But that can influenced by other factors as well, violent video games is just one thing that contributes to it
Ace Attorney doesn't make someone a lawyer. Gran Turismo doesn't make someone a race car driver. Cooking Mama doesn't make you a chef. Barbie's Horse Adventure doesn't make you an equestrian. So why would people think that Street Fighter would turn you into a street fighting punk or Grand Theft Auto would turn you into a car thief or Mortal Kombat would turn you into some sort of....person that would go around ripping people's spines out of their back with one hand (which is fairly impossible to begin with....) or that Call of Duty would turn you into some crazy shooter? I can understand a parent not wanting to see that sort of violence when they're young and waiting until they're of a more mature age to see that without being scared or traumatized, but going so far as to say that it'll turn children and people violent? No. If it weren't for violent video games, I'd have a LOT of aggression (and physical aggression) problems since I wouldn't have an outlet.
Interesting, isn't that the same viewpoint we as gays and lesbians are always subject and opposed to?~ Everyone will think what they want. I myself as a gamer and someone with a general dislike of censorship don't mind killing and that kind of thing in games on principle. I will say I think a widespread ban on violent games is pretty uncalled for and stupid. I know some countries like Germany and Australia tend to refuse certian titles for being too graphic and all it does is piss everybody off and make them import it from another country then play it anyway. It's ineffective but the bottom line is there's no proven consequences game violence can be directly called responsible for and absolutely no reason to outlaw it or whatever. Just because someone in opposition to violence on principle thinks it might be harmful and dislikes them is no reason to restrict them from everyone. As for little kids getting desensitized by it there's a rating system already in place to prevent that which is enough.
I mostly play sports games. When I'm having a bad day there's nothing like popping in Unreal Tournament 3, loading up some custom skins, and blowing C3PO to hell for an hour or so. (sorry he just annoys the hell outta me.....now if someone would make a Jar-Jar skin.....oh I can fell my trigger finger itching already)
Honestly, I could care less. But if you are 18 and up...you should be able to play what you want. The problem is these parents who buy their 8 and 9 year old COD or GTA 5 and then blame the company where their child plays with a gun and kills someone or themselves. Games have a rating on them for a reason. Movies have a game on them for a reason. Its not the company's fault. Its not he games fault. By the time a person is 18 or 19, their brains have developed enough to know fact from fiction and they are old enough to know whats right or wrong. Children are not. Its on the parents. I know what when I shot a person in Mass Effect or left for dead that it isnt ok in real life. my partner knows she can't go and shot someone like she does in MW3.
sometimes I can get a bit carried away with them I agree that some game need to have an age limit but I cant see younger kids taking any notice of that mum or dad would likely get the game for them .
I quite like some computer games that involve types of violence. The course at I did at university was very anti censorship and that would have been unquestionably my view until a few years ago. Since working in mental health and having to be a part of teams making choices on whether people with histories of violence should be allowed computer games that simulate violence and had conversations along the lines of "what kind of pretending to kill someone is alright and what kind isn't?" and "what kind of fantasies might these games feed into?", I have found it harder to be so firmly anti-censorship - there are some people I really wouldn't want to be accessing violent computer games! I honestly don't think I have a clear answer on this one anymore.
Okay, so I have been thinking a bit more about it. Reading here a bit more woke me up. We play "cowboys and indians" and "soldiers". It looks like we enjoy killing or trying to be "the winner" or the "good" against "the bad". Some people play it in real life and it´s called war. I get it, humans are killers. Let them have their killing games if that is what keeps them from real killing. The world sucks. I don´t want to be part of it. I really really find less and less reason to be on earth. Humans are evil. Everything comes to down to violence. Someone wants something and hurts someone else over it.
I have no issue with violent video games, and I tend to play them a lot. Honestly, stuff like the GTA games bother me because it rewards people for doing terrible things in situations plausible in real life. When the violence is that overt with that kind of purpose, it bothers me, and I just won't play it. But gory shoot 'em up games, horror games, sci-fi shooters/RPGs don't bother me in the slightest. They are situations that would never actually happen, and typically involve some kind of plot it story, which violence necessarily plays into. But they aren't violent just for the sake of violence. And not everybody gets enjoyment out of playing games like Flower (even though it's a beautiful game xD).
