer he must mean intelligent.

Lazlo

i love how he felt it was necessary to put gamer in quotes, like it's not really a real thing.

pasquinelli

Points.. that is sort of funny. There are few games now that give "Points". Experience yes. Money yes. but points not so much. Unless the are playing strip GeometryWars or SSHD.

Fikus

What a chump.

TheGuilty1

Nice. Real nice. Still no facts at all. What a wonderful piece of journalism.

Sundermania

Well, we all know that fear sells better than facts, right?

Spyke72

Its saddening that someone somewhere believes this kind of shit.

Dayvie

@dtrmp4: Was that you?

sir_carrot

Aihy. Something about new and credibility and the sensationalism in between.

Feel bad for the people that actually believe this kind of stuff.

sir_carrot

I don't get why all of you think this is completely crazy.

I'm sure some 13 year old chick on neopets was offered some neopoints for nude pics at some point. Might not happen often but you all are acting like it's insane to even think that it could.

dtrmp4

Must be a day for idiots in the media and videogames...
[www.10tv.com]

I tell you, how many of these "journalists" ever ask the parents if they actually go with their child to pick out a game. And if, when the kid asks for GTA and the retailer says it's an M-rated title, the mother DOESN'T say, "My child is mature enough for that game"?

relic1980

"Reporter" "reports" on "truth".

Omnimon

So after getting that delightful soundbyte...the intrepid reporter didn't bother to actually research what was meant by "points" (since that's kind of a key factor in all this)

Excellent work.

TRT-X

I miss journalism.

Señor Vorpal Kickass'o

The Google ads on this page crack me up... no I have not been falsely accused of pedophilia (yet), but thanks for the informative links.

Jabbertrack

I think someone should take all the news stories about gaming in the past five years and make a fake news station called "Channel G", and make it a one hour propaganda show with Jack Thompson as the host.

Oggy

@Fikus:

Er... aren't they experience 'points'?

GregoriusH

@I Think We're Property: I could have sworn I whispered that....

scotty

@KingParappa: I don't know man, but I'm pretty sure as a gamer you can't award other gamers points for anything over XBL...

I just can't wrap my head around this. I can't figure out 1 twisted way in which this article could be considered something worth more than the shit-piss that comes out of a chicken's ass.

Kamesen

What the fuck duck?

Vecha

@Saxboy: i think you are glossing over something here and that's the audience. Kotaku's audience knows that there is a chance that what Kotaku puts up is a rumor. If gamers don't read that and make stupid comments and assumptions about said rumor because they take it as fact, they'll most likely get banned.

Local 6 is SUPPOSED to be a reputable news organization that is backed by CNN (in some way) and their audience are supposed to be adults (or in this case parents). Said adults/parents expect everything Local 6 to say to be true unless stated otherwise.

It would be one thing if you compared Kotaku to Gamespot and Local 6 to NBC but come on; honestly. AND at least if a rumor is untrue; Kotaku will do another post to clarify that they were wrong. Most news organizations like NBC, ABC, NY Times give you a blurb on page 8 (that's obviously newspaper only) to fix a mistake in reporting that they made if they do it at all.

jp182

Still no facts. Ahhh... Now thats just good journalism.

King Seafoam

@Jesse in Japan: the article says that pedophiles are giving them points, not promising points.

schizorogue

Is it possible that these pedophiles are simply claiming to children that they are Gamemasters who have the authority to award them points or something? Young children could easily be fooled into believing that somebody they encounter in an online world is able to give them points, even if that is not, in fact, the case.

Jesse in Japan

hey guys here is a copy of the letter that I wrote, I would ask all of you to do the same.

Hello, recently you did an article in which you stated that pedophiles were getting children to send naked pictures of themselves to receive "game points". You later went on the record to say that "I believe he was referring to some of the fantasy games where players go on quests to be awarded points and different levels."
The Agent in charge of the Cybercrime unit for the State Attorney of Florida is quoted as saying ""kids are playing the games and they are being asked to take photos of themselves naked in order to get game points." I believe he was referring to some of the fantasy games where players go on quests to be awarded points and different levels.
I personally am not a "gamer" so I have not encountered such a problem. But feel free to call the cybercrimes unit of the state attorney's office in Tallahassee and I'm sure they could fill you in.
Thanks for your questions and concerns.
Regards,

Donald Forbes
Broadcast Journalist
WKMG-TV
4466 N. John Young Pkwy.
Orlando, FL. 32804
dforbes@wkmg.com

You Believe? I may be mistaken, but I thought that Journalism was all about the FACTS. I believe in Christianity, does not make it a fact. I believe in the big bang theory, does not make it a fact. I believe in the theory of evolution, does not make it a fact. Where is your facts?

