Free Republic

The Taliban, earlier this month, prohibited women and families from accessing the garden restaurants in Herat. Video games, foreign movies, and music have been outlawed in Afghanistan under the Taliban government because they are considered to be anti-Islamic. This ban is first imposed in the western city of Herat in Afghanistan. More than 400 firms in Herat had to shut down as a result of the sudden ban enforced by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. According to Maulana Azizurrahman Mohajir, the provincial head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of...

Video games have come a long way since the Atari was released in 1977. From super-realistic graphics to complex storylines and deep gameplay, games have already ascended far beyond what most people in the late '70s ever thought was possible... Some of those games are truly timeless, often because their design is simple enough that it'll always be fun or their artistry leaves an impact that can't go out of style. On the other hand, there are some that, while they're still remembered and revered for their influence historically, just don't stand the test of time. Much of what was...

Playing videogames could trigger a potentially fatal cardiac episode in children with existing heart conditions, according to an international study published this week. The study, "Life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death during electronic gaming," examined 22 incidents in which children between the ages of seven and 16 experienced an irregular heartbeat, either proven or suspected, and lost consciousness while playing videogames. Six of the children suffered cardiac arrest, and four died. "This is a relatively small study, but we still found a number of cases where children who were actively engaged in video games had a very severe cardiac event,"...

Against the backdrop of major events in American history like the Civil War and the Great Depression, “The Toys that Built America” shares a different story—one that brings new products and nostalgic toys to the forefront as driving forces behind untold cultural and economic shifts

Grand Theft Auto VI — the most anticipated video game release of all time — has promised to be more “culturally sensitive” as Rockstar works to become a more “progressive” company. The Grand Theft Auto series has long been known for crass satire that targets all groups. GTA VI — which has been anticipated for close to a decade — will be the first series entry to feature a playable female character. The famous outlaw couple Bonnie and Clyde will serve as the basis for the game’s main duo, according to a recent Bloomberg article. Fans have largely been fine...

Both 'Riders Republic' and 'Skull & Bones' will highlight real world climate issues Ubisoft is set to bring awareness to climate change and climate-related issues using in-game events within Riders Republic and Skull & Bones. Taking place later this year or early 2023, Riders Republic will host the “short and intense” Phoenix live event. It won’t be announced to players proactively but once underway, players will be immediately immersed when booting the game. Speaking about it, Ubisoft wrote: “We will be promoting strategies to reduce wildfire frequency and size as well as have an emotional impact on players regarding the...

The co-owner of a major gaming organization lost his marbles following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the notorious 49-year-old pro-abortion Roe v. Wade ruling. 100 Thieves co-owner and YouTube streamer Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop cried on Twitter after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization court decision released Friday found that “[t]he Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.” Dunlop responded by smearing his U.S. citizenship: “I’m currently not proud to be an American. Women no longer have body autonomy.” Dunlop currently enjoys social media stardom, replete with over 1.9 million Twitter followers and 3.7 million YouTube subscribers....

Disturbing new video obtained by The Post shows demented Robb Elementary School shooter Salvador Ramos grinning as he holds up a bag of blood-soaked dead cats. The deranged 18-year-old gunman is seen smiling in the undated footage while sitting in the passenger seat of a pal’s car — holding up a clear plastic bag with at least two bloodied cats visible inside. [cut] The sicko was previously rumored to have had a fascination with dead cats and had threatened to kidnap, kill and rape girls who shunned him online. “The shooter was known for hurting cats,” said David Trevino Jr.,...

In yet another tragic mass shooting, Salvador Ramos, 18, slaughtered 19 innocent children and two much-loved teachers at Robb Elementary school, in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday before being killed in a shoot out with a Border Patrol officer and local law enforcement. It is the second deadliest shooting in US history after the infamous Sandy Hook massacre in 2012 - which saw 26 people killed - and has once again left people asking how someone could commit such a heinous crime. As the country tries to make sense of the tragedy, stories about Ramos are beginning to emerge from those...

Last Saturday’s mass shooting was both foreseeable and preventable, but not in the manner you might think. First, let’s start with what we know about Saturday’s events: 1. An 18-year-old shot and killed black people that he targeted 2. The individual (we won’t use his name so as not to empower him) was the subject of a mental-health investigation last year while in high school 3. We don’t know what radicalized him, but we do know he was very active on social media 4. We can also reasonably assume that this individual’s perception of reality was guided by confusing and...

