Video Game Controversy

[Kilala]

One of the more interesting debates I find is about the whole ‘Video Game Controversy’.
Like other forms of media (such as models are way too thin in magazines… you know the deal), video games are also subject to criticism between leading professionals and are said they should be restricted or prohibited.
The main issues people seem to bring up concerning video games revolve around game violence, unsuitable ‘exposure’, violent and gory scenes and other unpleasant material. Not only this but people also claim that it is possible to become addicted to certain games (I guess one of the more famous examples would indeed be World of Warcraft) and that by playing some games it can in fact induce aggressive behaviour.

When the first of ‘video games’ came onto the market it was perhaps in the 70’s. The first phase of games was like playing with random shapes. You’d do things like ‘follow the shape’ or play virtual Ping Pong. Not much fun and no reference to violence – unless you call pushing a circle around violent. If you do… you have issues.
According to my research, the first of the more popular games to be accused of being ‘violet’ was Pac Man. This wasn’t just a circle… No… this was a circle with a mouth!!! And it ate stuff… RUN FOR YOUR LIVES. Of course to us nowadays that is pretty lowkey. If I remember rightly Pac Man’s victims didn’t lose blood or limbs weren’t hacked off. But for when it was first about it all seemed pretty ‘extreme’. It was a game focused on destruction and so the first of the issues were born.

About a decade passes by and you have the release Nintendo Systems and add another 10 years and you get Sony’s PlayStation (FF ftw! xD). This brought along with it a new generation of games. This new generation involved better graphics… and with this came new ideas. As you can guess – this led to more violence inspired ideas. One of the earlier games was ‘Soldier of Fortune’ released in 2000. In that game you played through the eyes of the character and had to shoot stuff. This of course caused a few ripples in the pond.

For now, I just want to address how people say that by playing a game it can induce ‘Aggressive Behaviour’. This is in fact maybe one of the most common criticisms of video games (and hence why it is a good place to start). It is said that these games increase violent tendencies between teens etc.
Of course studies have been launched. The issue researched. Several of the bigger research projects – such as Havard Medical School Center for Mental Health – have shown us there is no actually proof that by playing these games you increase your violent behaviour. However! Where there were some research projects on the side of video games there were projects fighting against it. There was a study which ineed found an increase in the reports of bullying.

One of the first of the truly ‘Controversial Video games’ was the game Death Race. This game raised such a bad reaction that in actual fact it was removed from store’s shelves!

Many people believe that by playing these games it actually affects our personality. That maybe if we play shooter games we may just take a gun in real life and start shooting people on sight. That if we play GTA we’ll start to hi-jack cars…
I couldn’t disagree more. If you’re that weak willed a person then don’t play the games. If you think it could possibly change… well you… If by playing a game you’re going to become more aggressive then that will be case for movies, music and real life. It makes me so angry to think that people accuse games for the faults of modern day society. Perhaps the media isn’t blameless… but I’ve been playing games for a long time now, and I’m not a violent person at all. Anyway…

While there are people trying to put a ban on these games there are others fighting for them.
Several studies have discovered that not video games not only don’t contribute to violence but in fact they also hold benefits as well. Numerous researchers have discussed potentional these benefits of video games. Some of these being on aspects of social and cognitive development and psychological well-being.

What this thread is about is what is your opinion on the whole ‘Video Game Controversy’.

[Unknown Entity]

The thing with games is that new technology moves fast in and out of the games industry - what we see today, could be 10x's better tomorrow. If the technology was availiable back in the 70's, I'm sure developers would have taken advantage of it, and made game how they are today.

Aggressive behaviour... if someone gets any sort of aggressive behaviour while playing games needs to take a chill pill. It's just a game, which will always be there. It also pisses me off when people say they killed someone because they saw it in a video game. You choose who you choose to be, and they killed that person because they can't control their anger. I don't believe games influence people - they can disturb people (a three year old playing Fallout 3, GTA or The Darkness for example), but they can't tell you to murder someone by fireing a gun.

