Poll: But What If They're Right?

[E-mantheseeker]

Its like the warnings on cigarettes just because some people say its bad doesn't mean everyone going to stop, smokers still smoke and gamers will still play video games.

You're probably right, but this way, if a little kid goes out and shoots up the neighborhood because he saw it on GTAIV, the kid's mother can't try to pin it on Rockstar.

There is no "saw it on GTAIV" the player with the controller controls what happens in the game (outside of missions) I remember letting my little sister play GTA:Vice City, and all she did was drive around, stopping at red lights, going on green lights and going in different buildings. There was no violence to be had with the controller in her hand, it's all about the choices the player makes.(in the case of the GTA series at least)

Even if a link doesn't really exist, it will take nothing less than a bill like this to stop angry parents and opportunistic politicians from continuing to use games as a scapegoat.

That's a good point, I would love this bill to be passed if it means that the video game industry doesn't get blamed whenever some kid does something reckless. I am curious to see what exactly the warnings on the game would say

 

[Lazzi]

We're looking at this all wrong, we shouldnt treat video games like books and movies, its should be treated liek pornagraphy.

Games are things that people activly seek out like people do with pornography. Like porn there should be a warning that you must take an active part in getting past, but this warning should not actully be on the desierd product.

What they should be doing is making store fully inform and elaborate on the warning of eahc game if its TEEN MATURE or ADULTS ONLY, this make sure that the parent in actively inform and there for fully respocible for what there child dose becuase after playing. For further warning they can have a little platic (or cardbored)cover over the disk (yes even after you open it) the states the warnings again, obviously it would have to be removeable so after you read it you would never have to see it again.

while i under stand that alot of people want no comprpmise when it coems to there game buying experince, we need to under stand that it is better to actully solve the problem than be stubborn and get nothing done.

 

[Dys]

As games with a high rating should not be played by children, how about we go with the obvious and not present them on shelves in stores, or even have them stored above the line of sight of an 8 year old. Most kids want these games on impulse, if they don't see them they largely won't want them.
Also, I couldn't care either way about the warning labells, People ignore the ratings so why would they care about a warning labell?

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Even if a link doesn't really exist, it will take nothing less than a bill like this to stop angry parents and opportunistic politicians from continuing to use games as a scapegoat.

That's a good point, I would love this bill to be passed if it means that the video game industry doesn't get blamed whenever some kid does something reckless. I am curious to see what exactly the warnings on the game would say

This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seduction_of_the_Innocent], which led to this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_Code_Authority], is why I will resist such bills as vigorously as I can within the limits of the law. I don't want games crippled the same way, for the same reasons, and with the same lack of positive effect.

-- Steve

 

[Lancer723]

Simply put, the people running the government are often of a different generation. They, as often happens between generations, don't understand or comprehend the younger generation.
Honestly, I think that video games get scapegoated because they ARE a product of the new generation. If you don't really understand something, it is easy to form incorrect opinions about it, often citing one or two isolated incidents as being indicative of the whole. There really is no factual foundation for the claims that violent video games cause violent behavior, but no one seems inclined to try and disprove it either, so it is assumed by many as a general fact that violent video games cause real life violence.

I have no problem with a surgeon general type warning on video game boxes as long as they don't try to say some thing along the lines of "Warning: This game contains violent and mature scenes which may cause unwelcome or even violent effects upon young people" something like that, I would have a problem with, because it perpetuates an incorrect stereotype

 

[Space Spoons]

We're looking at this all wrong, we shouldnt treat video games like books and movies, its should be treated liek pornagraphy.

Games are things that people activly seek out like people do with pornography. Like porn there should be a warning that you must take an active part in getting past, but this warning should not actully be on the desierd product.

What they should be doing is making store fully inform and elaborate on the warning of eahc game if its TEEN MATURE or ADULTS ONLY, this make sure that the parent in actively inform and there for fully respocible for what there child dose becuase after playing. For further warning they can have a little platic (or cardbored)cover over the disk (yes even after you open it) the states the warnings again, obviously it would have to be removeable so after you read it you would never have to see it again.

while i under stand that alot of people want no comprpmise when it coems to there game buying experince, we need to under stand that it is better to actully solve the problem than be stubborn and get nothing done.

That's a really good way of looking at it.

