Thread: Violent Video Games And Their Effects

Originally Posted by LouaiB

Every human being is born neutral, and can always change, so the person's status as GENERALY violent or not depends on his current intentions(using the best available or the option that is best for his personal interest)..

That's what I've been saying, but apparently it's a tough idea for some people. But at this point my case is fully stated and all I'm getting is dodging, so there's not much more I can say anyways.

Violent video games could have a harmful effect on people who are already mentally ill, but if we are going to accuse these kinds of video games for "increased violence" then we also have to accuse the film industry for making movies like Martyrs and Hostel.

I am a big video game fan myself, and I know that the video game industry has a huge variety, just like movies, but it's the violent games that are most noticed in the media, partly because it is a relatively new medium and a bit of a scapegoat, just like rock music and comics used to be.
In fact, some video games could make the players better persons, like Final Fantasy 9 and Ico, where the whole theme is friendship, and how important it is to help each other.

Besides, high-quality shooting games can be incredibly fun when they are done right.
I am usually not a huge fan of the genre since I don't really like the cold and stiff style in games like Quake for instance, but I must say that GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64 are really great and feel rather sophisticated.
I believe some of the reasons why I like those games so much are because the music is excellent, and because they have a lot of humor (exploding chairs and scientists that pull out guns and throw grenades if you hurt them too much are some classic things in GoldenEye 007) - you can tell that the developers enjoyed making them.
I also like how these games are actually challenging, without any of that pampering "go there and do this, then go there and do that!" BS every minute.

If someone is trying to murder you, slapping them on the face isn't going to stop them. That is why you hit them in a weak point so they are stunned and you can run away. Trying to stun someone and then away isn't violent. What would be violent is if you hit them, knocked them on the ground and then started kicking them while they were down.

I can play Grand Theft Auto for hours straight and laugh the entire time about the psycho stuff I am doing to innocent computer characters, but I know I would never do that stuff to innocent real people. Imagination and reality are two different things, and people who are not psychotic have a good sense of the difference.

Originally Posted by Alric

If someone is trying to murder you, slapping them on the face isn't going to stop them. That is why you hit them in a weak point so they are stunned and you can run away. Trying to stun someone and then away isn't violent. What would be violent is if you hit them, knocked them on the ground and then started kicking them while they were down.

When you are being attacked, that is necessary. You need to make sure they don't get back up before you've gotten away. Almost every woman in every Lifetime movie ever made has screwed that up.

If someone is trying to murder you, slapping them on the face isn't going to stop them. That is why you hit them in a weak point so they are stunned and you can run away.

that's a very unrealistic approach. if someone is trying to murder you, most likely they will be filled with violent rage and adrenaline, so aiming to just only stun a person then run away might end up backfiring on you, then you could end up severely injured or killed. if someone is trying to kill you, deadly force is often needed.

Trying to stun someone and then away isn't violent.

any type of forceful blow to the body is violent. but i guess we have to agree to disagree on that otherwise we'll just end up repeating yourselves.

What would be violent is if you hit them, knocked them on the ground and then started kicking them while they were down.

sometimes that is exactly what you need to do. sometimes is either kill or be killed. hopefully none of us will have to go through that.

If you hit them in one of those weak spots, you should be fine. You don't have to knock them out, just slow them down enough to out run them. If you punch someone in the throat, they are not going to be able to chase after you.

If you hit them in one of those weak spots, you should be fine.

should???... that doesn't sound to reassuring.

You don't have to knock them out, just slow them down enough to out run them.

just remember someone who is drunk, deranged, or on drugs is most likely going to have a higher level of pain tolerance and if you don't hit hard enough to severely harm them then your just going to make them angrier. perhaps OC pepper spray would be your weapon of choice but even that is not guaranteed to work.

If you punch someone in the throat, they are not going to be able to chase after you.

you've got to be kidding me. even if that were true nobody needs to chase you if they want to harm you, especially if they are armed.

Originally Posted by AstralMango

So I'm just here to ask for opinions on the effect of violent video games on people's behaviour. I've actually noticed that there is increased aggressive behaviour in a few people that I know that play games like CoD. First-person shooter type of games. I really detest violence like this and when I see the person play these games... it's like I don't know them any more. They get so caught up in their anger and then I'm suddenly walking on eggshells. Honestly, these games do not do good to the society in my opinion.

The thing here is that you're mistaking effect with cause. You imply that playing CoD-type of games made them increasingly aggressive. But the case might also be that being increasingly aggressive made them play CoD-type games. Games don't turn people nasty. Nasty people just play nasty games. But I'm not so sure that has anything to do with the violence in them; the community in Call of Duty seems to be particularly bad, but other similar games have okay communities. And of course, not everybody "turns downright nasty", there are CoD players who are fine, too.

If a person is crazy, video games will not change that, and they will probably do crazy shit.
If a person is not crazy, video games will not change that, and they probably won't do anything crazy.

I think we need to look into it. Too many people jump to one conclusion or another. There are a lot of possibilities.