I've played many a violent game, but I'm not a violent person unless someone pushes me too far - something that I call Nerd Rage, which I've had since I was just a kid as a result of bullying. A game didn't do that to me. And don't even get me started on the media... The media makes things seem worse than they really are - swine flu for example. It's bullshite which generates a lot of money in the end, for people who sit around all day writting articals with a Thesaurus close to hand.

What we see in games is no different to what we see at the movies. Only difference is is that we are made to be part of the game, which is better than just sitting there and watching a film. We can make choices about what to do and when to do it, and the length of entertainment we get from a game is usually longer than a film.

Take the game Fahrenhiet for example - there were in the game three sex sceens; one which you didn't see anything, but you heard it; one which you could actually control by moving the analog stick back and forth; and the final one which is your usual sit back and watch. Its Cert. 15. Films like... Knocked Up and Flatliners have worse bits in them, that are done using real people.

In GTA San Andreas, there is a method for unlocking a mini game called Hot Coffee, in which you are able to inside your girlfriends home and have sex - but... CJ has his clothes on the whole time. The violence and swearing in the game is no different from a blockbuster movie. If anything, I'd say San Andreas was actually quite mild compared to most Cert. 18 movies.

I find games to be rather educational too. Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy for example use ancient Gods, important people to name characters, and go into historical/mythical events in the game. They open up a persons mind, and get people to think for themselves - they give people an imagination (The Sims, LittleBIGPlanet, Oblivion etc).

I agree that they put people of doing what they need to do (excercise and work for example), but they are also a good tool to help relax you, and give you something to look forward to when the going gets tough (ZOMG, I can't wait for Heavy Rain, The Sims 3 and Final Fantasy XIII!!! ).

EDIT: Sorry, my grammer is crap in this - I typed fast, and I am well aware there are mistakes. Please don't shoot! XD

[Sean]

Guns don't kill people, kids who play video games kill people.


Man if I wouldn't get yelled at for it I'd leave my post just at that and see how many people take me seriously. I'm quoting the tshirt I'm wearing atm. >_>;;;


Seriously though, video games helped me a lot as a child.... it's easier to distinguish the fantasy world of a video game vs the real world than it is the fantasy world of television vs the real world, but the FCC, whatever the group of the mothers against video games thing is... that Jack Thompson guy, and other like organizations don't try very hard to censor or restrict television... damnit another tangent.

The way video games helped me growing up was in the respects to understanding a deeper meaning behind things, learning organizational skills by playing RPGs, learning to read, learning proper sentence structure and grammar, learning punctuation, spelling. Video games helped me develop faster, mentally, than I would have without them. Of course... I was playing them since age 3, so take it or leave it.

In the end it all comes down to the parents. My parents let me play violent video games as a child (what few were around 18 and fewer years ago) and I didn't turn out to kill someone, or ever have a violent tendency brought on by something I saw in a video game.

Edit: I was 6 years old when I first played Final Fantasy IV (II to me) and at age 4 I was playing other RPG type games with huge walls of text alongside my dad. at 4 and 5 I was playing some game based off the Gulf War where you were a helicopter pilot, and your job was to blow up enemy bunkers and rescue MIAs behind enemy lines... a few years later they released a spinoff based off the Vietnam war in which you had the same missions.

[RamesesII]

Its not the video games fault, it is the will of the gamer and their ability to like Sean said to be able to distinguish reality and fantasy and it is not just video games cartoons like DBZ hell i used to go outside with my little brother after an episode of DBZ and pretend to be Gohan and Goku back in the days but we never beat the shit out of each other we were always sensible.
Like i said it depends on how strong the will power of the gamer is to be able to distinguish these worlds from each other and keep them separate from one another and not to bring the fantasy into reality and vice versa. No i don't believe that if a child playing a game where you pick up a chainsaw or other implement and beat the crap out of zombies is going to do the same in real life but i do see kids especially at work re-enacting scenes or scenarios from games which does not mean they will become murderers or thieves when they grow up look at me for instance i used to play hardcore stuff with some of the first violence like mortal Kombat and Tekken and i don't go around flinging snakes out of my palm while hissing 'Come here' but seriously that's just imagination be blessed that your kids have such a fruitful imagination.

