Has videogame violence affected you?

[JabberwockyAi]

I doubt video games are the cause of violence in society. After all, people have been thinking up ways to brutally kill each other long, long before video games. My opinion is that instead of being a cause, they are an effect of a naturally violent species and instead become a safe outlet for rather repressed instincts. One friend of mine is terribly fond of the game Prototype and relishes in the chaos she can cause in the digital world. However when her brother asked her to go hunting with him she refused, saying she just didn't think she could bring herself to kill something.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Well I believed that my train of thought has been desensitising as too weather violance is more useful for a problem but that all went out the window when I actually saw a wonder person bleeding quite seriously, nothing immediately life threatening but she still went to the emergency room, and I was just completely freaked out by it and I've played both dead spacegame, both gears, ever CoD made to date and even the Heavy Rain.
Proving that regaurdless of how violante or bloody or graphic a video game is when it actually happens right in front of you in real life you are not desensitised to it

Edit: Even in government survays, I have a politicians in my family who has done work on this, all of they have either surpported or out right stated that such things can not desensitise the human mind since it isn't physically occuring.

I remember an episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! that talked about videogame violence. They found a kid (i think 11 or 12 years old) that played Call of Duty hours a day. They took this kid to a shooting range and gave him a real rifle to shoot at a target. It was all well supervised by trained military riflemen, and the kid took the shot. What happened next was rather surprising, because the poor kid started crying. Shouldn't he have gleefully taken the shot, and probably emptied the entire clip while screaming for blood? Instead he was completely terrified of it.

this is a senseless topic. I have played games on the Atari where I'm a comboy raping Indian women (bad game on so many levels) and every violent game as a game reviewer and never committed any violent actions, killed, raped or mained anyone. (I know my spelling sucks it's 2 in the morning)

I consider it senseless when the media discusses it amongst themselves. A lot of the time, there's just no one amongst them that plays videogames, and aren't trained psychiatric professionals, so no one is qualified or has any authority to make any comments about it. But from active gamers, we all say that there is no effect. Is this just because we want to defend our beloved hobby by saying nay to anything that could put it in a negative light?

Nah, I think we're just right.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I love gore and violence, but real violence upsets me quite a bit, so no - in my case anyway it has not desensitised me.

Passion Of The Christ was the only fantasy violence I can remember being thoroughly shocked by.

 

[Ren3004]

It hasn't affected me in the slightest, and I'll strangle anyone who says otherwise.

 

[Schreck157]

I'm desensitized, but haven't lost many of the morals I hold to be true.

 

[Mudze]

Yes, actually, it has. It's made me a considerably less violent person over the past... What? 12-12 years?

 

[MetalDooley]

Nope.Been playing violent games for around 20 years now and while I can shrug off the most extreme violence in a game real life violence is still quite shocking.

 

[thatguy1]

Has videogame violence affected me? No, I played quite a few violent video games when I was younger, but eventually lost interest in them.

Have they desensetized me? NOOOOOO. I realized this recently when I was driving at night and ran over an unidentified small animal and, to say the least, FLIPPED SHIT. Calling parents, the whole ordeal.

 

[nekoali]

I certainly haven't been desensitized to real violence. I am also one of those people who loves shooters and such. I have no problem blowing off a virtual zombie's head in L4D, or anything like that. Though I do have to admit in watching the fatalities and such for the new Mortal Kombat game, they are kind of pushing my limit.. and I loved the original MK games.

In real life though, if anything I have become more sensitive to violence and horror than I used to be. I don't like fighting, I don't like death and even just hearing about stories of such second hand makes me feel terrible. So all those violent video games I play absolutely do not make me a violent person in real life.

 

[kidwithxboxlive]

No, I had this argument with my mum and I said 'Do I hit you, murder people or do violent things?'
She said no
Case Solved

 

[Rockchimp69]

It's affected me massively. I'm now really de-sensitised to videogame violence.

But real violence? If anything games just make me more shocked when it does happen.

