How Do Video Games Affect Us?

i can only relate to what they say about immediate reactions to video games.. ie throwing the game controller, punching your friend, etc. i guess i dont react violently when i see a violent movie or violence in the news because im not involved enough to empathize with it?
and i dont see how it can cause violence in the long run, if the reactions are immediate.
 
My fiance hasn't played a computer or video game in her life and she is well violent :eek:
 
@spicey
Probably watches too much anime. She wouldn't happen to carry a hammer around would she? :D
 
Sly said:
@spicey
Probably watches too much anime. She wouldn't happen to carry a hammer around would she? :D
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Not that I know of! Her violent outburst was probably provoked by her catching me watching porn :D
 
Wow. Another article trying to sway people into beleiving that video games are "bad" for us and "train" us to be murderers and rapists and suicide bombers. I am also aware that the entire article didn't convey that message but it seems like it was trying to convince us that we
should be more careful.

:rolleyes:

Stop beleiving every thing you read, are told.
 
Moose777 said:
Wow. Another article trying to sway people into beleiving that video games are "bad" for us and "train" us to be murderers and rapists and suicide bombers. I am also aware that the entire article didn't convey that message but it seems like it was trying to convince us that we
should be more careful.

:rolleyes:

Stop beleiving every thing you read, are told.
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I agree with you, but it is from Gamespot, they make a living out of videogames....
 
I bet I could produce a more violent reaction from a person playing tetris then the most violent FPS'er out there. Simply by controlling what blocks are given you could easily work someone into a frenzy so long as you could keep them playing.


The more I think about it, the more I believe that violence (the type they're blaming media for) is spurred on by frustration and injustice and not violent images in the media. Why someone would choose to distract authorities and parents away from this simple fact seems to be slightly more then insidious when censoring is involved. It's kind of like making people fearful of the wrong things (which is stupid and dangerous) or cutting off a finger to cure a headache.

It's not surprising though, the outspoken people involved with this kind of stuff peddle frustration, injustice and profit from creating the "most likely conditions of".... blaming something else serves as a distraction... it's a sad old world.
 
^^ That guy just made me think of something! Video games don't make me violent, cause I'm too good at them :p

Maybe that's why the media thinks video games cause violence. They try to play them then find out they suck, so get angry and smash things :confused:
 
Da Frechman said:
I bet I could produce a more violent reaction from a person playing tetris then the most violent FPS'er out there. Simply by controlling what blocks are given you could easily work someone into a frenzy so long as you could keep them playing.


The more I think about it, the more I believe that violence (the type they're blaming media for) is spurred on by frustration and injustice and not violent images in the media. Why someone would choose to distract authorities and parents away from this simple fact seems to be slightly more then insidious when censoring is involved. It's kind of like making people fearful of the wrong things (which is stupid and dangerous) or cutting off a finger to cure a headache.

It's not surprising though, the outspoken people involved with this kind of stuff peddle frustration, injustice and profit from creating the "most likely conditions of".... blaming something else serves as a distraction... it's a sad old world.
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Come to think of it FPS might have made me mad couple of times, but sport games taht are rated E such as NBA LIVE 06 I get extremely pissed, when bugged pos begins to fuck up on me. Maybe if EA puts more time into improving their sport games it will reduce the violence.
:mad:
 
Russian said:
Come to think of it FPS might have made me mad couple of times, but sport games taht are rated E such as NBA LIVE 06 I get extremely pissed, when bugged pos begins to fuck up on me. Maybe if EA puts more time into improving their sport games it will reduce the violence.
:mad:
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Wrong. I disagree with you. While yes, all too many times a game is shipped unfinished or with minor bugs and yes, while they are frustrating and annoying it doesn't "cause" violence. I love BF2, does the red tag bug annoy me? Yes, but to I get overly violent and pissed off when I accidentally shoot a tem mate because he was wearing a red tag? No. I understand its a bug.

So, its not the responsibility of the manufacturer to "correct the bugs to aid in the case of stopping violence." It's their responsibility to fix the bug because they didn't write that bit of code correctly.

