I think in order for violent games to affect someone in the way many people seem to be implying, that person would have to already have something of an unstable personality, an inability to see where the dividing line between fantasy and reality lies, or a disconnect between themselves and the world around them. People have a tendency to assign blame to the visible, external factors (most recently to video games, although TV/Movies, RPGs and even music has taken the blame before) without paying any attention to the internal, personal problems which caused the issue in the first place.
Question of the Day, June 28, 2010
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
It's funny, you'd think someone from an industry that the media demonized as a bunch of psychotic gun-toting lunatics would have a bit more sympathy towards an industry that the media demonizes as a bunch of psychotic gun-toting lunatics.
Oh, well. Seems critical thought is a bit too much to ask from some people.
Oh, well. Seems critical thought is a bit too much to ask from some people.
If you're an idiot. I know that games are imaginary. I know most of the stuff I do is illegal, not to mention bad or pure evil. I also know it's unrealistic. What it is, is fun. It may have a slight effect on our perception of violence, but I don't think it desentisizes us a significant amount. The only time gaming has a major negative effect on people is when the person is already mentally unstable.The Escapist Staff said:
I know that games aren't real life. I would never kill someone or even hurt someone in real life. I've killed hundreds of thousands of people in games. However, I do believe it desensitizes you a bit. After playing through Prototype, Gears of War, Left 4 Dead, and Dead Rising, I'm less likely to be disgusted by fake violent images. I've seen movies that are called evil and disgusting because of the extreme amount of violence, yet it doesn't really bother me like it should. Now, actual violence is a different story, but it has affected my views on fictional violence. Not in a major way, but it still has.
I've been playing violent games since before I was 12. My parents raised me well enough to understand the difference between fantasy and reality.Furburt said:
I'm apologizing in advance for being a communications major. I studied this kind of stuff for four years. I also spent a summer doing research on this theory.
Okay. In the 80s, George Gerbner et al found that if people were exposed to violent programming, it changed their perception of the world. They thought the world was more violent than it actually was. This phenomenon is called mean world syndrome. The effect is called cultivation theory. There's also a piggyback phenomenon. If people live in a violent area and are exposed to violent programming, they think the world is more violent than those who watch violent programming but live in a nonviolent area and those who live in a violent area but don't watch violent programming. This is called double-dosing.
This study was done on television programming, but video games can have the same effect. Violent video games can certainly change the perception of the world of those who play it.
However, having your perception of the world altered does not make you more likely to be a violent person. You might be a little more wary, but playing violent games isn't going to make you a more violent person unless you're a violent person to begin with.
/nerdy comm. student tangent
Okay. In the 80s, George Gerbner et al found that if people were exposed to violent programming, it changed their perception of the world. They thought the world was more violent than it actually was. This phenomenon is called mean world syndrome. The effect is called cultivation theory. There's also a piggyback phenomenon. If people live in a violent area and are exposed to violent programming, they think the world is more violent than those who watch violent programming but live in a nonviolent area and those who live in a violent area but don't watch violent programming. This is called double-dosing.
This study was done on television programming, but video games can have the same effect. Violent video games can certainly change the perception of the world of those who play it.
However, having your perception of the world altered does not make you more likely to be a violent person. You might be a little more wary, but playing violent games isn't going to make you a more violent person unless you're a violent person to begin with.
/nerdy comm. student tangent
It doesn't make violence easier--from what I've seen in games, firing a gun can have severe consequences if you're not trained to use it like dislocating your shoulder from the blast, and most kids may not even know how to use all the features because if it's a game like Left 4 Dead, you don't know how to work the gun as far as it would go in real life.
I would have to say no. Isn't this coming from the same person who talks about shooting someone and taking their money? Hmmm..if that doesn't display violence, then I don't know what does. I really think this is pretty much a pointless discussion. People were violent WAYYY before games, television, and movies. Idiots like this need to stop blaming the media for people's violent tendencies. Wouldn't her songs be a factor of influencing and 'promoting' violence as well among listeners?
Ah, the age old argument for everything parents hate... first it was radio, then TV, now games...
I personally believe it's based more on how you're raised rather than what you do or play. I think if you're raised to know right from wrong and what's real and what isn't, you can play violent games all you want and not be negatively affected by it. I know factually that any violence I inflict on others in a game does not relate to real life.
I personally believe it's based more on how you're raised rather than what you do or play. I think if you're raised to know right from wrong and what's real and what isn't, you can play violent games all you want and not be negatively affected by it. I know factually that any violence I inflict on others in a game does not relate to real life.
Games and films desensitize us but it doesn't take away our morals.
We can kill people all day long while playing a game but we'd never imagine doing anything remotely like that in real life, the kids that do were messed up before they ever touched a game.
We can kill people all day long while playing a game but we'd never imagine doing anything remotely like that in real life, the kids that do were messed up before they ever touched a game.
Well I have noticed recently that my fighting stance is Ryu's off, SF4 but I have never played it...
By themselves, no. But I think that combined with Movies, TV, Music such as Rap, Comic, and so forth, pop culture as a whole is doing a pretty good job of desensitizing the consumer base to violence as a whole. If parents aren't, you know, parenting and paying attention to what their kids are taking part in, it doesn't help the problem.
So yes and no. Yes in that it's contributing to changing our perception, No in that it's not doing it alone or having as big an impact as you commonly hear argued. In fact, I'd argue that Rap has a much bigger individual impact on "Breeding violence" than video games do.
So yes and no. Yes in that it's contributing to changing our perception, No in that it's not doing it alone or having as big an impact as you commonly hear argued. In fact, I'd argue that Rap has a much bigger individual impact on "Breeding violence" than video games do.