 

[Proteus214]

Even through years of playing shooters and fighters, the sight of real wounds still makes me a bit squeamish. I almost fainted when I saw a girl's leg sliced to the bone by a ski up close. The sight of blood itself doesn't bother me as much as seeing real wounds and knowing that the person is probably in a lot of pain.

Watching hundreds of band guys get shot up in movies and games doesn't bother me nearly as much as watching Natalie Portman rip the skin off her finger from a hangnail in Black Swan.

 

[Titan Buttons]

I consider it senseless when the media discusses it amongst themselves. A lot of the time, there's just no one amongst them that plays videogames, and aren't trained psychiatric professionals, so no one is qualified or has any authority to make any comments about it. But from active gamers, we all say that there is no effect. Is this just because we want to defend our beloved hobby by saying nay to anything that could put it in a negative light?

Nah, I think we're just right.

What is also quite rediculous is that the media, or the people on it, disrregaurds all the Government surveys when the results condradict what they are trying to prove and make up polls based on random individuals opinions. But then those same people turn around and start using Government surveys when it proves there points.

 

[Titan Buttons]

It has. I'm more violent nowadays.

Really, do you mean you go around yelling and swearing at people or beating them up?

 

[Killertje]

Yes, violent videogames affect me. So do non violent video games, movies, books and real life experiences.

Would I headshot someone IRL because of any of this? No, because the rules in video games are different than in real life. As long as there are no permanent consequences to me killing someone in a game, and in fact I am rewarded for it, I will enjoy doing it. IRL however there ARE permanent consequences for killing someone, least of all the fact that the police will hunt me down and kick me into prison, but also, and more importantly, the knowledge that I ended a life. I would never do something like that unless I have a VERY good reason. Or because I'm rewarded for it and there are no permanent negative consequences for it, like in games...

 

[Gavmando]

Not at all. I dont kill things, not even bugs. And i'm a vegetarian because I dont want anything to die for me to live.

...But then I have been playing video games for 20 odd years, so i'm actually a homicidal maniac.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Yes, actually, it has. It's made me a considerably less violent person over the past... What? 12-12 years?

Yes, actually, it has. It's made me a considerably less violent person over the past... What? 12-12 years?

I certainly haven't been desensitized to real violence. I am also one of those people who loves shooters and such. I have no problem blowing off a virtual zombie's head in L4D, or anything like that. Though I do have to admit in watching the fatalities and such for the new Mortal Kombat game, they are kind of pushing my limit.. and I loved the original MK games.

In real life though, if anything I have become more sensitive to violence and horror than I used to be. I don't like fighting, I don't like death and even just hearing about stories of such second hand makes me feel terrible. So all those violent video games I play absolutely do not make me a violent person in real life.

It's affected me massively. I'm now really de-sensitised to videogame violence.

But real violence? If anything games just make me more shocked when it does happen.

I'm compelled by these responses. Why do you think violence in videogames has actually made you more sensitive to real violence or less violent/aggressive overall?

Yes, violent videogames affect me. So do non violent video games, movies, books and real life experiences.

Would I headshot someone IRL because of any of this? No, because the rules in video games are different than in real life. As long as there are no permanent consequences to me killing someone in a game, and in fact I am rewarded for it, I will enjoy doing it. IRL however there ARE permanent consequences for killing someone, least of all the fact that the police will hunt me down and kick me into prison, but also, and more importantly, the knowledge that I ended a life. I would never do something like that unless I have a VERY good reason. Or because I'm rewarded for it and there are no permanent negative consequences for it, like in games...

Speaking of consequences, I remember something I heard from a study awhile back. Grand Theft Auto is a media favorite since it depicts urban/gang violence that can be as unhinged as the person playing it is. They say a game like this teaches young gamers how to be a criminal or some other bullshit claim.

But a study into this found the opposite was happening. They found out that from GTA, young gamers were learning many things that could be considered positive. Such as gang life is very dangerous and often impossible to escape once you are a part of it, the consequences of doing something wrong is the cops will come after you to capture or even kill you. I'd say that given the nature of GTA, these are pretty positive and valid lessons. Not that kids should be playing GTA, though.