It is the person playing the game responsibility to controlt heir anger and realize that its just a game and that you can always win a game when frustrated by shutting it off and walking away and not by shooting your friend who happens to be sitting next to you playing in the face because he accidentally shot you because you ahd a red tag and were on his team.

I doubt the argument would stand up in court.

"Yes your honor, I only shot and killed him because his character on BF2 was wearing a red tag. I did not realize he was my teammate at the time since I was so enraged; instead I went and got my shotgun out of the gun cabinet and taught my friend a lesson. I was so pissed off at teh developer of the game because of this insidious bug that harbors violence. I think that the real victim here your honor, is me. Since I had to put up with that horrid bug."
 
spicey said:
Not that I know of! Her violent outburst was probably provoked by her catching me watching porn :D
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Thou must turn on thy spidy scence while watching thy pron :p lol

B.O.T.

Videogames are good for you. :)
 
Moose777 said:
It is the person playing the game responsibility to controlt heir anger and realize that its just a game and that you can always win a game when frustrated by shutting it off and walking away..."
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Exactly, things become unsustatinably corrupt when the pointing of fingers becomes policy, sympathy and social standing (because of credibility) will have a greater bearing in civil suits and convictions then the crime itself.
 
Since violent crimes had dropped at the rise of video games. What do you think would happen if the *sshole succeeds and gets the government to ban all games? ;)
 
I think a more apt question might be, "if video games were in fact proven to increase violent crime-- how many of you would still be against their banning?"
 
It doesn't seem right that our tax dollars go into repeatedly taking the industry into courts while the industry increases expenditures defending itself.

I wonder what would happen if games came with a postage paid (or not) form card that we could fire off to our governor, for the heck of it.
 
Science knows very little about how the brain really works.

The worst things videogames cause is bad vision and the occasional epileptic seizure :)
 
I have seen an epilectic seizure, and it was rather violent...hows this for logic,

video game=seizure
seizure=violent
video game=violent
 
I honestly do believe that video games *can* make you more violent.. i really think so.. i don't know.. i just think back to myself.. and sometime i think very violent things.. i'll never do them.. but alot of the violent things can be attributed to video games and movies..

I don't think anyone can deny they do have an affect.. anything you experience(like playing a game or watching a movie) influences you.. now you can say "no.. not me" but it does...

to the extent it affects you is the big question.. but i do think video games can make people more violent.. not everyone but it has the possibility i believe... i think more research should be done..

That said..

no matter what the result is.. i don't think they should bann video games or anything.. i jsut think parents should be more aware of what their kids are playing.. and maybe talk to them about the difference between movies, video games, and reality..
 
I believe your wrong and the end run tactics used by special interests, imo proves this.

In typical and entirely precedented fashion, I believe the demographic is the biggest offense and is the sole reason for the stigma. I do think the gamespot article was written with the intent to increase violence among gamers, which implies recognition that the games themselves do not inherently cause violence.

One thing they don't teach children in our schools is that really good psychology is a weapon exploited by anyone lacking the scruples to know better. In other areas of the web and Internet, this kind of stuff is throughly discussed in an very open fashion by everyone (EVERYONE). Hopefully, many here knows or some day will come across what I'm talking about.

Enjoy.

Edit: did I say EVERYONE, honestly, the only way to beat this kind of stuff is through education and nursery rhymes.
 
hows this for logic,

video game=seizure
seizure=violent
video game=violent
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25 cents to the first person to name the logical fallacy present in the above syllogism
 
For me, games are a way to take out my daily frustrations on something/someone in a safe environment. For example: You have a bad day at work - boss yelling, customers complaining, whatever sets you off... you go home and blow some s*** up. Instant satisfaction.

If people are at home playing games, they're not roaming the streets causing trouble.
 
RancidWAnnaRIot said:
I honestly do believe that video games *can* make you more violent.. i really think so.. i don't know.. i just think back to myself.. and sometime i think very violent things.. i'll never do them.. but alot of the violent things can be attributed to video games and movies..

I don't think anyone can deny they do have an affect.. anything you experience(like playing a game or watching a movie) influences you.. now you can say "no.. not me" but it does...
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I think you are wrong. Video games to not "make" people think violent thoughts. EVERYONE thinks them regardless of what influences you. Violence is inherent to human nature. People have been murdering, raping, pilaging and fighting wars long before people knew how to speak. So, to say that video games or any other type of media cause people to think violent thoughts or to act on these thoughts is ignorant.

