Gun obsession in video games

[Heathrow]

a kitchen knife is also a tool that can be used to kill just like a gun since we all know(thanks NRA) that guns are not made to kill people but are only there to defend yourself

But that implies that defense is best attained by the removal of life? Is that philosophy no cause for concern, is it not better to forge a world in which no entity will have reason to be your enemy?

 

[LetalisK]

a kitchen knife is also a tool that can be used to kill just like a gun since we all know(thanks NRA) that guns are not made to kill people but are only there to defend yourself

But that implies that defense is best attained by the removal of life? Is that philosophy no cause for concern, is it not better to forge a world in which no entity will have reason to be your enemy?

That question implies that the fault of having enemies always lies solely on the shoulders of the person with enemies. This is not reality.

 

[deathspa202]

There was an extra credits episode that talked about this very thing, it was something about non-combat games if i remember correctly. However to digress I'm an avid hunter and my family owns lots-o-guns (not by my choice) but i hate shooters, i think maybe it has something to do with the fantasy of it all, everyone wants to be a hero or a gun totin' badass, in the same way every one wants to be a rockstar and thats one of the reasons that Rock Band and other rhythm games so popular.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Exactly. You already said why people like shooters, they get to do things they can't or wouldn't do in real life.

 

[Baby Tea]

After all, a gun is the culmination of the very worst aspects of human nature...

Well I completely disagree with THAT sentiment.
A gun is a tool as much as a hammer or a car. All can be wielded to deadly results.

While a firearm is designed to kill, so is a mouse trap. Also the worst of human nature?
I use firearms to hunt animals for food. I don't consider my shotgun a weapon. It's a tool designed for a tool's purpose. There isn't anything sinister about it, and certainly isn't the culmination of 'the very worst aspects of human nature'. That's a disgusting misrepresentation of firearms.

Knives have been misused by millions. Would you tie that in the same vein with firearms?
Cars kill thousands upon thousands every year. Both accidentally, and purposely.
People have been murdered with screw drivers, icepicks, nail guns, and pillows.

None of those things are weapons until they are used like one.
The same goes for firearms.

But just like any powerful tool, like a car, truck, nailgun, or power drill, education and proper care is always needed when using firearms. Any dumb-ass behind the wheel is just as dangerous as a dumb-ass with a gun. Calling firearms 'the culmination of the very worst aspects of human nature' is objectively wrong.

The tool isn't to blame for the wielder's evil, ignorance, or neglectful attitude.

 

[teebeeohh]

a kitchen knife is also a tool that can be used to kill just like a gun since we all know(thanks NRA) that guns are not made to kill people but are only there to defend yourself

But that implies that defense is best attained by the removal of life? Is that philosophy no cause for concern, is it not better to forge a world in which no entity will have reason to be your enemy?

even if there is no reason for anyone to be each others enemies people will still be cruel and kill each other.

 

[nuba km]

I'd say probably for the same reason violent crime has gone down over the last decade. People are using shooters to help releve stress and frustration, better to take out your anger on a computer game than someone in real life. This is just my personal opinion though, I have no reliable facts to back that up

I would agree with you but even though shooters are good to get your stress out games like prototypes which makes you a god amongst men is better for such purposes yet they are not as popular properly because I think people also want to show that they have skill or maybe the basic thrill of the hunt brings people to them.

 

[WanderingFool]

I wanted to pose a question to some folks on the forum. What, exactly, is so appealing about shooter games? And by that, I mean the shooting in general. I enjoy a good shooter as much as the next person but Ive sort of realized something since christmas. My dad bought a sidearm for christmas (its going to be his new hobby) and it was the first time I ever held a firearm. It terrified me. The clip was empty but the knowledge that I held something in my hand that could end a life really terrified me more than I thought it would. Probably a good percentage of people who play shooters are like me, in that they have never even held a real gun before, and yet there is a huge obsession with them.

So basically, why do you think there is such a love of guns in video games.

Well, unlike you, I have held, and used, guns before. I own a .243 bolt-action rifle and a 12 gauge pump shotgun. I have also fired my grandfathers .22 semi-auto and revolver. I have experience with actual guns, and can appreciate the danger that comes with them.