1. Video Games make people physically aggressive
2. Physically aggressive people are drawn to violent video games
3. Video Games have no effect either way, and everyone is suffering from confirmation bias.

Those are just 3 obvious ones off the top of my head. Here's my opinion on it.

Video Games are popular everywhere in the 1st world. Video Games are more popular than ever. Violent Crime and Youth Violence are at an all time low. You can make your own conclusions. To be clear... I'm not going to draw a concrete conclusion from this. Just because violent crime is at an all time low, doesn't mean that it wouldn't be even lower if violent video games didn't exist. It just means that the effects of video games [whatever they are] seem to be exaggerated.

A couple other points. Most countries literally train their youth to kill, and send them overseas to actually kill human beings. The media labels the GTA series as a "Murder Simulator". They claim Breivik honed his shooting skills playing video games. Meanwhile, Adam Lanza honed his shooting skills at an actual goddamned gun range. Meanwhile thousands of teenagers are trained in our armies to actually kill people.

So yeah, I can't say whether or not video games have an effect. I can say it doesn't fucking matter. Double Standard. Media Doom n' Gloom. Pushing aside vast social and cultural issues, and instead putting the blame on a relatively new private industry. God forbid righteous and god fearing americans do something bad. America can't be at fault for any of this. A private industry is. We've already blamed music and comic books, now let's blame video games. No, no... don't bother looking into poverty, mental health, or public schooling. Blame video games.

I played Doom when I was 4, and I'm literally disintegrating other human beings with particle weapons every time I go grocery shopping. Such is life of a gamer.

Originally Posted by Marvo

I played Doom when I was 4, and I'm literally disintegrating other human beings with particle weapons every time I go grocery shopping. Such is life of a gamer.

lol
You have to stun the attacker to run. If you don't want to hurt him, don't worry, he will heal.

It's not violent video games that make children (and many adults alike) screwed up, it the atmosphere surrounding competitive or violent games. Especially multiplayer games.

People are usually pumped with adrenaline when playing games. Other emotions include jealousy, hatred, irritated all of which can negatively effect the player or another player. Basically gaming (usually violent, or multiplayer) brings the notion that violence is okay (which is usually fine on it's own, since we are able to notice it. Children aren't hence why they shouldn't be playing 18+ games) and mixes it with a social scene where being rude and competitive is the norm.

If you've ever gone on an online game you'll see a myriad of people threatening, insulting, bullying each other. The deal here though is that said behavior is a completely natural response. The easy gratification of being able to insult someone without repercussion is used by thousands of people, probably without bad intentions most of the time. A vicious circle is created were everyone insults each other to feel good about themselves.

To say that such behavior doesn't bleed into normal life would be ridiculous. The multiplayer gaming scene definitely introduces a lot of stress and anger into otherwise normal people.
It's not as if you are either mentally ill or you're not. Every single person in the world is lacking in some respect, just because someone is not a psychopath doesn't mean they don't have psychopathic traits. Everyone's brain is to some extent susceptible to gaming violence. Despite the fact that you may think that you are not being effected, you are, some aspect of your brain is probably aggravated when put amidst a nasty gaming scene.


Edit: This post is aimed at particularly bad gaming communities, like the ones surrounding COD. Although ever single gaming community has a few bad apples, that is the nature of competitive online gaming. Even RTS games have a fair share of hatred spreading through them.

You are saying that the competition, anger, and insults have negative effects on people, but that is not the same as saying that killing people in games numbs people to the idea of killing people in reality. What you brought up is a separate issue, and it applies to every form of competition. Playing organized football has the same effect, for example. Just being in junior high has that effect. Do you remember what a verbal battle zone junior high is?

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

You are saying that the competition, anger, and insults have negative effects on people, but that is not the same as saying that killing people in games numbs people to the idea of killing people in reality.

No, violent video games will always have negative effects to some extent. The community that surrounds these games is what can truly make them potent. People act worst when around others, the games can amplify certain negative emotions in a person but can really be brought out when being taunted by others. It's not the answer to all games, it's just a key cause to the behavior changes that some people notice in friends who get immersed in violent games.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

What you brought up is a separate issue, and it applies to every form of competition. Playing organized football has the same effect, for example. Just being in junior high has that effect. Do you remember what a verbal battle zone junior high is?

It's not a separate issue though if it plays a key role, everyone targets the violence in the games but what if it's the people surrounding these games.
You are totally right referencing those other situations, they all suffer from the same problems. There is a major difference though. Games are played online or with friends. Being online presents a hack for the brain, the easy access to feeling superior. Promoting bad behavior is much easier with no authority or consequences.
The examples you gave a far more likely to cause problems in a child, but if we look solely at gaming it's highly probable that what might make people who game a lot more agitated and angry in life is the community surrounding games.

