Oh, think of the children!
Upon completion of Resident Evil 4 on pro mode (again) I thought about how in our states children playing "M" rated games is supposedly a problem, because if they are exposed to this violence they will become maniac killers. I've never bought that crap, I know there are plenty of people who play the worst games and are perfectly fine. The advocates say it will make people more prone to. . . (hesitates, wanting to put shooting smilie) violent acts against othes. The people against any legal measures say let parents do the parenting.
I agree with that. Let parents be parents. Plus. . . not everyone is going to be a killer. The people that are usually have many other problems that attribute to their situation (abusive family, broken household, drugs, etc.)
Your thoughts?
Outcast Jesuits
10-07-2006, 23:51
Quite true...exposure to an unstable family causes more harm than exposure to video games.
Franberry
10-07-2006, 23:53
Parenting and the atmosphere they live in usually has more effect than videogames
Oppressive Hedonism
10-07-2006, 23:57
I don't think it's video games. I blame music. No wait, I blame TV and movies. No... I want to blame liberal teachers, No I want to blame toy guns!
I want to blame anything else except personal responsibility and raising one's children better. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with uninvolved parents or depression or gang activity or anything else. It must be Manhunt and GTA
I've said it before, I'll say it again. Just lock up all the kids in a padded room until their 18 and only allow them to watch teletubbies. Problem solved
WC Imperial Court
11-07-2006, 00:00
wait, you want parents to do their job?!?!??!??!! What are you gonna suggest next? Something crazy, like parents are also responsible for feeding their children, or taking them to the doctor when they are sick, or teach the kid right from wrong. What crazy notions.....
On a side note, i do think labels like M, T, etc are good so parents know what kind of game their kid is playing. Of course 2 and a half minutes on the internet could probably also tell them this, but thats too much work for the average parent.
Tactical Grace
11-07-2006, 00:07
dude i totaly pwn teh noobs lololol hardcore liek i'm pro
(Seriously now) :rolleyes:
I play EVE Online. In the evenings, I hunt down and kill people, scoop their frozen corpses and place them in a storage container.
By day I perform a 9-5 office job for a high-tech company. My game buddies include tech support, high school teachers, truck drivers, builders, students...
The woman teaching your kids could be my wingman, laughing with me as she lays the death blow. Or to put it another way, one of my wingmen is teaching somebody's kids out there. The guy replacing your roof tiles could be one of my friends. So could the courier you just hired. So could the guy who fixes the office mail server.
What is a gamer? Increasingly, it's everyone you know.
It's not just that absolutely anyone out there could be enjoing spending their free time spilling somebody's juices out into the cold vacuum of space. It's that most people are, or as time goes on, will be.
Oh, the moral panic. :rolleyes:
I will now go and as I do before I go to bed every night, cross off another day on my calendar. Another day safely navigated, without giving in to the urge to kill in real life. :rolleyes:
Oppressive Hedonism
11-07-2006, 00:13
[QUOTE=Tactical Grace]
It's not just that absolutely anyone out there could be enjoing spending their free time spilling somebody's juices out into the cold vacuum of space. It's that most people are, or as time goes on, will be.
QUOTE]
So why shouldn't everyone enjoy it? I call for mandatory gaming!
Tactical Grace
11-07-2006, 00:15
So why shouldn't everyone enjoy it? I call for mandatory gaming!
Fresh meat for the grinder. :D
Zouloukistan
11-07-2006, 00:21
It's not because I play Counter-Strike that I shall go with an AK-47 to my school and kill every one... we can't even buy guns like that here, it's illegal.
Tactical Grace
11-07-2006, 00:23
It's not because I play Counter-Strike that I shall go with an AK-47 to my school and kill every one... we can't even buy guns like that here, it's illegal.
Plus, the TMP would be a more practical choice. Lighter, more compact, silent. Going in with an AK will ruin the element of surprise with the first shot, and you would be asking to have it knocked out of your hands. And the lower energy is not so important with body armour out of the equation.
Meat and foamy mead
11-07-2006, 00:26
Good point. I love strategy games. I like killing hundreds, if I'm lucky it's millions, of other people. Guns, tanks, bombs, spears or bows, it doesn't matter as long as I get to see them massacred! I even feel a sliver of pride when I do this in an efficient manner. I've been playing these games since the c64 arrived and even to this day I'm still a pretty kind and easygoing guy. I never contemplated to _really_ kill other people and I only dream of world domination as much as the next guy. There is no link between violent persons and computer games...someone who kills IRL is a sick fucktard to begin with.
