Filerush have a torrent. I'm maxing my download bandwidth at 50k/s at the moment.

The difference between AGP 4x and 8x is pretty much negligible.

You changed motherboards without re-installing Windows? Good grief man! I'm amazed you're not having more problems...

This comment was edited on Dec 14, 14:52.

I got my 9500 Pro working in Red Hat 9 for a while, then it stopped working when I switched kernel's, and every time I've tried fixing it since then it's failed.

Sad to say, btu nVidia support in Linux is a whole boatload better.

Well hopefully the next GTA game will say "kill all the white people"

Seemingly it went without saying in Vice City, it was just assumed you were killing all the white people.

For goodness sake, I wish people wouldn't be so sensitive over this kind of thing. If people paid attention to what was actually going on, rather than getting hung up on words, these things would never get to this stage. It's just the idea that the minute people hear any word that relates to their ethnic group it must obviously be bad, regardless of context. Like people freaking out the minute anything is referred to as "black".

In this context, the Haitians being referred to are the guys you are out to kill. The game knows this, the player knows this. It's not referring to all Haitians everywhere and any fool can see this. Well, it seems not any fool can see this, as some clearly can't.

If the game were to out and out say "all Haitians are drug dealing fiends" or "kill all the Haitians in the world" then maybe it would be a problem. But it doesn't, and it isn't.

Stupid.

It seems, having read this http://libertus.net/censor/fallacies.html#vg that the game was in fact entitled Custer's Revenge."

The article only said this about the "Custard's Revenge" Title.

"(Note: There was apparently a game called Custers Revenge produced and available for the Atari 2600 system in the early 1980s. That may or may not have some connection with claims that a game titled Custer's Last Stand was allegedly poised hit the Australian market in 1992/93.)"

BJB

Well, when I searched for "Custer's Last Stand", that urban myth site was the best I got, but it pointed me in the direction of Custer's Revenge which I searched for, and it seems that was real.

And on the other hand...

Does anyone recall the furor over an old independantly produced 1980's Atari 2600 game cart called "Custer's Last Stand" (CLS)? In it the player as Custer had various options to sexually molest an Indian 'squaw' that was tied to a post. The public was shocked and outraged and the game was forcibly killed and recalled.

Yet the same arguments made defending GTA3 apply to CLS.

Yet again I've no doubt GTA3 defenders would be appalled at CLS, or at the "kill the negroes" Quake mod that popped up a few months ago, and would have no problem Banning THOSE games. Cuz those games are Bad and Wrong.

But oh no, not the Sacred Holy Righteous GTA3.
That game is Freedom of Expression which is clearly Different.
Right.

Game defenders and critics alike are equally guilty of phoney baloney convenient rationalizations, situation ethics, and selective hypocrisy.

Normally I'm all for censorship, but I'd actually stand up for GTA3 here, same as I stood up for Hitman 2 all those months ago. It's not targeting all people in that ethnic group, just a specific set, and with an arguably well founded reason.
Sexually molesting a squaw in CLS? That's a bit over the line really. Or killing niggers (oooh, I said it!) in a Quake mod... that's just outright racist. Are you killing the niggers because they moved in on your turf and stole your drug market (or whatever the reason in GTA3 is) or just because they're black? The thing is, in GTA3 it could be anyone involved. You could be killing people of any ethnic origin. The reason for killing them isn't their ethnic origin, it's their gang affiliation or whatever. Same as I'm sure you kill white gang members in the same game.

I doubt CLS featured the option to rape any white women.

That said, I find it interesting that we accept murder in games, yet decry sex type stuff. Mind you, I guess you can argue that killing someone achieves a goal for the greater good, whereas rape, it's fair to say, doesn't.

Edit added below:

It seems, having read this http://libertus.net/censor/fallacies.html#vg that the game was in fact entitled Custer's Revenge.
This comment was edited on Dec 9, 17:38.

you can piss on each other...
...one BIG flaw is the aiming. maybe its because there were only slow ass servers (still I had a 90 ping) but it was pretty fucked up. I couldnt hit shit.

That actually sounds pretty realistic to me. I mean, come on guys, own up - we all know we piss on the floor more often than we'd like. The aiming isn't always perfect, huh?