So, to say that pedophiles are giving "game points" means that they have taken control of the "games code", and have altered it in such a way that they give away "game points". Why, if they had done that then wouldn't the admins of the game be aware of this?

Are you also aware, that of all the game titles that you mentioned in the written and televised article carry a ESRB rating M for Mature? That is a FACT (you should try to use them sometimes).

This article is not journalism, it is a sensationalist piece of fear mongering, ie no facts. But then you are not concerned about that, because you are not a journalist.

I will also be writing to your superiors, because as you should know, it is all about the facts. I will also be writing to the "agent in charge of the cybercrime unit for the State Attorney of Florida" and his superiors, because if this detective work, then god help us all.

Sincerely,

schizorogue

Let's be fair, Kotaku. You post rumors too, and you quote people who don't know what they're talking about. This guy did what he thought was fair, and exactly what you do when you guys (and gals) post rumors: pass the buck on to your source. He did the same thing - he put up a rumor as news, then when questioned passed you onto his source.

If you were given a rumor by the head of a corporation about a game one of their smaller sections was making, you would go ahead and post it without confirming it first. The journalist perhaps made a mistake, but considering his source is the agent in charge of cybercrimes I imagine he figured it was safer to go ahead and report about it first and double check it later if need be.

We also don't know the context. Maybe the police asked the station to report it this way just to make parents more aware of what their kids are doing online. Many parents may just assume that their kids are off playing a game and not getting in trouble. We know that's ignorance, and maybe now they do too even though games took a foul blow to get to that step. No specific game was mentioned, so parents can't just blame GTA4 or WoW or any specific game - they have to go look at what their kids are doing.

In fairness to you (Kotaku) you also point out that they are rumors and attempt to confirm if they are true or not, which are both points in your favor, but anyone who reads the comments in the rumor sections know that a good chunk of the people believe the rumor to be fact anyways.

If you really want to come down on these guys about journalistic integrity, please don't post rumors. I don't mean that to be insulting, I just think that anytime there's a whiff of a negative attitude towards gaming, everyone attacks it like a school of sharks around a bloody hunk of meat. I think to be truly "fair" in attacking this station how we are, we'd have to drop the "rumor" posts.

Saxboy

@dtrmp4: That may be true, but this "reporter" (see what I did there) makes it sound as common as getting teabagged in Halo.

robinandtami

A crime's a crime, and I really don't think the news agencies should be the ones deciding whether or not it's serious enough to immediately pass on to the public, I think the police should be. If the police make a statement saying the public should know this, I believe the news agencies have the obligation to pass that information on to the public as quickly as possible.

That being said, I *do* think the police detective in question is a blooming idiot, and as such I think it makes perfect sense for the news station to pass the buck on to him, at least for now. However, I also believe NOW is the point at which the news agency should be investigating said detective, to try and figure out what kind of incompetence in the force led to him being in a position where he would be allowed to make such a moronic statement.

I don't blame (or intend to shoot) the messenger. I intend to blame (and or shoot) the idiot guy sending it.

GnatB

I think the best thing we can do here is to call those fools at the cybercrimes division in tallahassee out, bombard them with the truth. Even if we can't wring a retraction it may well cause them to think twice about letting their statements out that irresponsibly.

unangbangkay

@Fikus:

More to the point, what games allow any player to give out points, for any reason? Unless they're sending said pictures to the devs or something.

man in gauze is king ramses II, silly.

@GnatB: yes you are right, but this is not a amber alert, this story did not have to air to get the word out as fast as they can.

schizorogue

Hmmm. Didn't microsoft just recently add the ability to gift MS points to any live enabled gamertag? I can see somebody getting game points and microsoft points confused. The 360, as far as I'm aware, also has video chat.

The concept that pedophiles are gifting MS points in exchange for kids stripping on video chat while playing any game that supports said video chat doesn't really strike me as all that far fetched. Hey kid. I'll give you 1000 microsoft points if you take off your shirt...

That being said, the news program gave you their source. Detective whats his name. Presumably head of some cybercrime task force or something. And, in fact, they reported that it was just something what's his name said. The story (apparently) isn't whether or not it's happening, but that that detective said it was. If some police chief holds a press conference and says that an amber alert has been issued for a 5 year old buy with red hair, I rather suspect that most news sources broadcast the amber alert about a 5 year old red head before doing much fact checking on who the kid is, is he really missing, is he really 5 years old, does he really have red hari, what are his parents like, etc. They just repeat what the police told them.

