Video Games as a "Murder Simulator"

[orangeapples]

Now, we all know that Jack Thompson was a nutjob. Anything that could have been remotely close to video games, he would attack with no evidence to support him. He'd make a claim and find evidence that supports him.

but could there be some truth to his words?


How many guns can you name simply because you were playing Counter Strike or Modern Warfare 2 with no previous knowledge of guns?

How many of you think you can reload a gun based on what you saw from a video game?

How many people here have looked at their school and said, "man this would make an awesome map."

When you are holding a knife, do you feel like you are in a video game?

admit it, we all have.

now, for a person to actually go out and kill a person, that takes a certain level of crazy that must pre-exist in a person, but is it possible that if it weren't for video games, that crazy person might not have had a place for those thoughts to incubate and focus and grow?


video games on their own are not a problem, but they act more like a catalyst when combined with crazy person.

video games = hobby
crazy = ill
crazy + video game = psychotic killer

granted that
crazy + anything = psychotic killer
Given: anything is not mental or professional help

[edit]

people seem to have not been reading this last little part, so now it is bold.

crazy = tension
video games = increase tension
trigger = snap

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

I have a couple of knives at home but they all stay within the sheath they came in. I know very little gun types other than the categories like Pistol, Shotgun, Semi-Automatic, Fully-Automatic, High-Velocity Rifle etc..but that's only because i've watch a lot of history and military channel shows.

 

[Omikron009]

I think that video games might only be an issue with someone who has a serious problem distinguishing fantasy from reality. I also think that video games are unrealistic enough that they wouldn't be much help for a real killer. Plus, even if they were, if someone goes out and uses techniques they learned in a game to murder someone they were probably going to snap eventually anyway, regardless of what they were exposed to.

 

[Marine Mike]

I call Bullshit!
No, really, Penn and Teller did an episode of "Bullshit!" on video game violence and do a better job than I could showing how blaming video games is a load of crap.
Watch it if you've got a spare 30 minutes. [http://www.casttv.com/shows/penn-teller-bullshit/video-games/x1af1p]

 

[crispybacon]

How many guns can you name simply because you were playing Counter Strike or Modern Warfare 2 with no previous knowledge of guns?

I've learned more about guns from Tom Clancy books. But having Hunt for Red October on a killer's bookshelf hasn't led to people clamouring for Clancy books to be banned.

 

[Lukeje]

How many guns can you name simply because you were playing Counter Strike or Modern Warfare 2 with no previous knowledge of guns?

How many of you think you can reload a gun based on what you saw from a video game?

How many people here have looked at their school and said, "man this would make an awesome map."

When you are holding a knife, do you feel like you are in a video game?

admit it, we all have.

I've never thought any of those things... I've been driving a car and had flashbacks to GTA though.

 

[likalaruku]

Let's just say that my coworkers & friends & family usually back away from me when I'm holding anything pointy, usually a butterknife or a letter opener.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Holy shit!
When ever I'm holding even a butter knife I feel like I'm in a video-game.
And I have thought the oval at my school would make a great map.
And before I played COD 4, I had no idea about which gun was which.
Maybe I am a psychopath... :$

 

[OrdinaryGuy]

I don't see how video games factor into this at all. You say they act as a catalyst when combined with a crazy person, but a crazy person is already crazy.

It doesn't matter what media it is, be it video games, movies, television, music, or literature, they are absolutely not to blame for someone's behavior. Most people know right from wrong. Most people know that guns are dangerous. Most people know that video games, movies, etc. are fake/scripted. If someone does not understand this, get them professional help right away before it turns into another news story about how video games corrupt people and turn them into well-trained killing machines.

I understand what you're trying to say but I do not see any connection between what I do in a video game and what I can do in real life. Just because I played Counter Strike for three years does not mean that I will know how to shoot and/or reload a gun. It's not the same in real life.

 

[halfeclipse]

Video games can probably act as a trigger, however it's a rather misleading point to make since nearly anything can act as a trigger in someone that mental unstable.

