Comments on Downtime: Killing time

You say a 'growing body of research' but you don't...

2007-08-31T12:49:00.000+01:00

You say a 'growing body of research' but you don't reference it. Research by Saint Leo University was presented to the APA which should a direct link between violent video games and aggression. In any case, what is self evident is true - a society conditions its citizens, especially its youth, through the cultural norms in relation to violence: as demonstrated by the techniques used by totalitarian states in the 20th century.
I think there is a debate being avoided, but not the one you do. It's a debate about how growing graphic realism places some sort of responsibility on games developers/producers for the potential harm they may cause. The attitude of companies like Rockstar seem like 'Big Tobacco' in the 1950s - show me the proof or we continue to produce the most cynical products.
Your assertion that people of all ages know the difference between fantasy and reality - really? What is 'reality' these days? If you're a south london 14 year-old 'gangster' with a cheap gun and a copy of GTA, then if you go out a shoot someone, you are indeed a gangster, if only in your own head. This is HAPPENING, and we can only for so long continue to mouth on about deprivation and social exclusion. A pathological and ugly culture advocating violence is a key part of the current attitude of our youth.

I think a good debate around your BBC articles can...

2007-08-30T11:56:00.000+01:00

I think a good debate around your BBC articles can be viewed here...

http://z11.invisionfree.com/Interrorism/index.php?showtopic=124&st=0&#last

There is never going to be a yes/no answer to this...

2007-08-20T14:08:00.000+01:00

There is never going to be a yes/no answer to this debate, and such debates are, whilst being great thought provokers, ultimately rather pointless. But this is a blog and admittedly some interesting points have been made.

Basically you could go on forever as to the source of reasoning behind some of the violent outbursts children and adults have. Is a man who takes a chainsaw and uses it on the neighbour who keeps allowing his dog to urinate on his garden down to watching the Saw 3 triology repeatedly or is it because he played manhunt 2 years ago and the game subconciously gave him the idea.

What I think is important to remember is that we had serial killers, rapists and what would seem to be attacks without motive long before the introduction of violent video games. Some of the most unthinkable crimes of the century were committed before a violent game/movie even hit the drawing board. Had our society been that of a placid one up until the release of films such as Saw and Manhunt, there may have been slightly more weight to the argument that violent video games being a major source of violent acts.

Violent/Malicious thoughts can easily be apart of any species on this planet (with perhaps an exception to the heart-warming Koala bear).

I suppose the recent string of serious injuries/deaths of children caused by dangerous dogs is down to dogs learning to switch on a ps2, use a controller and load up Manhunt 2.

Topics on the supposed effect of violent video gam...

2007-08-20T13:43:00.000+01:00

Topics on the supposed effect of violent video games always attract some of the flak, especially when they're on a BBC column, but, the main problem with the attention it generates, is that it is usually (not always) from people who either do not sympathise with the enemy, or who are totally unwilling to.

Personally, I can sympathise with the anti-video game people, I really can. I also love my video games...

I was brought up as a Sega child, sharing the joy of Sonic's vanquishing of each of Robotnik's creations, the anguish of the next stage of Wonder Boy's dragon inflicted curse (although I loved Mouse Man form..). I cheered at the chequered flags, and screamed in frustration at the timer on Alex Kidd's adventures.

But yet I don't consider myself violent by any standard. Yes I'll happily scream abuse at the screen at the level 19 Undead rogue twinks in WoW, cheer as the Maiden of Virtue falls (damn 10 second stuns >_<) and dance on the corpse of Archimonde in the Caverns of Time. I'll also be the first person to scream "YOU PIECE OF F***ING S***", as the warrior fails to hold aggro when my mage throws an 8000 damage critical Pyroblast, and my Blink is on cooldown...

Surely the main problem is that if anything, violence, and conflict in anything will show the same emotions. I sat through all 10 episodes of Band or Brothers, and felt the same emotions (albeit in a much reduced form) as the actors on screen portrayed. Yet during the longer battle scenes, I felt like finding a rifle, and shooting the nearest person.

Maybe people should actually start to think that it's not just video games that will unleash our basic instincts of violence and survival...

I think you've raised a great point about whether ...

2007-08-17T15:01:00.000+01:00

I think you've raised a great point about whether games make us violent through frustration, one that I haven't considered before despite having been prone to it on occasion. I'm sure many of us who would otherwise consider ourselves pacifists have had to at the very least turn a game off and go calm down after swearing so loudly we shock ourselves. However this happens with anything we have an invested interest, such as sport, in even as spectators.

Bringing the question back round again to legislation of violent (or violence inducing) games, should we prevent people from having access to these sorts of games, if so do we stop people watching football too? And what do we know about the long term effects of getting angry from frustration from things other than games already, particularly on young children?