 

[Hunde Des Krieg]

If anything violence related to videogames is due to frustration. I got incredibly pissed off at Mario sunshine. That isn't a violent videogame is it? No? Thought so.

 

[Hunde Des Krieg]

Of course all this legislation is ignoring the actual facts, the dirty little secret in the "OMG GAMZ R BAD" clubhouse; violent crime is actually down from pre-gaming years according to arrest records. There's absolutely no justification in the demographic data for stigmatising gaming.

They're not right. They're band-wagoning in order to look like they're "doing something" while avoiding the real tough decisions; scapegoating games (or rap, or cartoons, or comic books, or whatever) is much cheaper than fixing the school system and cleaning up around the city.

Don't let them get away with it.

-- Steve

Or scapegoating Canada... South park movie reference. That is what that movie is about. Ridiculous scapegoating, not about how Canada is destroying the world's youth...

 

[Space Spoons]

If anything violence related to videogames is due to frustration. I got incredibly pissed off at Mario sunshine. That isn't a violent videogame is it? No? Thought so.

You can jump on the islanders for more height. That's violent, or it would be if they didn't seem to be made of some kind of weird spongy material.

 

[Lazzi]

why thank you =B

 

[Bertinan]

I'm against, mostly because it would only end up letting the government spend more on a completely ineffective program that's only purpose is to line someone's pockets. After all, how many of you drank/smoked before the legal age? Exactly.

Also, I don't believe that video games cause violent behavior. I think it can be PART of the cause, but I believe the biggest part of it is the fact that human beings are human beings, and as a species we've always had something wrong with us. Violence, especially against other humans, is in our genes...nothing will change that.

I also think this is something like what happened when rock metal came out. Parents would claim, "OMG, it's causing the degradation of our youth today, the world is going to crap, etc., etc." But there's no proof it's doing any of that...and as someone pointed out, violent crimes in recent years are actually down.

Finally, I don't know about you, but video games are a GREAT stress relief. God knows what I'd have done by now if I didn't have video games.

 

[asinann]

If you follow the news with even passing interest, you must have noticed the high volume of news stories covering murders and suicides while linking the perpetrator's history of gaming to the crime itself. Among most logical gamers, it's generally agreed upon that trying to cast a video game as the cause for a youth's violent crime is foolish, since there's never been any completely conclusive studies done to establish such a link.

Lately, though, I've been thinking... Though the research hasn't been conclusive, there have been studies that allegedly show a link between playing violent video games and an increase in violent behavior/thought. In light of this, I've begun to wonder if we've made a mistake in looking at gaming the same way we look at violent movies and books. For all their similarities, they aren't simply the same, and I think it's time we took steps to show it.

Now, before you jump down my throat, I'm not in favor of censorship or anything drastic like that. I'm referring to a bill [http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/01/12/new-bill-congress-would-add-cigarette-warning-labels-video-games] that's currently passing through Congress that would give games Surgeon General-esque warnings. I'm for it.

What about you, Escapists? What if they're right?

If this passes, it will cause a legal precedent to sue game companies into the dirt.

And since parents refuse to take responsibility for their inability to raise their children (because little Johnny was an angel before he picked up that controller) there WILL be law suits, they will be class action, and the game industry will crumble under the settlement they are forced to swallow to get the immunity that the tobacco industry now has.

 

[StormyHotWolf88]

I was just discussing this with my boyfriend.. Ya know, I think kids that don't play games get into more trouble trying to stimulate themselves. this is just my own experience as I don't play as much as my bf but I'm still considered a "hard core gamer" to a group of friends. It couldn't be any further from the truth. But they are the ones that smoke, drink, drive madly and constantly getting in trouble with the police. In fact some of the best gamers I know are REALLY smart. one of which who I knew he was pretty sadistic but didn't get into too much trouble til he discovered girls, is in an Ivy league school with scholarships up to the wazoo.

