Are video games too violent?

[PT]

I'm a big fan of GTA3, and I'm sure as soon as Vice City comes out on PC, I'll be aquiring a copy of it, but at the same time, I won't let my kids play these games because of the blatant violence, and rewards for violence that they depict.

Joseph Lieberman is raising a stink up in congress about video games again. Do you think he should? Can they make really good video games that aren't as violent, yet are still fun to play?

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/fun.games/12/19/games.ratings/index.html



Here is my opinion. I think the gaming business has gone too far in alot of respects. There is a new game out right now called Gulf War or something similar. From the previews I have seen on TV, one of the missions or goals of the game has Saddam in the sights of a sniper rifle. I think that is taking it too far, what if another country came out with a game that had you take out the President of the US or the Prime Minister of the UK or Canada?

I guess it just takes me back to the first question, can video game developers create games that are not so violent, yet really good to play? If you think back about the history of video games, even the very first games were somewhat violent after pong. Pac Man, Donkey Kong, etc.. Only difference is that then you were killing animated characters, and now with technology being what it is, and only getting better, you can kill very realistic looking people. Even the racing games are concentrating on the graphics of the crashes as much as the driving and road realism.

Ok, I'm done rambling, any thoughts?

 

[fury]

Video games aren't meant to incite violence. They're just violent for the hell of it. I don't think games are too violent until they give you an interactive dead corpse complete with slimy guts spilling out on the floor and you can tear off his arm and beat him with it.

 

[Luis G]

Contrary to what many people think here, i say that video games actually incite violence to the people. However, that's why they have a rating, if the kids gets to play a copy of the game is the parent's fault.

To answer your original question PT, i think companies still make great non-violent games, but this is just a market thing, they can sell way more if they do violence, why? because people like that.

 

[PT]

I don't know if I would agree that video games Incite violence, but I would say that they numb you to it. That is, I don't think that a gamer is inherently more violent, just less affected by violence, which can be just as bad.

So what are some great non-violent games? I mean really good ones, cause I can name you literally hundreds of great games, but they are all somewhat violent.

 

[fury]

Any person who becomes violent just because of a video game should be put in a place where them being violent couldn't hurt anyone. You don't become bumbling drones that have TV's on your stomach by watching Teletubbies, do you?

You don't become incessant headbangers by posting at OTC do you? (Psycho doesn't count )

You don't turn into some evil mouseclicking insult-throwing person by playing the useless games at urban75.com, do you?

Video games do not change brain activity if that brain is normal.

 

[fury]

I don't know if I would agree that video games Incite violence, but I would say that they numb you to it. That is, I don't think that a gamer is inherently more violent, just less affected by violence, which can be just as bad.

So what are some great non-violent games? I mean really good ones, cause I can name you literally hundreds of great games, but they are all somewhat violent.

Super Mario Sunshine is one, Pikmin is another, how about the Need for Speed games? I could name plenty non-violent ones too.

I play violent games all the time but I'm no less affected by real violence from it than I am from all the other real violence that's happening.

 

[PT]

I agree with you to a point. If a person plays GTA3 and snipers people all afternoon, I don't think that is going to make them go out and get a sniper rifle and start shooting, however when someone else does it, they aren't going to be affected by it the same way as they were before. I realize this isn't just video games, but TV, Movies, and even real life that is numbing our minds to horrendous violence, but I do think that the video game experience where you can be the one doing the shooting is not good for our youth.

 

[freako104]

to an extent yes. but to me i think once again parents should monitor what the kid plays and decide whether its too violent. my mom used to watch me play doom and rott and said thats so violent but let me play cause she knew that it wouldnt insight me into violence. but violence can be modeled which can cause violence. problem is that there is also real life violence which to me should be dealt with first. and thankfully there are games that arent violent at all. bmx games,skateboarding,surfing and harvest moon come to mind.

 

[AlladinSane]

I don't think games are too violent until they give you an interactive dead corpse complete with slimy guts spilling out on the floor and you can tear off his arm and beat him with it.

Yeah, that wasn't made yet!

 

[PT]

I don't think games are too violent until they give you an interactive dead corpse complete with slimy guts spilling out on the floor and you can tear off his arm and beat him with it.

Yeah, that wasn't made yet!

Not yet, but I bet it's coming.

 

[Luis G]

i hope doom3 have that

 

[greenfreak]

I realize this isn't just video games, but TV, Movies, and even real life that is numbing our minds to horrendous violence

This, I think is the issue there more than prompting someone to real-life physical violence. I think kids these days lose their innocence earlier than they used to because of their surroundings. Let's face it, we'll never go back to the "Leave it to Beaver" days. But at least there are ratings on games and movies and even TV to try to prevent kids from getting desensitized too soon.

On that note, I mistakenly gave my niece and nephew a game I was done with when she was 9 and he was 8. It was Parasite Eve, rated Mature. Of course, my sister was smart enough to check the rating (good thing because I wasn't) and gave it back to me the next day. One of the kids had nightmares because of it. I didn't see it as that bad, but apparently I should pay more attention to these things!

