Gamers and Guns: A Discussion on Videogames and Violence

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Gamers and Guns: A Discussion on Videogames and Violence
Tweet Topic Started: Feb 4 2014, 04:07 AM (1,441 Views)
Daemon Keido	Feb 4 2014, 04:07 AM Post #1
Warmaster of Chaos Posts: 3,915 Group: RP Moderator Member #6,491 Joined: July 16, 2011 Gender Male Country Canada Favourite Anime Dragonball Z, of course Favourite Manga Currently Toriko	After every great violent tragedy, the victims pass through many stages. First often comes the fear during the act, the confusion of why the act happened afterwards, anger at the loss it created, and a desire to hold something or someone responsible for its creation. Ever since the Columbine Shooting, videogames have become the scapegoat for the media to pin to the wall as the eternal smoking gun, the reason every violent act involving young shooters rampaging in public settings. I figured it would be a good thing to discuss. Like many others, I am a gamer. I play games like Grand Theft Auto, Halo, and Skyrim. Inside games, I am an assassin, a warrior, a survivor, and a monster. I can wield swords, axes, rocket launchers and particle cannons. I can command small squads in strike forces, or vast armies that march to a country's cause. And yet I have not acted violently like so many so-called scientific studies brought up says I should be. I am a respectably calm young man who gets frustrated with the world, yells and issues cussing that could turn sailor's ears red.....but I have not killed anyone. And I am far from the only one. Gamers as a whole are not the ammoral monsters the media paints us to be. And yet, without fail at every tragedy marked by gunfire, videogames are demonized and seeked to be hated and destroyed. The question I have is this: Why is it that videogames have been singled out? There are many forms of entertainment that have existed before videogames, many of them just as violent, sometimes even moreso. Why must Grand Theft Auto be the lynchpin, instead of the online subscription to "Tactical Defense and Offense in Public Buildings"? Why must the killer's nonexistent mority be explained by Doom, instead of A Clockwork Orange? In a recent study, a poll was taken of known mass shooter perpetrators and their interests in entertainment. Only one eigth marked "Violent Videogames" as their choice. One quarter marked "Violent Movies". Another quarter marked "Violent Literature". Almost one third marked "Violent Music". Why must gamers be the media's punching bag in these cases when there simply is no proof.
	A Shadow is merely Darkness in the presence of Light Thanks Kid Buu for this awesome sig! The Emperor Protects


Master Gohan	Feb 4 2014, 04:20 AM Post #2
Posts: 2,178 Group: New York Yankee Member #9,780 Joined: July 21, 2013 Gender Male Country United States Favourite Anime KIll la Kill, No Game No Life, Code Geass, Gosick, Log Horizon, Steins;Gate	They just want to blame someone. Every single person in this world would rather blame someone else (or something else) than themselves.



~~Doggo Champion 2k17~~	Feb 4 2014, 04:25 AM Post #3
Posts: 7,931 Group: GTFO Member #6,380 Joined: June 20, 2011 Country United States Favourite Anime here comes What Browser do you use? o shit waddup! Favourite Manga dat boi	Quote: Why is it that videogames have been singled out? There are many forms of entertainment that have existed before videogames, many of them just as violent, sometimes even moreso. Why must Grand Theft Auto be the lynchpin, instead of the online subscription to "Tactical Defense and Offense in Public Buildings"? Why must the killer's nonexistent mority be explained by Doom, instead of A Clockwork Orange? Video games are singled out because they are a relatively new medium that hasn't been entirely accepted as legitimate literature yet. Only recently have we slowly begun to consider video games an actual form of literature and media. Prior to that, they were heavily frowned upon as mindless forms of entertainment (they still are to some extent, and prejudices still exist within the world of video games themselves, but we are moving in a much better direction). This blaming of video games stems completely from a lack of understanding or acceptance of video games as an actual form of literature. That's really all it boils down to in the end. People blame what they don't understand. Here's my take on murder, while we're at it. I've felt angry enough to the point where I've contemplated violent acts, but it was never because of video games. There is always an individual reason behind it, or - in some cases - a mental illness or instability. People either act out in violent ways because they have motivation or simply because they want to, not because video games prompted them to do so. This is an individualized issue that we're dealing with here.



