Video Gaming Myths

[Mr. In-between]

"I can beat HALO on legendary, so I'll totally kick ass in the infantry"



...


Let that one sink in, because that's the all-time stupidest statement I have heard in my entire life.

 

[RyQ_TMC]

Aw man. I was hoping to be the first the put "Pressing A DOES NOT Increase the chance of catching a pokemon". Different kind of myth.

Probably anything from that religious gaming site, though I'm pretty sure it's a joke. Pastor Skeet? It actually had me going for a bit.

If you meant that Dante's Inferno marketing campaign, I remember people actually thinking it was real.

The most ridiculous myth? Belief that every single game is a "hyperrealistic simulation of shooting people" and everyone in a game has multiple lives.

EDIT: Also, Microsoft Flight Simulator will teach you how to fly a real plane.

 

[Brandon237]

My dad, watching me tear through zombies with a machete in Left 4 Dead 2.

"Don't you think this desensitizes you to violence?"
Me, sarcastically: "Yup, this is completely desensitizing me to grey pixels becoming red pixels"
"No, really. This is teaching you terrible lessons about how to relate to people. It's telling you to solve problems with violence."
Me: "The problem I'm solving requires self-defence."
"Killing indiscriminately is self-defense?"
Me: "I'm not killing indiscriminately! Look, I'm not killing Nick, or Rochelle, or Ellis, or that Witch..."
"But you are killing all of the zombies."
Me: "Killing a zombie is inherently an act of self-defense, as all zombies by definition are soulless killing machines."
"Couldn't a game teach you the same lesson about, for example, Muslims?"

At this point I was literally speechless, dumbstruck, and other words that also mean "unable to speak because that argument was so poor". How could a game like that get past the ESRB, let alone Faux News and CNN?


TL;DR: My dad said that video games might teach me the terrible lesson that killing a Muslim is inherently an act of self-defense, as all Muslims by definition are soulless killing machines.

Tell your father that a healthy human mind can tell the difference between real life and simulation (not that L4D is a sim). How does pushing a button to convey attacking an onscreen caricature in any way correlate to physically picking up a weapon and knowingly attacking another human being who you know you will hurt, and also knowing full well that there are consequences.

If he says, "you only do it in games because there are no consequences", agree with him , and point out the fact that their are no consequences in games because you are not hurting anyone, and that you are unleashing simulated violence onto something that you don't have a moral connection with, because it doesn't exist. This is one of the things that separates a healthy human mind from a psychopath.

Then ask your father "Do you think I'm a psychopath?"

The problem is that I know what mine would say... He has an oddly good sense of humour sometimes. It's strange really.

 

[Brandon237]

Aw man. I was hoping to be the first the put "Pressing A DOES NOT Increase the chance of catching a pokemon". Different kind of myth.

Probably anything from that religious gaming site, though I'm pretty sure it's a joke. Pastor Skeet? It actually had me going for a bit.

If you meant that Dante's Inferno marketing campaign, I remember people actually thinking it was real.

The most ridiculous myth? Belief that every single game is a "hyperrealistic simulation of shooting people" and everyone in a game has multiple lives.

EDIT: Also, Microsoft Flight Simulator will teach you how to fly a real plane.

The flight sim actually had to be made less realistic during development because of that exact problem. The original controls and general movement had to be altered in order to prevent terrorists from knowing how to fly planes.

 

[FolkLikePanda]

I think me dad once said to me that video games make your dick shrink, then again he had about 8 pints and decided to play Sonic The Hedgehog on the Wii to bring back memories straight after saying that.

 

[HellbirdIV]

Probably the "Mass Effect sex scandal".

 

[kampori]

Meh, i really don't believe that video games affect kids,
after all, if they did pac-man would have made us sit in dark rooms all day, listening to repetitive music and popping pills......

OH SH--....

Markus brigstocke ftw, eh?

Apparantly, Video games are the reason that I dislike most the people I meet >.>
I think it's because the majority of people I meet are Stupid Jerks ._.

Yep me too..

I don't really play games all that often, much less than a lot of my friends I hang out with, even less than my own girlfriend. Yet apparently its due to gaming that I have a severe mistrust and hatred for all people unless they can prove they're not idiots. The whole guilty until proven innocent thing.

Sadly, a good 70% of the people I meet have no right to earn my trust or friendship, or even respect. The other 30% are my friends
Ahh, I love being an up-beat, optimistic guy.

 

[Stoic raptor]

My dad, watching me tear through zombies with a machete in Left 4 Dead 2.

"Don't you think this desensitizes you to violence?"
Me, sarcastically: "Yup, this is completely desensitizing me to grey pixels becoming red pixels"
"No, really. This is teaching you terrible lessons about how to relate to people. It's telling you to solve problems with violence."
Me: "The problem I'm solving requires self-defence."
"Killing indiscriminately is self-defense?"
Me: "I'm not killing indiscriminately! Look, I'm not killing Nick, or Rochelle, or Ellis, or that Witch..."
"But you are killing all of the zombies."
Me: "Killing a zombie is inherently an act of self-defense, as all zombies by definition are soulless killing machines."
"Couldn't a game teach you the same lesson about, for example, Muslims?"