You don't have to look at your new video games either to find blood and gore look at whats on TV now days or right out in your front door and you see violence and murder and mayhem they don't need a video game to see that it is happening in real life as well.

Now for my other side of the argument yes i do think it may promote violence in some children, when they play these games and get away with stealing a car that will grow up to think it is ok to steal a car as well so it does influence them to a certain extent but like i said before it is all dependent on the child's mind and how they process the information, whether they take it literally or discern it from the truth.

i am addicted to games myself and can be addicted to certain games until i accomplish them and yes it does have its tolls like staying up late and not getting things done but i am old enough and smart enough to either take the consequences or to say enough is enough, when i was younger my parents would only allow us to play video games for a certain time period say two hours a day for example i think this taught us that it is ok to have as entertainment but also it should be played with moderation and that there is more important things than just video games.

[Chez Daja]

Another great thread! Nice to see somebody with ideas!

Video games, music and film has always had blame placed on it when somebody young kills somebody, or shoots up their school or tops themselves and I think it's ridiculous. Nobody ever stops to think that maybe it's the parents' negligence that leads some kids to head off onto the wrong side of the tracks. Nobody ever seems to think that these children might have psychological problems. No, throw all of those possibilites out of the window and blame Grand Theft Auto.

I do think games probably influence a very small percentage of these types of things, taking into account a recent murder in England, where a boy tied another boy to a tree, poured petrol down his throat and set him alight -- he said it got that from a film... That said, the intent to kill is still there regardless of the method; he could've cut the boy up and still made him suffer which is still a terrible thing, but as before; the intent to kill (and torture) would still be planted into his head.

It's not the game; it's the individual. If some people want to take an idea from a game, the responsibility shouldn't be fully placed onto the producers -- some disturbing little shit decided to take it literally and kill somebody. That is the responsibility of the child, the possibility of illness and negligent parents. It's not the responsibility of the producers to be aware of every nutjob about there. That's the business of mental insititutions.

[Hjortkayre]

Generally, whatever is popular at the time is used as a scapegoat by the media whenever someone commits a crime. Once it was films, once comics, and once music - now videogames. Hell, it's still music - a fairly recent suicide in England was blamed on 'Emo' music, and people who listened to the music were labelled a 'Suicide Cult' by the newspapers, which can hardly be comfortin for the girl's family or friends.

Video games, music and film has always had blame placed on it when somebody young kills somebody, or shoots up their school or tops themselves and I think it's ridiculous. Nobody ever stops to think that maybe it's the parents' negligence that leads some kids to head off onto the wrong side of the tracks. Nobody ever seems to think that these children might have psychological problems. No, throw all of those possibilites out of the window and blame Grand Theft Auto.

Exactly. If someone kills someone, it isn't likely to be because of a videogame, and someone who claims it was due to this reason is doing so for the same reason a sane guy pleads insanity - to get let off lighter. The media, and the general public, seems unwilling to admit that people can have psychological problems.

If someone kills someone else, and blames it on a videogame, there's a deeper problem than, say, GTA promoting senseless violence. It may be due to bad parenting, or mental disorders, or something similar. But, no! It MUST have been videogames, there's no other possibiliy!

There was one case, a teenager murdered another a few years ago. The media blamed it on Manhunt. Turns out the murderer had never played the game - he didn't even have a PS2.

However, it's true that violent videogames can change a small, impressionable child's view on things. On the other other hand, that's what age ratings are for - young children shouldn't be able to play games with excessive violence, and are not able to legally purchase these games themselves. This raises the issue of poor parenting again, as, at least in Scotland and, presumably, the rest of the UK, if a child wants to buy a game rated too old for them, their parent or guardian must be there to verify they're okay with it. I know - I had to do this to get Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3. The parent is also warned of the violence, foul language, etc. and has to agree to allow their child to view that sort of content.