lunar2	Feb 4 2014, 05:04 AM Post #4
Posts: 9,150 Group: Member Member #5,265 Joined: September 24, 2010 Gender Not Specified Favourite Anime dragonball/z/gt/movies What Browser do you use? internet explorer or firefox	it actually started with homosexuality. bear with me, and i'll explain, although i don't remember all the details. there was this gay guy, irving, who was outed in college, and killed himself over it. his mother, patricia pulling didn't believe he was gay, and so blamed the only other trait of his she could find fault with: he played dungeons and dragons. she went on to lead the whole anti DnD media campaign, which was the precursor to the modern anti violent game campaigns. the whole idea that games could cause violent behavior started with her, and she was the driving force behind the original hate, which mostly died off when she did in 1997.
	list of canon sources: the DB manga, and the Dr. Slump manga as it applies to the crossover during the rra saga. list of non canon sources: everything else, regardless of origin, format, or quality. for those that blindly follow word of god


Daemon Keido	Feb 4 2014, 07:56 AM Post #5
Warmaster of Chaos Posts: 3,915 Group: RP Moderator Member #6,491 Joined: July 16, 2011 Gender Male Country Canada Favourite Anime Dragonball Z, of course Favourite Manga Currently Toriko	Perhaps one way to break the arguement about "Gamers are psycho's" would be to bring .ore.attention to Child's Play, the premier charity created by gamers. I hold myself proudly among the donators to Child's Play. Only ten dollars, but that is ten more than they had before.
	A Shadow is merely Darkness in the presence of Light Thanks Kid Buu for this awesome sig! The Emperor Protects


* Ketchup Revenge	Feb 4 2014, 08:11 AM Post #6
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!" Posts: 6,083 Group: Retired Forum Moderator Member #9,012 Joined: February 9, 2013 Gender Not Specified Country Chile Favourite Anime FMA: Brotherhood, Dragon Ball, Samurai Champloo, Soul Eater, Assassination Classroom What Browser do you use? Firefox Favourite Manga Dragon Ball, Fullmetal Alchemist, Assassination Classroom, Deadman Wonderland	There's no scientific evidence that links video games to real-life violence, because to be entirely honest, most people who are that serious about video games never leave the house. Seriously speaking though, there's little evidence to support it. It's not about the games, it's about how the viewers percieve them. It's similar with the gun issue. You can have people who own guns, and would never think about shooting anyone, but then you get one airhead who simply had a bad life and blames everyone else for his own mistakes. Goes to a school or movie theater, and shoots ten people, killing four of them. It's not the gun or the video game, it's the person. And particularly with Americans, the media literally obsesses over tragic events, and that doesn't help Americans' perception of things in the slightest. If people see tragedy all the time, they're going to think it's the norm, and they become desensitized by it. It's the media that's the problem, but since the government controls the media, they try to push the reason off on everything else. Edited by Ketchup Revenge, Feb 4 2014, 08:15 AM.
	The vengeance is her's for as long as she stands by Him.


* Mitas	Feb 4 2014, 12:32 PM Post #7
It truly was a Shawshank redemption Posts: 12,129 Group: Retired Staff Member #2,993 Joined: December 16, 2007 Gender Male Favourite Anime DBZ What Browser do you use? Google Chrome Favourite Manga DBZ, Full Metal Alchemist	I don't think it's solely video games that are blamed. They get the brunt of the media attention, but I've definitely read violent films and violent music being mentioned as influences to young people who commit violent crimes. I think video games get more of the blame when it is young people, because it is something that (as a general rule) is more prevalent among younger generations. But I would guess that before video games became widely popular, it was violent films and music that got the majority of the blame. I think when Rock and Roll first came to the fore it was claimed to influence young people to commit crimes, take drugs and partake in sexual promiscuity. I think it really comes down to this: it's a bigger story if there's something bigger behind the crime. If they just reported the crime, then people don't take much notice. But if they blame something e.g. video games, films, music, then it becomes bigger than the crime itself. If someone is murdered, it doesn't affect you, but if someone is murdered because of video games, it does affect you i.e. hey, my son/grandson/neighbour/friend plays video games. This increases attention and interest, which increases sales.
	"Then you've got the chance to do better next time." "Next time?" "Course. Doing better next time. That's what life is."


