Are violent computer games harmless fun or a dangerous pastime?

3hn2givr7mx1sc

I've been playing GTA since I was about 10 I'd say and I'm the finest.

c_man

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

Now, I spend time aiming for the civilians I see on the paths. At the moment, I have the army after me.

You'll be fine. After the shootout and your death, you'll emerge from the hospital with the only casualty being your weapons and cash.

Akrasia

Playing video games causes violence towards me.

Playing Battlefield 3 for about 9 months,
I've been stabbed,
shot,
blown up,
napalmed,
run over by cars,
run over by tanks,
crashed into by helicopters,
thrown off the side of aircraft carriers,
squashed by bits of collapsing buildings
double crossed by my own team-mates,
committed suicide,
drowned,
burned to death,
been kicked,
wounded,
shot, then brought back to life, then shot again
and burned to death with a welding torch,

But I have never, not even once been successful at causing any violence to anyone else.

gbee

It depends, most crime comes from God for instance, we don't have too many saying that Rockstar Games told me to do it.

--Kaiser--

“But I am convinced that the graphics in computer games are now so realistic that children can’t tell if they are computer generated or not and that’s what causes this behaviour.”

What moron said this and where does he live so I can run him over with my car?

c_man

Parappa the rapper made me the Gangsta that I am today.

Anyone

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

What moron said this and where does he live so I can run him over with my car?

Your car? Tut,tut....first you steal the car, then you phone in and they will give you his name and address. Then you drive to where he lives, making sure you dont attract the attention on the police....then you can run him over. After that, take the car to the chop shop.

Tombi!

Anyone wrote: »

Your car? Tut,tut....first you steal the car, then you phone in and they will give you his name and address. Then you drive to where he lives, making sure you dont attract the attention on the police....then you can run him over. After that, take the car to the chop shop.

Don't be stupid!
First off you nick the car (after pressing triangle to stop yourself getting into the car), kill the driver with a giant pink sex toy. Then you get into the car, run over the police man chasing you (because you only have one star). Get two stars. Then you go over to the gang-banger's house (he's always a gang-banger), go into the highlighted area so you can enter his home.
Shoot him, use the baseball bat a few times when he's dead.
Go outside, get back into your car with the FBI on your tail and just swerve into the local garage and get your car spray-painted and you're golden.

H3llR4iser

TheDoc wrote: »

...It gets more sound bites from parents who claim World of Warcraft has turned their child into a zombie who doesn't do anything but play wow...

Parents that, in most cases, do nothing but lay on the couch and soak up crappy TV shows every single second of their free time; An activity that involves nothing - no muscle, no brain, no conscience. Who's the zombie now?

This is an argument that keeps coming and going, it's usually brought forward by other media and entertainment sectors that feel extremely threatened by videogames, usually citing some very dubious or otherwise biased study. As a matter of fact, the whole topic is starting to grow less and less prominent as the videogaming industry grows and game studios are becoming multi-billions dollars enterprises.

When I was a child, "Rambo" was the devil that made children into violent criminals, so draw your conclusions

Duggy747

“But I am convinced that the graphics in computer games are now so realistic that children can’t tell if they are computer generated or not and that’s what causes this behaviour.”

"Children" are a lot more tech-savy than people would give them credit for and thus would understand what the whole concept of graphics and gaming engines are. When I was a kid it was all about 16bit this and 32bit that with sprites and pixel shìt and *HOLY SHÌT!* 64bit machine...........woooooaaaahhh!!!

The mammy hated meself and the brother playing games, despite him having been an all-Ireland winner who won loads of Nintendo gear, games and consoles.

"They're no friend of God" I used to hear and that I'd amount to nothing with computers. Fast forward a decade later and I'm running an IT shop :pac:

I generally find that people who believe these studies that games cause anger issues and that only lonely, socially inept people over 16 play games are people who don't play games themselves..................and playing shìtty apps on your phone / tablet / Facebook doesn't give you authority about the gaming industry as whole.

Usually on these "arguments" I expect a mother to come along and say ".....as a mother......." which somehow becomes a valuable basis that the gaming industry should be changed / regulated rather than her, as a parent, do her fùcking job and don't let their kids play games that aren't designed for them.

They wouldn't let their children watch Saw (I hope not anyways :pac:) but games are ok because they still have the mentality that they're for kids. Games have been for "kids" for decades now and those "kids" have grown up, still play them in their 30s and 40s which the industry has reflected to aim at, and even work in the industry now.

