Don't be so certain that there are no loop holes, it is very possible for violent video games to be banned from America.
There is of course always one possibility: A constitutional ammendment. However, amassing a super-majority in congress and convincing enough of the states for it to pass is very difficult. Plus, look at the precedent of flag-burning. A super-majority in congress supported a bill to ban it, but when the Supreme Court said the law was unconstitutional and they tried to pass a constitutional ammendment it failed. Many congressman are reluctant to turn policy issues into Constiutional Ammendments. The loophole of the bill of rights not applying to the States was ended with the fourteenth ammendment. No supreme court would uphold a ban on violent video games because of the serious precedents it would hold for other forms of media, most notably books. There are often loopholes in the law, but not really many in the Constitution
Your missing the point of that, I was merely pointing out how they were overreacting in the situation, just like if they hurt someone for cheating in the olympics it would be overreacting.
If your going to be so straightforward and pointing out comparisons, then gambling is not something you can really compare to playing a video game. One has a large connection with illegal activity, and mafias of the such. Video games on the other hand usually deal with straightforward technical saavy type people, and the only thing illegal these guys might do would have to end up being marked as cybercrimes. Sure money would be a factor in this, but that doesn't change the circumstances over so much. You gotta admit, bringing a computer game to such a level where you commit physical acts of violence and destruction of private property, then you are taking it too far.
Actually, there's a very close comparison between the too. Does some percentage of gambling have mafia connections? Yes, of course. But the illegal activity and the mafias are not a necessary component for violence to occur. Probably the highest level of gambling caused violence was in the Old West, well before any large mafias. There were small groups of friends who watched out for each other, of course, but games have these too in clans and guilds. Poker started out as a card game, no good or bad connotation to it. The crime came first, then came the bad reputation. As for video games dealing with technical saavy people, that has nothing to do with propensity for crime. I've met plenty of jerks on the internet I wouldn't hold above thug violence. Alot of poker players in the old west were just pioneers. $50,000 (as someone else said was the pot of this tournament) is as big as many high-stakes gambling games. You invest a huge portion of your money hoping to get more back but standing to lose it. If someone tries to unfairly take your investment (and as people often see it "their" $50,000) you get angry at them. You trusted them to play fair and they didn't. Whether you're playing a video game or a card game, the same elements are all there.
As I said before, I absolutely think they went to far. But I don't think the distance they went was at all unexpected given the situation. Video Gamers are not any sort of unique group of people above mob mentality or anger. This same sort of thing and much much much worse has happened to cheaters in all different situations and games. There's a definate precedent for bodily or financial harm to cheaters.
Don't be so certain that there are no loop holes, it is very possible for violent video games to be banned from America.
Your missing the point of that, I was merely pointing out how they were overreacting in the situation, just like if they hurt someone for cheating in the olympics it would be overreacting.
If your going to be so straightforward and pointing out comparisons, then gambling is not something you can really compare to playing a video game. One has a large connection with illegal activity, and mafias of the such. Video games on the other hand usually deal with straightforward technical saavy type people, and the only thing illegal these guys might do would have to end up being marked as cybercrimes. Sure money would be a factor in this, but that doesn't change the circumstances over so much. You gotta admit, bringing a computer game to such a level where you commit physical acts of violence and destruction of private property, then you are taking it too far.