+ Pelador	Feb 4 2014, 01:41 PM Post #8
Crazy Awesome Legend Posts: 25,663 Group: Legend Member #4,634 Joined: December 12, 2009 Gender Not Specified Country None Favourite Anime HunterxHunter What Browser do you use? Firefox Favourite Manga Dragonball	I'm surprised no one has mentioned a failure in mental healthcare as a primary reason for mass murders. Seems that when you look deeper into the backgrounds of these criminals, they have usually been let down by the system in some way or another. Alarm bells were ringing but nobody heard them.
	http://www.youtube.com/user/jonjits


+ Emmeth	Feb 4 2014, 01:50 PM Post #9
I ♥ Yoeri Posts: 20,075 Group: Legend Member #8,985 Joined: February 7, 2013 Country Japan	I play video games to escape reality for a set amount of time. In video games I can do anything I wouldn't be able to in real life. The Grand Theft Auto-series, for instance, I play because I want to get out aggression or just have plain fun. Obviously I wouldn't do this in real life, as I am terrified of even approaching strange people. Then there are games like Assassin's Creed, where I can be something I can't be in real life. It's like living a dream. People blame video games because they fail to find anything else to blame, being it just plain oversight or ignorance. People that go on killing-sprees and such are obviously traumatized by other means. They were either born that way or they had a bad experience growing up. And then we have the problem; It's easy to get a hold of weapons. Too easy. I feel like gun-control is something that needs to be prioritized.
	My Twitch Page


+ Steve	Feb 4 2014, 02:03 PM Post #10
Greetings. I will be your waifu this season. Posts: 19,471 Group: Legend Member #5,710 Joined: February 7, 2011 Gender Male Country United Kingdom Favourite Anime Hunter x Hunter(2011) What Browser do you use? Mozilla Firefox Favourite Manga Berserk all day erry day	Yeah I guarantee you every mass murderer ever has had some form of mental illness that probably largely went undiagnosed. A lot of the time they're loners, shut ins with no friends or family, nobody monitoring or noticing their behaviour and nobody to cry out to for help so all that builds up in to a frenzy, games, music and movies are just an outlet that actually helps really. Though with games and movies it's quite likely that they give people ideas on how to kill people whether they're successful or not is up to them but they probably take some inspiration from homemade weapons and whatnot in games and films. And also fall in to the delusion that like the character in the game or movie they would be almost invincible. If someone is crazy in that way then yes games can make the situation worse or even trigger it, I know I get really mad when somebody pulls off a bulls* headshot from literally a mile away in an FPS, but the games are never at fault anything could be the trigger even spilling a cup of coffee could make somebody have a psychotic break if they're on edge. Quote: Almost one third marked "Violent Music". I would say music is definitely worse, all these heavy metal bands screaming about death and murder etc a lot talk about it in a positive light I would say is definitely way worse. Some bands lyrics practically tell you to murder people and if you're schizophrenic or something of the like what's the difference between that and the voices you hear? No offence to anyone that likes that kind of music just it's clearly not going to help someone who's already a bit broken mentally. Games just let you kill people they don't shout in your ear about it usually. It bothers me that games get blamed but at the same time I don't really care for the thoughts of misguided fools, so long as games I like aren't getting banned because one a*** who played them a lot decided to murder people.
	Definitely not a succubus, fear not


Topographic Oceans	Feb 4 2014, 02:37 PM Post #11
Posts: 1,788 Group: Member Member #10,681 Joined: January 5, 2014 Gender Male Favourite Anime Action Comics Favourite Manga Detective Comics	It's easy to put the blame on videogames because they are a relatively new medium. Want to blame something other than the killer for a genocide? Easy, let's take Videogames. Videogames are as violent as televison or any kind of medium for that matter, but they are new and it's easier to put the blame on something that is still not deeply ingrained in the mind of the general public like some older forms of entertainment. But the way those games are given to young children. Quite recently, i saw i grow man entering a gaming store and buying GTA 5, then getting out of the store and giving it to his son that shouldn't be over 7. Not that the kids will go in some murder spree for playing it, but i don't think they are mature enough to handle this content. I'll be honest here, if someone does kill because of a Game (something i find improbable), then the problem is with the person, not with the game. It's some kind of mental disturbance that should be taken care of. Some people shouldn't get close to violent material, and if they go, it's a fault of the system that should be taking care of said person.
	Spoiler: click to toggle


