CNN claims GTA IV is training kids to kill
- Posted May 2nd, 2008 at 07:15 EDT by
- 7,858 views
- 111 Comments
CNN's Glenn Beck has launched an attack on Grand Theft Auto IV and modern pop culture, by saying that the game is helping train gamers to become killers, live on US television.
Kotaku spotted a video on YouTube of Beck’s rant, in which he encourages parents and members of the public to be weary about the game, which you can view below.
Beck said: "If you think that video games are just harmless fun, which everybody always says, you should know that our military and our leaders at the Pentagon have never seen it that way.
"GTA 4 is projected to sell nine million copies just by the end of the year. That's $450 million just in sales. And who says crime doesn't pay?
“It took 75 years and countless billions of dollars to train our soldiers to kill. Today 60 bucks buys your kid the same thing. Whatever happened to Pong?”
We think it's ridiculous, but we'd still love to hear what you think about this below.
Comments
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Tha_Last_Romeo |
Tha_Last_Romeo- 4:02am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 5
Well... Humans are a type of animal and animals do kill. So his facts are wrong. Besides, it dont take TV to kill for your life. They make it seem like I never seen someone get shot in real life. I live in Philadelphia, PA... GTA is he everyday of the week. Cops always get shot at.
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Wintee |
bluedotred- 4:03am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 6
I want some of what he's smoking!
I vented my anger at these uneducated fools on the MADD article thread, I've no more vitriole left to throw in their direction.
Same question again. Has he played the game? No.
He's probably not even seen it, just repeating what he heard.
All this suggestion of violence is nonsense, and if anyone disagrees I'll cut you up and leave you in a car trunk in the crushers!
(N.B. That was meant to be irony, just incase some of you other-side-of-the-ponders didnt get it)
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Alakratt |
Alakratt- 4:08am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 7
Beating up prostitutes with bats, cutting cops in half or burning them? umm...they are called CHOICES in this game, not an OBJECTIVE! Apparenly these close-minded "adults" don't know a thing about video games. All in all, thanks for the free promotion CNN!! LMAO!!!
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rahstar2003 |
explosive78- 4:11am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 8
I was born 10-26-78. I saw terminator when it first came out in 1985, i was 7. I started listening to gangsta rap (NWA) behind my parents back when it started in 1986, i was 8. I HAVE NEVER KILLED OR EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT KILLING SOMEONE SERIOUSLY. Crazy people always blame everyone but themselves. They also said in the story a kid killed some people after playing gta for 16hrs a day. If a kid plays video games for 16hrs a day, then the parents are to blame for letting them play any game for 16hrs a day.
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singlestrike
- 4:16am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 9
Yay, Jack Thompson V2. Maybe they'll eventually realize that war games do the same thing. :P
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Jezer29 |
Jezer29- 4:21am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 10
Here a reality check for this @ hole... I who lives in NY and GTA4 a game based in NY can tell you that things are totally the opposite.. Here the cops are killing us, shooting us 50 times and getting away with.. Prostitutes arent dying.. Their ratting out politicians and getting paid and famous from the media attention.. The game has a M rating on it.. And if little bobby is getting his hands on it, Look at the parent not the game.. All those BS stats he stated are irrelevant b/c when a child is raised right with a good family structure.. They play these same games and when their done they go and finish their homework.. Not go and finish off the neighbors..
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santaclown
- 4:28am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 11
somehow I agree with the opinion that the game might introduce killing to kids.... but that does not necessarily "train" them to kill.. GTAIV is not doing harm as much as TV shows, movies and George W. Bush..
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Paranoimia |
Paranoimia- 4:32am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 12
And with that, Mr Beck hopped in his limo, snorted a couple of lines of coke, and had his driver take him to his favourite whorehouse, where he put on his gimp suit and got whipped to within an inch of his life while creaming repeatedly in his mother's lace panties.
Can anyone say "knee-jerk reaction"? (Emphasis on 'jerk'...)
