Games: Good and/or Evil? - Page 2

ronnoc10 · 08-08-2008, 06:38 PM

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Originally Posted by Sazabi02

We can't deny that it has an effect, but then it's more of a case-to-case basis. Like Adrir said, an already unstable individual may be moved to be more violent after having played a violent game.

Oh! Oh! I can! I deny it!

Prove me wrong. Honestly, I'm surprised at you guys. Why are you believing unproven hysteria about an industry that you want to join?

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Well the guy in Thailand seems a good example

""He said he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game," chief police investigator Veeravit Pipattanasak told Reuters."
The guy wanted money and wasn't picky about how he got it. Then he thought, 'Hey, in GTA it's really easy to rob a cab, maybe I'll try that.'
Did the game make him violent? He could have just as easily thought of the taxi-hijacking scene in Om-Bak., or looked up 'easy targets to rob' on Google.
This was a well planned out crime: "The suspect told police he did not mean to kill the driver, whom he had chosen as a possible victim because of his age [emphasis mine], but that he stabbed him to death when he fought back, newspapers reported."

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I think I remember Counter Strike getting blamed for that one. But my memories get muddled I suppose. My bad. Thanks for the link

It was blamed for it, simply because his dorm had a Counter Strike server.

Adrir · 08-09-2008, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronnoc10

Why are you believing unproven hysteria about an industry that you want to join?

I don't think many of us here do "believe" it. However, just because the vast majority of it is absolute nonesense spawned by factual errors in the media and society in denial looking for something to blame, I personally cannot simply dismiss the underlying notion. Especially since there is equally little evidence to disprove that violent games have an effect on people. According to the Byron Report (which I believed focused on children and a variety of media including the Internet), research in this field is largely polarised and inconclusive.

ronnoc10 · 08-09-2008, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrir

I don't think many of us here do "believe" it. However, just because the vast majority of it is absolute nonesense spawned by factual errors in the media and society in denial looking for something to blame, I personally cannot simply dismiss the underlying notion. Especially since there is equally little evidence to disprove that violent games have an effect on people. According to the Byron Report (which I believed focused on children and a variety of media including the Internet), research in this field is largely polarised and inconclusive.

Which is completely true. For every report you show me that says video games are the root of all evil, I can give you one that says that video games cure cancer. :P
Joking aside, it is true that studies only show insane violent behavior, or nothing at all.

I do dismiss the underlying notion that video games cause violence, through. I've heard many people say such things as:

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...an already unstable individual may be moved to be more violent after having played a violent game.

I can't deal in 'unstable' people. I can deal in people with mental diseases or disorders. It is impossible to pin-point the disease or disorder that causes individuals to become violent after playing video games. No one has ever done it. These cases are also very few and few between. The Columbine shooting is one that I will accept, but not the 'Manhunt Murder,' the 'GTA inspired' killing of two cops and a police dispatcher, and not the taxi murder in Thailand. No cause, and a tinny amount of individuals, compared to the millions that have played video games. In my opinion, this makes them isolated cases.

Adrir · 08-10-2008, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronnoc10

but not the 'Manhunt Murder,'

If I remember correctly, the so-called Manhunt murder in the UK was completely cleared of having anything to do with the game by the Leicestershire Constabulary.

Ironically, the mother who cried to all the newspapers about how the murderer was obsessed with the game, was the one who purchased the 18-rated game for her 14 year old son.

Source

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Originally Posted by ronnoc10

No cause, and a tinny amount of individuals, compared to the millions that have played video games. In my opinion, this makes them isolated cases.

I agree with this which is why I made the following earlier comments:

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Originally Posted by Adrir

Also I believe that if games were evil, the effects would be far more drastic than a sparse number of murders. How many people have played GTA compared to the number of violent acts associated with it?
...
That minor influence may have pushed them over the edge. Does that mean we should ban all violent media because a small subset of people may be harmed? I don't believe so.

However, this is the worst case scenario. I also believe that if the research at the opposite end of the scale (ie. violent games provides an outlet which actually reduces aggression) is made more concrete then the individuals whom already have violent tendencies may actually become less violent. Games could be making the world safer.

Alas, without concrete evidence of either case, I prefer to hope for the best but walk with caution.

Sazabi02 · 08-10-2008, 04:02 PM

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Prove me wrong. Honestly, I'm surprised at you guys. Why are you believing unproven hysteria about an industry that you want to join?

I can't deny the fact that it CAN exert influence over a player and that it can possibly turn an individual who has little control over him/herself over the edge. But I don't believe that ALL video games are evil. Heck, I stand as living evidence to myself that video games won't instantly turn you into a homicidal nut. I've played my first violent game, Crusader: No Regret, when I was 10 and if I really believed that shooting the innocent workers in that spaceship would drive me to do it in real life, I'd probably have done it already. But no I haven't. I love video games. I love all that they stand for and I've been playing them since I was a kid. I love the entertainment they provide. And I really want to get into the industry and contribute as much to making these games.

I still believe though that it may still have some sort of influence to individuals and that further unbiased studies need to be provided to prove or disprove how much of this influence affects an individual's decisions. And when proven, then everyone can react accordingly.

And yeah, the media exaggerates on video game violence when in truth they contribute to violence more than any other form of entertainment.

EDIT: How about more warnings! XD Like "This game shouldn't be played or sold to unstable individuals who are likely to think that you may do stuff in here in real life."

TimEdwards · 08-10-2008, 05:02 PM

Two Words: Sanity License.

freakynipples69 · 08-10-2008, 05:29 PM

Poor parenting and deep psychological issues are more to blame. Just because these kids are simply too insane to know the difference between fantasy and reality doesn't make video games evil.

Sazabi02 · 08-11-2008, 01:39 AM

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Two Words: Sanity License.

That'd be nice.

Adrir · 08-11-2008, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimEdwards

Two Words: Sanity License.

TimEdwards · 08-11-2008, 04:54 PM

I don't think studies have been done to prove that Games are not linked to mental illness. I mean, we keep hearing in the media about how some person did something he saw in a video game, but it's something he could just as easily have seen in the media or even heard about in a classroom.

I think the problem isn't the game made them, or inspired them... but they made a choice to re-enact a part of a game that was against the law. Why does no one ever see that sometimes, individuals make the poor choice?