Play Nintendo's Animal Crossing? Congratulations. You're a rapist.

[uberreiniger]

http://www.kmiz.com/news/story.php?id=13725

According to one Missouri law enforcement official, no adult has any reason to play Animal Crossing unless they're out to molest children.

I don't play Animal Crossing, don't know the first thing about it. But I am an online gamer and what affects one section of our community affects us all. This is ridiculous. Of course children have to be very careful on the internet, whether they're playing a video game or doing their homework. But for that guy to imply that any adult who plays a certain video game is a criminal is unbelievable. A lot of adults get interested in online games *because* of their children playing them and it actually becomes a good way for families to bond. If I have a young daughter and she teaches me to play Animal Crossing and I enjoy it and start playing on my own am I now a rapist? This is ridiculous. Granted this is a state crime task force guy talking and not, say, the federal government. But since internet crimes are often federal in nature since they cross state lines, it might be worth watching which way the wind blows this particular fire.

Comments

[ayashi.livejournal.com]

Whatttt. :(

[tempest-azure.livejournal.com]

That dude is fucking retarded.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Mid-Missouri = podunkville. Law Enforcement types tend to frown on games that aren't FPS anyway, so I imagine this guy's just letting his biases blow in the wind.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I do agree that once you're east of Kansas City you're in the twilight zone...

[donkeyjon.livejournal.com]

Wow, just.....wow.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Not just WoW but potentially every online game! :P

[shadowfell.livejournal.com]

I really like the part with "Adults have no reason to own these games." Oh shit. Does that mean I eventually have to grow out of Super Mario and the Legend of Zelda? As long as they remain free of the internet, I guess they're okay.

People are dumb.

And P.S. Why are we letting our young children play these games online without any parental supervision anyway? I know...let's be reasonable here...

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Unrelated to the specific content of this post - I'm just wondering what percentage of your "hell_is_coming" entries also carry the "internet_in_general" tag...

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I haven't counted but probably not as many as you'd think.

[tempest-azure.livejournal.com]

That icon is extremely disturbing.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Futurama is a surprisingly good source of troubling imagery.

[tempest-azure.livejournal.com]

I stand corrected...That icon is even more disturbing then the other.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

We can carry on like this all day, babe :)

[tempest-azure.livejournal.com]

Wow...For the sake of my brain and some of my favorite shows/movies that I might not be able to look at right again...I give. Though in LotR they did make Sam and Frodo a little gay.

[rainecloud.livejournal.com]

[stitchedsutures.livejournal.com]

I hear ya!

I've been playing Little Big Planet (which Brian got me for Christmas) a little each week, a lot of times online. Once I was playing with these two people who ended up being a mother and child. The kid had one of those microphones on (didn't know it... hah! I could hear them talking to their parents about "this person seems nice, but I know I shouldn't give out my name or information!"). What a cool mom to sit and play that game online with their kiddo. Eventually the kid and I just kept playing until I had to make dinner.

Just a random story about playing online with parents and kids and not being a rapist in the process.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Clearly however, you should be black bagged, thrown in a van, and brought in for questioning just the same. After all, if you've done nothing wrong then you've got nothing to hide...

[rustie25.livejournal.com]

The one upside to having a bunch of video game dorks for friends is that I know they will check on that kind of stuff for their kids, because they know how. I plan to play with my kids (should i ever get to have any) and know what they are doing on the internet, either on the computer or video games. I also like the kids games better than stupid FPS or that GTA thing...rock band all the way! Mario all the way!

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Kid's games - like kid's literature - aren't just for kids anymore. "The whole family can enjoy" used to just be a meaningless slogan, but more and more it's true. I think people making things have finally figured out that kids don't like being talked down or condescended to, thus you get games etc. that are enjoyable for kids and adults. Alas, the Missouri internet crime division must not have gotten the memo...

[ravenbrenna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I heard about this the other day and was like wtf?!?! I hate narrow minded people who think like that.

[nightshade-7976.livejournal.com]

Wow...that's just lovely. I'm not that into video games, but my GOD!!! I certainly don't think someone's a rapist based on whether or not they play a certain type of video game! *rolls eyes*

[germsama.livejournal.com]

Nevermind the fact that, thanks to Nintendo's Friend Code system, there's no way to contact a child without actually knowing them first. How is this person keeping their job??

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

By appealing to the subset of parents who believe there are "real life occult spells and rituals" in Dungeons & Dragons and Harry Potter books.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Wait, how does the Friend Code system prevent contact?

[germsama.livejournal.com]

Players that are going to play together have to exchange their twelve digit friend codes and be on-line at the same time in order for it to work. Pedophiles can't just walk on to a kid's farm and start courting them unless the child's previously contacted them elsewhere and given them a friend code to infiltrate. It's a big enough pain in the ass for actual friends to get it all worked out.