Argh. Unified ammo is not a good thing! I don't care about all the arguments about how it would actually be done - we're talking about a guy with nano-augmented muscles for goodness sake - I'm sure there's a way it could be done if you really dig around for some crazy explanation...

But why? It's *not* good for the game. There's no longer any reason to conserve any kind of ammo, no excitement when you find a clip of sniper ammo, no need to switch tactics when you run out of said sniper ammo and have to go toe to toe against an MJ12 commando with just your sword and your combat aug...

No, it's not a good thing and never will be. Has any other RPG ever had unified ammo? Not that I can think of. Sure, there's magic type things with a generic cover all mana type thing, but that's what your bio-energy translates to in this.

No, I will never approve of the unified ammo thing.

This comment was edited on Dec 8, 09:52.

The government should not be able to decide for us what the children in our society what they can or cannot play. I personaly dont see anything wrong with FPS's and the such. Sure they all involve killing various types of enemies, but just look at the type they kill. That is where people are blind. They see violence in killing someone, but games like Rainbow six, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor and even Jedi Academy... What do all these games have in common other than enemies being killed? The battle between GOOD and EVIL. I myself am 27 and an avid gamer and have been since before i could comprehend what it was all about and I havent played many games where I was the bad guy., The games that let you take out terrorists, Nazis, demons, I say we need more games like these. Screw what any government official says.

Those aren't the kind of games they're bitching about though. They are making a fuss about games like Grand Theft Auto 3 and True Crime. I'm sure they'd have a field day with Mafia if it were more popular. Max Payne probably wouldn't go down too well either. These are all games in which you play the bad guy.

Actually, I do find something morally questionable in playing those kind of games, especially the more anarchic ones like the GTA series. In most violent games the cause is for the greater good - the violence leads to some kind of improvement (no matter how outlandish, be it alien invasions or saving the world from terrorism) which in utilitarian terms is a good thing. Games like GTA have you as the bad guy... which is kinda weird.

Again I say, parents should not police their kids, they should give their kids and example to look up to. If you provide a bad example, or no example at all, than no amount of policing will stop the kid from doing bad things. But if you show them how to be a good person through your own actions, then no amount of bad influence will turn them astray.

See the point? Whats needed is not a lack of negative influence, its an adundance of positive.

I like the idea, but it's somewhat flawed. I know any number of people (not least my brother) who have had an exemplary example from parents, but have been led astray by bad influences. It happens, whether you like it or not. And that's why parents need to police the activities of their chilren.

It's up to parents

My point exactly.

Yes, it's a bit of a generalisation, but sadly the law often has to cater to the lowest common denominator. You can't say "OK, kids aren't allowed to play violent games unless you're a responsible parent" because everyone thinks they're a responsible parent regardless.

I hate it as much as you do, but the government has to do something about it because a lot of parents are doing such a lousy job.

kids are not stupid, they know games are games.

That's not really true. Why do little kids do things like talk to the TV then?

Kids are taught right from wrong from their parents,

Are they? Not so much as they should be. Parents are doing a worse job raising their children by the minute.

but we all have it in our minds we are not born stupid, if a kid cannot tell that it is wrong to murder someone and cannot tell the difference between real life and games then they already have problems.

Yeah, problems that for a large part stem from bad parenting. How does a kid know that it's wrong to kill if they are never taught it? When you're young violence is a very viable option when it comes to getting your way, and if you never learn otherwise...

Hey, anyone think I've got an axe to grind here?

Step 1: Obtain Child.
Step 2: Purchase sensory deprivation chamber.
Step 3: Feed child sugar-free flavorless vitamin-paste.

Step 3a: Marvel at the fact that the kid survives with no fibre without his guts rotting out and digesting themselves

Step 4: Continue until 18.
Step 5: Release perfectly happy child out into the violent, obscene world.

The point isn't taking kids out of the world, it's teaching them the right attitude about it, and I'm sorry - but games don't give a valid world view. At young ages kids don't really know what's right or wrong, and if you let them play violent games or watch violent films they will get a warped view and it will be harder for them to know right from wrong.