GnatB

@Saxboy: Slight difference between:

@Gamers: "FFXIII May Be Coming to Xbox360"

and

@Local Populace: "Pedophiles soliciting nude photos of underage children via video games."

One incites flaming of fanboys the other incites panic in the parents of teenage (and younger) children with access to the internet.

One is a rumor, the other is a ignorant lie. One is harmless, the other is harmful.

Sorry, but the two are incredibly mutually exclusive.

mitsoxfan

Wow That journalist really should be blacklisted.

Lumice

was kinda surprised when i got the email back from the guy for my questions about what game they were referring to. Figured my email would get lost with many others, but they decided to get back to me in order to pass the blame. Pretty pathetic if you ask me that they cant even fact check there articles, and then blame someone else.

Rastaman4200

@badasscat: If the police are telling a reporter about something that involves, you know, police work, then I don't know in what other way you expect that reporter to "check his facts". Does he need to become an expert on both video games and pedophilia before he's qualified to report on a story like this?

No, but he does need to present more than one side to the issue. Blindly listening to one party and shutting everything else out is exactly what happened when Fox News brought Cooper Lawrence on the air to talk about Mass Effect, and we all know how that went.

evslin

This is just one entry in a long list of bullshit anti-gaming news stories. Like the fox news report that "proved" the Nintendo DS was a portal for pedophiles to enter your home. How did they prove this? The "reporter" went to some local families home and gave the kids an NDS, and had them go on pictochat. He then went upstairs and messaged them on pictochat asking for their address and full name, except the kids knew it was the reporter messaging them from upstairs and were told to answer his questions...

The whole thing was about as ridiculous as the cyber terrorists thing on fox news where they claimed there was a problem of epidemic proportions involving gamer "hackers" terrorizing "good" christian families for "lulz" even going as far as to leave threatening voice mails!!!! (oh noes!) Apparently, "lulz" are the official currency of the underground hacker/terrorist world. They trade "lulz" for contracts on people's lives and use them to blow up inconspicuous white panel vans.

You can prolly find both stories on youtube. Look for them if you haven't seen them, they are hilarious.

Killalaz

I'm not making a judgment on this particular case (in part because I didn't even read anything beyond what was posted here).

But generally speaking, checking facts requires verification with reliable sources. How else do you check facts? And a police detective is generally considered to be a reliable source.

If the police are telling a reporter about something that involves, you know, police work, then I don't know in what other way you expect that reporter to "check his facts". Does he need to become an expert on both video games and pedophilia before he's qualified to report on a story like this?

Short of that, it is the source's fault if the facts are wrong.

People expect reporters to be experts in absolutely everything these days. Brain surgery, aviation, guitar collecting, policing, whatever. If they get one little detail of some complex system or subculture wrong, as judged by the so-called "experts" on the internet, then they're "not doing their job". It's just not possible to have such depth of knowledge in so many things, and it's never been a requirement for reporting. A reporter is just that, a reporter - he reports what his sources tell him, and that is what he or she is required to know how to do. Reporting is about providing verifiable information. That's what this guy did. You can go and check the veracity of this story yourself if you want, and if it's not true, well, presumably this detective is answerable to somebody. (He would not be doing his job if, for example, he cited just one anonymous source that was unverifiable.)

He's not a researcher, and he's not even claiming to be an "investigative" journalist - he got some info from a police detective and he reported it. That's his job.

Just playing devil's advocate here.

badasscat

@mitsoxfan: you may not have got the memo but ffxiii is coming to the 360 ;)

schizorogue

Huh, we have a name and an address.

What could be done with this information?

Let's fuck with him a bit.

Marios_shadow

It becomes clear that the same people leak out these fantastical articles the more I hear about winning points for things.

Bobby McPresscott

Being a journalism major in college, let me tell you that Forbes' response is sickening and goes against everything I've ever been taught about the journalism world.

I pledge, here and now, to NOT BE THIS WAY when I become a journalist. Disgusting.

BigJDawg319

@Saxboy: You'll notice that a key component of Kotaku reporting on rumors is that they explicitly state that they are ruporting on a rumor. It's in the title of every single rumor story they post. This TV station left the word "rumor" out entirely. I understand where you're coming from, but when reporting on rumors, any news site with a shred of integrity will let people know if a story based on rumors is just that - rumors.

