We're really violent......... or are we?

gr.bolt.com/articles/violence/violence.htm

As if we needed any more evidence to see that the media screws with our heads…

:cool_laugh: Lol, I’m gonna show this one to the next one that says gaming makes the youths violent! =]…

I’ve seen that before, it’s awesome. Great find.

Anyone here heard of Jack Thompson, the lawyer who’s going on some great conquest against video games? I mean, I agree that 10-year olds shouldn’t be playing Grand Theft Auto, but this guy’s got the frame of mind that games turn kids into merciless killers. Sad, really.

Yeup, seen it.

Kashmir: Last I heard, he was trying to make the Sims 2 AO, because:

  • If you download a patch, you can remove the fuzzy bits when the sims are naked (like in showers). He claimed they were fully detailed (yeup, nobbly bits and everything :wink:).
    In reality, they look kind of like naked Barbie and Ken.

  • It’s a place for paedophiles to practice (?).

You should check out his site. Tis funny.
He claims that with one particular sniper incident, the teens used ‘sniper’ or ‘god’ mode on Halo to practice beforehand.

This is incorrect, because:

  • Sniping in a game does not accuratly simulate the use of a sniper IRL (breathing techniques etc)
  • Characters in game react along a set COA - unlike people IRL
  • There is no ‘god’ or ‘sniper’ mode on Halo.

Try emailing him as well - give him fair points and all he does is insult you.

And despite this, he’s making a decent living off this.

you know what I hate the most about this kind of stuff? When parents buy games for their kids they never check the ESRB label and then they blame the developers,bla,bla…ESRB exists for a reason you know? Blah I’m also a kid ( 15 ) but I’m not retarded like those morons who go and kill their schools…You don’t go crazy because of video games.I’ve been playing them most of my life ( since i was like 5 or so ) and I’ve never got in a fight n’ stuff…

ok to sumarize ( did I spell that correctly? ) : You don’t go and kill people because of games.You kill people cos you are retarded.Video games are just the finishing touch to your umm…retardednessnessness :confused:
(sorry for my crumy english )

I agree with you. Parents should check what kind of games their children play.

If you think it’s too violent, then forbid them to play it until they get older or something. Parents have power over their kids, at least in their younger years.

And most of videogames I know aren’t really violent. I play mostly RPGs and games like Spyro. You rarely see blood, and I don’t think kids go and burn somebody’s house down just because they have played Spyro the Dragon :wink:

Yes, I agree! It is not the fact that more and more people are growing up in poverty! Children growing up in a household where they are abused or neglected! It’s not the fact that the average person sees his/her future as getting bleaker and bleaker! … It’s the video games!!!

BTW- I was watching the news a few days ago where people where talking about this and the news reporter pointed out that the average video game player is 37 years old!

I am currently playing vampire-bloodlines and I would so not let kids play this game, but that does not mean that the game industry should be stopped from making the game. Just like movies the games have rating on them and just like movies parents ignore them. These parent groups need to start taking responsibility and stop blaming the game industry for their poor supervision!

I agree that the game industry shouldn’t be made to cease producing or distributing games that are clearly marked for adults.

People really do need to take more responsibility for their children. But in the same token it’s very hard for single mom’s to survive now a days. More and more children are latch-key kids out of pure necessity. I’m not saying I agree with it but it has to happen sometimes in order for us to put a meal on the table and a roof over their heads.

Children become angry for a number of things and finding a scapegoat like video games is just bogus.

Well, you know… these people who do naughty things like shoot up schools have to be pretty mentally unstable in the first place. You know? So you can blame video games all you want, but the fact of the matter is, if it really WERE video games causing all of the violence, then no one in my school would be alive, and alot of us would be dead if these things really were a threat. And when I say alot, I mean ALOT. Almost all! If these games were having such a horrible effect on kids.

I am a gamer myself, and I am proud of it, and I would like to propose the good things about video games. Skip down if you don’t feel like hearing this.

  1. ALot of people read books to increase their vocabulary. I increase mine playing RPGs.
  2. I believe it has been studied, showing positive results, that teenagers who played alot of video games did alot better on driving tests because of the multi-tasking skills required in both video games and driving.
  3. I keep myself coordinated, and my mind sharp by playing video games- alot of arguments against them imply that they dull the mind, like watching tv supposedly does. This is not true, because the person is involved. Say I’m playing a fighting game with a friend… like GGXX. There is alot of mind games involved, in trying to trick your opponent. You know? I get above average grades in school- I’ve made like, over 100 averages in at least 4 classes in high school. But I don’t spend all my time studying- I play video games! I study at other times, and I feel that my ability to study is somewhat advanced because of my skill with video games. Y’know? Maybe its just me.

Anyways. I agree, its easy to blame all sorts of things on the parents. In fact, its just as easy as it is for parents to blame game makers. But the thing is, the parents probably screwed up their kids in the first place. I mean come on. There are so many bad parents in this country (not mine though, they rule), and they still have the balls to blame someone else. Its quite ridiculous in my opinion, because even using their logic, I could say- “Its your own damn fault for buying your kid the game stupid!”. Just take your kid aside and teach them what is wrong with these things they are seeing, if you must, and then let them get back to having fun. Damn. Thats why I hate soccer moms. Always gotta ruin everything. -.-

Sorry. I had to rant.

