Game Violence = Real Violence? You decide!

[VargRaev]

It is funny how the media ignores everything about murderers, EXCEPT that they played videogames

"This boy who shot 11 of his fellow students, had no friends, were bullied constantly, abused sexually by both his mother and father and played Gears of War II"

"OMG Gears of wasr II is EVIL, BAN VIDEOGAMES!"

It pretty much goes like that.

 

[veloper]

Violence predates videogames.

If anything, the playstation generation is the least violent of all time.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The best part about these threads is how damn near everyone says no. That if you were going to be violent irl it would happen with or without games and that games actually do more to prevent people from committing real world violent acts.
Then a article comes up about the japanese rape games. And their story changes. Somehow it is different for rape games and if you play it then you are far more likely to rape some one in real life.
The hypocrisy is stifling.

It all comes down to fantasy, I guess. If you have a fantasy about rape it's a taboo, but a fantasy about killing someone is useally shruged off.

People who have seen real violence and shootings know that a videogame can never come close to that.

 

[ThePirateMan]

No. But there can be other real life problems which lead to the violence. Gaming >MIGHT< speed it up but would probably not be able to cause any harm on it's own without as I said earlier the person having RL problems or some kind of mental sickness.

 

[Church256]

Spent thousands of hours over my life playing games. No killing instincts caused by games yet... lots of by morons and people anoying me btu none gaming related.

Games don't make killers. People make killers.

 

[bodyklok]

Yes it can, but, no where near as much as Jack Thompson would have you believe.

Just picking up an FPS isn't going to make you go on a killing spree, however, as it makes you think about going on a killing spree then it could hypothetically be the straw that breaks the camels back for someone who already wants to go on a killing spree.

 

[jamesworkshop]

The videogame violence link is the same tired BS that happened with Columbine and Marilyn Manson, Fear sells, videogames and musicians like MM are big in the popular culture (even more with youths) I very much doubt anyone in America doesn't have at least one acquaintance that plays videogames.
Like MM a lot of people do not understand Videogames and uncertainty breeds fear doubly so when it would mean that almost every child is now a potentional threat.

EDIT
And those people then use that fear to sell their books about the subject.

 

[C117]

Sometimes, yes. But I believe it is quite rare.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

9

I C WHAT YOU DID THAR!!

Anway... no. At most it's a catalyst for it, but on the whole... no.

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

It's as real as you make it.

The younger generation (like me) is more desensitized towards electronic violence because they recognize it as 'not real'. However to different people it's going to mean different things because they were just conditioned in a certain way.

If anybody has any more arguments, take note that in human society there can sometimes exist very very fine lines and fun and games can turn nasty even in real life, so you can never tell how an individual will react at any given time when they reach this invisible boarder.

 

[Deviluk]

I have faster reflexes, hand-to-eye coordination, and I'm much more numbed to real life issues! Surely if I just hit this NPC which is sleeping on this bench with my crowbar, I'll get a trophy! Woo!

 

[Bofore13]

No but I wouldn't mind spilling some Jack Thompson blood

 

[Resistance205]

The short answer: no. If anything, video games give people an outlet for our predisposition toward violence that doesn't involve actual people getting hurt.

The long answer: People are (and always have been) very violent by nature. In recent years, thanks to the networking of the world (internet, the news, etc) people have become much more aware of the violence that has always been taking place in the world. Naturally, assuming that this apparent rise in violence must be attributable to some new influence in our lives, people look to new forms of entertainment and the like, eg: video games.

In short, to those in the world who do believe that video games are making us more violent, I say, "read a history book." There were no video games during the crusades, or the dark ages, yet we still managed to commit horrible atrocities.

You deserve points because what you said is pretty much what I think about it, and because you have Daniel Jackson as your avatar!

OT: Basically what that guy said, besides, I have been playing violent games for years now, and I have never been in a fight.

 

[Metropocalypse]

I don't think so. If someone's gonna be irrationally violent, they'll do it regardless of whether play video games or not, it's just that video games seem to attract the violent types. In the case of WoW, however, think about the amount of people that play it, 11.5 million people...obviously there's gonna be the odd violent few, that could be applied to ANYTHING.

 

[Woodsey]

Games don't cause violence, with the possible exception of one person who is mentally unstable every decade or something.

If anything they get rid of it, if you're angry shoot some pixels.

 

[AdambotLive]

The people who do these things have mental problems, no offence to people who do.

 

[Jumplion]

It has both positive and negative influences on the person depending on how they take it.

While I doubt that video games can be the sole cause of a psychopath on the loose, there's no denying that video games (or any other violent media for that matter) has some sort of effect one way or another.

If a person starts going on a rampage because of a video game, that person was already completely nuts and just needed something to push him over the edge. But I highly doubt that a person who has good physical and mental states would go on a rambo-esque rampage across the city. The same can be applied with any other media like movies, TV, radio, music, ect....video games are just one part of the spectrum.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

I played Devil May Cry enough to make me want to enter sword tournaments =D
I now also train in various sword / weapon based martial arts because of it.
I'd say it did me good, cause at least I'm getting exercise.

Really? It made me want to shoot myself in the face.