Gaming Forums => General Gaming => Topic started by: Stogi on February 23, 2009, 02:43:03 PM
Title: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Stogi on February 23, 2009, 02:43:03 PM
If you haven't heard, earlier yesterday some 11 year old kid shot his father's pregnant girlfriend in the head with a shotgun,, get this, that he was given as a present for Christmas by his father. Obviously the family isn't the most functional or sane.
During the news story, they brought up, in concert with the father's decision to give his son a shotgun, videogame and TV violence. Not surprising.
Still, it's pretty ridiculous to think that kids who commit horrible acts of violence are simply a collage of videogame and TV culture and not the sculpture carved by their parents. A parent that gives their son a gun before hair has grown on their balls obviously isn't the best roll model. Now I have no "facts" to believe this, but I bet you anything that his father was a very violent person himself. Kids may watch TV and play videogames that make murder cool, but his environment is what made him think it is how the real world works. His environment made it real.
Anyway, it's a sad case; one that will undoubtedly question the power of the media today and not, more importantly, the power of education and family life. He will probably be tried as an adult, and according to his state laws, either executed or sentenced to life in prison.
This thread was made, not to point out the travesty in how we place blame, but rather to discuss how it is only going to get worse. As graphics and physics reach the uncanny valley, it will ensure that more and more people blame games as the cause for violence. There will undoubtedly be games that push the envelope in mimicking humans mannerisms to the point that when we shoot one in the head, it might feel tangible; it might feel real. What then? Videogames are already blamed enough. How can violent videogames possibly exist in this type of world?
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on February 23, 2009, 03:12:00 PM
Violent games already exist and we're willing to pay for them.
I shall take this cookie and throw it like a shuriken at a coworker in hopes they fall into the well, or at least trip over the copy machine.
It is Wii's responsibility to reach as many as possible and unlock the realization that gaming is a medium of voluntary interaction, and yet is still just another ice cream flavor in the Baskin Robins display of entertainment. We will not blame ice cream for mistakes in life.
Yes, Wii can.
RE4 taught me project management and problem solving skills. LOLOLOLOLOLOOLOLO
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on February 23, 2009, 04:23:28 PM
Billy the Kid obviously had GTA when he was growing up.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Ian Sane on February 23, 2009, 04:48:24 PM
Videogames are only a scapegoat. Politicians want votes. Panicing people with "think of the childen!" scare tactics is a good way to get votes. "That evil ____ is corrupting our children! Vote for ME and I'll get rid of _____ and your children will be safe." Hell it doesn't even have to be children. It can be your right or freedom to _____ or your job or your retirement or your house. Whatever the target voter holds sacred is used to get a knee-jerk reaction. Children are naturally ideal because a lot of the voting public are parents and most parents value their kids over all else.
But it's no good if your scapegoat is something you actually like. That's why pot is bad and alcohol isn't. Most of the voters drink so you can't attack THAT or they won't vote for you. Videogames are ideal though because the target voter doesn't play videogames. It's a relatively new past time. You're targetting an age group where a good deal of them didn't play videogames as kids because they didn't really exist yet. Just like how comic books and rock n roll were bad in the eyes of people that never were exposed to either in their youth and thus would not be deprived if the government was to ban those.
But videogames are getting old so if anything I figure things will get better. Eventually we will reach a point where the politicians and the voters they're trying to attract played videogames as kids and potentially play them as adults. Thus videogames won't be a target because the voters like them. They'll find something NEW to attact, that young people like and old people are unfamiliar with.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on February 23, 2009, 05:04:05 PM
Yeah, iPhones.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Stogi on February 23, 2009, 05:08:03 PM
Are you sure?
I feel that if you can't even play ManHunt 2 uncensored, how are you going to play Uncanny Valley Manhunt?