And Kotaku isn't even really a news site, they're a blog that happens to report on gaming news a lot.

Zero_Beat

@Marios_shadow: I'd stay away from Internet mobbery and stick to actual honest questions about his journalistic skills and integrity; pranks and shenanigans will just make things worse.

Chef

@Marios_shadow: Please don't. Every time there's a story with some idiot talking about games when he knows nothing, inevitably the next story is about how he got 500 e-mails full of obscenity and death threats. For fucks sake, if we don't want to see shit like this and have every non-gamer on the planet treating us like we're a Cheetos'n'trenchcoat goon squad, let's not act like 4chan on a field trip for once.

mwoody

Ah, the pursuit to destroy everyone's fun continues and with more nonsense!

Wow, I can't believe I'm at the point where this no longer pisses me off. Then again, maybe it's the nausea.

Lainface

@badasscat: Does he need to become an expert on both video games and pedophilia before he's qualified to report on a story like this?

If reporting doesn't mean "finding out more information" then what does it mean? The reporter doesn't have to be an expert. How about calling one (or, better yet, three) and asking some questions?

This is not an example of journalism:

Some officer said some words that included "nude", "pedophiles", and "children". Also the word "points" was used.

Implication: Anything is society that involves points -- mortgage loans, basketball, old car engines, pencils, and your index finger -- causes your children to be molested.

That's more-or-less what the reporter did.

Kohath

I love WoW's webcam feature... oh wait.

darkstar5555

I love how they mention the consoles all by name and then over half of their game footage is World of Warcraft... the worst possible reporting until you consider that Attn General Bill McCollum of Florida has opened a new cybercrime unit in North Florida:
[myfloridalegal.com]

Let's face it, he needs a little publicity to shore up his new publicly-paid-for program that's probably unnecessary considering 95% of child abuse happens in the home...

djomg

Holly s*** WTF!

Mj92

"At any time, there can be up to 300,000 people online playing the most popular Internet-connected games, Local 6's Donald Forbes reported."

From which orafice was the number 300,000 pulled?

Chinpokomon

ok... well I don't know how many of you work in television, but they are quoting a government official. The reporter should not be to blame the cybercrime agency should be. They are the ones releasing these facts to the media so they can be shared with the public. the television station is just a way for officials to get their word out. So please, leave the reporter alone, because he is no way at fault here.. If someone gets shot and killed...tv stations cannot tell the public that person died until they get official word that that person died. they can only relay what is told to them by a PIO (public information officer). The same thing is going on here. The reporter is simply relaying what an officer told them. It's that department that is in the wrong, not the reporter. Ugh

mink03

I have heard of people soliciting gamers for a "little show", in exchange for microsoft points via Xbox Live Via Camera. I haven't heard any news with specific games though.

nikaidostar

@badasscat: He asked one person one question... hardly news reporting.

A good reporter will go out and try and get more than one side of the story.

I'm willing to bet this was from a newsfeed fed from the Cybercrime Bureau directly, and the TV station decided to run with it because it required less work and little money than finding a real story.

FunkyJ

I also love *after reading the article AND watching the video* how all the footage is CoD, Halo, and Guitar Hero. *you know, with all the webcams involved*, how the kids shown in the video are like 10 playing M rated games *great parenting there*, and how the reporter seems even more ill informed even after doing his "research" *what game is this "Call to duty"?*

bad police work, bad reporting, bad everything.

the end

crazyblazian

i would just like to know the *name* of the game. at least with GTA fuss they can manage to point a finger in the general vicinity of the "problem". granted blaming GTA for real life violence is totally absurd. but with THIS, "there's a game out there that might potentially be bad" is all i'm getting out of this. accurate journalism aside, this is creating a fear of something there's not. I mean, if there's WoW-ers out there showing their goodies for a bit of extra gold, we might have a problem, and if said WoW-ers are underage then that is also a problem *even though their parents should be WATCHING THEM TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE NOT SENDING NUDE PICTURES TO F***ING STRANGERS!*. But, you never hear that, just blame the unnamed game, the gaming industry, and the "gamers".

screw that

crazyblazian

Maybe thers some illegal WoW server where teh admin gives people free XP for nekkid pics?

kwant

Everyone comes out against this like it could never happen... I still say it makes sense for an MMO - other players might be added to an IM client, and you can fork over in-game gold, right?

