Thailand bans Grand Theft Auto IV

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Thailand bans Grand Theft Auto IV

By Jim Reed

Newsbeat technology reporter

 

 

Copies of Grand Theft Auto IV have been pulled in Thailand after a teenager confessed to murdering a taxi driver.

 

The 18-year-old high school student is accused of stabbing the cab driver to death by trying to copy a scene from the game.

 

The biggest video game publisher in the south-east Asian country, New Era Interactive Media, has told retailers to stop selling GTA IV.

 

It is due to be replaced by another video game title.

 

Death penalty

 

Thai newspapers say the teenager, whose name has been withheld, was arrested while trying to steer a cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the driver still in the back seat.

 

Police claim the 18-year-old confessed to stealing the taxi and said he killed the 54-year-old driver after he fought back. The teenager could face the death penalty if he is found guilty.

 

Bangkok police Captain Veerarit Pipatanasak said: "He wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game.

 

"He wanted money to play the game. His parents, who work as civil servants, did not have enough money to give him."

 

Thailand's Culture Ministry has recently been pushing for tougher regulation of games like Grand Theft Auto.

 

It wants stricter age ratings and restrictions on the hours that people can play games in arcades.

 

Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the ministry's Cultural Surveillance Centre, said: "This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse. Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technolo...000/7540623.stm

Edited August 4, 2008 by Deadly_Nightshade

[Sand]

Stupid kid. Lets punish a nation because of one stupid kid.

[Hurlshort]

"He wanted money to play the game. His parents, who work as civil servants, did not have enough money to give him."

 

Wait...so he never actually played the game? How is pulling it off store shelves going to solve that problem?

[Volourn]

I noticed that, too. The kid was/is a scumbag. Not the game's fault.

[Rosbjerg]

He could've played it at a friends house - if he was trying to mimick a scene from the game obviously he's tried it.

 

But seriously normal people don't go out and kill people because they play games like that.. and if they did, then what about movies? or books? why - even going out late at night might expose you to violence.. My God! we should fill the streets with cops and cameras just to keep the insane safe from exposure to violence - it's cheaper than helping them anyway!

[steelfiredragon]

kill the kid anyway......

 

and this is not the first time I have heard of some good for nothing, lame brained idiotic foulmouthed sheet for brains playing gta, and going out killing someone or shooting them.

 

 

blaming the game is a cop out, personally gta never should of been made, it has made the gaming industry a bit of a bad reputation, but still.

 

be a man take up your own responsibility for your own actions.

[Moatilliatta]

I'll just hijack this thread for the announcement that the Real Man^TM edition is coming out November 18 (21 in Europe).

[SteveThaiBinh]

I think anybody who's ever played a video game or thought about playing a video game should be made to sit in a pit where he (or she) can't hurt normal people.

[Zoma]

You folks got to understand Asia's still conservative culture that the society operates with a collective mindset.

 

Hence the ban of the game.

[Tigranes]

Hey? I think the videogame industry/culture just has a lot less power and representation in Thailand, as opposed to the home of EA, etc. You dont see Japan shutting down the anime industry after the akihabara stabbing.

 

That said, Asian countries in general *are* more prone to a more extreme reaction, I agree.

 

I wonder if the ban will hold permanently though.

[Zoma]

You dont see Japan shutting down the anime industry after the akihabara stabbing.

 

The reason behind the stabbing is not influenced by video games, rather his stressful background and poor parental support who provided him poor emotional support but extreme expections. It was when his parents began to dot and pay attention to his younger brother and perceive him as a figurehead than a son (Because he done poorly for his school results) that set the timer of the time bomb in him. The tragedy occured when the time simply ran out and there was no one to help him to deal with the stress.

 

It was simply his way of 'commiting suicide' as he has no courage to do so by his own hands, thus he would rather the authorities do so on his behalf instead.