Like it was stated above me, "psychology is a weapon" and thats exactly what our media and our government are doing. They are using phychological tactics to force people to beleive that they are being harmed by TV, Video games, Music and yellow alerts. What happens everytime the government issues another amber or yellow alert? People run out buy black garbage bags, duct tape, canned goods, and gas masks. They cancell their plans because some terrorist "might" plant a bomb in their flower bed. And they are doing the same things with video games.

"The children who were involved in the Columbine murders played D00M and that is the reason they murdered their entire school. Video games are created by the devil and are tools of evil and train our children to be demons who kill without remorse."

Nevermind the fact that mommy and daddy worked 90+ hours a week ignored thier kids and could care less what they did. They were oblivious that their children wanted attention from them and the only way they got it was, "OH MY GOD I FOUND SOLDIER OF FORTUNE LOADED ONTO THEIR COMPUTER AND AN MP5 IN THE GARAGE!!!!! THIS GAME IS A TOOL TO TRAIN KILLERS!!!!"

I grew up playing D00M, Wolfenstein, Duke 3d, Rise of the Triad, Commander Keen, Blood 1 & 2. And I've never gone and blown anything up or shot anyone or tried to kill someone. My parents were involved in my life, hell my father was the one that introduced my to D00M. He got it from a guy at work and he came home handed me the disk and said, "Here son, I think you might enjoy this." I was 15 and about the same age as those kids who murdered thier entire school in 1997/98 when I was first introduced to D00M. So don't sit there and try to justify this blasphemy about how video games influence people to kill.

Games are not tools. They don't train you to fire a gun. Think about how stupid that is. "Yeah, D00M taught those kids how to fire an SMG." Bullshit. How? How did it teach them? Nothing in D00M is remotely based off of anything real. Sure, a sawed off double barrel is real. But the chaingun? Sorry, there technically is not a gattling type of chaingun in use today by infantry. Not even the gun in Predator. Why? Because it's heavy, caliber is huge and there would be no way a human being can stand up and fire the gun. Hell, when filming Resident Evil Apocalypse that gun that the Nemesis used is fake. That gun fired soemthing like 7000 rounds a minute. Can you imagine a 12 year old trying to fire it? Let alone trying to figure out how to operate a revolver?

No, what it boils down to is parenting. If both your parents are too worried about a paycheck to be home for you when school lets out you as a child are going to look for other avenues to gain attention whether it be setting the house on fire or running around the neighbor hood with a bat smashing mailboxes. When the cops are then involved the parents don't want to look like morons and they immediately blame the games you play, "Well...little Jimmy has been playing a lot of this game called Grand Theft Auto and he gets a bat in that game and he beats things with it. I'm gonna have to go ahead and blame the game as influence for little Jimmy and not my lack of parenting." Because they don't want to get in trouble for their inadequecies.

Games are entertainment nothing more. Yes, they teach you hadn eye coordination but they are not going to teach you how to murder your neighbor.

Excuse me, but Pat the Baker is telling me I need to go drown some waffles in syrup and stab them with my fork to condition me for my waffle murder spree.
 
masher said:
25 cents to the first person to name the logical fallacy present in the above syllogism
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I knew that logic class I took wouldn't be worth anything...
 
^^ Great post Moose.

I agree, violence is something inherant. Maybe its a chemical imbalance or upbringing. I do agree a video game could help enhance an exisiting condition, but it does not create violence, which is key.

Right and wrong period start at home, if that isn't taught at an early age that is the first problem. If someone thinks it's socially acceptable to go blast people in the face with a shotgun then they either weren't taught the proper things, or have an actual mental issue.
 
Taking this one step further, let’s take a look at the science behind ANY of these studies.

1.) Scientist still don’t know what portions of the brain are responsible for what. Period.

2.) Extrapolating out from “believe, likely, could, might and suggested” is dangerous because you are starting with “a guess” as your foundation for research and then coming to conclusions based on that research.