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: KDR_11k on February 23, 2009, 05:16:58 PM
lolwut, giving the kid a gun? Maybe it's for the best that that particular pollution of the genepool is being contained.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Stogi on February 23, 2009, 06:12:40 PM
That's a terrible thing to say.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Dirk Temporo on February 23, 2009, 09:22:47 PM
I disagree. They have the Darwin Awards for a reason.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Morari on February 23, 2009, 09:42:07 PM
There's nothing necessarily wrong with teaching your children how to use a gun. Given what happened in this case however, I doubt that this young boy had been given much of any lesson. Certainly there was a lack of responsibility on the parent's behalf. But saying that the family isn't functional or sane because said gun was given to a child as a gift is just as bad as blaming videogames for all the world's woes. Kept under watchful circumstances I don't see any reason why I boy on the cusp of becoming a teenager shouldn't be given a gun. That's not to say that the kid should be allowed to go out and target practice and such without supervision however. Too many people are weak nowadays from growing up in artificial environments like cities, suburbs, and urban sprawl. They're afraid of guns because they give others power. Everyone should own at least one firearm and be reasonably knowledgeable in its use. Not only are guns a great tool for self defense; the might just come in handy for hunting and general survival down the road. The sooner one is comfortable in handling such a tool, the better. Proper instruction and supervision should be practiced however, which I fear was the real downside to this particular event.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 24, 2009, 12:53:45 AM
This can only end badly.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on February 24, 2009, 03:11:11 AM
Yeah, like Konami announcing a Metal Gear rails shooter for Wii.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: KDR_11k on February 24, 2009, 04:15:06 AM
You mean you actually get to shoot things while watching that movie?
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NovaQ on February 24, 2009, 07:56:31 AM
It could be a rip off of Time Crisis, except it would make fans weep instead of cheer.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: mac<censored> on February 24, 2009, 08:31:21 AM
There's nothing necessarily wrong with teaching your children how to use a gun.
Sure. Take 'em to the shooting range, take 'em hunting, ... but you sure as hell shouldn't leave the gun and ammunition laying around where they can get at it when you're not watching!
Guns are serious and very dangerous tools, and should be treated as such.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: KDR_11k on February 24, 2009, 11:45:39 AM
****, the army will drill rifle handling into you until you can dis- and reassemble, load, unload, reload and clean the gun with your eyes closed before handing you any live ammunition.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: vudu on February 24, 2009, 01:44:14 PM
I disagree. They have the Darwin Awards for a reason.
That all depends on whether it was ruled an accidental death or if the kid shot the woman out of anger. I haven't seen the original story so I can't comment one way or the other.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Stogi on February 24, 2009, 02:15:50 PM
It was premeditated. This kid KNEW how to use a shotgun. He won a turkey shoot earlier this month with it. He KNEW what he was doing.
Not as bad as that 8 year old boy who shot his dad multiple times (over 20 times) and then shot the neighbor who came to help The kid reloaded the shotgun too. When he was interviewed by the police he showed no emotion and said something to the effect of "Daddy was moving so I shot him again".
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Stogi on February 24, 2009, 02:46:33 PM
Creepy. I just imagined Sling Blade saying that.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on February 24, 2009, 02:57:03 PM
Well I was mistaken, I dug up the story he ONLY shot each person 4 times and had to reload each time. Originally he said he didn't shoot them then changed his story to state that he shot his dad because he was shaking, so he shot him again so he wouldn't suffer. Finally he admitted to doing the whole thing, and said he was mad, in addition to being spanked the night before. From what they dug up though there was no evidence of child abuse. I remember hearing the interrogation on TV and it sent chills up my spine how calm he was. He seemed "rational" about what he did and he did NOT sound eight at all in his explanations which sounded like they were from a child that was much older.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NWR_Lindy on February 28, 2009, 04:08:42 AM
More reasons why I don't watch TV or read the newspapers, and play violent video games instead.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on March 02, 2009, 03:54:01 PM
We all know that whatever new thing the young people are into always gets vilified by the powers that be, but I heard something the other day that gave me hope for the future. I caught the beginning of a documentary on Abraham Lincoln. It stated that he was heavily criticized during his presidency for all his trips to "the devil's playhouse," a.k.a. the theater. Stodgy, old theater was demonized then just like modern entertainment is now. I can only imagine what the moral guardians thought when they heard Lincoln was shot in a theater, and by an actor, no less.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: ThePerm on March 03, 2009, 07:11:54 PM
Violent games already exist and we're willing to pay for them.
I shall take this cookie and throw it like a shuriken at a coworker in hopes they fall into the well, or at least trip over the copy machine.
It is Wii's responsibility to reach as many as possible and unlock the realization that gaming is a medium of voluntary interaction, and yet is still just another ice cream flavor in the Baskin Robins display of entertainment. We will not blame ice cream for mistakes in life.
Yes, Wii can.