Oh well, I'm off to sleep and dream of latex, mechs, steel clad boots crushing the undeserving and massive artillery barrages. :D
Zouloukistan
11-07-2006, 00:31
Plus, the TMP would be a more practical choice. Lighter, more compact, silent. Going in with an AK will ruin the element of surprise with the first shot, and you would be asking to have it knocked out of your hands. And the lower energy is not so important with body armour out of the equation.
Lol you're much more connaisseur than I am, I'll let you know when I plan on buying a gun :D.
Recently picked up Unreal Tournament for the PS2. and man that thing is theraputic.
of course, I won't let my necies or nephews play that.
I've grown up on video games, from watching my older brother play Super Mario World when I was a toddler to getting an N64 and playing my very first FPS, Goldeneye. And I've never killed a man. Not once. I'm relatively well-restrained. I even feel nauseous when I watch news reels of people being killed. Desensitized to violence my ass.
In conclusion, I'm going to go play Doom 3 now, and cackle maniacally as I chainsaw zombies to death.
Dobbsworld
11-07-2006, 01:04
Must I?
Why? They're not my kids, after all.
Firew00d
11-07-2006, 01:10
OK, I don't think my opinion counts because I'm 13 so everybody online hates me straight off the bat, but I feel like writing anyway. In advance please excuse my excessive use of parenthesis, I'm addicted to them.
I've also been playing (exclusively in my case, excluding some stuff online) strategy games (even M rated), like Meat and foamy mead, and, since I was seven years old actually (though only T back then). I've a friend addicted to Resident Evil and another to torchering people in Black and White 2. I've never had an urge to go kill people (though I confess, I do want a sword to hang above my bed, because swords = t3h l33t). None of my friends (to the best of my knowledge) have had an urge to kill anyone either.
I'd say it's more being brought up in an oppressive community that leads people to violence. I just think M ratings should be brought down to 13 (I mean, I think most people are mature enough at 12-15, but AO kept the same.)
Scotmerica
11-07-2006, 01:11
Hilary Clinton and Joe Lieberman are the people most resoponsible for all of this crap so as a stress reliever I print up pictures of them and hang them up and load up my M4 Airsoft gun and fire away
www.gamerevolution.com/articles/violence/violence.htm
Must I?
Why? They're not my kids, after all.and if you note, it doesn't state in what manner to think of the children...
Dobbsworld
11-07-2006, 01:24
and if you note, it doesn't state in what manner to think of the children...
How about 'utter disdain'? I mean, why break the habit of a lifetime, eh? Damn kids... ;)
www.gamerevolution.com/articles/violence/violence.htm
Nice article. Thanks for posting it.
Nice article. Thanks for posting it.
You're welcome. ^^
Well, the main problem is the amount of time spent in front of various sources of media, including movies, television, and videogames. The number of hours spent with media each day is majorly correlated with childhood obesity.
Theoretical Physicists
11-07-2006, 02:41
Now that I am no longer one, the only time I think of the children is when one of my filthy unwashed brethren gets within smelling range.
The Five Castes
11-07-2006, 05:44
and if you note, it doesn't state in what manner to think of the children...
I know, it's strange. I always got the impression most of the people here wanted me to think less of children. ;)
Anyway, I agree with the consensus here that violent video games are nothing more than a scape goat. It's parenting that makes the difference.
It isn't because of Doom or whatever that Columbine happened. It's because their parents weren't involved enough in their kids' lives to notice them being abused at school and making pipe bombs and the like to correct the problem on their own.
I hardly think children playing mature video games will turn them into psycho killers. I do think that kids who play those sorts of games could turn into the kind of kid who has serious attitude problems. I can see how the game can form the kind of child you just want to smack.
It must be Manhunt and GTA
We shouldn't forget the Sims. Not many games where you can torture people to death like you can in that game...
Darknovae
11-07-2006, 14:35
Gaah! I thought this was one of my posts, with my story and all that.... :headbang:
IT was titled "Think of the Children!!!"