Anyways, I have to lay low for a while. Waiting for my 5 stars to disappear.....

TheDoc

H3llR4iser wrote: »

When I was a child, "Rambo" was the devil that made children into violent criminals, so draw your conclusions

It also inspired a young child who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and when giving 4 months until his death, found himself constantly watching Rambo, and lived for a further 3 years.

He and his parents attested his additional live span to the attributes he drew from Rambo, and also being invited to meet Stallone, who actually spent alot of time with him in his final years. And he was invited as a special guest onto the set during the shooting for Rambo 2.

Was a pretty touching little documentary on the Rambo special edition DVD

Knasher

No I don't believe any link between video game violence and real life violence. It is just the go to boogeyman whenever someone unstable does something violent any link to gaming is given a lot of attention. Surveys say 63% of the US population play video games, it isn't surprising that some of them turn out to be violent.

But I am convinced that the graphics in computer games are now so realistic that children can’t tell if they are computer generated or not

That is really stupid and it makes me think that the scientists doing this study had a bias going in, makes me dubious about their whole conclusion.

J. Marston

pmcmahon wrote: »

Fifa causes aggression.

This. I've killed hookers to get my money back and blown up thousands of people with a bazooka in GTA, I've killed countless people by shoving a blade in their face in Assassins Creed but the game that actually makes me want to harm people is FIFA.

kowloon

How some people can do the whole 'video games rot your brain' act while they lie on the couch every evening glued to reality tv baffles me.

the_syco

Before video games it was TV, before that it was books and "free thinkers", and before that it was either the drink or some random pagan god.

Can't be bad parenting, can it?

MrVestek

I've been popping pills and listening to repetitive music all my life thanks to Pacman...

Duggy747

:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7_aJtpUWT4

Pat Mustard

I went looking for the study mentioned by the OP, but I could only find this Telegraph article, and no link to the study.

This is an old debate, which has roots in controversy over violence in comic books in 1950s USA.

One school of thought is that violent video games cause violent and aggressive behaviour. Whilst a correlation has been established between the two, causation has not been established.

The other school of thought is that video games either have no effect or have a minor beneficial effect as an ‘outlet’, like sports.

This article refers to a Brock University PhD candidate who found the same correlations of aggression in violent and non-violent video games, where both types of games were competitive and fast-paced.

I think that this pubmed article is a more balanced article. The authors question the relevance of these studies on correlations between video games and aggression. They mention that watching and engaging in sports and martial arts probably increase levels of aggression, but question whether this is a public health concern at all.

In my opinion, if you get a well balanced kid who played Manhunt, it's not going to have a significant negative impact.

mikom

Duggy747 wrote: »

:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7_aJtpUWT4

Ground force: Vice city.

Rigol

davet82 wrote: »

I'm a bit skeptical, i loved shoot'em ups as a kid (although with an 8bit console :pac: ) and it done me no harm... i think

Well theres arguments for and against.
IMHO the scale of the argument is going to increase.
The question is going to become more serious and relevant.
Because of the high level and ever increasing simulated reality of the games.
As well at the intensifying of the simulated violence.

So neither agree nor disagree.
But see a storm gathering.

CosmicSmash

I would have replied earlier but I had to wash the blood off my hands.:rolleyes:
Same old story, it comes down to responsibe parenting.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/01/15/video_games_make_good_kids/

Retr0gamer

The biggest and most comprehensive study into this was the Byron report funded by the British government. Some real research was done into the subject unlike the mickey mouse stuff reported by the OP. You never hear this report mentioned because it showed not connection between violence in kids and videogames. Actually it was mentioned a few times by the Daily Mail, they disagreed more than likely because it would have affected their scaremongering stories.

flutterflye

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The biggest and most comprehensive study into this was the Byron report funded by the British government. Some real research was done into the subject unlike the mickey mouse stuff reported by the OP. You never hear this report mentioned because it showed not connection between violence in kids and videogames. Actually it was mentioned a few times by the Daily Mail, they disagreed more than likely because it would have affected their scaremongering stories.

We looked into all of the major studies in college (including the ones in The Mustard's post), and literally the only findings from all of them combined that was in any way notable was the fact that violent video games can prime aggressive responses - That is it.

I was particularly interested in the study and read up on a lot of extra materials at the time too, because my son plays a lot of games (he has asd and it's his 'interest').
I had been hearing from everywhere that games could lead to aggressive behaviour - his principal even tried to convince me of this one day, his grandparents too, and random people.
So I was really relieved by the lack of any concrete evidence out there.