lunar2	Feb 4 2014, 02:44 PM Post #12
Posts: 9,150 Group: Member Member #5,265 Joined: September 24, 2010 Gender Not Specified Favourite Anime dragonball/z/gt/movies What Browser do you use? internet explorer or firefox	Mitas Feb 4 2014, 12:32 PM I don't think it's solely video games that are blamed. They get the brunt of the media attention, but I've definitely read violent films and violent music being mentioned as influences to young people who commit violent crimes. I think video games get more of the blame when it is young people, because it is something that (as a general rule) is more prevalent among younger generations. But I would guess that before video games became widely popular, it was violent films and music that got the majority of the blame. I think when Rock and Roll first came to the fore it was claimed to influence young people to commit crimes, take drugs and partake in sexual promiscuity. I think it really comes down to this: it's a bigger story if there's something bigger behind the crime. If they just reported the crime, then people don't take much notice. But if they blame something e.g. video games, films, music, then it becomes bigger than the crime itself. If someone is murdered, it doesn't affect you, but if someone is murdered because of video games, it does affect you i.e. hey, my son/grandson/neighbour/friend plays video games. This increases attention and interest, which increases sales. well, maybe if you consider thirties to be young. the average gamer is 30 years old. fully 36% of gamers are age 36 or older, whereas only 32% are 18 or younger.
	list of canon sources: the DB manga, and the Dr. Slump manga as it applies to the crossover during the rra saga. list of non canon sources: everything else, regardless of origin, format, or quality. for those that blindly follow word of god


bloodstained euphy	Feb 4 2014, 02:55 PM Post #13
Posts: 842 Group: Member Member #7,357 Joined: February 25, 2012 Gender Not Specified Favourite Anime Dragonball Z, Code Geas, Dinosaur King, Sword Art Online, One Punch Man, Danganronpa What Browser do you use? Mozilla Firefox	Blaming video games for this is pure bulls***. It's the individual that's the problem, not the games. Video games basically have virtually nothing to do with actual violence. If I had any faith in humanity left, I would have lost a great amount of it. What video game did Hitler play when he started the Holocaust? What video game did Stalin play during his mass murders? What video games did the ancient civilizations have when a massacre happened during ancient times? I would like to see the idiotic media answer these. Seriously, I'm beginning to think that the dinosaurs were smarter rulers of the planet than humans are.



* Yu Narukami	Feb 4 2014, 05:38 PM Post #14
Izanagi! Posts: 12,330 Group: Retired Staff Member #6,446 Joined: July 3, 2011 Gender Not Specified Country None	People simply reverse the link. They assume that violent video games cause people to be violent. However, it's commonly the case that people play violent video games as an outlet for their anger. Sometimes, it doesn't work, and individuals end up committing acts of violence, as the game either didn't get rid of their anger or, increasingly common nowadays, it simply made them angrier. In short; Perceived link - Playing violent video games makes people act violently Actuality - Violent people seek out violent video games as an outlet, sometimes it doesn't work. It's not only being people who play violent video games; there's an extremely large audience for such games.



+ Steve	Feb 5 2014, 02:16 AM Post #15
Greetings. I will be your waifu this season. Posts: 19,471 Group: Legend Member #5,710 Joined: February 7, 2011 Gender Male Country United Kingdom Favourite Anime Hunter x Hunter(2011) What Browser do you use? Mozilla Firefox Favourite Manga Berserk all day erry day	Quote: What video game did Hitler play when he started the Holocaust? What video game did Stalin play during his mass murders? What video games did the ancient civilizations have when a massacre happened during ancient times? I think this fully sums up why it's bulls*** to blame the games themselves. Humans are just violent and close minded, it will be thousands upon thousands of years before games get to the point where they could have influenced as many deaths as even just religion. I'll take video games over the negative impact the Bible has had on the world any day. Another thing is that the people who argue these things always talk about games like they're all violent and make you crazy...so a Barbie dress up game would push someone to mass murder? Somehow I don't think so. I think we should be more concerned with what all the trash on TV turns our kids in to.
	Definitely not a succubus, fear not


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