PMSL at this guy! We all know these so-called "straight-laced" do-gooders are among the worst offenders. If GTA is teaching people to kill for $60, then I want a refund, because the lessons clearly aren't helping me. We have 2 fat pigeons persistently wrecking a bird feeder in our garden, yet despite hours of GTA IV, I can't bring myself to shoot them...
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dannymadatgravity
- 4:38am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 13
anyway CNN loves death and violence gives them ratings, they would be screwed if the world was perfect and they only covered things like dog shows :-)
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Lattz |
latbou- 5:36am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 16
Played every GTA titles and video games 3/4 of my life, but haven't killed a person or an animal (maybe a few bugs) no bigger than a tiny hamster. So what is this guy saying, that I failed as an American/Canadian? Was I supposed to kill people or sign up for the next war to fight at some poor country? So according to him, i'm an expert killer! I guest thats kinda cool.
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woodcock_ps3 |
WALL-MARTshinobi- 6:28am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 19
If u guys seen the latest 'Attack of the show' ep. they talked about kids and video game violance and i realy dont need to exp. something so stupid to u intelagent ppl but to the point they show a 7yr old kid taking his moms car for a joy ride with his other 7yr old buddy they ram some cars, and hit some stop signs, and also they crash into a Wal-Mart, but after that they were smokin some weed. when the cops cought them they told them why did u do this, the kids say my mom got me angery and i was mad and doing bad things is fun. and the only game these kids play is b-ball so y didnt Glenn Beck address this its only a few days old. That azz is just angry that game dev. are makeing more money than him this argument always goes to the money if u dont have some u would want some.
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RELL16 |
RELL16- 6:38am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 20
we hear this every time a violent game comes its as simple as not buying your child the game you f*kn idiots thats y they plalced a rating systm on the games duh. if u think its inapropriate just dont buy it cnn are just a buch of a** holes that like controversy in their progrm yet agin here wasted time on an uneccary subject i say they just sit back and watch the sales go up what they dont kno they are helping promotion
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dfontes1188 |
dfontes1188- 6:39am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 21
Rockstar is LMAOing right now..
How about games like Call of Duty and Socom? You kill people in those games, and it is a lot closer to military than GTA..
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dannymadatgravity
- 7:19am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 22
Yet you still sell guns...! And doesn the US Army use a computer game to recruit? Ban guns not games
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supergm007
- 7:25am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 23
Games have ratings for a reason.
You could quite easily take any action movie and put on the same spin as this junk has.
The Matrix teaches your child to kill ZOMG!.
excellent point by the guy above what are they doing making the game americas army. The bridge on that game was cool :P
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cheatham_usmc |
cheatham_usmc- 7:31am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 24
Somebody always has something to say about GTA, but its understandable. It is violent. BUT ITS SO FUN< HA HA> Parents shoudl watch there damn kids, so they dont bye it. When someone uses a videogame as anm excuse to harm people or kill., thats bull++++. GTA is awesome, but I'm not a idiot that can't tell the difference from right and wrong, fantasy and real life. I just that GTA 4 has taken over the planet and know we are all doomed, OHHH NOOOO, Run for your life Mr. Beck.
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Dreamseller21 |
Dreamseller21- 7:31am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 25
Watching this whole video all I coudl think about was on Gta4 When You take Roman to the burger joint and he says " I can feel an extra chin growing on me cousin"
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richkaos |
richkaos- 7:32am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 26
Its down to the degenerate parents that bring up their kids to be little thugs, shoot the parents i say, in fact if you are a sc*m bag council house unemployed dosser then you should be sterilized at birth so we can wipe out this race of useless good for nothing slackers, that do nothing more than breed hoody W**kers to claim more money on the social, more kids = more money. Waste of space
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greyz10 |
greyz10- 8:16am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 27
Sensationalist crap!
of course, if what he says is true, would we not all be out killing each other. The people who kill are those who lack self control or have a screw loose!
this is all so crazy. should he not be blaming sensationalist media reports, i think so. Look a little closer to home you dusch!!