With all that said, it is not the guns that draws me to shooter games. There is a variety of different things that attract me to shooters, from unique mechanics, Multi-player, Story, and others. The fact that most are shooters is probably less coincidence, and possibly because they seem easy to get into (so many use the same controls it seems, play one, and your able to play 6 others, no problem.)

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

It's easy to say "Oh yeah, a kitchen knife could kill someone too. Guns aren't much different la la la la"

But I agree with the OP: I was on holiday in Arizona once and we went to a firing range for the craic. I fired a Glock-17 (the 'pop gun' of most FPSes -- I wanted to use a P90 but they advised me against it). The thing was so loud and exploded with such force, I thought someone had handed me a Desert Eagle by accident. It was incredible. There's nothing akin to it in everyday life. It was a highly sobering experience.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Probably a combination of media conditioning and insecurity.

You could hold a letter opener in your hand though, or a teacup, according to Riddick, and possess the same potential.

 

[Freechoice]

I think this summarizes it pretty well. Tools of the trade, man. Tools of the trade.

Edit: Having reread the OP, it's some kind of Freudian fulfillment, I would guess. Most people can't handle a firearm, but the ability to do something powerful (in this case, pixelated murder/genocide) is intoxicating. Then you just go and shoot a zombie/alien/pirate with your average space marine or otherwise.

 

[Falseprophet]

Well, I held and fired real guns for the first time last week--including an Uzi and an assault rifle. And I have a much healthier respect for the power of firearms than I did before. And a little scared of how easily they handled, especially the Uzi. Time Crisis and Silent Scope could never have prepared me for the real thing.

But I've been driving for 18 years and cars end far more lives than guns do.

On the other hand, I don't like FPSes. The novelty wore off for me pretty quickly after Doom. I hate interacting with the world through horse blinders. An FPS only gets my attention these days if it does something interesting. I prefer third-person perspective for my games. I agree with the Extra Credits guys that far too many games centre around combat, and I'd like to see more variety, but I have nothing against guns in games per se.

 

[manaman]

After all, a gun is the culmination of the very worst aspects of human nature...

Well I completely disagree with THAT sentiment.
A gun is a tool as much as a hammer or a car. All can be wielded to deadly results.

While a firearm is designed to kill, so is a mouse trap. Also the worst of human nature?
I use firearms to hunt animals for food. I don't consider my shotgun a weapon. It's a tool designed for a tool's purpose. There isn't anything sinister about it, and certainly isn't the culmination of 'the very worst aspects of human nature'. That's a disgusting misrepresentation of firearms.

Knives have been misused by millions. Would you tie that in the same vein with firearms?
Cars kill thousands upon thousands every year. Both accidentally, and purposely.
People have been murdered with screw drivers, icepicks, nail guns, and pillows.

None of those things are weapons until they are used like one.
The same goes for firearms.

But just like any powerful tool, like a car, truck, nailgun, or power drill, education and proper care is always needed when using firearms. Any dumb-ass behind the wheel is just as dangerous as a dumb-ass with a gun. Calling firearms 'the culmination of the very worst aspects of human nature' is objectively wrong.

The tool isn't to blame for the wielder's evil, ignorance, or neglectful attitude.

Here I was trying to think of an eloquent response to that since I saw it, and I return to the thread to find that you have responded at a level I couldn't hope to achieve.

Thanks for putting to words my feelings on the matter exactly.

 

[Action Jack]

Guns are cool, real people dying isn't. In an FPS you'll never accidentally kill a family member or leave your gun somewhere a child will find it.

And if you do, they'll respawn (rimshot).

 

[Yopaz]

a kitchen knife is also a tool that can be used to kill just like a gun since we all know(thanks NRA) that guns are not made to kill people but are only there to defend yourself

And why do you need a gun to defend yourself? Because people with guns want to kill you. That's why we need more and bigger guns. Honestly, I live a place with pretty high crime rates and the worst thing I've experienced is being offered to buy drugs at many occasions. I don't fear getting shot, because hand guns are very hard to get by here, if it can't be used for hunting you can't normally get it.

