Author Topic: The angst towards video game violence (Read 12458 times)

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?

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #1 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

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #2 on:** February 23, 2009, 04:23:28 PM »

Billy the Kid obviously had GTA when he was growing up.

Ian Sane · « **Reply #3 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.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #4 on:** February 23, 2009, 05:04:05 PM »

Yeah, iPhones.

Stogi · « **Reply #5 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?

KDR_11k · « **Reply #6 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.

Stogi · « **Reply #7 on:** February 23, 2009, 06:12:40 PM »

That's a terrible thing to say.

Dirk Temporo · « **Reply #8 on:** February 23, 2009, 09:22:47 PM »

I disagree. They have the Darwin Awards for a reason.

Morari · « **Reply #9 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.

NWR_insanolord · « **Reply #10 on:** February 24, 2009, 12:53:45 AM »

This can only end badly.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #11 on:** February 24, 2009, 03:11:11 AM »

Yeah, like Konami announcing a Metal Gear rails shooter for Wii.

KDR_11k · « **Reply #12 on:** February 24, 2009, 04:15:06 AM »

You mean you actually get to shoot things while watching that movie?

NovaQ · « **Reply #13 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.

mac<censored> · « **Reply #14 on:** February 24, 2009, 08:31:21 AM »

Quote from: Morari on February 23, 2009, 09:42:07 PM

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.

KDR_11k · « **Reply #15 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.

vudu · « **Reply #16 on:** February 24, 2009, 01:44:14 PM »

Quote from: Dirk Temporo on February 23, 2009, 09:22:47 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.

Stogi · « **Reply #17 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.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/23/jordan-brown-killed-fathe_0_n_169355.html

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #18 on:** February 24, 2009, 02:22:38 PM »

Quote from: Kashogi Y. 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.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/23/jordan-brown-killed-fathe_0_n_169355.html

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".

Stogi · « **Reply #19 on:** February 24, 2009, 02:46:33 PM »

Creepy. I just imagined Sling Blade saying that.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #20 on:** February 24, 2009, 02:57:03 PM »

Quote from: Kashogi Y. Stogi on February 24, 2009, 02:46:33 PM

Creepy. I just imagined Sling Blade saying that.

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.

Here is the full interrogation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS9dl7d-kHk

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #21 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.

UltimatePartyBear · « **Reply #22 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.

ThePerm · « **Reply #23 on:** March 03, 2009, 07:11:54 PM »

Quote from: 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

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

NovaQ · « **Reply #24 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.

News:

Author Topic: The angst towards video game violence (Read 12458 times)