I Am Livid

I've just heard about a popular video game that teenagers are playing - "Call of Duty: Black Ops" - the latest version - that shows the "good guys" using torture.

This calls to mind the TV series 24, which I don't watch, but I've heard, presenting torture as acceptable because of the "war on terror."

I suspect there are people on this forum that think torture is okay.

Well, it's not okay.

It's a video game.....

I suppose the makers of these violent games can say its like porn. The more it is viewed the less rape goes on. I don't believe that. The more that children and young adults are exposed to and encouraged to commit violence in games the easier it gets to watch violence being perpetrated on others or to actually become violent in domestic or gang, or even military situations.

Couple of things,

Call of Duty has a "Mature" rating in most countries which is usually 18+.
The Call of Duty games main audience is usually ages 20-35, young to middle age adults that are old enough to know the difference between games and reality.
The last Call of Duty game I'm sure you will recall had the "player" playing as a terrorist shooting a bunch of innocent people in an airport. Its all hype to get sales and media attention.
I can pretty much guarantee that ANY teenager that is able to get their hands on a copy of the game has seen far worse on tv, movies and the internet.

reply to post by Mary Rose


Hello Livid, I'm Alaskan Man

i played the entire game, no where do they torture anyone, you play a guy name Mason who has been brainwashed by some nazis and russians, and your former team mates (the guys you fought previous battles with in the war) are trying to break the brainwashing to get the location of a transmiter.

no where is anyone ever tortured, your just tied up in a seat with a cigerett and needle next to you, and it looks like you got punched in the face a couple times, but that is later shown to have happened before you were put into the room (when someone was trying to stop the brainwashed you from killing a scientist).

Also.. ITS JUST A GAME!

If the world was in a state of war as it was in CoD, I'd be fine with torture. I haven't played black ops, but I'd imagine if things happened in CoD modern warfare 2 with massive EMP strikes / world war / basically everything going to hell, the least of my worries would be some guy that is a known enemy being tortured to get information to stop a gigantic war.

reply to post by Mary Rose


Mary it's rated mature which means kids under the age of 17 are not supposed to be able to purchase it. They cashier is supposed to card them.

Its rated mature because it contains mature content. Basically it's a video game for adults kinda like a rated R movie.

If I where you I'd be getting angry at the store that sold it to them unless of course they are over 17.

These types of things are only an issue when parents are letting the Xbox serve as a surrogate parent and not raising their children with a foundation of morals, familial support, and proper upbringing.

My kids could be exposed to the most heinous subjects imaginable in a video game and I wouldn't panic because I am confident that they know right from wrong. Also that they can differentiate between fantasy and reality.

~Heff

reply to post by Mary Rose


My son has this game and I've watched him playing it... too much actually. The "torture" (and it's not really torture, maybe torture light because the guy does scream a couple of times) I've seen is in the cut scenes (the "cinematic" parts that lead up to the campaigns) and the "torture" that's being done is being done to the main character (the black ops guy that the player plays) and are designed to bring back the main character's memories of different campaigns.

Most kids (my son included) would skip the cinematic parts of the game anyway - just to get to the battles - but when I'm watching, I always want to know the plot. Actually, I'm surprised at how much history is taught in this game, for the ones who actually watch the cinematic parts. When I'm watching, we talk about what's going on in it and how accurate it is. The parts of the game I've seen are all in the 50s & 60s so far - cuban missle crisis, russian

Don't get me wrong, it IS a very violent game however - just your concerns about the torture aren't really warranted as most kids wouldn't even watch the parts that it's in and it's not all that graphic anyway. More just to set the stage.

It's not something that outrages me, as a hopefully dutiful parent who has no interest in raising a terrorist or torturer.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


No, "it's only a game" doesn't fly - not in my book.

Of course, it's not just video/computer games that are violent and harmful, it's also TV and movies.

People have become desensitized to violence. It's almost as if it has become normal.

reply to post by Alaskan Man
.

Thanks for the spoiler alert.
I am not that far in the game yet.
Edit to remove silly stuff.

Thanks