 

[Heathrow]

Let me answer the OP's question directly. The gun you see on your screen in a game is not a gun, the meaning is vacant. Instead the shape of a gun is imbued with the essence of an outlet for our inhumanity.

It is the purpose of an object that defines its meaning not the reverse. A gun is stubbornly purposed to destroy, however this property is not unique: Nuclear ordinance, tanks, missiles, canon, musket, sword, crossbow, spade, bow, knife, rock. All different shapes of meaning for one unified purpose, the essence of gun.

It is simple to see that a gun shape in a game does not come from the same stock as the previous list. Though the repercussions of having a psychology which demands a simulacrum for this purpose may be unclear it should be blindingly obvious that the purpose of today's games are rooted in the stock of play and recreation; not violence and destruction.

 

[darkrat666]

a kitchen knife is also a tool that can be used to kill just like a gun since we all know(thanks NRA) that guns are not made to kill people but are only there to defend yourself

And why do you need a gun to defend yourself? Because people with guns want to kill you. That's why we need more and bigger guns. Honestly, I live a place with pretty high crime rates and the worst thing I've experienced is being offered to buy drugs at many occasions. I don't fear getting shot, because hand guns are very hard to get by here, if it can't be used for hunting you can't normally get it.

A gun is not just used for self defense against other people with guns. It can be used to protect someone from wildlife, it can be used to protect yourself from intruders (gun wielding or not), it can be used to hunt, it can be used for recreation, it can be used as deterrence.

Now to the original question. FPS are very easy to get into, they don't take the time other games do to know what you are doing, they tend to bring a person into the action very quickly, and they are easily played for short periods of time. Also, I don't feel that when holding a gun you need to fear it but rather respect it.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Not too sure why you were so afraid.

I've never shot a gun in real life, but I would love to go to a firing range and give it a shot (pun intended).

 

[Something Amyss]

I wanted to pose a question to some folks on the forum. What, exactly, is so appealing about shooter games? And by that, I mean the shooting in general. I enjoy a good shooter as much as the next person but Ive sort of realized something since christmas. My dad bought a sidearm for christmas (its going to be his new hobby) and it was the first time I ever held a firearm. It terrified me. The clip was empty but the knowledge that I held something in my hand that could end a life really terrified me more than I thought it would. Probably a good percentage of people who play shooters are like me, in that they have never even held a real gun before, and yet there is a huge obsession with them.

So basically, why do you think there is such a love of guns in video games.

It's fake, though. What does it matter? I bet the numbers of shooter fans who haven't held guns are similar to Terminator fans who have never held guns.

While I've handled weapons before, I'm a pacifist. Guns don't scare me, but I'm not going t ogo shoot someone. Give me a video game, a piece of fantasy, and I'll run around slaughtering enough people to count me for fake war crimes.

As to why? I don't know, action is fun. It's hard to top action, and shooting/war games are sort of the easiest ways to create action. That's my guess.

 

[Electrogecko]

I don't think this post was meant to be about fear of weapons, but for some reason everyone seems to be running with that.

Guns are popular in video games because people are ignorant, insecure, immature, egotystical, and hostile. A large % of 360 owners have nothing in their library but sports games and shooters. They may think that owning such games makes them appear mature, but the reality is it makes them look like a narrow-minded and insecure brute.

I understand the appeal of shooters and sports games, I own a few myself, and I have nothing against the people who soley play these games, but I don't believe that they're the type of people that are on this site- the type of people who are passionate about gaming. I think that they're the equivalent to people who only watch action flicks or only read Harry Potter or Twilight.

I'd bet that the majority of those who purchased BLOPS have never played Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Ocarina of Time, Banjo Tooie, Metroid Prime, Portal, Mario Galaxy, Arkham Asylum, Braid, or any of YOUR favorite games. I have a hard time believing that you (as the reader of this post) consider CoD (or even Halo) to be anywhere near the same level as the games that you hold dearest.