Violence and media

[Akrid]

This has probaley already been discussed before, but I dont recall a topic on it. Anyway I still hear people moaning about video games make people violent and join gangs and other such BS. I belive thats wrong. I have played violent video games all my life and I never commited any serious crime, nor do I intend to. I think if anything video games acted as a deturant to violence for me, ghost recon and rainbow six teach me that I am not invinsible, one bullet and im dead. So dont bring on the combat if you dont have to. And movies always having me saying "your so stupid look behind you!" so I dont think i want to renact any movies. Not even LOTR's :laugh2: I think violence in most societys comes from peoples up bringing and or experences, not mega man, not even duke nukem. So what does everyone think?

[Abramul]

What would a video game that got 5-star ratings (or whatever) from all the "family-oriented" groups be like? The word 'boring' comes to mind. Violent video games are a good outlet for epinephrine, not a means of brainwashing children! How many gang members play video games, anyway?

[Malchik]

I suspect there are some people who are affected. They would be affected as easily by film, tv, magazines etc. I can't see changing video games will make any difference to them.

 

I am sure some go to extremes and become illegal but the people who make them are acting outside the law so changing the law is meaningless there too.

 

Computer games are very isolating and I know a couple of young people who don't have much of a life away from the screen. (They don't have too much else to talk about). They are dissociated with the real world. Of course they will probably grow out of the phase but some don't. The longer they live in fantasy have problems in later life.

 

 

To me what is more insidious is that many people who spend a lot of time playing computer games have a tendency to regard real people as if they were NPCs. I am not talking about those you meet and talk to but for instance civilians in Iraq. A few thousand innocent victims here or there don't matter, they are not real, just blips on a screen.

[Abramul]

To me what is more insidious is that many people who spend a lot of time playing computer games have a tendency to regard real people as if they were NPCs.  I am not talking about those you meet and talk to but for instance civilians in Iraq.  A few thousand innocent victims here or there don't matter, they are not real, just blips on a screen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Malchik, do you mean that video-games lead to a career in the Pentagon?

[Akrid]

QUOTE(Malchik @ Feb 17 2005, 10:05 AM)

To me what is more insidious is that many people who spend a lot of time playing computer games have a tendency to regard real people as if they were NPCs.  I am not talking about those you meet and talk to but for instance civilians in Iraq.  A few thousand innocent victims here or there don't matter, they are not real, just blips on a screen.

*

 

 

Malchik, do you mean that video-games lead to a career in the Pentagon?

 

LOL, I see video games as the one industry that the goverment cant regulate, they cant get the video game industry to aid them like they use hollywood. One day if video games keep getting advanced enuff they will represent so much power that they will ba able to act as a checks and balance to the rest of the world. Imagine, on CNN "Nintendo is sending more security forces into southern texas to bring order to US military rebels" LOL you never know, who thought when America first came along humble and struggeling that we would one day be policing the world? Maybe video games will end all violence by putting us all into the matrix.

[Switch]

As has been said, there are some mentally unbalanced individuals who will be affected by all kinds of media and do some crazy things. Normal people however, no problem.

 

I do think sometimes video games can go a bit far, like Grand Theft Auto 3 and onwards, to the point of being sick. But it's not really going to affect anyone except people who would eventually go nuts anyway.

 

And as Akrid said in his first post, video games can actually help you to deal with real life, rather than detaching you from it. I know my experience with role-playing games has helped me with my English GCSE a lot, due to the complex dialogue used, the storyline structures and everything.

[Zmid]

My own opinion:

 

Most, if not all, of the 'Death by Playstation' stories in the media are grade 1A unadulterated crap. The most I can ever see any game having an influence in that way is that they may give someone an idea about the precise manner of how they are going to kill someone. If they hadn't played that, or any other game, they would still have killed the person/people, they would just have used a different method. What really pisses me off is when I see a story that, to a person who knows a lot about games, is obviously a load of bull. For example, a story where there was a little boy of about 6 who was supposedly 'twisted' by excessively playing his Nintendo 64, and two of the games mentioned were Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. This story showed multiple pictures of the boy sitting there - holding a PLAYSTATION joypad.

 

My own experience is that games like Grand Theft Auto are very good for stress relief. Had a bad day at work? Go home, load up GTA and go on a rampage in the game. Imagine all the NPCs you're killing in the game are the people that have caused your bad day, and I find your stress disappears.

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

What would a video game that got 5-star ratings (or whatever) from all the "family-oriented" groups be like?  The word 'boring' comes to mind.  Violent video games are a good outlet for epinephrine, not a means of brainwashing children!  How many gang members play video games, anyway?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well said. Conflict is the essence of any good movie, tvshow, video game, or book. And violence is one form of conflict. I mean, would you play a game where you TALK your differences out for fun?

 

I suspect there are some people who are affected.  They would be affected as easily by film, tv, magazines etc.  I can't see changing video games will make any difference to them.

 

I am sure some go to extremes and become illegal but the people who make them are acting outside the law so changing the law is meaningless there too.

 

Computer games are very isolating and I know a couple of young people who don't have much of a life away from the screen.  (They don't have too much else to talk about).  They are dissociated with the real world.  Of course they will probably grow out of the phase but some don't.  The longer they live in fantasy have problems in later life.