So, in short, the media blames videogames, which covers up bigger issues. Actually, what Chez Daja said pretty much sums up my feelings on this matter.

On a lighter note, this subject is why I'm passing Standard Grade English - I did an essay titled "Are Videogames treated fairly compared to other forms of Media?" or something like that. So, thank you, controversy?

[Pete]

I won't lie, I didn't read what anyone else posted, so if I happen to steal any ideas, sorry, we just think alike.

I don't think that games are responsible for violence, any more that MTV is responsible for teens getting knocked up. As for teens liking shitty music, MTV is totally at fault.

It's really up to the parents to pay attention to what their kids are doing and playing, and it's even moreso their responsibility to instill a sense of fantasy and reality, and right and wrong. Think about it, if a kid is only given violent games, like Gears, GTA and the like, and isn't really told that the situations are fictional, how are they to discern? It doesn't help that the games are getting more and more realistic in terms of sound a graphics, since reality and realism are huge factors nowadays. Take a look at Call of Duty, which strives for authenticity, and take a look at Gears, which strives for photo realism. If you put those to games specialties together, you'd up with the most realistic and graphic war game ever, which could possibly induce PTSD like symptoms. A 10 year old doesn't need that shit.

Case in point, it's up to the parents to decide what games their kids play. The developers will make the games regardless; it's up to the parent to know their kid and to know how mature they are to handle topics such as violence, war, drug use and the like. I don't even think that such things are even necessarily bad for children know of, but the actual sights may be too much. Like, we all have our own concepts of war, just as I'm sure 10 year olds do, but the more you see, the more graphic and horrific things get. Even drug use; you can picture your stereotypical junkie, and then you can picture the hardcore graphic one.

I think that providing concepts of such things to children isn't a bad idea, but showing them the real deal is just setting them up for trauma.

This all relates back to violence in games. I think that if properly educated about the difference between fantasy and reality, videogames pose no problem. Hell, when I'm stressed about something, I'll occasionally start up Gears and go a few rounds, and I'll be fairly relaxed. At the same time, I also know that the Locust aren't trying to kill me, or any of that jazz. The worst that happens is that if I get killed in a bad spot, I'll prob curse or punch my hand on my mattress, no big deal.

I can't really vouch for games and players of World of Warcraft and Everquest. I can't touch that shit simply because I can't sit at my comp for hours upon hours. I also have no desire to play anything in that genre, but from what I've heard, it's like crack.

[Sean]

I've played MMOs for ages, and I can say from first-hand experience, they are very easy to find yourself addicted to.

They instil a false sense of accomplishment, alongside social interaction in a low pressure environment and, for a lot of people (myself included), a massive ego boost for playing them better than the masses.

But MMOs only become addictive when a person is in the mental state to allow it to happen. I've been down that road, I literally put my life on hold when the Wrath of the Lich King expansion launched for WoW last November... took the weekend off work, skipped two days of classes, and didn't sleep for 6 days until I reached the new level cap and ran all the new dungeons. When WoW first launched I literally did nothing but sleep and WoW because I was unemployed at the time.

In the end it's still just a video game, but watching your characters progress and advance through the levels or obtain better items in a social and a sometimes competitive environment makes it easy to forget that.

[_Cloud_]

personality i feel sorry for some people that have the time to do this i mean their time could be better spent else where instead of talking bad about a game

ive been playing videogames for as long as i can remember and i have learn positive thing from videogames in fact i believe that they are educational and can lead to people to see things in different was and maybe help them in life also and is away to release stress in many ways but i see it that people only look for the bad in videogames and do not take the time to look and the positive things and see how it affects the person

i have heard many thing such as accidents and there is always one saying "oh the videogames made him/her do it" and i believe that can not be proven

[Furore]

I think Chez hit the nail on the head with this one.

