Aspies For Freedom

It's all nonsense.

I've played more video games than most other people I know. My favorite games involve the oftentimes violent horror games from the "Silent Hill" series, but yet I've never gone out and comitted murder with a handgun or killed people with a giant knife. Video games inducing violent behavior is just a convenient scapegoat, just like the so-called "video violence" of the 80's. I've yet to see an individual who's watched "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" go out and kill people with a chainsaw, have you?

I wonder if the ancient Romans blamed any sudden spikes in violent behavior in their society on the increasing "gladiatorial violence"..?

I'm a gamer as well (as demonstrated by my avatar), although I rarely play ultra-violent or M-rated (gaming equivalent of "R") games. This is purely by personal preference, not any kind of moral objection.

Jack Thompson, like many pundits of the righteous-fury breed, is grossly uninformed and biased. He also appears quite unprofessional: Here, for instance, is a correspondance between him and Scott Ramsoomair, who writes a weekly webcomic about games and gaming topics. Jacko also wrote a book recently, and literally the most flattering quote they could find to put on the cover was Howard Stern calling him a lunatic.

I saw a chart at one point, which showed that violent crime rates in the U.S. have actually dropped since the mid-90's, when Sony released the original Playstation. For emphasis, the graph even marked off the release dates of various violent games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, none of which accompanied any increase in violent crime.

The crux of the problem, of course, is bad parenting. Take a good look at this:



According to some parents (a term which I here use lightly), a game whose box has a huge symbol plastered on it which says "MATURE 17+" and lists things like "STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT," "STRONG LANGUAGE," and "BLOOD AND GORE," is a great gift for the average 12-year-old. Most stores in the U.S. will not sell M-rated games to people under 17; so if children are playing games like GTA:SA and the Resident Evil series, then it's more than likely that they got the games from their parents who don't feel like being responsible. The Playstation will keep the little brat occupied, so that We don't have to deal with him.

Many critics of the gaming industry use phrases like "Children's games have become too violent." But the games they refer to are not children's games: they're made for adults, and companies like Rockstar Games (creator of the GTA franchise) assume that adults will be responsible for themselves and their own actions, and have the maturity to distinguish between fantasy and reality. I would further argue that real children's games are perhaps becoming less violent; Mario, for instance, now seems to spend more time playing golf than jumping on turtles. And then there's the rare game like Katamari Damacy, which manages to be insanely entertaining without any violence at all.

Video games, like TV and the internet, make for great entertainment, but lousy babysitters; and they're certainly no substitute for attentive parenting.

I very much agree. I also think several people who have actually committed violent acts and blamed it on video games have in reality only done so to get off easy, as it were. If they shift the blame for their actions away from themselves and to some other party, they can wholly or partially avoid responsibility for what they've done. The focus instead mainly winds up on the game or movie in question.

Does anyone else here post on Gamepolitics.com?

Yes, I heard they have troubles over there due to the lack of an 18+ rating.

It was just games in Australia IIRC. And your right about Rockstar, they just try to sell through controversey.

And thus, the problem. Parents don't take games seriously enough and assume their all just super mario, no matter how much they hear about violence in them. And thus, they just let children have them.

Can the kids buy it on their own in the netherlands, or do they need a parent around?

In the UK you need the parent to buy the games rated for higher age groups...however I still commonly hear kids talking about playing GTA.

*sigh* Neurotypicals, you make me weep for humanity.

There's no law stating it HAS to be done, but the stores can be fined for selling games/movies from a higher age group to younger children due to a sub-law or two, so they do ask for identification, and would rather not sell games without the parents present.

Ah. Sometimes I just don't get the older generation. People say you get more conservative as you get older, but I say you just get more ignorant of the changing world around you.

Hello No Fear

Most of the older people I know are pretty cool, if I may say so.

However I must say you do sometimes get more conservative and more ignorant.

Obviously that doesn't apply to a lot of people, I was just performing that evil art of generalization...

I don't know alot of elders, but believe it or not, there are some particularly strange, mean and down right evil people out there. Some are misguided, but... well, let's not get off-topic, as much as gamers are demonized, there are lots of articles regarding positive development as well, for instance games being used to run crash tests, scientific simulation, and even medical research! So it's not all bad news we're being portrayed as.

Whee! Guess that means i'm an art conn...errr...connnnn.... someone who knows about art. Anyways, in case you're wondering what i mean by games helping in medical technologies, they have made a device that allows you to play games with your mind, so far they're still in their baby steps, but they've managed to play a game called "Oni" (which i have), though they cannot do any actions yet, they've mastered movement.