All I am saying is that if you ask 10 scientist what electrical activity in certain parts of the brain means and you will get 10 different answers all containing “believe, likely, could, might and suggested”. None of the answers will contain “definitely, positively or fact”.

There is no such thing as a test involving an EEG or PET scan that says “murderer” on the print out. Hell, scientist can say “increased activity” in so-and-so part of the brain…but do they even know what that “increased activity” is? Is it working for or against the reactions you are seeing in the study?

Anyhow, until someone comes out with a proof-positive, definitive GUIDE TO YOUR MELON…we are all just guessing. Guessing based theories and guesses of smarter people than us, who are guessing because they don’t know either. After all, if you KNEW, it would be fact.
 
Science, the good kind takes nothing for granted. You could say that the moon orbits around the earth but in fact the earth and moon orbit around a common center point.

Declaring stuff with all certainty is a violation of valid principle standing for thousands of years and keeping an open mind means learning or discovery will not be jaded by our five senses.
 
Steve said:
1.) Scientist still don’t know what portions of the brain are responsible for what. Period.
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A statement that is only partially true, and doesn't relate to the situation at hand either. We don't understand exactly how psychotropic drugs work either...but if we dose a person with them, we know exactly what the effects will be. We don't understand how many things in nature work exactly....but we know they do indeed work.

2.) Extrapolating out from “believe, likely, could, might and suggested” is dangerous because you are starting with “a guess” as your foundation for research...
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And yet this is the basis of the scientific method, and all knowledge gained by mankind from it.

None of the answers will contain “definitely, positively or fact”.
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The theory of gravity is still just a theory. Nothing is ever proven beyond a shadow of doubt in science. Does that mean we disregard it entirely?
 
I just killed 2 people before I went to bed last night? I thought it was something all gamers did? :confused:
 
masher said:
A statement that is only partially true, and doesn't relate to the situation at hand either. We don't understand exactly how psychotropic drugs work either...but if we dose a person with them, we know exactly what the effects will be. We don't understand how many things in nature work exactly....but we know they do indeed work.
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Please explain how we "don't know exactly how psychotropic drugs work".


What I am saying is:

We don't know what causes the pretty lights on the PET scan or EEG. We don't even really know what they do. Is the brain activity CAUSING the reaction OR is it a reaction to what we are seeing? Is it warding off harmful images in the brain is it causing the harmful images in the brain?

All we know is that there is activity in that portion of the brain. No one knows what the "activity" is doing.

So we do a PET scan. Can you tell me what brain activity means?

Is it THE activity in one portion of the brain the cause of the aggression?

Is the supression of one portion of the brain what causes it aggression?

Is the activity in brain because that portion of the working brain is responsible for shutting down the functions of the other part of your brain? And as a result, is the inactivity in that portion of the brain what causes the aggression? So the PET scan is showing activity in the portion of the brain that is carrying out the task of shutting down another portion of the brain which is the real cause of the aggression?

All we see is "activity"...electrical impulses...that we hope mean something. We don't know if the electrical impulses are the cause, the symptom, the trigger or the reaction...we just see activity.


The smartest men on the planet used to burn witches for 4x times longer than they used shock treatment. They used shock treatment for 10x the years that we have used PET scans and EEGs.

In 50 years, we might be laughing at how anyone could tie video game violence to blots on a PET. Then again, we might be right on track...my whole point is...no one knows. :)
 
Steve said:
Please explain how we "don't know exactly how psychotropic drugs work".
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Gladly. Here's a reprint of an article originally published in Psychiatry and Mental Health Journal, 6(1), 2001.

We don't know what causes the pretty lights on the PET scan or EEG. We don't even really know what they do.
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We know those "pretty lights" are the result of enhanced activity. If we see long-term changes in those scans, we know that something has changed in the brain. If we know those changes occurred due to a specific cause, then we have solid evidence the change was provoked or at least facilitated by said cause.

In summary, we don't need to know "exactly whats happening in the brain" to reach valid conclusions. Empirical evidence is often enough.

In 50 years, we might be laughing at how anyone could tie video game violence to blots on a PET...no one knows.
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A point you could as well make for taking vitamins, wearing sunscreen, and even believing in the law of gravity. In 50 years, they might be laughing at our primitive beliefs for all these. But they are, today, the best we have. Nothing in science is ever settled. That does not give you carte blanche to toss out any and all research with which you don't agree.
 
