Views on Violence in Video Games

CBS News' GameCore site is running a series of articles discussing the ever recurring debate about video games and violent behavior. They start with prominent anti-gaming lawyer Jack Thompson. From the article: "The heads of six major health care organizations testified before Congress that there are hundreds of studies that prove the link. All the video game industry has are studies paid for by them, which are geared to find the opposite result. Lawyers call such experts 'whores.'" Tim Buckley, of the webcomic Ctrl+Alt+Del, had the chance to put forth an opposing viewpoint on the subject. According to the site there will be more coverage on this topic next week from other gaming community members.

There was no violence before video games...

[k3v0]

Violence must be caused by video games. There was no murder or violent crime before Grand Theft Auto came out and tainted all of the children!!

If the experts are whores...

[hunterx11]

...what does that make Thompson? Seriously, this guy has his head so far up his ass, he makes Helen Lovejoy sound rational.

Woah

[pHatidic]

These people are retarded. If they want to stop violence then they should just ban killing people instead.

Nonsense

[Anonymous Coward]

I play violent games all the time and I sick an tired of all the winnies blaming games for violence. If I could just get my hands on one those #$%^ I'd show him what violence really is and it will be nothing like a video game. - BTK

Re:There was no violence before video games...

[UWC]

Yeah, and now I hear there's a crime with the same name! Who can deny that the game affected our culture negatively?

Re:violent games

[DarkMantle]

Another recent study shows that 90% of Serial Killers ate a bread product within 24 hours before commiting murder.

Therefore, eating bread leads to murder.

Re:There was no violence before video games...

[crunk]

Video games do not fucking make people violent! What the fuck is wrong with you people! I'm going to thump the skull of the next mother fucker who says it!!!

Re:You know Jack...

[TheRaven64]

As a disclaimer, I must first state that I have had no direct interaction with either profession, however it is my understanding that whores provide a pleasurable, possibly valuable, service in exchange for money. I am fairly sure that lawyers do not, and so any analogy between the two is misleading at best, and insulting to whores at worst.

Re:violent games

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, thanks to my training with "murder simulators", I am quite skilled at approaching pedestrians on the street and pressing R1, Circle, Circle, Circle.

What you put in your mind SHAPES WHO YOU ARE!

[edesjardins]

One of the most fundamental facts of human behavior is that we are literally shaped by what we choose to put into our minds. We become what we dwell up and it does affect how we act whether you will acknowledge it or not. While I'm not saying that playing a game will make you a killer, it does beg the question... If a 30 second spot can sell you on a product, what can hours upon hours of interactive, life-like entertainment sell you on?

Re:New Study, More Time

[blincoln]

No one seems to understand the difference between correlation and causality anymore (or did they ever?).

50% of the population has an IQ of 100 or below.

There are so many stupid, unknowingly-ignorant, and easily-manipulated people in the world that it makes me want to execute a stealth kill on them, jack their car, and use it to drive to the Covenant mothership where I will lay enough waste to become the most legendary sentient-being-slaughtering machine of all time.

Re:violent games

[ThatsNotFunny]

I disagree, All video games *are* murder simulators. Every time I play Tetris, I just wanna go out and pop a cap in someone's ass, muthaf*&#ah! And Super Mario Kart makes me violent towards women, too.

Re:violent games

[FiReaNGeL]

You mispelled Cereal Killer.

Ok, just a bad joke :)

Re:Grand Theft Auto?

[bombom]

Don't know about you but I have heard of this dude called JC who respawned. :)

Re:violent games

[wembley]

Grand Theft Auto never taught me how to kill someone with a chainsaw, only that it was possible. As if I needed to realize that.

And what they fail to take into account is that all the video-game addicted fat little teens/tweens with atrophied muscles who can't bear daylght aren't exactly capable of chasing you down while wielding a heavy object.

Sneaking up on you in your sleep is a different matter, tho. Which would explain the raging success of the "Pillow Snuffer" series of games.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:New Study, More Time

[renderhead]

No one seems to understand the difference between correlation and causality anymore (or did they ever?).

50% of the population has an IQ of 100 or below.

So does having a low IQ make you stupid, or do stupid people just tend to have low IQs? I'm thinking it's a coincidence.

Re:violent games

[Rei]

Video games do indeed teach people to kill. There was the Mario Killer, who killed 13 interns by jumping on their heads. Then, there was that soldier over in Iraq who, when his unit encountered a minefield, tricked some of his comrades into crossing by erasing some sevens and drawing in ones. There was the construction worker who destroyed a couple floors of the building he was working on while his coworkers were inside by dropping properly shaped girders in the right places. There was that guy with the spikey yellow hair who tried to attack people by hidding them with an 8 foor long, 400 pound sword, and gave up and just knifed them. And then there was that guy who had his X-wing shot down the other day...

Quite simply, games teach kids to kill.

trained 'killers'

[Infinity Salad]

This is a funny anecdote regarding training kiddies in dangerous arts (fake though, http://www.snopes.com/military/reinwald.htm [snopes.com]).

National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Marine Corps General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation:
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?
GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?
GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?
GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you're equipping them to become violent killers.
GENERAL REINWALD: Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, ... are you?

Re:violent games

[SoulMaster]

I am beyond way with you.

Just the other day, I watched a 6 or 7 year old kid in WalMart telling his mom to "go fuck yourself, bitch". She just smiled, laughed him off and got him the whatever cereal anyway.

Perhaps they should make a law licencing Intelligent Citizens. When a licenced individual sees someone acting like a moron (like that mother, or the idiots who water thier lawn while it is raining) they are allowed to go smack the shit out of that person for a period of not more than 5 minutes. Or, if they aren't into smacking people around, they get to write MORON on thier head with a Sharpie.

Of course, getting that through D.C. would be very tough... There is an Office Depot there right? Have them stock up on those Sharpies!