I can't see the violent association with games. Although I think it numbs me enough that if i did see a monster coming at me, I sure as hell won't freeze and will kill the bastard before it kills me LOL My concern with games are the social awkwardness it creates since it's so much of an escape from other people. I only didn't have that problem since I'm a girl and well.. guys bother girls LOL not so much the other way around. Plus I spent more time on school work and the internet :3

Yet at the same time. why do people care? If someone doesn't like where they are in life, they can very easily get off their ass and attempt to change it's course. Hell even my boyfriend was like hey! I'm talking to other girls! I'm like, bout time. (if you must know, I manipulated him to go out with me LOL. I like the shy ones)

Although at the same time, my boyfriend and I have been watching the development of my younger brother that it turning 14 in a couple months for the past 3 years (we are 21-22). He's your typical Naruto fan, newgrounds and youtube dweller. He suddenly started to get our perverted jokes and that was when we found his internet exposure. So we were like, well crap now that you know, we'll destroy your childhood even further (I'm so nice...) For X-mas he got Dead Space. I wasn't too thrilled seeing how scary the game is suppose to be but he had the guts to finish the entire thing in 3 weeks. He's not phased and still my dorky brother so I guess nothing happened and now I'm thinking about trying it out >.>

Although when you get stories like the 6 year old that stole his mom's car and crashed it and told police that he learned to drive by video games, what do you say? It's like when you watch violent cartoons, you know even at 4 not to do it because you can't do what toons can do.. ya know?

 

[asinann]

I think people need to relize the real issue here. Yes video games may make you a generally more violent person. Yes sitting around for eight or nine hours isnt good for you.

The real fact of the matter is that most people are mad that a video game made there son or daughter violent (GTA, Fallout, GOW, Gears of war). Then everyone is upset at the child for the way they acted. I am not saying that its the childs fault for commiting a violent act but I am saying its the parents responsibility to monitor what they let there kids play.

Of course your going to think more violent thoughts if your playing Fallout 3 or GTA4. Your going to think about what you can do to kill the most people. You may tink violent thoughts and you may want to "go on a killing spree" but your probably not going to rob a bank more than any other. When you play Wii bowling are you thinking about killing? Probably not, you might be thinking about how to get a strike or why your grandmah is beating you but not about violence.

In reality it all should boil down to parents monitering what there kids play. I think that there are some 12 year olds that can play GTA because they are mature enough to not go practice what they see on the game they play. But at the same time I think that there are 22 year olds that are not mature enough to play and shouldent be playing games at all based on there current mental state or how much they want to "kill."

If you look at video games and TV yo will relize... If you dont like what you see trun it off and dont watch and play. Video games cant hold a gun to someones head and pull the trigger. In all realality its you that makes the final decision not the game. The game may make you think about

Here are the real issues here, parents in this generation didn't have parents to raise them so have no CLUE how to raise children. To top it off they don't want their children held responsible for their actions.

If a child (above the age of reason, I'd say about 10) steals a car and runs down fifteen people it's a mix of his parents and the child.

The kid might never have played GTA, but THAT'S what the news will blame.

Society is too soft on children now, I say we start smacking around the ones that need it again, some kids are too stupid to learn without the immediate physical pain (only thing that ever worked on me.)

 

[keyper159]

that label saying video games have been linked to aggressive behavior is true..................

IF YOUR COMPLETELY INSANE like some kid, his parents were doing the right thing he played video games for close to 18 hours a day and what did he do.. HE FUCKING SHOT HIS DAD IN THE HEAD, AND KILLED HIS MOM!!!! some people now are so stupid some of them should be checked to see if their mentally stable before their allowed to buy a video game

P.S. i can not stress how often in this post i used the phrase SOME PEOPLE not all people but SOME PEOPLE

P.P.S. this kid is also why video games are gamers are being given a bad rep and ill try and find the link to the story

 

[keyper159]

found the link and several more and the kid was found NOT GUILTY even though his dad provided a testament saying that he tried to kill him

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/boy_killed_mom_and_shot_dad_ov.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBEGwAeIVyB1tboxTgOotp97ykvAD95LMQM80
http://kotaku.com/5110323/teen-shot-parents-because-they-took-away-halo-3

 

[ranger19]

Lately, though, I've been thinking... Though the research hasn't been conclusive, there have been studies that allegedly show a link between playing violent video games and an increase in violent behavior/thought. In light of this, I've begun to wonder if we've made a mistake in looking at gaming the same way we look at violent movies and books. For all their similarities, they aren't simply the same, and I think it's time we took steps to show it.


What about you, Escapists? What if they're right?

