Carl S. Richardson

The BBC reports that:

‘Children are able to illegally buy violent video games through online auction websites, the UK’s Trading Standards Institute has said.’

How “shocking”.

As it goes on to say:

‘Almost 90% of retailers tested by the association sold under-18s movies, such as Saw, through such outlets.’

Oh sorry silly me, I seem to have accidently edited it. Here’s the original sentence:

‘Almost 90% of retailers tested by the association sold under-18s games, such as Manhunt 2, through such outlets.’

I’m sure glad I fixed that.

I wouldn’t want people thinking games aren’t the source of all society’s ills.

Of course there’s a simple solution to this problem or so this cunt says:

‘If traders cannot be sure the person they are selling to is over 18, then they should not be selling.’

Right… that’ll be every online retailer there is then.

Of course, he means this in the context of video games, but still someone should hit him round the head and point out that you can never be sure who’s actually made the purchase. I used my mom’s debit card plenty of times when I was under 18 and no doubt I probably bought one of those nasty video games in that time. And I mean I’ve only murdered 0 people since playing grand theft auto at around 13.

It kind of reminds me of that old resident evil site where you had to be over 18 and therefore input your date of birth on the front page. A team of expert hackers would have struggled getting round that one.

Also it’s only illegal to sell the games to a minor; it isn’t illegal to actually own it. Nor is it illegal to own a banned video game.

You want a banned video game? Import it.

But at least one of the bureaucrats did state that parents and guardians had “an important role to play in making sure their children are not playing unsuitable video games”.

This is the whole point. If you don’t want your child playing a violent video game, then don’t let them.

If only it wasn’t so complicated…

With stunning visuals, vastly improved AI and a variety of other new features, including the new multiplayer, there’s no denying that Grand Theft Auto 4 makes vast improvements on its predecessor San Andreas. However, the series also seems to have taken 2 steps in the other direction, with many of the features added in San Andreas and even Vice City, nowhere to be seen.

Here’s a List of what’s missing:

Vehicles

Aeroplanes (including the awesome fighter jet and Boeing 747)
Dune Buggy
Helicopters (only 2 featured in the game with the Hunter also missing)
Quad bikes
Monster trucks
Tanks
Bicycles (BMX etc)
Hovercraft
Tractor
Combine harvester

Weapons

Explosive Charge (C4)
Minigun
Flame Thrower
Desert Eagle
Sawn off shotgun
Duel Wield
Silenced Pistol
Swords
Chainsaw (not that it would matter since body parts can’t be blown off, I mean even headshots don’t work)
Sex Toys (no big loss I hear you say)
Parachutes
Brass Knuckles
Country Rifle
Heat Seeking Rocket Launcher
Tear Gas
Fire Extinguisher
Camera (better detailed pictures)
Thermal Goggles (ok not really needed)

Mini Games

Low-rider
Dancing (personally I hated dancing)
Big Rig
Ambulance
Fire truck
Taxi (partially missing)
Burglaries
Train
Tournaments

Other Missing Features

Stats (vehicle skills, gun skills, personal stats etc)
Stealth Killings
Turf Wars
No gangs attack you (as was present in GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas)
Swimming underwater
Default jogging pace
Buying Property
Rampages
Hair Cuts (not a feature I used but the choice should be there)
Car Modifications
Tattooing
Driving schools
Countryside (awesome for driving dirt bikes but the handling sucks now anyway)
Different fighting styles
Gym
Basketball
RC Toys
Gambling (black jack, horse racing, slots etc)
Triathlon Races

Bad Points in General

Unintended 360 Button instead of hand brake
Targeting systems locking on to people behind buildings
Terrible turning especially on bikes (I bought GTA not a driving simulator)
Hard to read text in standard definition (taxi, browser and phone messages)
Limited clothing options
Unlockables suck (every side mission seemed to unlock something different in the previous games, now all there seems to be is an annihilator helicopter)
Limited soundtrack
Less variety in missions (San Andreas had you riding shot gun and shooting, dropping bombs out of the back of a truck, doing a burglary, chasing a train, doing Madd Dogs mansion using stealth attacks among other things - all on the first island)

This list is continually being updated. Feel free to comment if you can think of any others