Comments on: Who is aware of this about violent video games?

By: cory h

cory h — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:21:59 +0000

not everyone is effected by violent video games. if i play mortal kombat am i going to try to shoot fire out of my hands.NO! you are over reacting to this. if someone does something violent i think they had problems way before they played video games
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By: kayamat_ka_din

kayamat_ka_din — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:10:59 +0000

This may well end up like smoking has now. It will be banned. Yes the sample is small. It does not mean these games are totally safe. Those who claim this sound just like the smokers of the by gone days.
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By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:42:59 +0000

The first question i always ask is are we really more or less violent in this day and age? What evidence do we have to support this? Past ages are very easily forgotten or become skewed in perspective relative to present day values and beliefs. We also cannot rule out other more burdening factors such as increasing social stress due to increasing income disparity, rising price of living, job markets becoming more and more competative or simply a reaction to lack of security.

I'm not denying that video games and films can be a factor in an increase in violence but society is a large, cumbersome and complex beast and no one medium is going to be responsible for a rise in violent attitudes. The media seems to ignore this, relying on publicising the most readable factor instead of providing a balanced, objective and probing argument. If you want answers don't read newspapers. Sad, but true.

And, not only do you need to know who funded and carried out the study (it could be a biased or rigged experiment) you also need a much bigger study group to provide any definitive answers. 44 people does not constitute a proper cross section on which to base a proper psychological conclusion.

I'd say it is a hidden danger, but it's probably not the only one, so working exclusively on a solution to this will not solve the issue.
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By: zazibi9

zazibi9 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:37:59 +0000

Theres also the possibility this was a rigged study, in other words the scientists were paid off with money by special interest groups either directly or indirectly through washington, whereby politicans accept cash for negotional power over the government grants given to the scientists to study stuff like this.
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By: Darren J

Darren J — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:26:59 +0000

Oh this story again. This result cannot be taken seriously. They did a test on only 44 people!!! That's hardly a cross-section of the population, is it?
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By: fizzy_wolf

fizzy_wolf — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:59:59 +0000

It clearly depends on the kid. One kid'll play a game and think 'Wahey, I'll go and do this in the real world', like one kid'll think 'Superman can fly...so can I'. But another kid'll realise that it's just a game and distinguish between reality and fiction.
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By: yohan m

yohan m — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:16:59 +0000

so basically…..we can't give teenagers anything that they'll get too excited over or enjoy too much…
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By: CT

CT — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:31:59 +0000

I used to play Street Fighter between doing homework, helped me with the frustration of difficult work. However I am not the violent type so not in the risk group. Perhaps these games should be locked until three questions are answered on-screen, which require an average adult intellect. It'll never happen I know, but would reduce misuse.
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By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:09:59 +0000

Ok, so which is the problem here? Violent games or stupid parents buying violent games for their kids?

Games with violence are meant for *adults*. They have either 15 or 18 BBFC age ratings (the ones with the same symbols as film ratings) which makes it illegal for shops to sell them to underage kids. *All* games have a PEGI rating which makes clear what kind of content a game has and provides recommended age guidance. Shops wont sell a game to a child younger than the PEGI recommended age (even though it's not an offence to do so).

If I had a penny for every time I'd seen an adult buying an 18 restricted game while their twelve year old salivates near the door waiting, I'd be rich indeed… Parents get warned by sales assistants that certain games are not suitable for their kids and more often than not, they choose to ignore the advice. More fool them.
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http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEGI

By: LILSTAR

LILSTAR — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:43:59 +0000

I don't think you can blame violent games for violent behaivour. I was just saying about Gengis Khann, Mugabe, Saddam, Hitler etc I doubt they played video games and watched violent films. You could say porn makes men rape women if you went along that line. If you're gonna kill someone you will kill them regardless. It's up to thr parents to not buy something with an 18 certificate. The reason why ther is a certificate is because they are not allowed to be viewed by impressionable young minds. Perhaps they should look up how many murderers were driven to murder as a direct result of a video game.
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