Poll: Are Video Games The Cause of Societies' Downfall?
- Thread starter Blazing Angel
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No, stupid, ignorant, arrogant, you see where I am going with this, people are.
And Chuck Norris (no, not because he's "awesome"!).
So, basically the internet.
And Chuck Norris (no, not because he's "awesome"!).
So, basically the internet.
To try and give some sort of justification to my previous statement i'll bring up some of the old favourite arguments.
Violence existed quite a long time before video games. And if anything, theres been quite a lot less than in the times before them.
If someone kills someone, they would have done it have they ever played a video game or not. Maybe the way they did it was copied from a video game, but that doesn't mean thats what made them do it. They had to know the way to kill someone from somewhere, if they copied it by the way someone murdered someone in something like the bible you wouldn't see Jack Thompson-ites rushing around trying to get the bible banned would you?
People don't like video games because they don't understand them. I'm pretty sure 99% of people who are hugely against video games have never played one. All a video game is is an interactive media. Much like a combination between a film and a choose your own adventure book.
Age ratings exist for a reason. Small children won't get corrupted by Manhunt unless you're dumb enough not to take one look at the front cover and notice the 18+ certificate, + i'm sure a brief read through of the blurb will convince you that its not for little timmy.
Violence existed quite a long time before video games. And if anything, theres been quite a lot less than in the times before them.
If someone kills someone, they would have done it have they ever played a video game or not. Maybe the way they did it was copied from a video game, but that doesn't mean thats what made them do it. They had to know the way to kill someone from somewhere, if they copied it by the way someone murdered someone in something like the bible you wouldn't see Jack Thompson-ites rushing around trying to get the bible banned would you?
People don't like video games because they don't understand them. I'm pretty sure 99% of people who are hugely against video games have never played one. All a video game is is an interactive media. Much like a combination between a film and a choose your own adventure book.
Age ratings exist for a reason. Small children won't get corrupted by Manhunt unless you're dumb enough not to take one look at the front cover and notice the 18+ certificate, + i'm sure a brief read through of the blurb will convince you that its not for little timmy.
Here's a question: how are children going to *become* more mature if you shield them from everything?LadyZephyr said:
Now, I'm fully in concert with the idea that there's a time and a place. Children have to learn to deal with their emotions gradually just as they have to learn to speak by progressing from "da da!" to full words to sentences. I'm still adding to my vocabulary and command of language and I don't expect ever to stop.
However, I don't believe that anyone does their children any kind of service by pretending that the so-called "uglier" aspects of life don't exist. It also means that you've just forfeited any control you might have had over when and where and how said children will encounter those things.
I think the proper policy for parents is not to act as a shield blocking out all sight of the outside world, but as a *filter* controlling and directing the dosage.
The reason I put this on the game forum is because it's about video games.Apocalypse Tank said:
Considering the economic crisis about to sink the US and half the world into chaos, putting forth the idea that the world is going to hell because of videogames is kinda pointless.
Unless all the bankers played Super Mario Accounting. Then it would make sense.
Unless all the bankers played Super Mario Accounting. Then it would make sense.
and plain old book books.orannis62 said:
this forum is hardly objective on the issue. that being said, i think anyone claiming that is poor stupid sack of crap too scared to look at the real problems, or even in the general direction of the problems. when your looking away from something you see things other than that. in this case video games, now being a scared stupid animal what do you think they do? they look for an enemy, a scapegoat, someone or something to blame, and they focus on it. there is no logic. there is no reason. theres just fear, that fear is translated into hate and that hate is somehow morphed back into stupid which triggers hate. excuse me i think i need a new keyboard after typing that.
I'd really like to see someone come in here and say "yes they are" and give some reasons. As several people have already stated, asking a bunch of gamers whether games are bad isn't really going to get you anywhere. I think this guy put it best:
To conclude, this argument is more cliched than The Escapist's favorite collective punching bag, space marines. Let's go discuss something that people on here might actually have varied opinions about.
Go McCain!
To continue, this issue has been discussed to death, especially on gaming forums. I don't even need the search function to tell you there are probably 17 other threads in which this has already been discussed, with all of the same points being brought up: games have ratings for a reason, parents need to raise their kids instead of letting technology do it, video games are just the current scapegoat of society. While I agree with all of these points, the fact is that we're shooting paper targets; nobody here is going to argue the other side. Hell, The Escapist itself has many, many articles on this stuff already.vdgmprgrmr said:
To conclude, this argument is more cliched than The Escapist's favorite collective punching bag, space marines. Let's go discuss something that people on here might actually have varied opinions about.
Go McCain!
While I can safely say that playing games (violent or otherwise) isn't going to transform you into a shining paragon of society who can come up with cures for cancer during lunch breaks, they aren't going to twist you to the will of the deamon lord Te'Jaruk (GO FORTH AND SPREAD THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT! SUPER MONKEY BALL 2 COMMANDS YOU!), just like movies and music, they are a form of entertainment. Ultimatly, it's harmless but every now and then you will find a particularly psychotic and weak-willed individual who will derive pleasure from recreating their favorite moment from a game or film (like the fellow who watched scenes from Star Wars to psyche himself up for brutal murders).
nothing really I can say that hasn't been already, but as to why society is falling apart, well is that really such a bad thing really? I mean look at how corrupt it has become. I know this is really a gross gross oversimplification, but smart people are not procreating with other smart people, dumb people are multiplying like rabbits. the governments have become tangled messes of greed, corruption, unchecked ambition, lust for advancement, and red tape. Morality used to be something that people strived to achieve, now it gets mocked. We (not implying any of you,of course, please keep in mind) destroy our senses with drugs and alcohol in the name of creating the illusion of having a good time, whether we really are or not. like I said I know that is an oversimplification, but yeah, that is why things are crumbling, not because people play games.
Woo...let's hear it for polls on unbiased forums...who the hell plays videogames here anyway? /sarcasm
The answer should be pretty clear what the Escapist community thinks, seeing as we answer one of these damn threads everyday (usually in the disguise of "Kid X killed Y number of people and uses gaming as scapegoat, is he right?)
As for my personal opinion...yes, gaming does cause society's downfall. Super Mario Sunshine screwed my life over by making me want to go around the world cleaning with a big super soaker, and also gave me some complex mental distress where I actually thought that water dissolved oil, and that I could find gold coins by cleaning.
Videogames like Super Mario Sunshine make me sick with their false concepts of reality, and should be rated T for "Teen" because little kids could be tricked into becoming self-sacrificing for the false hopes of gold coins. Or maybe AO, because it's obvious that the devs wanted to make the water gun a symbolic representation of mario's man parts.
The answer should be pretty clear what the Escapist community thinks, seeing as we answer one of these damn threads everyday (usually in the disguise of "Kid X killed Y number of people and uses gaming as scapegoat, is he right?)
As for my personal opinion...yes, gaming does cause society's downfall. Super Mario Sunshine screwed my life over by making me want to go around the world cleaning with a big super soaker, and also gave me some complex mental distress where I actually thought that water dissolved oil, and that I could find gold coins by cleaning.
Videogames like Super Mario Sunshine make me sick with their false concepts of reality, and should be rated T for "Teen" because little kids could be tricked into becoming self-sacrificing for the false hopes of gold coins. Or maybe AO, because it's obvious that the devs wanted to make the water gun a symbolic representation of mario's man parts.
Every new media gets blamed for the coming downfall of society, look back a while and it was metal, before that rock and roll, heck even BOOKS were thought to be corrupting the young many a year ago. It's just the usual suspects that are criticising video games, don't we get this every single month.
Everybody knows that bears are causing all of our problems. Video games've got nothin' to do with it.