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Anim3Fr33K |
Anim3Fr33K- 8:25am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 30
H3ll yeh! im a trained killer now, give me a gun even tho iv never seen a real one in my life im sure ill be able to fire it no problems.
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MatzelleJ08 |
MatzelleJ08- 8:45am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 32
Man o Man this was bound to happen
Video games dont kill people
Guns dont kill people
look at microsoft with there flight sumulator x that help terrorist learn how to fly i dont see that on the news..That game is so real in flight models and stuff and how to work a plane..but they dont do anything or say anything about that
People kill people
F
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RuiyJR |
Tseska_922- 9:33am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 33
ha ha ha fun! fun! this is most awesome joke i ever heard ha ha ha
the real person's need respect and talking them respectful and on the game who needs respect and peace because they die few second ago then respawn in other street ( i mean other zone ) he/she don't need compare game world to real world i didn't do stealing or killing people in real life (expect fighting in dark street XD ) it's just mind of that person of playing game ( but some peoples are taking from things from games so serios that's the problem (most of them 12-21 or whatever)
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Solrac |
Solrac7688- 9:58am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 35
First off I would like to say that is that this guy is just blowin smoke up his as.s and People will always criticise games that mimic todays' society but that don't mean that you can just run people over with a car because we all know its wrong. Despite the fact that game has an M rating kids will always find a way to get it and Parents should be aware and educated of wat their kids are playing. Violent videogames will always be criticised and that will never change
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Sorgan
- 10:02am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 36
Too late, GTA 3 already trained me to be a killer. LOL. I don't honestly know how these idiots believe what they are ranting about, they all have diarrhea of the mouth as far as I'm concerned.
By the way, I'm to busy playing GTA 4 to worry about going out and killing anything.
C'mon people, get a life, do your parenting and take responsibilty for your own actions (and that of your children if you're not teaching them right from wrong).
If I were ever to go out and harm someone, I sure as h.e.l.l wouldn't be blaming it on the videogames I play. I'm so tired of these lame excuses people are making to justify the lack of social responsibilty.
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EFFORTLESS7
- 10:25am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 38
This coworker i know jumps on the head of every furry animal he sees after he played the original mario as a child.
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djrussell |
djrussell89- 11:00am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 40
VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR SOCIETY'S PROBLEMS! PEOPLE ARE. I'm getting sick of stupid rednecks blaming everyone but themselves for their own actions... as Chris Rock said, "what ever happened to being just CRAZY?! What ever happened to 'crazy'?"
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ReppinDaNorth89
- 11:03am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 41
Its bogus..if your going to go out and kill someone you dont do it from a game. You obviously have already thought about it to begin with.
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Totally Twisted
- 11:06am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 42
lol...you guys are all missing the point. Just because this game doesnt effect you doesnt mean it wont effect others. You guys are all like " i dont this and i dont that ....well if its not effecting YOU then YOU is not who this is about. It's not all about YOU..the media as a whole, believe it or not, IS responsible for NEGATIVE behaviour in small impressionable minds. NOT all but a large amount ...
I have the game and LOVE it...but that doesnt mean i nessecarily agree its right.
Tommyboy;)
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thereal_Aevia |
Aevia- 11:50am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 48
whatever Glenn Beck is a fear monger plus he is part of the weathly elite ( so that makes him trash).
p.s. you can saw ppl in half...?
nice!
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vr6exy98
- 11:50am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 49
Like he said tv and pop culture is making us kill people... After I watched this video it made me wanna kill myself cuz people have nothing better to do then to blame killing on video games. "Guns dont kill people, people kill people", was there a video game kills people in there... FIGURE IT OUT! lol
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melmacj
- 11:55am BST - May 2nd, 2008
- 50
Well fellow gamers we know this was coming. I and my brother in law are gamers too and we both have kids. Mines are 10, 14 and he has a little girl 3. One solution we don't do. We don't play or for that matter even let our kids even think about playing. Bottom line but I guess CNN and others think they're the better parent.
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