At this point I was literally speechless, dumbstruck, and other words that also mean "unable to speak because that argument was so poor". How could a game like that get past the ESRB, let alone Faux News and CNN?


TL;DR: My dad said that video games might teach me the terrible lesson that killing a Muslim is inherently an act of self-defense, as all Muslims by definition are soulless killing machines.

Hey, I take offense. I am not a soulless killing machine.

Except maybe in-game

 

[Beryl77]

It was some politician who wanted to tell parents how evil games are.
"The goal in Counterstrike is to kill little schoolgirls"
I don't know where he had his facts from but I'm sure many parents believed him.

Another one from an politician who never had touched a game.
"With shooters, people can learn how to use a weapon in real life."
Yeah, I'm sure now that thanks to cs I can use weapons. I just have to find out where the left Mousebuttton on the weapon is.

 

[Korten12]

It was some politician who wanted to tell parents how evil games are.
"The goal in Counterstrike is to kill little schoolgirls"
I don't know where he had his facts from but I'm sure many parents believed him.

Another one from an politician who never had touched a game.
"With shooters, people can learn how to use a weapon in real life."
Yeah, I'm sure now that thanks to cs I can use weapons. I just have to find out where the left Mousebuttton on the weapon is.

wait guns dont have a mouse button or a controller trigger? DANGIT! xD

 

[Lordmarkus]

You'll run faster with a knife in your hand.

Fact.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[Scabadus]

I don't recall any truley outrageous ones, but I do remember my mum once telling me (as a fact, not as her opinion) that "all video games are boring because all you do is run places." This may seem like ignorance to some people, but my mum's actually a very intelligent person and is normally very respecting and mindful of other people's opinions and their right to them. I think that videogames are like the masturbation of the 1800s; nothing inherintly wrong but people's minds have been clouded by what 'professionals' have told them.

Besides, marathon runners seem to like running places and nobody complains about that.

 

[Siuki]

My dad, watching me tear through zombies with a machete in Left 4 Dead 2.

[snippy snip]

Me: "Killing a zombie is inherently an act of self-defense, as all zombies by definition are soulless killing machines."
"Couldn't a game teach you the same lesson about, for example, Muslims?"

At this point I was literally speechless, dumbstruck, and other words that also mean "unable to speak because that argument was so poor". How could a game like that get past the ESRB, let alone Faux News and CNN?

TL;DR: My dad said that video games might teach me the terrible lesson that killing a Muslim is inherently an act of self-defense, as all Muslims by definition are soulless killing machines.

How horrifyingly Religiousist(?) of him. Just tell him they're Muslim zombies, if that will put his spirit at rest.

"Duke Nukem Forever is coming soon!"
Jokes aside, yea Ive heard a fair few like keep staring at those games and your eyes will go square.. which was hypocritical of her... all she did was watch TV >.<

Was she watching Fox News? It would explain her actions. Come to think of it, square eyes would look pretty cool. Then you could have square glasses for a reason!

or look freaky like mama did in Doomsday arcade

Sadly, anime eyes do not and never will translate well into real life.

sadly what the hell do you mean sadly

People would think you're a freak. Unless everyone had it, then it would be like I am Legend where the majority of the population has anime eyes.

 

[laol1999]

Hmm, a video game myth...."Games will make you smarter."

Depending on the game, this may or may not be less of a myth than you'd think.

true... if you get something like brain age then your set

 

[Siuki]

Probably the whole "videogames are antisocial" thing. Videogames can be a social thing. Even when we're not playing multiplayer, in my house when someone is playing a game everyone else will probably be sitting watching, commenting on the action and chatting.

Right, now that I've said something relevant I just have to be pedantic.

For me, a friends mom had told me that video games had actually melted her cousin's sister's son's eyeballs out.

Wouldn't your cousin's sister also be your cousin?

It was a really "I knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who" kind of fact, so it was pretty hard to believe.

 

[AnnihilaSean]

Pretty much every view still held by non gamers. Games promote real world violence, Games are at the same time designed for childern and made to be as violent, sexist and bad taste as possible. 15+ and 18+ rated games are souly marketed at children.

Games are a waste of time. Games have no inherrent value. Games are incapable of being effecting or meaningfull. Games are high score focused (yeah...). Games are deliberately addictive. Games have no interlectual value.

All modern games are bad. All modern games are violent. Games as a medium are inherrently evil.


I think the biggest myth is one of gross omission and utter ignorance about the current bredth of the indusrty and the inextricable facets of gaming in all it's guises beging almost ubiquitus in our lives. The same superiour fucker who will dam Mass Effect or GTA4 will proabaly gush about his new i-phone apps most of which will be games.

Agreed.

"Gamers are fat people with no friends. I'm so awesome. Fifa/Madden/MW2 don't count though, so I'm gonna go play them."

 

[Naheal]

true... if you get something like brain age then your set

There's also the idea of tangential learning when looking at video games.