“He was definitely into video games - shooter games,” a classmate observed about the Buffalo grocery-store mass murderer. A British tabloid reported this truth about the tragic massacre, while liberal American media hid this crucial detail from their one-sided accounts. Classmates confirm his devotion to online streaming video games, but internet trolls quickly shouted down anyone suggesting this link. Even a black former lineman for the Green Bay Packers was forced to delete a tweet pointing out the obvious similarity between what happened in Buffalo and the shooter video games. In a rare split a decade ago between Supreme Court...

Once More From the Top: Why Video Games Do Not Cause Real-World Problems,The mainstream media loves to perpetuate a moral panic against the nerds. Following the horrific mass shooting in Buffalo on Saturday, many prominent voices in the media couldn't trip over themselves fast enough to blame the shooting on the one thing we know for sure wasn't responsible: violent video games. Going back decades, accusing gamers for the world’s problems is a popular pastime for the media. Too bad for these finger-wagging luddites that thousands of scientific peer-reviewed studies have repeatedly shown that there is no link between video...

The neurologist said Pam Stevens' cognitive impairment couldn't be treated. After suffering a stroke in 2014, the 79-year-old wasn't responding to medication. She and her husband, Pete Stevens, were told to give up hope. "On two separate occasions, over a two-year period, the neurologist said there was nothing we could do," said Pete Stevens. "He said 'just take her home and be prepared that she's gonna die.'" But he refused to accept that grim prognosis. He was willing to try anything — including an experimental video game therapy — to restore Pam's brain. After a referral from her psychiatrist, the...

Last month the Military Health System put out a release that helped justify my father’s reasoning for ignoring my ongoing pleas for a Nintendo Entertainment System during my formative years – video games make you lazy. Granted, he was also worried about us monopolizing the TV in the living room, but his approach does reinforce the concerns in the release – namely that new recruits are struggling with initial entry training, or boot camp, because their bodies are just too weak.Quoting the release, “Today’s recruits are coming from a far more sedentary lifestyle, making their skeletons more prone to injuries...

Medics say repeated strenuous movements wore down one of the vertebrae in his neck, and causing it to finally crack. Experts at the University of Leipzig Hospital, who treated the man, believe this is the world's first documented of VR-related stress fracture. Detailing the case in a medical journal, the team wrote the unidentified man's injury resembled ones seen in runners and soldiers. The man went to the hospital after experiencing a sharp pain in his shoulders while playing a game. Doctors did not reveal what game he was playing, but said it required him to move his body to...

A Tabletop Simulator review bomb is underway after a trans user was banned from the game's chat. The user alleges that the devs banned her because she's a gay and trans woman, and many of the negative reviews point to this as the reason behind their score. Why is this Tabletop Simulator review bomb happening? Over on Twitter, user Xoe details her experiences with Tabletop Simulator. She shows screenshots that show her being banned by one of the game's mods after she declares that she's gay. She then takes to the Tabletop Simulator Discord to discover the reason behind her...

Sony managers were apparently too abrasive when they didn’t stay in the same room as women with the door shut and for showing genuine concern for women’s personal lives.

SANTA MONICA, CA—Activision surprised the gaming world with a new game trailer revealing the next game in the popular Call of Duty series. Set to be released any day now, Call of Duty: Rittenhouse lets you defend your home from a horde of bloodthirsty communists. “Developers have toiled this past year without sleep, food, or contact with loved ones, so we could launch this politically poignant and incredibly fulfilling game in time for the Holidays and the jury’s verdict of not guilty,” said Activision CEO, Roberto Activision. Some reviewers with advanced copies have expressed worry about how the game presents...

It took three years for players to notice the "offensive" hand gesture lurking in one of South Korea's most popular multiplayer games. When players made their avatars laugh, talk or give the "OK" sign in "Lost Ark," they clicked an icon featuring a gesture that might have appeared benign to many: an index finger nearly touching a thumb. But some of "Lost Ark's" users began claiming in August that the gesture was a sexist insult against men, and they demanded its removal. What happened next underscores a trend in South Korea among anti-feminists, who have been increasingly pushing companies to...

John Gibson, the CEO of the video game publisher responsible for the titles Chivalry and Killing Floor, is out of a job after he publicly voiced his pro-life views in the wake of Texas’ so-called “Heartbeat bill,” which makes it illegal to surgically abort a fetus once cardiac activity is detected in the fetus. Posting on Twitter, the Tripwire Interactive boss wrote that he was “proud of the [United States Supreme Court] affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat.” Gibson stated that the reason he was speaking out on the issue was because of how vocal...