Dravokivich

If there's a problem with kids/teenagers not being able to tell the difference between reality/fantasy, I think that's what needs to be looked into. Not the media that alerts people towards the issue of someone with an unclear view on whether or not something they are doing as actual consequences.

From the article copied in the OP, I think that the way games have been designed may have a link towards agression, in the way the article describes it, but it's probably more likely to be driven by frustration. Games are designed now in such a way where your actions have a more immediate result and impact. If one is constantly involved with a medium that has such a quick turn around on success/reward I think one could end up conditioned to expect that.

People have to be responsible for their own perception. Whether it goes with reality or not. A parent can only tell their child/teenager to do/understand so much. At a point it's got to be the child/teenager that comes to question.

Perception can be warped by any medium, once there's enough exposure to it.

Run_to_da_hills

And one month later...........

MagicSean

davet82 wrote: »

super mario taught me to jump on peoples heads

I massacared tons of turtles in my youth because of that game

mikom

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

And one month later...........

GTA 5 is still not out........

donegal_road

there is no doubt about it. This guy in Connecticut, referred to as a nerd and a geek throughout his teenage years, decides to prove to everyone he is not, by turning his fantasy world of video-game-violence into reality.

books4sale

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

And one month later...........

Now there's a lad who would find a conspiracy in a cup of tea.

Sure blame it on the video games, that way you can keep your guns safe for the Apocalypse / Rapture / Dec21 or whatever rubbish ye're all into these days.

Duggy747

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

And one month later...........

......and what? Tell us what you know the cops haven't released yet?

Tell us what you know about the psychological thinking, supposed mental disability (Asperger) this guy had which lead him to have poor social interaction with people, the gun training his mother gave him, the large amounts of guns in the house, and the motive for shooting his mother, classrooms, and then himself.

Or, yeah, just say video games and let's move on. Lot more simpler than getting to the root of the problem.

donegal_road wrote: »

there is no doubt about it. This guy in Connecticut, referred to as a nerd and a geek throughout his teenage years, decides to prove to everyone he is not, by turning his fantasy world of video-game-violence into reality.

Or maybe he was sick of everyone calling him a geek and a nerd.

Both of you don't know jack shìt, so don't go spouting it like you've solved the case.

Fluorescence

I did a psychology class about violence in video games a few years back, and it was interesting to look at. Studies were conducted where people's visceral responses to video games were monitored* (heart rate, sweat, etc) and games certainly had an impact on those. However, people responded more strongly to survival horror games (where you run away from threats rather than face them head on), and far far less to your typical GTA sandbox experience.

The point was also made that those with a predisposition to violence are more likely to pick up and enjoy violent games, and that simply playing the game isn't going to make a non-violent person a serial killer. If two hypothetical teenage boys who liked Battlefield 3 went out and gunned down 20 people, it wouldn't make the 2 things related. If not a violent game, they would have found other entertainment that appealed to them.





*Another interesting thing is that gaming is quite unique as a storytelling medium. It's much more immersive than books/tv/film because you have an active role. Yet people still have very strong reactions to passive media. It's only logical that they'll react as strongly if not more so to games. So, in my mind, the fact that heart-rate/sweat-rate increases during violent gameplay is a bit of a red herring.

Nodin

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

And one month later...........

~Lizard people? Mind control satellite? Flesh eating nanobot? Daily mail headline? People in the floor? Elephant in the room? bananas in pyjamas?

donegal_road

dont take my word for it Duggy. As far back as 2000, the FBI included playing violent video games in a list of behaviors associated with school shootings

link

Sirsok

I think it is utterly correct, I often blame FIFA for me chasing a ball on a AstroTurf pitch at 9 o'clock on a Wednesday ..... All games should be banned I tell ya

Sofiztikated

donegal_road wrote: »

dont take my word for it Duggy. As far back as 2000, the FBI included playing violent video games in a list of behaviors associated with school shootings

link

D'you know what that says to me? That violent people play violent video games. Not that violent video games make violent people.

