Police: 'No Reason' For Adults To Own Animal Crossing
I'm from Missouri. I love Missouri. Today, I also kinda hate Missouri: speaking in the context of preventing pedophiles from making contact with potential victims through online games, Andy Anderson of the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force made the following declaration:
"There is no reason an adult should have [Animal Crossing: City Folk],"
Followed by:
Anderson says adults playing "Animal Crossing" and similar games are likely doing it for the wrong reasons.
Great logic there, chief. I am so proud.
Pursuing the story to its mid-Mo roots doesn't reveal any forgiving context, and Game Politics conveniently provided this link to a lengthy forum conversation concerning adults who love to play Animal Crossing. Without touching children. It's a Christmas miracle!
Please, sound off. For all the fun I've poked at Fruit Brute and Mikey for their Animal Crossing obsessions over the years, this is the first time I've heard that enjoying a video game means you're a pedophile.
But before any of that, I'd like to remind anyone and everyone of this heartbreaking video about a dying mother (an adult, no less) and what she felt was a very good reason for playing Animal Crossing.
Cybercop: No Good Reason For Adults to Own Animal Crossing [GamePolitics]
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 17 March 2009
· Comments (17)
Other stuff like this: animal crossing, idiots, internet crimes, mid missouri internet crimes task force, missouri, pedophilia
I'm from MO, too, and I can't believe an official from this state can be this stupid. :-\
I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toy's R Us Kid.
That post made my brain go numb, and I facepalmed as well after reading it and watching that video.
AAnderson@boonecountymo.org - Heres the guys E-mail if you want to E-mail him about this, but well, please keep it civil.
just what kind of sick adult plays these games...oh wait..me. It seems obvious that this individual has never even played the game, much less know enough about it to make that statement
Considering Missouri has two of the cities with the highest crime rates in the states (See: St. Louis and it's pretty much unending streak of being #1 for murders), we have the dumbest cops ever.
Sometimes I think the Ozark mountains are made of lead.
Wait, I play Animal Crossing. Oh....
Seriously, I only have it for the DS, and don't play online...so what are MY wrong reasons??? I can't wait for the MO officials to tell me!
Maybe he took "Touch Generations" too seriously!
What a fat load of bullshit.
I can't help but remember the comic about how this one person's Mom who was confined to being in the house due to a illness found happiness in Animal Crossing on the Gamecube. There is reasons for adults to own this game. Be it entertainment or finding happiness in the little things.
Again...what a fat load of bullshit and ignorant as hell.
I'm 19, and I play City Folk
and Pokemon
and plan on continuing to play video games, whether they be "adult aimed" or not until I die
I saw this story too. Strange thing is in the next sound bite he actually says some info that makes sense, which left me more confused:
He recognizes that parents need to not be paranoid, but cautious of their children's online activity, and that ultimately it is up tot he parents... yet also states that adults shouldn't be playing the games. Almost makes me think he was either misquoted, or caught in the "only kids play videogames" mentality.
Wow... just saw the video with the interview with him... he definitely said that... wow...
For a guy who has been involved in Internet crime prevention and all that, it's amazing that he could be so effin' stupid. Here's a game that encourages polite interaction among the players and the animated characters, that is non-violent, doesn't have profane characters, etc., etc., etc., and this bonehead calls it out? Maybe it is time for him to take a break from his job and touch base with reality. Dude, there is life away from sexual predators. Come back to Earth.
I'm not throwing my hat in with this guy, but we've hit critical mass with the number of people who want to boil his eyeballs in soup, so I get to be the obligatory prick who tries to defend him (As per the rules of internet forums).
I used to work on the film crew for a major news station and I can recall plenty of instances where reporters were fishing for certain responses. After a series of general questions about the typical demographic of gamers, and especially those who play games like AC (Which, to people who don't know much about games, is kids), an interviewer might say something like, "So can you think of any reason why an adult would be playing a [kid's game]?" -- Clearly the answer is loaded right in the question. The art of montage makes it so his statement is completely taken out of context, and we end up with headlines like "The police think you're a pedophile!" (No offense tiny).
Perhaps sensing the hysteria the news crew was hoping to incite in its audience, he even curbs the statement by saying that people don't need to paranoid, just aware.
Thus, before you write him a letter telling him you want to sodomize his eye-sockets, keep in mind that he is just some poor joe who is an authority on child protection, not video games, and the people who parents who get hysterical over his statements were already pretty dumb to begin with. Don't be like them.
That said, the moment I saw this story I immediately thought of Wootini =P
I emailed and got what seems to be a standard reply I saw on another website the excact same thing. It didn't even answer any of my questions...
Thanks for taking the time to comment. We decided to do the story to let viewers know children had been contacted inappropriately through the game. It was not intended to be an indictment of the game or a smear piece on any form of interactive entertainment. The point of the story was to make parents aware so they could decide whether or not they needed to keep a watchful eye on their kids' activities. The reporter even wrapped the story up by stressing police were not putting this information out to make people paranoid rather trying to make them aware. Again, thanks for taking the time to write. We'll consider your comments when we cover similar stories in the future.
Curtis Varns
News Director
ABC 17/FOX 38/MyZou 32/Stormtrack 24/7
curtisv@kmiz.com
That's a very strange statement since the commercials I've seen for Animal Crossing: City Folk involve women lounging comfortable on plush couches excitedly pointing the Wii-mote at their television as they exclaim "Lets go shopping." It could just be me but I kinda think Nintendo was trying to attract hip women with those commercials.
The official Nintendo commercial for "City Folk" features two adult women playing the game.
... there were no children involved.
Hrm.
My mother loves Animal Crossing. And as far as I know, she is not a pedophile.
LOL, it's Missouri, I'm not surprise this was said.
Redneck states tend to have dumber people than anywhere.