 

The Thailand incident on the other hand is due to the claims by the perpetuater, stating the game itself motivated him to commit the atrocity. That statement itself brings a heavy weight in terms of confession that could be used as 'evidence'. Thus any conservative government who empahsis on their cultural values in Asia would remove the game from the shelves immediately.

Edited August 7, 2008 by Zoma

[Tigranes]

True, the guy actually coming out and claiming he wanted to emulate a specific game scene isn't very common. It is interesting to speculate what might have happened if this happened in the US - would they go as far?

[Gorgon]

It's interesting to speculate whether the cops just basically slapped him around until he told them what they wanted to hear. Thailand isn't big on civil rights, and something, I can't put my finger on it, feels a little off about this story.

[Gorgon]

"He wanted money to play the game. His parents, who work as civil servants, did not have enough money to give him."

 

Wait...so he never actually played the game? How is pulling it off store shelves going to solve that problem?

I think internet cafes are still big there. Few people can afford the latest hardware.

[Wrath of Dagon]

Thinking that a game presenting murder as something fun and socially acceptable will not have an effect on anybody is extremely naive.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Thinking that a game presenting murder as something fun and socially acceptable will not have an effect on anybody is extremely naive.

 

I'm not sure the game portrays murder as "fun and socially acceptable."

[Hell Kitty]

Thinking that a game presenting murder as something fun and socially acceptable will not have an effect on anybody is extremely naive.

 

I'm not sure the game portrays murder as "fun and socially acceptable."

 

In Deus Ex you can murder everyone in the Ton and you just get lectured by your superior. At least in GTA you have cops after you.

[Nick_i_am]

You know what? People stealing things from hotel rooms is all the fault of NWN2, because in NWN2 it's fun and socially acceptable, so when people do it, it's because of NWN2, even if they havn't played it.

[Wrath of Dagon]

There's a difference between setting something in a fantasy world and setting it in a real world. Also the target audience for Deus Ex is quite different from GTA.

[Hell Kitty]

There's a difference between setting something in a fantasy world and setting it in a real world.

 

So someone who plays Call of Duty 4 is more likely to be effected* then someone who plays Doom 3? What about Hitman versus Assassin's Creed?

 

And where do you draw the line between fantasy world and real world? Both Saint's Row and GTA IV are set in fictional cities in a modern day world, though the former game takes itself far less seriously and the city of the latter more closely resembles the city it is based on.

 

Is killing an innocent bystander in GTA or Hitman really any different to doing the same thing in Deus Ex, simply because DX is set in a future sci-fi world?

 

Also the target audience for Deus Ex is quite different from GTA.

 

What exactly is the target audience for these two games, and why are they more or less likely to emulate the actions of characters in the game world?

 

 

 

* By that I mean they are more likely to emulate what they see in the game.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

There's a difference between setting something in a fantasy world and setting it in a real world.

 

Bull****. For example, I might have played JFK Reloaded, but that does not mean that I fantasise about assassination - your logic smacks of post hoc proctor hoc to me.

[Wrath of Dagon]

I find the fact that you played it deeply disturbing already.

[Wrath of Dagon]

What exactly is the target audience for these two games, and why are they more or less likely to emulate the actions of characters in the game world?

The target audience for GTA includes a lot of stupid immature kids whose parents don't care what they do with their time.

[Hell Kitty]

What exactly is the target audience for these two games, and why are they more or less likely to emulate the actions of characters in the game world?

The target audience for GTA includes a lot of stupid immature kids whose parents don't care what they do with their time.

 

You don't see to understand what "target audience" is. Pedophiles may well watch Lolita, but they aren't the target audience.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

I find the fact that you played it deeply disturbing already.

 

Why would that disturb you? Personally, I found the "game" well done but boring -although it was interesting to create "what if" scenarios-, but that is ok for it was never intended to be entertaining; it was created to help put an end to conspiracy theories. As for the action of shooting, I found it little different from playing Sniper Elite -the two are surprisingly similar, although the latter is much more fun- although I do prefer killing Nazis to shooting Presidents.