Norwegian Retailer Bans Call of Duty Franchise Following Violent Attacks
Norwegian Retailer Bans Call of Duty Franchise Following Violent Attacks
Posted 08/01/2011 at 5:47am
| by Paul Lilly
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Whether or not you believe 'Guns don't kill people, people do,' one thing we can all agree on is that videogames are the true killers, responsible for raising a generation of mass murders and blood thirsty miscreants. And by "we," we're really referring to politicians looking to score some easy votes, authors of dubious studies, and overreacting retailers like Norway's Coop, which reportedly decided to ban over 50 gaming and toy brands in the wake of recent terrorist attacks that claimed 76 lives.
Gaming site Gamasutra stumbled onto an article by Danish website Gamers Globe (translated here) in which it's being reported that Coop has decided to remove several popular games and other items deemed too "realistic" in how violence is portrayed, including:
- Homefront
- Call of Duty series
- Sniper Ghost Warrior
- Counter Strike Source
- World of Warcraft
In a statement to the press, Coop Norway Retail director Geir Inge Stokke said, "The decision to remove the games was made around the time we realized the scope of the attacks. Others are better suited than us to point to the negative effects of games like these," according to a translated report in a Norwegian newspaper.
Anders Behring Breivik, the man behind the attacks, gave a shout out to World of Warcraft in his manifesto and described Modern Warfare as a training tool in his plan.
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ChatterboxChuck
August 02, 2011 at 12:58pm
Ban Zelda as it portays a child that carries a sword and kills innocent creatures hiding in bushes and then steals their ruppees and other items and can induce children to get knives and hurt other peple and steal from them.
Ban Angry Birds as it portrays animal cuelty hurting one animal (pigs) by throwing another animal at it (birds) and this can induce people to throw birds at pigs hurtng them in the process.
Ban the Need For Speed series as it portrays driving at dangerous speeds thru crowded city streets with no regard for other people or police it can induce people into doing it for real causing accidents that can hurt or kill people.
Ghok
August 01, 2011 at 8:41pm
People act strangely during tragedy. Remember, Flight Simulator was yanked off the shelves in the US for a short period of time after September 11th.
It's also pretty easy to ban something when you either don't like or don't know anything about. Not everyone likes video games. Give it a few more decades.
MrPC2010
August 01, 2011 at 7:18am
[sarcasm]Why only video games? Ban all action/horror and sci-fi movies! Ban all music with nasty words, ban alcool...[/sarcasm]
Oh and they could also better control gun traffic...
TerribleToaster
August 01, 2011 at 6:10am
Seeing as this is a suicide note, I wonder how much longer they will stick around and what other retailer will be replacing them. Or maybe the board of directors will go postal when they realize they aren't selling anything anymore and restore everything back to the way it was before (after firing the figurehead along with various managers, who are decided upon using a lottery/bingo system, as is customary).
Andacious
August 01, 2011 at 6:14am
Same here, I'm not sure how WoW fits in with any of these games...especially CoD. In CoD, theres literally an option to "opt out" of the extreme violence sections of the game...in WoW you can kill boars in the forest.. ;)
Supall
August 01, 2011 at 5:58am
Seriously? World of Warcraft is considered "realistic violence?" Next thing you know, Mario gets banned for his portrayal of speciesism.
Sarsaparilla
August 03, 2011 at 5:43pm
World of Warcraft was likely banned not because in his manifesto the murderer referenced the game directly as providing an excellent cover for other activities that might have otherwise raised suspicion. The following are quoted from the killer's manifesto:
"[U]sing social taboos is an extremely effective method from preventing people who know you well from digging too much...For example, tell them that you have started to play World of Warcraft or any other online MMO game and that you wish to focus on this for the next months/year. This "new project" can justify isolation and people will understand somewhat why you are not answering your phone over long periods. Tell them that you are completely hooked on the game (raiding dungeons etc). You will be amazed on how much you can do undetected while blaming this game. If your planning requires you to travel, say that you are visiting one of your WoW friends, or better yet, a girl from your "guild" (who lives in another country). No further questions will be raised if you present these arguments."
Info Source: http://attackofthefanboy.com/news/suspect-behind-norwegian-attacks-claims-he-used-modern-warfare-2-for-training/
Personally I find this knee jerk reaction to pull these games rather offensive.
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