Over protective parenting does accomplish anything, other than the kids being pissed at you for not allowing them to do something that is so obviously harmless. Its because of people like this that every time I switch on TBS (Superstation), every swear word is replaced with "snap" and "dang". If you seriously think that swearing, or porn, or pretend violence warps kids minds, then you really shouldn't be in a position to make any sorts of decisions regarding whats kids should and should not be allowed to do.

OK, so it's not kids listening to bad language or seeing violent stuff in films or games and stuff. I'm glad we've established that.

Well that, and and the fact that kids grow up listening to "I'm 'a cap yo' ass nigga, then off to 'ma crib to smoke to chronic and mack them hoes."

What, like in the films you mean? Make your mind up.

But getting parents to approve the games isn't even any better, since the media has put such a scare on the parents that the only thing they're going to buy for their kids is Barbie's Play Magic Funhouse or something like that. I

don't think that some of the games currently rated "M" are so violent as to warp kid's fragile little minds. The only stuff that I can currently think of that should not be sold to minors is Manhunt, since from what I hear thats really twisted. Games like Max Payne 2 or Vice City, just let them buy it. I mean, if the kid is over 14 or something, and doesn't have a crazy look in his eye, just let the kids play. Don't they realize the huge hypocrisy in trying to limit violent video games while promoting violence (as long as its labeled "peacekeeping") in almost every form of media.

Its great that I'm in Canada, where politicians still have some sort of rational thought left, and where these people can't infiringe upon my rights to buy video games.

That depends on the parents. My parents were flat out against me playing Mortal Kombat when it first came out (I was like 10 at the time, maybe a bit older, how long ago did it come out?), but they relaxed after a few years and are now accustomed to the fact that I'm perfectly OK playing violent games. But it is totally up to the parent, and they have to take an interest in what their child is going, which means more than just buying the kid anything they ask for.

<i>step 3) optionally, in the case of a kid getting someone who is not their parent to buy the game for them, get a signature and a phone number or something..</i>

This isn't /. you know, no HTML

This isn't alcohol, or cigarettes... Does anyone really worry about some 8 year old playing a video game and when his parents tell him he has to go to bed he gets mad and grabs a gun and wants to keep playing?

Parents have to enforce the rules! Not retailers, not cops, PARENTS. If you have a kid and you tell him/her he can't play that game, GUESS WHAT, you'll have to watch him like a hawk, check his computer/xbox multiple times per day, sneak around his/her room while at school, eaves drop on him with his friends, meet his friends parents, find out if his friends have the game, monitor what he spends his money on, and that is just for starters! KIDS ARE SNEAKY LITTLE BASTARDS. I was!

And that makes it right, how? Parents need to do the legwork because if they don't their kids will grow up to be right little so and so's, as is happening more and more often these days.

This comment was edited on Nov 30, 17:40.

I fully agree that violent games should be rated and access to them restricted to those of a suitable age. I don't think kids should be playing violent games, as they de-sensitise them and give them an inaccurate picture of the world.

However, the reasoning is all wrong. Games do not teach people to stalk, maim, torture and kill. Sure, a lot of them involve killing, some involve stalking... but torture, maiming? Show me one game that involves torturing someone (actually Contract J.A.C.K. has a torture sequence but it's totally removed from reality) and teaches you how to torture someone...

As has been said earlier, games don't teach you anything of value in real word use. Shooting a gun in a game is nothing like shooting a gun in real life. The idea itself is just hilarious to be honest.

I think the Liebermann thing is still a hoax. The one bit that suggests that to me is on the page where they talk about the softtware that comes with the system. It talks about internet software, and says that the computer comes with Trillian instant messenger installed.

I very much doubt Microsoft would license it's software (Windows XP) to a company that was going to use a differnet IM client, when Windows comes with MSN messenger as part of it.

Just watching that Mario 3 thing (after some faffing with xine in Linux - bah)... it's just insane. The guy's jumps are perfect. Every time. HOW???? It's mental.

I've electrocuted myself a couple of times. My dad's computer once electrocuted me when I was taking it apart, and my model railway once got me when I was young enough to have a model railway.