Violence in Video Games

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i'm not seeing your point... no, you can't possiably tell who will be set off by seeing something, wether it be on tv, in a movie, in a book or in a video game... but with a lot of people you sure as hell can make some pretty good assumptions... what is your point?

 

[nbcrusader]

The problem is the parents. It's the parents' fault. They're simply not being responsible. The parents let their kids buy this crap, or even worse, they buy this crap FOR their kids.

Can we really leave the "blame" with parents when many of these video games are developed and marketed to the under 18 crowd? Should not the industry share in this responsibility?

 

[A_Wanderer]

I wouldn't say a game like DoomIII is marketed to the Under18 crowd, considering that most under 18's are CS Kiddies who never even played Doom back in the day.

The industry caters to a market, the truth is that most kids cannot afford to play PC Games, the costs of buying Graphics Card, CPU, Motherboard etc. compounded with the simplicity of consoles ensures that PC Gaming is mostly done by those late teens and up and the kids play consoles, the console games have less violence in them compared to the PC Games because regulation is a lot simpler.

 

[AvsGirl41]

Even if the games are marketed to a young crowd, the responsibility still lies with the parents to teach their children the difference between truth and fiction.

I grew up watching violent movies. My dad's gun was not hard to find. But my parents stressed the importance of how the shooting in a movie or a game was pretend, but that Dad's gun could kill people for real, so you shouldn't touch it.

It's not a difficult lesson to impart.

 

[Angela Harlem]

Can we really leave the "blame" with parents when many of these video games are developed and marketed to the under 18 crowd? Should not the industry share in this responsibility?

Since when is the industry responsible for teaching social and moral lessons? Is that not a parent's job? I sincerely doubt for a moment you leave such a critical thing to an outsider, or worse, a corporation, for your own children.

 

[oliveu2cm]

Since when is the industry responsible for teaching social and moral lessons? Is that not a parent's job? I sincerely doubt for a moment you leave such a critical thing to an outsider, or worse, a corporation, for your own children.

Actually I think this is an interesting question, not just in video games but in all sorts of things in our society: when - if ever - should businesses be responsible for what they sell? We've seen this with McDonalds and lawsuits against them (which I believe lost) but then McDonalds did stop offering "supersize" servings since so many Americans are overweight. This is an interesting topic all on its own.

 

[nbcrusader]

Since when is the industry responsible for teaching social and moral lessons? Is that not a parent's job? I sincerely doubt for a moment you leave such a critical thing to an outsider, or worse, a corporation, for your own children.

I'm not suggesting that it is an all or nothing proposition. Parents have a primary responsibility to raise their children.

The job of the parent, however, is now much more difficult as "alternative social and moral lessons" are pushed on children unceasingly.

 

[Klaus]

Headache in a Suitcase

We agree that some people become violent after playing these games and we don't know which ones.

So should the government do something to protect its people or is the "colateral damage" of comerce and entertainment negligible?

 

[A_Wanderer]

Censorship of average video game violence does absolutely no good, it is simply government interfering in the entertainment people just want to enjoy. The great thing about violent games if that they can get the adrenaline pumping after a long day, Doom III is scary as hell brilliant piece. The violence can also be in a proper context, single bullets kill people and when you are hit in the head bits of red and grey smatter over any nearby objects. 99.999 ad infinitum percent of people that play these games are normal guys and girls (only some girls though, 6 girls at an event of 400 when I did checkins at a lan 2 weeks ago) who have no adverse effect from gaming, if anything I would say that the social interaction provided to people benefits greatly to those that dont have the time to go out and play sport. The benefits of gaming far outway the damage, violent gaming too has its place - now I dont just like mindless violence, its simply not very entertaining, but in the context of a particular genre of game it can be a bit of fun and/or add to the gritty realism of a piece. Game censorship usually ammounts to green blood and no nudity - I say bring it all on, when you play as a mob enforcer it should be bloody and gritty, adult only content on par with a film like Goodfellas.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i don't know exactly how else you want me to say it klaus... no... the government should not ban games based on the possability of a minute percentage of people having a violent reaction to the games.

 

[Klaus]

Headache in a Suitcase
i was just curious on your personal opinion, it shouldn't be any ofense on you and i didn't want to interrogate you, i'm sorry if you felt that way

 

[Angela Harlem]

it seems most people agree on the larger part of this topic anyway. at times and with certain individuals, there is a bad influence in these games and that is a concern. bulk of the shaping of a young person's way of dealing with any negative influence lies with the parents.

do game ratings do enough? who knows. they're only useful when they're adhered to anyway. the shops, cinemas (for movies), parents, all need to take responsibility for following what is law. the social responsibility needs to be in part, the role of everyone involved to various extents.