The legal precedent of blaming video games.

[DaMullet]

I'm really getting tired of video games getting the blame for crazy people.

But then a few questions went through my head;

What made people crazy before video games?
&
If someone actually bans video games because it made someone crazy, does that set up a legal precedent?

2 really quick examples;
The Nazi's built their perfect race idea around the theory of evolution.
Charles Manson went nuts because of listening to the Beatles backwards.

Does that mean that if video games are banned, I get to ban evolution and the Beatles?

My point, crazy people are crazy. Dont' blame the gun, blame the one who pulled the trigger.

 

[loodmoney]

What made people crazy before video games?

Don Quixote, published in 1605, was about a guy who went crazy after reading too many chivalry romances. Apparently that was what the Spanish were concerned with in the first 70 years of the sixteenth century.

 

[Esotera]

Spoiler

There will always be 'crazy' people. And some of them will always play video games or read lots of chivalry romances. Doesn't necessarily mean that the games made them crazy.

I don't think video games will ever be banned, at least not permanently. But it would set a legal precedent for other forms of media.

 

[Neverhoodian]

What made people crazy before video games?

Basically whatever the "new" fad or medium was at the time. Television, movies, rock music, and comic books were all accused of "corrupting the youth" during the last century. I'm sure when a new medium comes along people will start placing blame on it (Jack Thompson Jr: "holograms are turning children into serial rapists!")

I don't think you have to worry about video games being banned. It's a multi-billion dollar industry that consistently reaps more profit than other mediums like music and film. For argument's sake though, if video games were banned it would set a dangerous precedent. However, court-approved bans are only done on a case-by-case basis, and the game industry could always appeal the decision.