What kills me is this women who filed a lawsuit in federal court: purchased Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for her son, knew that it had a mature rating, and then was shocked that it contained adult content. Now, of course, she wants money!

I do agree that we have to police our retail chains better. They should not sell mature rated games to children yet they do it all the time. I don’t think I have ever seen a store clerk ask for I.D when selling mature rated games. However, that is not the fault of the gaming industry.

You know in defense to people that are selling these labels to people who only have i.d., I have to say that I’ve never experienced it. When my son wants a game and we look at games and they won’t sell them to kids without id. I have to buy it for him. Even for the “G” ones.

Games and other stuff are always going to be sold to underage kids, do you know how hard and how much it would take to police such actions. First you have to target the thieves who steel the games and sell them to whomever they can make money off of, then you have those that burn them and sell hot copies for cheap. Once you’ve target them and made sure they don’t sell to minors then you can work on the general public.

There’s just no way the industry can possibly do more than what’s being done. The have ratings on the packages now because they have to.

Parents need to get to know their kids. You just can’t buy them a game to keep them quiet for an hour or two while you bathe or cook dinner. Those games are for “Entertainment Purposes Only”. Parents and Guardians need to take more responsibility.

Get to know your kids and there won’t be any need for people selling stuff that kids shouldn’t have. Because by knowing your kids you build trust.

These parents that sqawk are the one’s that don’t know their kids but swear they do. They’re the one’s who sue someone else after their kid was caught doing something they shouldn’t and then DENY it’s their kids fault but someone elses. But of course never the parent. That’s total BS.

Sorry but I hate when people neglect the obvious problem here. And it’s the kids. They need much more attention by people and not so much with machines. By suing she’s only gaining to earn money.

Okay, since I haven’t said enough already?!

I saw a bumper sticker and thought of this topic. It read:
“Do we fear our enemies more than we love our children”

Nice

I have to agree with you. They ignore the kids… Does this just show the violent nature of people, that they would rather fight, or do they just find it easier to fight “enemies” then to help their kids, or does it mean they are unwilling to bear the burden of having screwed up?

Gee I don’t know…
Video games seem dangerous to me.
While I’m playing I could accidentally rap
the game pad cord around my neck and choke myself.
The safest video game is LightBrite.
I found one on Ebay.
It’s not entirely safe…
When I brought it into my house
I tripped going up the stairs.
After that I said no way!!
And I sold it to the neighbors kid.
Let him get hurt by that
no good evil toy.

Yes that is an amazing article it was an awesome find i enjoyed reading it. That part about how you have to be 18 to buy M rated games is dumb. They tried to enforce that were i live. I went to an EB Games here and i was buying an M rated game (i forgot what, could’ve been Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory dunno tho) and so i put the game on the counter and the clerk goes to ring it up and then he stops and says “You know you have to be 18 years old to buy an M rated game rite?” so i just reply something like “Uhhh you see what it says right above the big black M on the cover riiiite???” (incase you didnt know it says “Mature 17+”) So i just made him look stupid and he then sold me the game realizing that its borderline retarded to try to enforce a rule like that. I mean think about, why would you have to be 18 to buy a peice of merchandise that says on it you only have to be 17 to play it?
But yea theres my comment on the subject. And also on a side note I’ve been gone a while and it’s great to be back.

:lol:

He also tried to ban the Sims2 for beinga pedophiles paradise.

Here’s a quote from him pulled off chatterboxgameshow.com (it maybe out of context I didn’t personally read it)

super saturation of the mind with violent content leads to desensitization.

this is unedeniable and in my opinion not good for you.

The media warps many a child’s mind, however the effect is not necessarily markedly noticeable… violent media does not make children violent, but rather, violent media encourages and justifies violence to children who are on the borderline and are considering becoming violent.

take a seriously depressed high schooler and make them listen to STAIND and they are going to think about suicide a lot more than if you stick them with a bunch of friends that are positive, supporting, and do not encourage negative thought patterns that are accepting of suicidal behavior.

im prolly gonna get my respect torn away from me here but…:tongue:
my dads always been weird and because i want to be a moviemaker he supported me…unlike my mum but…whatever the wierd part is…as long as my dad had seen an 18 movie…i could watch it…i watched aliens when i was…7?..maybe?..ind i have to say i loved starship troopers :rockon: but now im older i have to either watch it at my m8’s house or ask my dad which i think is backward.
“daddy daddy can i see dawn of the dead? pleeease”

son your only five…your gonna love this.

but i do get real annoyed at people who blame games and movies for thugism sure some random assfests are gonna go round with bb guns or whatever and somehow that will relate to the movie “scream 3” or something…the kids just a dumb bored kid it has nothing to do with scream.
Im having to put all my action/horror movies on hold because the goverment are thinking of banning bb guns for good…and if they do…well lets just say i have as much chance as a blind truck driver.and all because some kid was seen with a toy gun and a random movie happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time
as a conclusion…i think everyone should just shut up and jail those responsible for commiting crimes NOT blame it on some movie the goverment never saw…get the movie banned for everyone and anything that can be used as a weapon (which btw is litteraly ANYTHING)and turn all movies music and media into some happy gnome story perminantly like the littlest elf off of unfortunate events
takes deep breath and steps away from micraphone with arms raised waiting for either a thunderouse applause or a bullet