VinLieger

donegal_road wrote: »

dont take my word for it Duggy. As far back as 2000, the FBI included playing violent video games in a list of behaviors associated with school shootings

link

The FBI only included it as a reason because to them it was an "unusual" link between several of these shootings. Newsflash ALOT of people play video games, they all probably watched similar things on tv, similar movies and read similar books, whats the big deal about games?
Millions of people play violent games everyday and they arent out running around shooting up schools.
How about coming to the conclusion that maybe he had other mental problems, a disagreement with his mother turned violent and he snapped, or a hundred other reasons instead of jumping on the bandwagon of "dem vidja gaemses are the devil"

VinLieger

donegal_road wrote: »

there is no doubt about it. This guy in Connecticut, referred to as a nerd and a geek throughout his teenage years, decides to prove to everyone he is not, by turning his fantasy world of video-game-violence into reality.

No doubt about it?
So before the police have done their job, fully investigated the facts and come to logical and probably correct reason this terrible tragedy occurred youve already made up your ignorant, small mind that of course it was video games that caused all this,
Hmm where have i seen this before? http://kotaku.com/5968683/mob-blames-mass-effect-for-school-shooting-is-embarrassingly-wrong/gallery/1

Sirsok

donegal_road wrote: »

dont take my word for it Duggy. As far back as 2000, the FBI included playing violent video games in a list of behaviors associated with school shootings

link

Wasn't Marilyn Manson blamed for columbine and a certain metal band back in the 80s were brought to court over someone killin themselves as apparently there was subliminal messages. It's all based on the individuals.games,music,movies and books are not to blame....psychos are....how many people had the desire to kill John Lennon after readin the book chapman did? Sadistic psychos have lived throughout centuries....I played the video game manhunt that is banned now andi never had the urge to throw a plastic bag over someone's head

donegal_road

The US Marine Corps licensed Doom II in 1996 to create Marine Doom in order to train soldiers. In 2002, the US Army released first-person shooter America's Army to recruit soldiers and prepare recruits for the battlefield

source

donegal_road

Sirsok wrote: »

Wasn't Marilyn Manson blamed for columbine and a certain metal band back in the 80s were brought to court over someone killin themselves as apparently there was subliminal messages. It's all based on the individuals.games,music,movies and books are not to blame....psychos are....how many people had the desire to kill John Lennon after readin the book chapman did? Sadistic psychos have lived throughout centuries....I played the video game manhunt that is banned now andi never had the urge to throw a plastic bag over someone's head

I think the band you mentioned was Judas Priest

donegal_road

good luck everyone, this thread is starting to get abusive, happy christmas to one and all. x

VinLieger

donegal_road wrote: »

source

And? they use it to train soldiers how to think under prssure and learn how to make difficult decisions in impossible scenarios, not teaching them to kill without remorse.
Did you know games are also used to train first responders to emergencies?
Help autistic children get beyond their social inabilities and teach them life skills?
Create new medicines and cures for diseases and other real world problems?

meoklmrk91

Yawn, this a copout whatever way you look at it. It's a copout for poor parenting, it's a copout for people who commit violent crime. I understand that people want something to blame in the wake of a tragedy like Newtown or columbine, but blaming Marilyn Manson, rap, violent movies and video games is stupid considering that there were far bigger influences in these people's lives, like their parents, family teachers and peers. People who commit crimes like these are far more complicated than most people can understand therefore no one thing can be to blame. It is far more likely that these people are attracted to violent stuff because they are the way they are and not because the video game made them do it.

youreadthat

I've been driven more insane playing fifa than all of the virtual murder I've done. :pac:

mikom

Considering the shooters favorite game was Dynasty Warriors......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CBpo8DtaAc

Where was his horse, sword and pike at the school?

Lame-ass argument blaming games tbh.

Nodin

donegal_road wrote: »

source

and....?

Hank Scorpio

I don't believe violent games are dangerous but people should abide to the 18+ certs

Any excuse to post this song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ByBpD6o4rE

c_man

c_man wrote: »

Parappa the rapper made me the Gangsta that I am today.

Kick, Punch its all in the Mind!.....:)

Run_to_da_hills

Nodin wrote: »

~Lizard people? Mind control satellite? Flesh eating nanobot? Daily mail headline? People in the floor? Elephant in the room? bananas in pyjamas?

Speaking of the Daily Mail, this appeared just three days before this all happened.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2246478/Playing-violent-video-games-just-20-minutes-day-encourage-aggressive-behaviour.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Nodin

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Speaking of the Daily Mail, this appeared just three days before this all happened.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2246478/Playing-violent-video-games-just-20-minutes-day-encourage-aggressive-behaviour.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

a racing game doesn't get them going? I find that hard to believe. And as usual, they haven't made a comparison to sports fans.