Edit: sorry or long posts. Essentially what I'm saying is that people have enough conscious inhibition to stop themselves from acting out violent games on their own. However when you include friends who encourage you to talk about kill streaks, people online shouting obscenities and death threats, that's when it gets bad. People may seem like they understand that the person on the other end of the internet is just a random person, their subconscious doesn't. The whole industry is based on that fact, that people feel like they are connecting. Everything that goes on reaches much further than anyone thinks it does.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

No, violent video games will always have negative effects to some extent. The community that surrounds these games is what can truly make them potent. People act worst when around others, the games can amplify certain negative emotions in a person but can really be brought out when being taunted by others. It's not the answer to all games, it's just a key cause to the behavior changes that some people notice in friends who get immersed in violent games.

It's not a separate issue though if it plays a key role, everyone targets the violence in the games but what if it's the people surrounding these games.
You are totally right referencing those other situations, they all suffer from the same problems. There is a major difference though. Games are played online or with friends. Being online presents a hack for the brain, the easy access to feeling superior. Promoting bad behavior is much easier with no authority or consequences.
The examples you gave a far more likely to cause problems in a child, but if we look solely at gaming it's highly probable that what might make people who game a lot more agitated and angry in life is the community surrounding games.

Edit: sorry or long posts. Essentially what I'm saying is that people have enough conscious inhibition to stop themselves from acting out violent games on their own. However when you include friends who encourage you to talk about kill streaks, people online shouting obscenities and death threats, that's when it gets bad. People may seem like they understand that the person on the other end of the internet is just a random person, their subconscious doesn't. The whole industry is based on that fact, that people feel like they are connecting. Everything that goes on reaches much further than anyone thinks it does.

Being around competitive and insulting people and playing others on the internet might have some effect on somebody's personality, but I don't think it at all makes killing or hurting people in a video game influence true violence. It would be no different from connecting with competitive and insulting people while playing online poker. I don't think the shooting, beating, or stabbing of characters in video games makes people more violent.

I do think that the competitive side of the games are the cause of anger and insults and what so on. But for children, playing violent games not for their ages may very well cause them to act violently

Just jumping in, here, and I haven't read every response so far, but I just wanted to chime in. (and with visual aids!)

First of all, I have been playing (and loving) these ‘ultra-violent’ videogames, since they looked like this:

Wolfenstein 3D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C00n4rDUMNo

Then there was the Doom series:
Doom 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT1EH3JeJY8
Doom 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVBfmC6pwgo

Then, there was the Mortal Kombat series (with its infamous Fatalities), a personal favorite, and one that I have been playing since I was about 10 years old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf1K8lAfnow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMzdYgMEhQw

The controversial, and ever-popular, Grand Theft Auto series (I’m playing GTA 5 now!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3eAuh5G0wY

Resident Evil, which is also a franchise that started back in the late 90’s.
RE5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxun_JOiiXo

Manhunt, which got all kinds of panties in a wad!
Manhunt 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxl89IAC1xk
Manhunt 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnCF36bQ_t8

And, of course, you have long-running war-games like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Battlefield:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLaa9vpxJwI

Now, do you know what all of these games have in common, outside of being ‘ultra-violent’, by all videogame standards?

Not ONE of them gave me the desire to go out and maim or murder someone, nor did they make me ‘aggressive’ toward other people.

Outside of strict matters of self-defense, I am about a monk’s robe and a mantra away from being a sheer pacifist. Do I believe in policing your children, and taking into careful consideration what type of media they are exposed to, during their developmental stages? Absolutely. My daughter is 13, and while I now allow her to run around at random on Grand Theft Auto and cause mayhem, I do not allow her to play through the actual story modes, which consist of an onslaught of drug and sexual references, as well as some of the most over-abundantly foul language ever set to a video-game. Why? Because my daughter understands the difference between fictional violence and actual violence (as should every kid, at her age). She is smart enough to the point where, just because she runs down pedestrians in a video game doesn’t mean there is any reason at all to think that she’s going to go around running people over in real life (or shooting them in the face, for that matter). The sexual/drug-related content is different, because that is something even Normal children are going to come into contact with, throughout their lives, and it is important to be sure that they are introduced to these concepts in a responsible way, and not through the gratuitous nature of video-games and R/X-rated movies.

People need to stop blaming video-games for making children violent and, instead, start keeping such video-games away from children with violent tendencies, as they may exacerbate a problem that is already there in far more instances than they create new problems, themselves.

A small thing to consider:

"Playing" has been fundamental to survival: fighting between cubs for example is a great way to develop skills to hunt and defend themselves, and violence is only a bad thing because we perceive as a bad thing.
Since everything you do has an impact on who you are, it's obvious that violent videogames have an effect on behavior. The point is that this isn't a dualism: it's not a "it makes us violent or it doesn't make us violent", but much more about how other factors in play can interact with the effect of videogames and produce violent people.

Originally Posted by Whatsnext

That's what I've been saying, but apparently it's a tough idea for some people. But at this point my case is fully stated and all I'm getting is dodging, so there's not much more I can say anyways.

Actually, your genes can dictate a lot of the effect that videogames will have in your behavior. From what we know so far, we certainly don't born neutral