But wouldn't you know, every time they see me, they keep asking if they can have it back.

 

[lightstorm]

Are video games really too violent for the desensitized kids today? All you have to do is turn on the news to see reports of murder, rape, killings, suicides, etc. The kids are numbed by all of their influences; not only violent computer games, but violent TV shows, movies, music, etc. So, we can't really attribute the destructive nature of children these days to just computer games. It's based on a lot of different influences that change the kids. If you want to censor computer games, you might as well have the kid close his/her eyes every time he sees a TV.

Back to the original question: are video games too violent? No, especially considering the society that the kids live in today. Maybe if it was say ten or twenty years ago, it would be considered violent, but society is getting more and more violent anyway. Sure GTA3 has alot of killings in it but no more than the average newspaper. Half-life is about killing terrorists; nothing we don't already know about.

It doesn't necessarily mean that playing video games is ok; on a whole, I feel that video games are too much of a waste of time. Reading, and dreaming inspired my mind much more than any video game ever has.

I believe that the question is more of "Does playing violent video games influence children to be violent?" And to that, I'm not sure if I could answer it. All I know is that I'm not more violent because I've played Doom and Half-Life.

Can games be made without the violence? Sure, I think this has already been answered.

 

[RD_151]

nah, they are good for kids. Just my opinion though. Studies show that they provide a catharsis effect in many cases, actually reducing the occurence of and tendency to aggressive behavior. In other studies they show that they tend to make children more "aggressive" (defined in all the studies i read as making actions and gestures that were defined as aggressive). In truth, all the studies fail because none test for overt aggression, only signs of increased levels of aggressive behavior. Ok, now I haven't researched this in the last few years, but I did exhaustive research on this a few years back for a research methods class. Well, I wasn't convinced then, and I'm not convinced now that it has any influence on 'normal' people. It may very well have an impact on disturbed people, but then just about anything else will too, so I don't see so much problem with it. In truth, the news turned out to be the most violent things children are exposed to. So should we keep them from watching the news?

Maybe, maybe they should be playing gta 3 or something instead

Not sure on that, I haven't played it yet, but I expect they should be

 

[ris]

I don't think games are too violent until they give you an interactive dead corpse complete with slimy guts spilling out on the floor and you can tear off his arm and beat him with it.

Yeah, that wasn't made yet!

Not yet, but I bet it's coming.

i played a demo of kingpin back in in 99 and vividly remember that the first job of the demo was to murder someone with a lead pipe and steal their money. i quickly found i could keep beating teh corpse until the arms, face and legs were beated of into a bloody stain on the ground. i think at that point i decided it was a bit too gratuitous...

perhaps i should be glad i only play football games on the playstation, i've yet to see a rioting england team supporter option

 

[PT]

perhaps i should be glad i only play football games on the playstation, i've yet to see a rioting england team supporter option

Well then it's not very bloody realistic then, Is it?

 

[ris]

certainly not - where is the option to be a coin-throwing millwall fan or a monkey chanting slovak? pft...

 

[freako104]

I don't think games are too violent until they give you an interactive dead corpse complete with slimy guts spilling out on the floor and you can tear off his arm and beat him with it.

Yeah, that wasn't made yet!

Not yet, but I bet it's coming.

mortal kombat,silent hill,silent hill2, shadow hearts, onimusha, onimusha 2, state of emergency,gta series

 

[Gato_Solo]

I realize this isn't just video games, but TV, Movies, and even real life that is numbing our minds to horrendous violence

This, I think is the issue there more than prompting someone to real-life physical violence. I think kids these days lose their innocence earlier than they used to because of their surroundings. Let's face it, we'll never go back to the "Leave it to Beaver" days. But at least there are ratings on games and movies and even TV to try to prevent kids from getting desensitized too soon.

On that note, I mistakenly gave my niece and nephew a game I was done with when she was 9 and he was 8. It was Parasite Eve, rated Mature. Of course, my sister was smart enough to check the rating (good thing because I wasn't) and gave it back to me the next day. One of the kids had nightmares because of it. I didn't see it as that bad, but apparently I should pay more attention to these things!

But wouldn't you know, every time they see me, they keep asking if they can have it back.

That, in a nutshell, is what the true problem is. It's not the games. It's not the TV. It's not the movies, either. It's the parenting. As Trish said above, her sister checked the label. Each TV that I know of has a set of controls to either change the channel or turn it off. I don't know of any movies that are free. Some will debate me on this, but the fact is...If you want to protect your children, you should play an active role in their lives. How can your child be affected by M rated video games if you don't buy them? If parents would be parents, instead of trying to be friends/buddies with their kids, most of this wouldn't happen.

Read this before responding...

Teen-agers are a different story, so we're not getting into that now, so don't hand me a line of bull about those 13 and over. Those are the kids who are supposed to bend the rules, and test the waters.

 

[ris]

a question really, for those who have played vice city.

what about it [specifically, or in general] would you say warrants its 18 cert as opposed to the most recent james bond game on the ps2. if it was an 11yo and a 9yo playing it would you hand over the game because you knew it wasn't suitable from experience or for the cert itself?