Violence and media

[Peregrine]

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.

 

*dies laughing*

 

You're joking, right? Real combat and video games have absolutely nothing in common. Even the most realistic game will do almost nothing to improve your skills with a real weapon. And that's ignoring all the stupid ideas you would be getting from 99% of games. Lets see you try bunny hopping in real combat!

[Switch]

I agree. Holding a controller is very different from holding a real weapon. Not to mention in real life there isn't that handy little crosshair showing you where your bullets are going to go. :wink2: Or a minimap, or any other of the little conveniences video games have.

 

Of course, that's another thing that I think has been claimed, that terrorists can use these games for training. I sincerely doubt it. You're still holding a controller with a user interface on a screen, I doubt you could improve your accuracy with an RPG from that. :tongue2:

[Abramul]

I was referring more to the desensitization aspect. Of course it doesn't train you for weapons handling, but you are more able to suppress the epinephrine rush that would accompany such situations.

[Akrid]

Oh god no...

 

No 6-year old should play that, but due to a lack of laws, they end up playing it anyway.

 

Lack of laws? I think not, I'd say lack of parental discression and or attention. Kids tend to play games for long periods of time esp. when they first get them, now if the parent isnt around thier 6 year old child enuff to know what thier doing for hours on end, WTF kind of parent is that? even 8 year olds or pre-teens. We dont need more censorship in america. If a ten year old need's to be ID'd because some parents dont like thier 6 year olds to play violent games then he is being wronged. We must be very careful what laws we inflict upon ourselfs, because laws shape our society and our society is fragile.

 

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 me the media - music, movies, TV, etc...

 

Most of you dont know what desensitising is. Yes a car crash can be very grusome and after some trauma desenisitise you, but I have yet to see a video game that presents a realistic image or video of violence that could desensitise me. I have seen people killed, somtimes upclose somtimes afar or on a video. I've seen and perhaps more disturbing smelled the remains of some pilots that crashed thier plane during a exercise. I know that there is no video game, movie or song that can invoke me to go out and kill somone, or make the experince any easier to cope with, but real life is different. Video games today let you act out simulated violence but lack the real image, the real fear, sounds, smells, personal relations and physical pain that real violence erupts into.

 

I think a human being becomes a killing machine only after they have enuff adrenilane pumping. Few think in a cold blooded state of mind that can kill sombody with out quickening thier pulse (Morrowind lore triva: where did I get that line?) I think any sane person would have to be extreamly worked up to carry out a bloody violent act, by then do you think there going to think "I'm so pissed Im going to kill somone and I'm not afraid to do it cause I play GTA all the time" NO thats stupid, when you are in a violent mind state you dont think about the conseqences, thats what leads to the rage being put into action, not the video game training, video games do not factor in real life violence aside from what preset idea of how to carry out the act, and video games do not numb people to violence.

 

Perhaps one day when tecnology comes along that can create a stimulating enuff experence to make the player think they are really living the game then they can affect peoples mind states to that degree, but by then we will have nano technology and gas free cars everywhere and WW3 and we all die so who cares.

[Zmid]

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.

 

Actually it's mostly down to a sort of 'blind spot' that a lot of parents have. They seem to think that if it's a game, no matter what, it's perfectly OK for their little 6 year old son to play it. Here in the UK, all the GTA games fall under the BBFC certificate of 18. This means it is utterly illegal to sell it to anyone under the age of 18, and breaking this law is punishable by an unlimited fine and a jail term of up to two years. Despite this, it is fairly common for underage kids to play these games because their parents buy them and give it to the kid.

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

Don't get me wrong, i place almost all blame on the parents. They should know what their kid is doing. But i read an article (i can dig it out, if need be...) that said that there are no laws regulating the sale of games in the US. The policy varies from store to store. Blockbuster for instance, is on a double standard of sorts. Some require you to be a certain age to buy m rated games, some don't. Even 2 in the same town can be different, and clerks often neglect to check ID, when their IS a policy.

Walmart of course, does censor videogames, but again, clerks sometimes don't check. (I have personally seen this happen, with some 10-year old kid... buying GTA...)

I find it disturbing that any (6 or in some cases younger) kid in their right mind would be able to go to blockbuster and just walk up to the counter and buy an M-rated game, and get away with it. Im not saying we need laws that give fines to parents or some such, but if the parents wont take responsiblity, who will? However, if the kid does manage to buy a game like that, their parents should take the responsiblity to notice when their kid gets in the car. So ultimately, the blame lies with the parents. but still.... what if it was your kid? Would you want him to be able to buy a game like "Postal 2" on his own? my opinion is

*NO*.

[Akrid]

I'd rather young kids be able to buy what ever they want and have thier parents decide if they can keep it or not rather than have kids be barred from buying M rated games even if thier parent allowes them to play. I remember being ten (back in the early 90's) and would be pissed as hell every time I was turned away from buying somthing cause I was too young (ageism), it feels like being discriminated aganst, but nobody cares cause once you grow up you dont have to worry about kid things anymore. I think that most games today are tame, I really wouldnt care if my children played GTA or Hitman, its not real, the bullets wont fly out of the screen and hurt them.

 

Frankly I think concerned parents need to worry about thier own kids not the kids of other familys that are a little more down to earth. I hate censorship, im not a nazi, I dont expect to be treated like one. "bad" video games "bad movies 'bad" music is silly, even "bad" words dont exist. Some people get offeneded by anything dramatic or that expresses negitive or deviant emotions, and they go on a parade to censore it from everyones elses children.

 

Things I think should be barred from children: guns, drugs, poor public school systems. Yes I think children should be protected from bad influences, but laws cant effectivly do that, parents can.

[Slaiv]

Again, it's like another example. From Nuklear Power [home of 8-bit Theatre]:

 

The youth today, they depress me. First there was Freestyle Walking. Now there's Urban Jumping. Just like Freestyle Walking, it's exactly what it sounds like. You go downtown, and you jump from things, across things, over things. The higher the better.

 

I'm beginning to wonder if my youth spent in front of a televsion and/or computer screen actually was wasted if this crap is the alternative.

 

You won't be surpised to learn that some moron hurt himself while doing this. And, of course, the parents blame the building.

 

I love this quote by the family's crooked lawyer: "There was a very, very short length of fence that was completely ineffective in preventing this from happening."

 

Goddamn fences! How dare your presence not cause little Tim's glue-huffed mind to rub together two idle brain cells while he was squeezing through you and think to himself "Huh, wonder why this stupid fence is here." Way to drop the ball, fence. And don't look so smug, Tim's Front Door. You let him out of the house. We're coming after you next.

 

On the bright side, this really opens up a wonderful opportunity for the rest of us. I don't know about you, but my car has wheels. Four of them. What's to stop me from running into a tree or another vehicle? Not those vulking wheels, that's for sure! I feel a class action lawsuit coming on.

 

The article he quotes can be found here.

 

Not related to vidoe games, but it's essentially the same. Videogames are getting bad portrayals because parents feel that they can milk as much money as they want from these companies. Nevermind that it's completely bollocks to believe that a videogame makes one go out and kill. That Grand Theft Auto can be worse than Scarface. Or the news, for that matter.

 

The parents have a responsibility to be aware of what their kids are playing. It's as simple as that. I shouldn't be denied the right to purchase something because I'm 16.9 years old.

 

Like I said, complete bollocks.