 

[trickyfingers]

The blame lies solely with the person in question, though i think videogames offer a unique form of escapism to antisocial types.
We are free to be as cruel as our imaginations and game mechanics let us. That freedom is why the discussion about violent videogames is different than any other violent media.

 

[iLikeHippos]

You hit the nail about the school thing.
I always think that if there would be a zombie outbreak, you could easily hold out at the stairs. They're just so perfect if you got an M-4!

... But yeah, you learn of weapons when you play games that are trying to be as realistic as possible.
I mean, I didn't learn the name of the M fucking 4 when I played Ratchet & Clank.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

When you are holding a knife, do you feel like you are in a video game?

The only time I ever hold knives is when I'm eating so ... no.

What if it was an eating game?

 

[fozzy360]

How many guns can you name simply because you were playing Counter Strike or Modern Warfare 2 with no previous knowledge of guns?

I've learned more about guns from Tom Clancy books. But having Hunt for Red October on a killer's bookshelf hasn't led to people clamouring for Clancy books to be banned.

I agree. Not only that, but it's not like Modern Warfare gives the entire lowdown on any and every weapon out there. I play Battlefield a lot, and I'm still pretty ignorant when it comes to my knowledge of guns. Responding to the point of games being "murder simulators," I call bullshit on that one. Firing a gun in a game and firing a gun in real life are completely different experiences. When I shot a gun for the first time (a pistol), I was very nervous. I was in awe of holding this weapon in my hand. I got used to it after a while, but you know what? My aim was terrible. I fired all over the place and only managed to hit the target a few times. Years of playing games did fuck-all to improve my firing skills. If games are murder simulators, then why did it not teach me to fire a gun like a pro? If games are murder simulators, why can't it teach me to no-scope an enemy with a sniper rifle? If games are murder simulators, then why can't they teach me that vision doesn't turn black and white when I'm covered in darkness? I think murder requires a little more effort than repeatedly pressing A (X for PS users, waggle for the Wii folks).

How many people here have looked at their school and said, "man this would make an awesome map."

Have you seen my old high school? It'd make a great CTF map!

When you are holding a knife, do you feel like you are in a video game?

Like Cooking Mama?

 

[Kyrian007]

Or an eating people game. "Soylent Revenge 2"

 

[GnomeThief]

Admittedly, I know almost everything that I do about guns from videogames. And I often catch myself playing with pencils and rulers like they're knives in a videogame while I'm at school. It's all harmless fun though. I agree, for a person to actual take anything they see in a videogame seriously, a certain amount of crazy already has to be present.

 

[Harn]

You can see people firing guns on the 6 o'clock news. In movies. On various other T.V Shows. You can read about it in books and newspapers.

The people who blame video games generally don't play games themselves, and the only reason they latch onto games is because it has no impact on them if the shit hits the fan.

Hell, I've been playing FPS games since I was 8 or 9 [Goldeneye ftw?]. Shot my first gun shortly after that [Heavily supervised shooting range at a hunters and anglers thing]. I have yet to commit an act of violence against another human being.

People who kill others because they saw it in the video game are already mentally unstable. Even without the game, something would have caused them to go postal. Or are we chalking the thousands of crazy murders in history from before games up to crazy random happenstance?

 

[Kimarous]

Allow me to demonstrate my intense knowledge of guns that I acquired from games!

*runs around with a pistol in front of me, arm rigidly locked in an L-shape*

Um... how to I change firing modes? HOW DO I ACCESS ALT FIRE?!?

*accidently fires gun several times, emptying clip*

Looks like I better reload...

*shakes pistol downward; shakes more violently when nothing happens*

WHY WON'T YOU EMPTY?!?

 

[WalkNasty]

you know it has been found that every single person who committed a violent act in history have had water at some point in time. maybe we should go out and ban that too.

the people who are doing these tests are doing the same approach. they say that a person who committed a violent act played video games and therefore the two are related. that is complete bullshit.