Microsoft video game gun image flap

[Dave Workman]

Is Microsoft showing some anti-gun hypocrisy with gamer gun flap?

Microsoft, that Redmond-based multi-billion-dollar software giant, is in the middle of a flap amongst video game aficionados because of a restriction that reportedly takes effect Jan. 1 that prohibits video game players from arming their avatars with anything that looks like a gun.

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[mpmarty]

I don't care in the least. I don't use anything made by Microscoff anyway. Most of it (windoze?) is trash.

 

[The Duck]

If a gun for a avatar is to extreme, maybe Microsoft should look at banning games with them: COD, Battlefield maybe even Halo? They won't miss those billions of dollars in game sales and be able to keep a safe Xbox-Live experience for everyone...

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

I can see xbox sale drop.

 

[deen_ad]

We just helped one grandson got one for Christmas. He loves the shoot um up games.

 

[tallshipsgo]

Here's old billy with a shotgun. Sorta. <broken link removed> Stupid. I wonder if MS is going to do the same thing Steven Spielberg did to ET and require that all devs replace all the guns in the video games with walkie talkies. I still think Spielberg should replace every gun in every movie he's ever made (pretty much all of them) with walkie talkies. Can you imagine Saving Private Ryan then? It actually makes me laugh.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

Here's old billy with a shotgun. Sorta. <broken link removed> Stupid. I wonder if MS is going to do the same thing Steven Spielberg did to ET and require that all devs replace all the guns in the video games with walkie talkies. I still think Spielberg should replace every gun in every movie he's ever made (pretty much all of them) with walkie talkies. Can you imagine Saving Private Ryan then? It actually makes me laugh.

 

[BillyDa59]

I cannot say for sure why Microsoft would do this. But I can tell you that I have it on good authority that Microsoft has its own company gun club.

I can also speculate as to what all this fuss is about:
Interestingly, I had sort of gotten word about this big 'no guns for Xbox Live avatars' thing almost 2 years ago now... I was working as tech support on a Microsoft contract and during training they made it a point to mention that "the only two weapons in the entire market place that you can buy for your avatar are light sabers." So really it's not an anti-gun thing, it's just a matter of no weapons for the avatars, since the avatars aren't ESRB rated content, seeing as they're mainly not in the the actual games... they're just on the Xbox dashboard.

I imagine the whole ESRB unrated thing is seen as a potential legal issue because there's always a possibility of an angry soccer mom saying "the weapons that the little avatar figures have are tantamount to violence and imply possible fighting, and because the avatars are on the dashboard, it completely undermines the ESRB rating system and exposes my sensitive children to violence."

I honestly think this is what's up, and I really don't figure Microsoft for an anti-gun company.

 

[Dave Workman]

Billy:

I'm aware of the Microsoft Gun Club. It was not created by Microsoft, but is permitted by the company and they meet on the Microsoft campus, but are not permitted to bring firearms there.

 

[deen_ad]

Billy:

I'm aware of the Microsoft Gun Club. It was not created by Microsoft, but is permitted by the company and they meet on the Microsoft campus, but are not permitted to bring firearms there.

Admittedly it's been years since I was there, but I carried while there, in the store and main buildings.