GUILTY GEAR: Clinton show ad during June 1, 1999 speech on Video Game Violence #TechThrowback

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June 1, 1999

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT CLINTON

ON CHILDREN, VIOLENCE AND MARKETING

And if you look at some of these ads, it's hard to argue with a straight face that the games were made for adults in the first place. Like the one Arthur mentioned.

Advertisements have a particular role here. They have the power to egg children on and lure them in. Every parent knows what response a commercial for sugar cereal or the latest Star Wars toy will get from their children. People advertise because it works. They want that product and, one way or the other, they're determined to get it. So we ought to think twice about the impact of ads for so-called "first person shooter video games," like the recent ad for a game that invites players to -- and I quote -- "get in touch with your gun-toting, cold-blooded murdering side."

I was given -- today, Arthur brought me the magazine with the ad that he mentioned, and he was kind enough to mark it for me. There really is a gun here. It says: More fun than shooting your neighbor's cat. I was given another ad that says: What kind of psycho drives a school bus into a war zone? And here's a school bus, heavily armed. This came out right after the incident in Springfield, Oregon.

Here's an ad that turns the argument I just made on its head: Psychiatrists say it's important to feel something when you kill. And then it goes on to say, you ought to get this technology because it bumps and you feel it. It says: Every sensation, every vibration, every mutilation, nine programmable weapons buttons. Customizable feedback software. Push the stick that pushes back and feel your pain. And here's one that's the most unbelievable of all. It says: Kill your friends guilt-free.

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