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Son permitted Call of Duty, if abiding by Geneva Conventions
posted on February 24th, 2009 by Leviathan in Opinionated Fail
From NeoSeeker:
Spencer got his son to read up on the Geneva Conventions, the four treaties created in Geneva, Switzerland, which set the standards for interntional law for humanitarian concerns; they primarily regard treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war. The agreement between him and his son was to play the game according to the treaties (his teammates are included in this) — if not, no Call of Duty.
This is certainly out of the ordinary - a father has banned his son from playing Call of Duty unless he plays by Geneva Convention rules. There was a recent study that found children who do not play violent video games suffer developmental problems when compared with their peers, so this over-the-top restriction from the father is slightly concerning given the fact that all his friends will not only be (likely) playing without him, but if they are playing with him there will no doubt be arguments and frustration over actually implementing such rules. Then again, the father is probably just trying to make a tounge in cheek statement about the state of youth and video games today, what with their disconnect from the real world.
This raises an interesting question - where do you draw the line with video games when it comes to violence? Should he force his son to play Team Fortress 2 by Geneva Conventions? It seems to me that Call of Duty games are the video game equivalents of Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan - historically accurate and filled with real characters and real stories. Is that such a bad thing?
I suppose this argument doesn’t apply to multiplayer though. While the singleplayer campaign may be a guided experience down World War 2 lane, the ESRB warns that “online gameplay is not rated” for a good reason. It usually consists of little else than shooting, cursing and tea-bagging. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all to teach those punks a thing or two about the Geneva Conventions. Or maybe we should all take a break and go outside.
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Kowloon Walled City
posted on February 23rd, 2009 by cartwheels4amile in General Fail
From the 1960’s up until the beginning of the 1990’s, a tiny unsupervised and lawless city-state of sorts sprung up on the outskirts of Hong Kong. Technically under Chinese rule, yet controlled also by England, the Kowloon Walled City was a self-governed (and mostly self-built!) city of over 50,000. Building regulations, medical care, and health and safety rules were almost non-existent, with residents constructing a labyrinth of corridors and walkways between buildings that grew in many places to be as high as 14 stories. While electricity and running water were provided, residents ran the lines mostly themselves, and what little daylight made it to ground level through the cracks of the buildings had to be supplemented by fluorescent lights. The city was known for its prostitution and drugs, and also for the unlicensed medicine that was practiced within. In 1987 the Chinese and the English agreed that the city had to be torn down; all residents were evacuated by 1992 and the buildings demolished in 1993.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City
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From NeoSeeker:
Spencer got his son to read up on the Geneva Conventions, the four treaties created in Geneva, Switzerland, which set the standards for interntional law for humanitarian concerns; they primarily regard treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war. The agreement between him and his son was to play the game according to the treaties (his teammates are included in this) — if not, no Call of Duty.
This is certainly out of the ordinary - a father has banned his son from playing Call of Duty unless he plays by Geneva Convention rules. There was a recent study that found children who do not play violent video games suffer developmental problems when compared with their peers, so this over-the-top restriction from the father is slightly concerning given the fact that all his friends will not only be (likely) playing without him, but if they are playing with him there will no doubt be arguments and frustration over actually implementing such rules. Then again, the father is probably just trying to make a tounge in cheek statement about the state of youth and video games today, what with their disconnect from the real world.
This raises an interesting question - where do you draw the line with video games when it comes to violence? Should he force his son to play Team Fortress 2 by Geneva Conventions? It seems to me that Call of Duty games are the video game equivalents of Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan - historically accurate and filled with real characters and real stories. Is that such a bad thing?
I suppose this argument doesn’t apply to multiplayer though. While the singleplayer campaign may be a guided experience down World War 2 lane, the ESRB warns that “online gameplay is not rated” for a good reason. It usually consists of little else than shooting, cursing and tea-bagging. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all to teach those punks a thing or two about the Geneva Conventions. Or maybe we should all take a break and go outside.
1
Kowloon Walled City
posted on February 23rd, 2009 by cartwheels4amile in General Fail
From the 1960’s up until the beginning of the 1990’s, a tiny unsupervised and lawless city-state of sorts sprung up on the outskirts of Hong Kong. Technically under Chinese rule, yet controlled also by England, the Kowloon Walled City was a self-governed (and mostly self-built!) city of over 50,000. Building regulations, medical care, and health and safety rules were almost non-existent, with residents constructing a labyrinth of corridors and walkways between buildings that grew in many places to be as high as 14 stories. While electricity and running water were provided, residents ran the lines mostly themselves, and what little daylight made it to ground level through the cracks of the buildings had to be supplemented by fluorescent lights. The city was known for its prostitution and drugs, and also for the unlicensed medicine that was practiced within. In 1987 the Chinese and the English agreed that the city had to be torn down; all residents were evacuated by 1992 and the buildings demolished in 1993.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City
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From the 1960’s up until the beginning of the 1990’s, a tiny unsupervised and lawless city-state of sorts sprung up on the outskirts of Hong Kong. Technically under Chinese rule, yet controlled also by England, the Kowloon Walled City was a self-governed (and mostly self-built!) city of over 50,000. Building regulations, medical care, and health and safety rules were almost non-existent, with residents constructing a labyrinth of corridors and walkways between buildings that grew in many places to be as high as 14 stories. While electricity and running water were provided, residents ran the lines mostly themselves, and what little daylight made it to ground level through the cracks of the buildings had to be supplemented by fluorescent lights. The city was known for its prostitution and drugs, and also for the unlicensed medicine that was practiced within. In 1987 the Chinese and the English agreed that the city had to be torn down; all residents were evacuated by 1992 and the buildings demolished in 1993.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City
