A Theoretical Question...

[MegatonDesign]

Do video games have a de-sensitising effect? Do you feel having played games makes you more resilient to shocking or disturbing images?

 

[j0z]

hmmm... maybe to a small extent, but I don't think it has enough effect to actually affect our lives.

 

[Souplex]

The same reason anything has a desensitizing effect, because exposure to something can either make you more tolerant of it, or more resentful of it, it rarely leaves you ambivalent.

 

[ioxles]

no.

...... yes.

wait.... no.

maybe.

On some levels.

I guess.

Certainly been repelled against shitty games.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Karlaxx]

Maybe, I would say. Not to the extent that some would paint it, but I'm no pacifist.

 

[Radeonx]

The same reason anything has a desensitizing effect, because exposure to something can either make you more tolerant of it, or more resentful of it, it rarely leaves you ambivalent.

Essentially this.
Everything has the same effect, it just depends on the person being effected.

 

[Curtmiester]

Wasn't there a study that showed that gamers has less nightmares?

So, yes, I would say.

Wow, so that's where all my dreams went....
OT: I guess so. I mean scarry movie don't even remotely scare me anymore, but when I was a kid, even just the front of the box made me wet myself...

 

[Guy32]

Sure, but I can also say that watching House has made me more desensitized to blood and guts than any video game ever has.

 

[paragon1]

To shocking or violent images, yes...for a short-time. To actual violence? No. Not in the least.

It'd be like suggesting watching Saving Private Ryan over and over again would psychologically prepare me for warfare.

 

[Jon Etheridge]

I've seen a car crash in a game and I've seen a car crash in real life. The real one had more of an impact. No pun intended.

But seriously when you see a dudes body torn almost in half in real life... there's nothing that can prepare you for that. No game can even come close.

 

[Citrus]

Games, no. The internet, yes.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

I don't really know, i have never seen anything that shocking or disturbing actually happen in front of my eyes. If i see it on tv or something then it doesnt really bother me, but i'm sure it would be very different if i was actually there seeing it.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I think movies, the internet and books in that order have had more effect. Video games I see as being the fourth thing most likely to affect my behaviour, but for all of the aforementioned, I am aware that they have an effect, so I know to think more carefully in situations where desensitisation may have occured. (I have weird mental processes)

 

[The Austin]

I have slaughtered thousands of opponents and not felt a thing.
I have shot a man for looking at me funny.
I have blown a city to smithereens with a nuclear bomb and laughed.

And the other day I hit a squirrel with my car and felt bad as shit.
So no.

 

[Gigaguy64]

I guess but, seeing something in real life is different than witnessing it in a game.

By playing horror games i don't get scared as easily as i used to but, i don't think any game can desensitize you to things like death in real life.

 

[Meggiepants]

No. I can tell the difference between what is imaginary and what is real. I could see a hundred corpses on an ultra realistic game and not be bothered by it. I know someone created that scene. But if I catch a clip from the news where they are showing one dead body lying on the ground mutilated, I have to switch the channel. Violent thoughts don't scare me, violent people do.

 

[leviathanmisha]

In a sense, I can handle blood and gore just fine, but being in a car accident has warped my ability to actually sleep while on road trips. (I was sleeping and we veered off the road, smashed into a guard-rail, and clipped a person's van. Worst wake up call EVAR!) I definitely agree with everybody on saying that seeing it and experiencing it are two different things.

 

[LongAndShort]

No, I've always been a bit difficult to shock. Hell, I'm so indifferent I fake emotions so people don't realise how little I care. And it has nothing to do with video games. Its just who I am.

 

[blindthrall]

Nope. But the Internet definitely does. You can see much worst shit online then you'll ever see in a game.I'm not even going to bring the Japanese into the equation.