RE4 taught me project management and problem solving skills. LOLOLOLOLOLOOLOLO
RE4 was a wonderful games, to some extant I think after the game i developed a no nonsense attitude.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b8G8delDlk
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NovaQ on March 03, 2009, 08:07:47 PM
I've developed an unyielding anxiety about falling boulders whenever I walk through crevasses - and I walk through a lot of crevasses!
...Well, sometimes.Never.
Man, I loves that game.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: ThePerm on March 04, 2009, 03:25:37 AM
i live in a heavily Spanish speaking community, if i heard a couple of phrases i might get suddenly alert. ¡Mátalo! ...although that would be a problem to hear even if people didn't have Las Plagas
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NovaQ on March 04, 2009, 07:31:03 AM
Now all you need is a 90s haircut and a leather jacket with fur trim. You'll be able to live "in a small village in Europe" all of the time!
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Djunknown on March 20, 2009, 12:32:19 AM
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: KDR_11k on March 20, 2009, 04:33:13 AM
Pfft, these guys have been mismanaging their videogame sections for many years already. All games are priced above MSRP, pricedrops happen very rarely, the selection sucks, they have a second gaming section in the toy section with all consoles except the Nintendo ones being scattered across both the computer gaming and toy gaming section (Nintendo only appears in the toy area while PC games only appear in the computer area), you can even find some ancient games (I'm talking late nineties here) there still selling at full price.
In short, they're so much fail they really have to work hard to fail any harder.
As for the school shooting, pathologically depressed kid + unsafely kept firearms + gun training = The videogames did it? The prosecution is actually investigating the father for manslaughter just for keeping a gun unsafe (illegal by itself) with a kid like that in the house.
Quote
Stephan Reichart, managing director at German video game developers association G.A.M.E. told Reuters that this move by the retailer is an overreaction and that it would do better to make sure that its cashiers don’t sell mature rated products to people under the age of 18.
Er, they better do that already because selling a game like that to a minor gets the store and the employee fined heavily and I think can even result in jailtime.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Morari on March 20, 2009, 07:07:01 PM
No one is fined. No one would ever serve jailtime. Such restrictions on selling games is generally imposed by the store itself. It's just as stupid as Wal-Mart refusing to sell model paint to anyone under the age of eighteen.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: KDR_11k on March 21, 2009, 05:08:19 AM
No one is fined. No one would ever serve jailtime. Such restrictions on selling games is generally imposed by the store itself. It's just as stupid as Wal-Mart refusing to sell model paint to anyone under the age of eighteen.
We aren't talking about the US there. We have legally buinding age restrictions and no Wal-Mart.
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Morari on March 21, 2009, 08:52:15 PM
Fair enough. I didn't look at the link provided by Djunknown. I always found it ironic that Germany goes to almost totalitarian extremes to insure that no one thinks them fascist.
User has been warned for making statements that are no more political than any others throughout said thread. ~Flames_of_chaos (a.k.a. That Cowardly Dickhead)
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: KDR_11k on March 23, 2009, 04:07:01 PM
Nah, I think the youth protection bullshit doesn't come from that. Total bans, yes but usually games only get strong restrictions and blocked by the console maker, not actually banned by the law. Not sure where it actually comes from, since it's part of the Basic Law (constitution) it must've been around pretty early (1949), possibly influenced by the western Allies who might have been annoyed by their own laws that put free speech over youth protection and thus block any laws that try to restrict sales to minors. Isn't that also where Japan got its pornography laws from? "Youth protection" is mostly founded in FUD, not anti-Nazi policies.
(sorry but this whole thread is pretty much politics, law and politics are pretty much inseparable and this is about the law)
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Djunknown on March 25, 2009, 01:47:06 AM
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: KDR_11k on March 25, 2009, 05:02:34 AM
Well, the game IS rated 18. That kind of stuff doesn't belong in school libraries (then again do gaming mags belong there at all? Ours only had school-related material).
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Djunknown on March 26, 2009, 01:27:07 AM
When I went to middle school in the suburbs, our Library had a magazine section to rival the supermarkets. It had Rolling Stone, Time, National Geographic, Seventeen and other magazines for girls, and EGM/Nintendo Power for the boys, to name a few. Not unheard of, so it does come off as peculiar...
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: Morari on March 26, 2009, 02:10:17 PM
How is National Geographic for the girls?
Title: Re: The angst towards video game violence
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 26, 2009, 02:21:36 PM
I think the "for girls" part was only in reference to Seventeen.