Here's the thing about your worry. It's possible that they're right and that this is true, but until this is undeniably proven, this labeling cannot be allowed to pass through. It's not just about putting a warning on for parents and whatnot - that's what the ESRB labels are, and I'm all for those - it's putting videogames in the same league as cigarettes.

Think about it for a moment, and realize that it's not just about the warning itself, but the image that warning will give videogames. Games already have a bad enough stigma, being the scapegoat for teen violence and all other bad stuff. But now, games are like cigarettes - things that are unhealthy for people and that they should really stop. (It also stirs up suggestions of addictions, which also are not proven.) Is that what we want? Gamers being associated with the image of addicted smokers?

I think not, and until concrete evidence proves that games cause violent behavior I will be strongly against this bill. I'm curious what you have to say about this.

 

[Fineldar]

No one seems to be mentioning that the people who do stuff from video games are just insane. They probably would have done the same thing on their own, or imitated some other thing. There was the story about that kid who jacked a bunch of cars and shot someone just to see if it was as easy as in GTA, and it was reported that he had "no sign of any mental disorder or disability." Excuse me if I'm wrong, but isn't imitating, especially a bad and stupid thing, a video game, movie, or TV show a sign of a mental disorder or disability?

I'm sure at least some people let their anger out in video games. Dante put the peopel he didn't like in Hell, the Columbine kids shot up the place(because they were crazy, not because of DOOM or Marlyn Manson), others write fanfic where Harry and Malfoy zap the jerk before they have sex, and I'm sure some people imagine the enemies in the game, or even mod on, as Chet, Trevor, Chad and the boys, and gleefully blow them up. I have now linked video games to decreased aggression. We should put more ads up in place of anti-depressants, send Halo to Juvie Hall, and band Waldo Emerson from school for leading to increased violence by not decreasing it like video games. What about the people or have nothing to do but hang out on the streets? I'll bet that someone was only going out to vandalize because he was bored, and now that he had an Xbox stayed home instead. 100% of the test subject showed 100% decrease in crime rate and vandalism.

To answer the OP's question, they could be right, but we would have noticed it before. If they are right it's change is very minimal.

Video games have even more warning on them than T.V. and movies, yet there is no big warnings on theme, and those are almost the same. Yes, video games are a risk factor. Someone eating a hot dog is not going to give them a heart attack. Having a medical thing, not exercising, and eating lots of fatty foods will give them a much larger chance of one, same with video games. As much as there are arguments about cigarettes, but they do at least have chemicals and whatnot that are just bad for you. There's a lot difference between harmful chemicals and seeing/virtually doing something cool.

Remember, if nothing else kills you in your life, carrots will.

 

[StormyHotWolf88]

found the link and several more and the kid was found NOT GUILTY even though his dad provided a testament saying that he tried to kill him

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/boy_killed_mom_and_shot_dad_ov.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBEGwAeIVyB1tboxTgOotp97ykvAD95LMQM80
http://kotaku.com/5110323/teen-shot-parents-because-they-took-away-halo-3

Yeah. my bf and I looked this over. he already knew about it ( He saw it on gamepolitics.com http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/01/13/judge-comes-down-hard-video-games-halo-3-murder-trial)

I agree with the Judge that this may have been an addiction for this kid. It's easy to be addicted to anything really, just somethings easier then others to stop. Just like the mind can associate anything with sex. But honestly, I think you have to be a retard to think "Oh I thought she had an extra life and would respawn else where"

I don't think though that it was the game itself that triggered it, but more of what the game represented. He probably felt his life was ruined after his injury. it was a spinal injury so at the same time you don't know if it loosened some screws ya know?

Not to mention, for god sake, the kid was 17, he's NOT dumb. this was not spontaneous that he obviously had planned this all out. he should be tried as an adult. I'm a bit sick of people underestimating the intelligence of people that are 10+. Even the toddlers I work with from 6 months to 1.5 years may not be able to remember everything but still show their intelligence in exploration and learning.

 

[TRR]

For those of you that haven't seen this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKzF173GqTU
I believe this video is pretty self-explanatory on the real problem.

Anyway, a warning label could be beneficial, it would be harder to blame the game companies. No one would be allowed to look surprised at the actions of a 12 year old kid who plays Manhunt 16 hours a day. On a separate note, I have read that violence in video games would only really affect kids who are already disturbed.