Video games and their effect on today's world

[Sir Suomi]

Video games have taken the world by storm. Almost anyone you know plays, or has played them. They've inspired books, movies, television shows, and hell, even a few religions. But they're has always been unfair biases against video games, such as that they rot your brain( Okay, that one may be slightly true :P). But one such idea that has been drawn into attention countless times, is that they provoke violent actions, such as rape, theft, and even mass homicides. Many politicians have blamed video games, using them as excuses for mass shootings and other tragic events. There have been an almost unimaginable amount of lawsuits filed against video game producers, which have from time to time won out. But most critics of video games still have not been looking at evidence, and stuck with their unjustified bias against video games, in their crusade to "save the youth". Many experts have stated that, although video games, if played to a certain amount, can lead to more aggresive thoughts or emotions, there is no evidence stating that it is the cause behind violent actions. Furthermore, some even say it is not video games, but the other forms of mass media, such as television, the internet, books, and hell, even art. Yet even though this evidence is provided, people still rally behind the banner of the misinformed, in their futile attempts to "get rid of violent video games".

So my question is, do you think video games are too "violent", and in order to "save the youth", they should be restricted, or even banned? Or, are you capable of actually thinking, and agree that the critics just need to shut the hell up?

[Sugaree]

So my question is, do you think video games are too "violent", and in order to "save the youth", they should be restricted, or even banned? Or, are you capable of actually thinking, and agree that the critics just need to shut the hell up?

Critics need to shut the hell up and stop calling for bans on video games is what I think. They're protected under free speech laws, which means you have every freedom to ignore it if you don't like it. Restricting or even outright banning violent video games is the same as limiting what you can and can't say about certain individuals. It's wrong and it sets a bad example of what this country's own standards should be set at.

On a further note regarding violence in video games: yes, it IS a problem. I have a huge problem with developers and publishers pandering to an audience that simply wants to kill and be killed by other players. I will admit, I play these games. But does that put me at risk of taking my father's guns and going on a mass murdering spree? No, it doesn't. Video games are more than point and shoot things. Video games have a diverse range of genres, from role playing to platforming to puzzle to racing! You've got such a wide variety of options to choose from when it comes to video games, and it makes me sick when people act like the ONLY type of video game out there is military killing machine simulators.

Are violent video games a problem? In the video game community, I say they are. I'm tired of them, many people are tired of them, for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is because it only reinforces the culture of violence we in America are faced with everyday. In the past decade, our culture has changed. Every night, we see footage of troops in some ass-backwards part of the world doing menial tasks or, worse, fighting a war they might not want to fight. We've had soldiers come home only to kill themselves a little while later because we offer them no help. Why has this become so popular, all of a sudden, to accept violence? Yes, violence is part of the world we live in, but it is NOT part of this nation's value system. Certain video games reinforce this idea of violence against people into our minds as being "OK" or "justified" under the right circumstances.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but as someone who enjoys video games as an outlet and entertainment source, I find comments made by obviously misinformed people like Elizabeth Hasselbeck (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaqJ9AWV5nA) to be incredibly out of line. If you don't have any idea what you're talking about, don't say a damn word and just walk away. I wish people would do this more, but they don't. End rant.

[teen.jpg]

Actually, I think video games DECREASE violence. If you can kill the whole world in GTA, why do you even need to go outside :)

Seriously though, people who don't play video games need to keep their uptight ass with what they actually know anything about. We have our community, you have yours. Keep it that way.

[Reserved]

Honestly it is not the children's or the developer fault. It's the bloody parents who buy the games for kids. They buy their 10 year old kid a R rated games assuming all video games are kid friendly. It pisses me off how irresponsible and ignorant some parents are. They won't let their child watch R rated movies or adult books but let them experience games intended for an adult audience.

[nopelol]

Video games are more of an escape from reality more than a device that encourages people to partake in the behaviour, much like how many people watch reality television to gather a sense of a particular lifestyle. For example, Jersey Shore and Teen Mom. It doesn't inspire people to become pregnant at 16 or party and do drugs, instead it allows for an insight to that lifestyle and that's why those television shows are so successful.

Same with video games, it allows players to immerse themselves in a lifestyle that they won't have but might like to fantasize about. It does not encourage one to replicate the act in reality. And the problem is, media outlets are blaming video games for "increased violence". It's like blaming McDonalds for increasing levels of obesity; they don't correlate with each other. It might be due to economical circumstances that the world is facing that may create increased numbers in theft. It might be due to other circumstances that has absolutely nothing to do with videogames, yet it has been exaggerated and used as a scapegoat by the media to put blame on "increased violence".

[Twilly F. Sniper]

No. Simply, no. And that is why ESRB, etc. EXIST. And that should be common logic even to a pacifist.
The games really have no effect on psychology, almost at all. (Do I really need evidence of this?)
And, lastly, video games are just virtual realities. This is why I'm not aiming at your head with my elephant gun-like Bazaar Bargain, and also why I wouldn't kill somebody for the thrills. (This here is just set in dang stone, if COD was real life, everyone would be killing each other and repetitively respawning.)

[NeuroTiger]

'what you see is what you get'. Whatever one is exposed to, to some degree, modifies the structure of his grey matter in the brain.
So since video games such as GTA or Assassin's Creed(those which cropped into my mind just now) offer use of weapons, bloody scene or in some sexual scenes, they do contribute in aggressive thoughts.
That goes same for mass media.
If one plays such video games or watches the violent stuffs moderately, there will surely be no huge effects.
Those addicted who suffer most.
It just depends on how you are using them.

[Harry Smith]

Everyone moans about video games but they forgot that films have been doing the exactly same thing for the last 50 years on a much higher scale- everyone moans that kids see some guy getting tortured on GTA when they're are films show at 9pm on Sky movies which show people getting limbs blown off and waterboarded. It's just so that right wing fascists in America can keep their guns a little longer

[sqishy]

I don't see any need to ban video games. The only problem I have with video games is that quite a few of us play them so much that we are living more of our lives in the game, than in the real world.

[Stronk Serb]

If too much video games made people violent, I would be a mass murderer, and probably a dictator. They do cause violent thoughts sometimes, but not violent deeds with normal people.

[Get Outta Compton]

The only critics on video games are overzealous Christian maniacs who realize that gaming opens and frees the mind from their lies and want to keep them under control.

[TimCox]

A violent person will always be violent, it's all about hormones and meantal issues, not the games themselves I don't think.