...I bet it's happened whether they know of a case or not. I also bet it's astronomically rare, but hey, I'm not going to just go "no no no no! You don't know videogames!"

fuchikoma

I used to live in central Florida. Channels 2, 6, and 9 are constantly vying for control of the news market. No one can ever fully win, but it's this eternal, never ending struggle the three have.

A common tactic of theirs is to try and scare as many people as possible with imaginary problems, I guess in hopes of gluing them to their station because they are the only ones who can provide the solution to the problem they created.

Usually this is reserved for hurricane season. A hurricane could be a week away and only a 5% chance of hitting, and they'll scare tons of people into buying 50000 bottles of water, board up their windows, etc. it's disgusting (not the fact that people are getting prepared, just that they "hype" the storm far earlier then it can be reasonably be predicted it will hit).

However, if they must, they'll try to target and scare parents (target audience) through alternative means. And you scare parents with bad stuff happening to the kids.

insaneo

How about not posting this guy's mail address in plain text, thereby ensuring that not only will he get tons of hatemail, but also will he get tons of span due to web crawlers who look for mail addresses? I mean, at least he replied; I hardly think his repsonse warrants this kind of punishment.

L_K_M

@insaneo: i lived in orlando for a few years. this is completely true.

pasquinelli

@dtrmp4: no, the story is bullshit. it doesn't offer any explanation of how it could happen. it doesn't report on a particular story. it just yells "VIDJIMAGAME PEDOPHILES!!1ONEELVENTY-1"

that's the part that annoys me at least.

pasquinelli

Does "News Fear-monger" = "Pedophile"? Not really, but I submit that "News Fear-monger" has a higher impact on the community as a whole so while pedophilia is just terrible, news fear-mongering is just completely irresponsible.

axiomatic

"You think they're just watching a game, and I didn't really know they could actually get through the games and play a lot of people," parent Alida Magana said.

People can't be that dumb can they? I mean really right?

GHETTO.CHiLD

@GHETTO.CHiLD: Hey... this IS America...

Kamesen

@badasscat:

I get your point, but there are two things here.

First, he's a journalist, not a stenographer. His job is not to simply report whatever he's told as truth.

Second, there is a basic sanity check that anyone hearing anything regularly makes. When someone says something that makes no sense, even if that person is an expert, that means it would require more investigation before being taken as fact.

On that second one, maybe a particular individual isn't going to make that check because they lack knowledge. Okay, but then they would need to do something all journalists do which is simply verify what theri sources tell them.

Okay, the officer has a theory...well why? Was the question not asked? What games do they think this is happening with? Certainly a good question if you are trying to protect the public and inform them about pedophile attackers, no?

This is lazy all too common in the media. People aren't actually doing their jobs anymore.

What gets me on this one is there was a clear way to use the information the cop gave and write a responsible story warning parents about the dangers of exposing their kids to media they themselves are not familiar with.

It wouldn't even be that difficult to chart that path here. Instead they go for the sensationalist headline and throw any logical thought or rational discussion of REAL dangers out the window to instead promote fear of the boggie-man.

I'd encourage everyone to email Mr. Forbes and tell him this isn't about being a "gamer", it's about being a "journalist".

dbushik

It's probably accurate. Some little boy showing an old man his goods for some high level item in WoW. WoW kids know no shame. And don't act like you couldn't see this coming. WoW kids have to be the most obsessive gamers ever besides Dungeon in Dragons gamers.

bluSCALE4

Here's another little comment that's sure to get lost in the mire of other comments:

I used to work for a TV News station as a graphics guy, and as such none of this surprises me in the least. Reporters are generally dimwitted, prima-donna attention whores, and they're under a lot of pressure every single day to find something, ANYTHING to report on while they look pretty for the cameras.

They'll try to make sensational shock stories about anything they can, without any sort of factual accountability. If they read it on the internet, hear it on a gossip line, or someone even mentions it offhand... it must be true. Worst case scenario, someone calls in angry and they add a forgettable retraction at the end of the broadcast the following day.

God's honest, the station manager's perpetual mantra was:
"Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story."

Shadowstitch

Good thing you posted his e-mail address so a flood of angry gamers can ransack his inbox, thus giving him incentive and rationale for doing a follow-up story on how gamers are all crazy assholes. Bravo all of my peers!

"Gamers" are all doomed to be seen as angry and immature. Like how I put that in quotes?

Fitz Rhapsody

anyone else notice the collegehumor ad with a (mostly) naked girl playing video games on THIS VERY webpage? screenshot ftw

fantasy