I don't see how anyone can say.. any experience does not affect them..

it does affect.. any experience has an affect.. any.. doesn't matter what it is.. video games are an experience.. it does affect... now to the degree it does is the question in my opinion.. i don't not knwo how someone can say.. video games has no affect on a person that's just BS

anyway. can someone provide links to studies that say video games do, or do not affect people in a negative way??

hell we play video games because it makes us feel happy (that's what entertainment should do)...

ALL i'm trying to say is.. don't be so quick to dismiss the idea that video games can have a negative affect on people ( i mean what evidence do you have to prove that??? all i've rad are opinons).. because you feel like your past time is being attacked.. that's all i'm saying..

againt.. i'm not for the banning of video games or anything.. i'm just saying.. we can't jump the gun on the arguement and make all sorts of claims, which in my opinon is what both sides are doing it... with the anti-video game crowd doing it a bit harder
 
RancidWAnnaRIot said:
I don't see how anyone can say.. any experience does not affect them..

it does affect.. any experience has an affect.. any.. doesn't matter what it is.. video games are an experience.. it does affect... now to the degree it does is the question in my opinion.. i don't not knwo how someone can say.. video games has no affect on a person that's just BS

anyway. can someone provide links to studies that say video games do, or do not affect people in a negative way??

hell we play video games because it makes us feel happy (that's what entertainment should do)...

ALL i'm trying to say is.. don't be so quick to dismiss the idea that video games can have a negative affect on people ( i mean what evidence do you have to prove that??? all i've rad are opinons).. because you feel like your past time is being attacked.. that's all i'm saying..

againt.. i'm not for the banning of video games or anything.. i'm just saying.. we can't jump the gun on the arguement and make all sorts of claims, which in my opinon is what both sides are doing it... with the anti-video game crowd doing it a bit harder
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.

I totally agree, Rancid. To say that videogames have no effect is as ludicrous as saying they are mind-control devices. My parents let my younger brother play violent games when was like 6 (much earlier than me) and as he got older he could barely distinguish between reality and videogames - he just didn't realize that people really do get hurt by that sort of thing.

My best guess, based mostly on observation of course, is that violent media can have an impact on people, but much more so when they're younger. I think that by the time you're at most 14 you realize the difference between reality and games/movies. However, who among us does not get an adrenaline rush from videogames or violent movies? They have an effect, no doubt about it, but most people are mature enough fairly early on to make that critical distinction. Just because you're pumped up after an intense game of street fighter doesn't mean you're going to go beat the shit out of the 7-11 clerk. Of course, it goes without saying that people with developmental disorders are different.
 
Heres a negative affect video games have on us. We have no social lives because we spend all our time playing FEAR or BF2.

We dont' sleep as often as we should. We don't eat.

But to blatently say that playing games makes us violent and trains people to kill or fight or beat people with baseball bats is pure stupidity. Games are entertaining.

Negaticve affects would be lack of sleep, no social life, loss of weight.
 
I know i've mentioned this in a previous thread but i thought i would share:

Playing video games keeps me from masturbating.
 
BarneyGumble said:
I know i've mentioned this in a previous thread but i thought i would share:

Playing video games keeps me from masturbating.
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So....are you saying they're good for you, or bad? :confused:
 
But seriously, sometimes, while playing a game i get bored and start thinking that i am wasting my time. But then i realize that playing counter strike feeds my primal human instinct of hunting. Everybody tries to analyze things to a point where the arguments are f#cking rediculous. But, in the end we all poop on a daily basis, we are no farther removed from our primal, inherent animal instincts than a domesticated cat. And here is my proof. One of my favorite hobbys is playing FPS games, i am fullfilling my instinctive need to hunt. My wifes favorite hobby, which drives me crazy, is shopping. She is fullfilling her instinctive need to gather. You can say that it is oversimplified, but my response is that we all still poop on a daily basis, we are no farther removed from our inherent primal instincts than a domesticated cat.

Video games fullfill my primal needs, i am no more violent today than the day i was born.
 
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