Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!sunic!tut!ra!misan From: misan@ra.abo.fi (Annika Forsten DC) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: Offensive new video game... Message-ID: Date: 13 Apr 90 09:30:14 GMT References: <1990Apr11.003741.4610@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <14108@cbnewsd.ATT.COM> Sender: misan@ra.abo.fi Organization: Abo Academy, Finland Lines: 56 In-reply-to: bamford@cbnewsd.ATT.COM's message of 11 Apr 90 16:02:52 GMT In article <14108@cbnewsd.ATT.COM> bamford@cbnewsd.ATT.COM (harold.e.bamford) writes: > rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kehaar) writes: > > ...However, the new version, > >_Bird Hunt_, really plays hardball. Rather than just ducks and clay pigeons, > >a large variety of birds come out on the screen--and the player is expected to > >shoot all of them. Apparently, the more endangered the species, > Give me a break! Its the middle of April so this cannot be an > April Fools joke. It is just a video game. It isn't real. There > ARE people that have trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality > and these people should not go to plays or movies, should not read > fiction, and should not play video games. But most of the rest of > us, including children, understand the difference in rules between > the world of a video game and real life. The exceptions are just > that, EXCEPTIONS! I disagree strongly with the above (and agree with Sam Conway) that a lot of kids can't distinguish between reality and fantasy. They have their reality from television and games. That's what they come into contact with, how on earth would they know it's not the truth if nobody tells them? And you certainly can't forbid those who don't know reality from fantasy to play games, how would you do that? Don't know how television encourages violence for instance? This is the same thing. A game where the kids were supposed to shoot non-protected species would not be good, but less bad than a game which encourages the killing and negative feeling towards protected and rare species. We have to fight against these attitudes often enough anyway. Why not make videogames which promotes positive action for nature, instead? > If you really disapprove of this game, then don't give it free > advertising by protesting it. Remember the movie, "The Last > Temptation of Christ"? I only wanted to see it because of the > protesters. It turned out to be a worthless, boring movie. It > would have been out of the theaters in a week if it hadn't been for > people like you that wanted to impose their own opinions and > attitudes on others. This kind of protest is self-defeating. I agree that protesting it will only advertise it. If there were of stopping the game without publicity it would be much better. > Mellow out! And if you must continue with this discussion, lets > get it out of this newsgroup. I think this discussion belongs in this newsgroup, after all it is a universal problem, concerning much more than just this videogame, so why not discuss it? The problem of teaching kids (and adults) how nature works and why and how to protect it, not destroy it. We could leave the flaming to e-mail though. Annika Forsten, Abo Akademi, Finland misan@ra.abo.fi