 

 

To me what is more insidious is that many people who spend a lot of time playing computer games have a tendency to regard real people as if they were NPCs.  I am not talking about those you meet and talk to but for instance civilians in Iraq.  A few thousand innocent victims here or there don't matter, they are not real, just blips on a screen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

To the first part... What do you mean some go to extremes and become illegal.

 

To the second part, i can vouch for that fact. Im one of those people, but sometimes, that is all that ever interested said person. No interest in sports and movie stars, what else to do? However, i can also vouch for having social problems in life. I still don't get along well with people, but i would like to think that i don't treat them as NPC'S. (Of course, in morrowind, i even treat NPC's with the utmost of respect.)

 

As has been said, there are some mentally unbalanced individuals who will be affected by all kinds of media and do some crazy things. Normal people however, no problem.

 

I do think sometimes video games can go a bit far, like Grand Theft Auto 3 and onwards, to the point of being sick. But it's not really going to affect anyone except people who would eventually go nuts anyway.

 

And as Akrid said in his first post, video games can actually help you to deal with real life, rather than detaching you from it. I know my experience with role-playing games has helped me with my English GCSE a lot, due to the complex dialogue used, the storyline structures and everything.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Quite right. Video games CAN go a bit far, but only under the circumstances that little kids can go to their local store and purchase games like grand theft auto 3. No 6-year old should play that, but due to a lack of laws, they end up playing it anyway. OTOH, many people are relatively unaffected by video games. It's a question of having the behaviour patterns set. Im not affected by GTA3, but my 10 year old cousin would learn quite a lot of foul terms if he ever played it. And would doubtless get into trouble repeating some.

 

Furthermore, you're quite right that videogames do help one deal with real life, as i can vouch. If naught else, they help everyone with stress relief. That's relaxing to some people to play a game. Even violent ones.

 

My own experience is that games like Grand Theft Auto are very good for stress relief.  Had a bad day at work?  Go home, load up GTA and go on a rampage in the game.  Imagine all the NPCs you're killing in the game are the people that have caused your bad day, and I find your stress disappears.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Quite right. *Loads GTAVC* It's a question of misplaced agression, psychologically. You're taking your anger out on little dots of light in the tv screen instead of wanting to strangle the idiot in real life. That's psychologically healthy! Personally, this means to me that mental hospitals everywhere should start administering 'the nintendo treatment'.

 

Sadly, my own opinion has already been stated here, Games don't ruin minds; genetics do. The people who video game aggression is based off of, are insane. And insane people go on killing sprees all the time. They are going to do it whether they play the game or not, so they may as well play.

Furthermore, the people who are affected by games insofar as language and violence, are the young impressionable people, and then the blame lies with the parents. The child is unable to distinguish the difference between the game and reality, and so, is affected by it. The parents should recognize this and not buy games based off of esrb levels, but off their own assessment of their childs ability to cope. And making a bad decision should be THEIR fault. They bought the games, why blame the company for that?

[Slaiv]

It's kind of the same thing as the D&D discussion thread. Sure, a kid tried to kill himself, and he played D&D. Because of this, people claimed D&D was satanic, and made people lose their minds. What they failed to acknowledge was this fact: "James Dallas Egbert III was a deeply troubled young man. A genius with an IQ measured at 180, he suffered from overbearing parents who pushed him into college when he was 15 years old. In addition, he was afflicted by bouts of chronic depression, manufactured his own drugs to feed his habit, and was an untreated epileptic. Many of his problems may have stemmed from the lack of tolerance and social isolation suffered by an openly professed homosexual in a far less enlightened era."

 

Likewise with video games. Those who commit acts of violence and blame them on video games are either disturbed, or they are just doing it to get a lessened or no sentence, due to not being responsible for their actions. One case, where a teen attacked two motorists with a shotgun, claimed that he didn't believe that they would be hurt if he shot them. He said he learned it from GTA3. This is a blatant lie, or he is mentally ill - even in GTA, people still die if you shott them. That's kind of a major points in these games.

 

I do agree that there are some games that go too far - such as the Punisher. Many of the scenes in this game had to be put in black and white because the coloured versions would be too graphic, even for an M-rated game.

 

Yes, videogames can desensitise people to violence. I'm guilty of that - I'll be the first to admit it. Unless it's something really sick and/or disturbing, say a car crash, I will feel bad, but I won't be troubled. That scares me, but I don't feel truly motivated to kill or harm someone because of videogames. Even if videogames were to do so, so would the other media - music, movies, TV, etc...

 

I can see the other side, however - while other forms of media portray violent acts, videogames give you the power to harm and kill. You are the one killing - it's a hands-on experience. That being said, I don't think videogames are that much worse than other forms of media.

 

Overall, I don't feel videogames are directly responsible for these violent acts. I do feel that the rating systems are a good idea, despite my hating them. They prevent young children [somewhat] from being exposed to this graphic content. The way small kids act these days, pretending like they're killing each other in brutal ways, scares me. It seems wierd, but it does. Think about it - these are 6 year olds.

 

That's my rant for the day...

[Abramul]

Yes, videogames can desensitise people to violence.  I'm guilty of that - I'll be the first to admit it.  Unless it's something really sick and/or disturbing, say a car crash, I will feel bad, but I won't be troubled.  That scares me, but I don't feel truly motivated to kill or harm someone because of videogames.  Even if videogames were to do so, so would the other media - music, movies, TV, etc...

Two words. Combat training.