@ Sarcastic Luck Animals don´t kill for the thrill. Anyway I thought we were supposed to be different because of our so called better brains. Because we can reason and bargain. But yeah in the end we are just mammals that even have to kill for food. The difference is we let others fight for us too. And we get a thrill out of horse fights, dog fights, hell, even people fighting and we don´t mind they get killed. Maybe we want to see that. Gladiators...how glorious. I just don´t get it, I´m, sorry. I don´t want to know. I don´t want to see if I can help it. But I understand it´s just me.
Wrong. Cats do. Dolphins do. Domesticated dogs do. There's been cases of elephants killing rhinos for no reason.
It's not something you can blame on the games.. Nor the developers.. hell, you can't even blame it on the kids who went out toting guns and knives because they saw CJ do it and it's suddenly the coolest thing in the world. You, as a parent, should be on top of things like this. Like I'm sure it's been stated above, there is no correlation between video games and mental illness unless there was already something wrong with the person in the first place. And if that's the case for your child, well then, it's your job as a parent to not only help your child with them, but also prevent them from playing such games. @Boyfriend: One of your posts is vaguely similar to a common stigma against the LGBT community.. To an uptight anti-gay person, they wouldn't miss us, and they don't want their families to have anything to do with us. So why not ban homosexuality? Because we as humans have the right to do so. Not saying that every kid has the right to play violent video games, but some of them do have the mental capacity to understand that 'gun + real life = bad'
Yeah sure. You can fill in whatever. If you read on, I said that I have thought about it and people like to kill, period. Let there be games.
Video games are perfectly fine. It is just when seriously young children say (6 or 7 year olds) play 18 rated games. The ratings on games are a little bit silly sometimes but they are still put there for a reason. However I do agree that in some cases, violent games have influenced violence and murders but this is so minimal and whoever was the person to have caused the disruption was usually (most of the time) physcologically unstable already.
I'm taking all of these inputs in. I'm studying interactive media in college so I'll try to make games as fun and breathtaking as possible without the loads of violence. My personal insight on violent video games honestly varies from game to game. I believe that the goal of a game developer should be to take gaming in new directions. I notice a fair amount of games nowadays seem like either reskined FPS or recycled stories. The player should be able to become immersed in the storyline, not turn on a game and be stunned by the quality of the visual and SFX of violence and killing. Being quite frank, violence should not be in a game unless it is CRUTIAL to the plot. Otherwise, I can guarentee that the time and effort they put into the violence features can just as easily be put into other aspects of a game. My second argument is the fact that an alarming number of parents no longer care about what their child(ren) are exposed to in terms of violence in the media. I very much think we NEED to develop a better way in which we supervise what age groups are bearing witness to. Should the violent video games be banned completely? No. But could gaming companies try harder and produce titles that are amazing without HD gore and such? Absolutely.
I really like them. I can take whatever anger I have out on a bunch of pixels. Would I go on a killing rampage in real life? Hell no. I can't even kill a spider without feeling bad for taking it's life away (and I haaaate spiders) In my opinion there is really no difference between violent graphic video games and violent, graphic movies. The only difference is, you're pressing buttons. Now with this being said, I don't believe that young kids should be playing rated 'M' games. They have ratings for a reason, parents need to pay attention to that and see what's right for their kid.
I find them boring, much like I find action-macho-guy movies boring. There's just nothing in them that engages my attention.
From what I've read I think most of us can agree that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with violent games and they have next to zero influence on a fully developed and stable adult mind. The only problem is when young children whose minds are neither developed, stable nor rational pick this up or those who are unstable pick it up, but then it's not an issue with the game but with lax parenting or ratings. There's nothing governments can really do about that, it's a cultural matter. Violence in games definitely isn't wrong in itself, it is a subset of fantasies which feature in games and it doesn't lead to real violence for anywhere near a significant proportion. Stretched to it's full extent you could say it aggravates existing tendencies but that's about it. Also you shouldn't plunge in and censor artistic liberties, unless the violence isn't necessary. Don't change the violence, there's nothing wrong with that at all, just change the ethics in parenting and perhaps ratings.