Some people are ****ed in the head and a lot of things could trigger them doing something completely ****ed up. Video games getting singled out seems quite unfair to me as media like television and films can show greater levels of detail and have maturer content with a lower rating and in terms of an interactive experience things like books can be much the same way providing the child in question has a half decent imagination. The danger may actually be greater in books as without being limited to shown imagery a mind can think up some pretty heavy shit. And regarding age ratings, there are usually some individuals on either side. Younger people who can understand the themes and ideas presented and older people who are completely insane.

[Xanatos]

Well if video games make you so violent that you start killing people around then I would have been a mass murderer a long time ago.I hate those people that say that violent games make you violent.Why the **** are they so dumb.There is no proof for that.I read in newspapers that some kid has killed his family and they say that the reason behind it was that he played some shooter game before that.No the real reason is that he´s mentally unstable.
I don't see how can a video game make you kill.It´s all in your mind.I totally agree with Cloud that many people only see bad in games.
Games have lot of positive attributes.They make you think,they are fun and relaxing.

[Pete]

Well Nathan, TV, music and pretty much everything else in America is blamed for violence. If it's not violent videogames, then it'll be gangster rap, or violent television and movies. Viedogames are unfairly blamed a lot of the time simply because they're an interactive medium and most teens have them or access to them. It's a lot easier for those groups to just say "oh well little Timmy clearly learned how to shoot from playing (name the latest violent game)" or "(game) clearly glorifies violence, and that's why little Timmy punched Johnny in the face."

It has been proven in several studies though that violent games will desensitize you to such violence. Now, this doesn't mean that you will become a killer or that you'll think it's fun or cool to just up and kill your neighbor. But look at it like this: You play Gears 2 and Fallout 3. In those games you can pretty much brutalize people however you feel, and they will wind up a bloody mess, exploded all over the place etc. This also happens in fairly good detail. After playing through each game at least once, you wind up killing a lot of things in a number of brutal ways. The kills become less exciting to you because you see them a lot. Now, imagine your grandma walks in and sees you chainsawing a Locust in half. She would be shocked just because of the violence. She knows you're not a killer, but at the same time, she's shocked at how bloody and brutal the game is. Hence, desensitization.

At the same time, it is true that there are people on both ends of the spectrum. Some people can tell fantasy from reality, others can't. Some people still think Santa is real, some people are Jewish. There are always two sides to a coin, and there will always be extremes. It's not really the fault of the game companies if one of the extremes gets their hands on a game, and cannot discern that fantasy from reality. I'm also sure that there are some people who secretly believe that shit like Harry Potter is also real. The only thing is that you can't ban an entire medium simply because a few people are developmentally disabled and can't tell the difference between fantasy an reality.

It is however, up to others to make that decision for them, and to keep things out of their hands when no good can come from it. You wouldn't leave your gun out on the coffee table when you baby sit.

[SilkAngel]

Why do people always blame video games?! There is nothing wrong with video games at all. It is not a game's fault if you go and kill someone because it looked fun on GTA, it's your fault for not having enough sense and self control.

Saying that video games corrupt people is just stupid! Those who say that just need something to lay blame on, and that isn't fair to the gaming industry. It is proven that video games increase creative/strategic thinking in children, so just leave games alone >.< (Those of you that bash them)

[El Gatopod]

This is a topic that's be gone over so many times that there really isn't a point anymore. You either think videos games are a vad influence on those who play it or you don't. Both sides have convincing arguments, so nobody is completely right and nobody is completely wrong.

[bahamuts heir]

The thing is that video games have no affect on ones personality except that they play video games. In fact I have played many game- shooters,violent,even some games that are hinting at sexual intercourse but it rarely happens in video games. I myself have learned an extremely large amount of things that are quite useful from videogames(mostly final fantasy). The media takes things and changes the situation to assume their needs I.e. The studies about videogames causing violent people,they take already violent people and introduce to them the most adult-minded game they can find. Actually I used to look into that kind of thing to see where they get that bull****(I rarely curse) and I found that those people who play videogames get better grades and interact with the public better because they have something to compare life to. If you are so addicted to an extremely adult oriented game that you are acting the game out without knowing it you have issues

O ya and I have played many games with killing and I am absolutely apalled by real life killing because video games aren't reality and people shouldn't make it so

[Ernest]

I think games like Grand Theft Auto could easily influence a child to swear, or maybe take drugs.

I don't think anyone ever said that by playing Modern Warfare, we'd have killers on the streets. And if they did, they're wankers. It's that word that politicans love using, "Desensitsed". I don't know, maybe there's some truth to it. From what I've seen in reading the Wikipedia of game contreversy, research dicates that a child who plays violent games is no more likely to comitt the crimes in-game, then in real life.

But that's not what parents and politicans supposedly care about. I don't think anyone actually believes that kids will kill, because they do in games. I think they're just worried that when things like the Iraq War break out and Iraqi's are getting blown up by the thousands, kids couldn't give less of a ****, and if anything, are excited to see if their nation is as strong in real life, as they are in these games. Stuff like that is maybe a worry.

Its largely a myth though. One that's supported by cool dudes live Stephen King.

[Heartless Angel]

I love this debate, I've won it at least 5 times throughout high school for various classes and once for debate team. All 5 times defending that games are not at fault. To date there is little to no evidence to support the claim that video games induce violence.

My favorite point to bring up: Since violence in games has only gone up over the years, we should be seeing a major spike in youth (the people who play these games and are mist likely to take them seriously and immitate them) violence. Interestingly enough, not only do we NOT see this, in fact since people started making this claim, youth violence has actually gone down. So, just from observation, it seems the two in fact have an inverse relationship. Based on this, people saying video games cause violents, are morons with nothing better to blame failed parenting on.

To be perfectly honest, going ape shit on some pixels actuallys relieves stress that I might otherwise relieve by cracing someone's skull open. Seriously, when I'm pissed to point where I start fantacizing about someone's death, i go pound the living crap out of some poor NPC's in a random game. Usually, once I've had my fun obliterating things, the urge to murder someone is gone. I can't imagine that with as many gamers as there are out there, that I'm the only person like this.

[RagnaToad]

Well statistics show that violence in videogames, and any fiction I believe, increases the probability of real-life violent behaviour.

It's one of those things that some people can't handle, and is sometimes spoiled for the rest of us because of that.

It's like fast food. Everyone has the right to eat it, but if too many people start getting acquired forms of diabetes or dying because they don't know their limits, they're making it look bad for the rest of us.

[Heartless Angel]

Well statistics show that violence in videogames, and any fiction I believe, increases the probability of real-life violent behaviour.

It's one of those things that some people can't handle, and is sometimes spoiled for the rest of us because of that.

It's like fast food. Everyone has the right to eat it, but if too many people start getting acquired forms of diabetes or dying because they don't know their limits, they're making it look bad for the rest of us.

Ah yes, never underestimate the power of stupid people. A single idiot can screw over the entire intelligent population. Of course, this doesn't tell me that games cause violence, this tells me that general stupidity causes violence.

[Pendulous]

One of my favorite quotes I like to say about myself is that "music is the only thing that keeps me sane anymore". I bring it up because I think video games can be applied as well. Certain hobbies calm certain people, and without those they may actually be MORE violent.

Violence may not be a good thing to introduce to younger people, but that's why video games have an ESRB rating. Most people counter this, by saying "they're gonna find a way to play the game anyway." Not if people do their jobs. Games rated M cannot be sold to anyone under 17. The vendor, by law, cannot break this. The kids parents, as well, should pay attention to what their kids are playing, and refuse to buy the many thing or let them play anything that they deem too violent. You can make the same arguement about ANYTHING, that people who aren't supposed to do it are going to anyway. I work with several people who are underage to smoke cigarettes, yet they all do. And the ways I've heard them say how they get them, makes me think it's more of an underground thing than weed is.

Bottom line, games are rated what they are rated for a reason, and it's up to the people who sell the games and the parents of gamers to restrict what they play.

.......Or, let them play whatever. Maybe the violence in video games doesn't affect kids as much as people say. Especially ones who are a bit older, 12+. probably less violent than what they see on TV anyway.