Are Violent Video Games Preparing Kids For The Apocalypse?

I just found a video on you-tube about a discussion on video games teaching kids how to survive in a post-apocalyptic environment.



Are these guys serious??

Video games teaching kids that a grenade is more effective against a cyborg than a machine gun?

I guess blaming video games for all the violence just turned old and now they are blaming video games for preparing kids for the apocalypse...

With how things are going lately i think we should be grateful that the video game industry is teaching us something! Don't let it go to waste and get all the education you can!

For soon it will be too late!!

more likely its preparing these kids when they are older and have jobs to spend their hard earned cash on more video games.

reply to post by Sfen Senterra


It's from the Onion. I love them they take what is possible and put it to its most outrageous.

They do make a good point though and I tend to agree. They help desensitize people to the violence and other situations.

Why are kids playing games for adults?

Can't be influenced by a game if you don't play it can you?


Having said that, of course kids are still going to play these violent games, watch these violent movies but you know what? Millions of kids have done this to no ill effect.

The ones that are influenced by this, probably have some sort of problem already, regardless if they watch watch violent movies or not.


Edit: Just to reiterate, I know that this video is satire, but the issue is still relevant.



[edit on 27-2-2009 by Chadwickus]

Just to point out they are making a satire out of this:


I love this clip.

I fully agree that violent video games are preparing children for war and upcoming trouble. I have played some of them and the realistic nature of todays games means reality becomes akin to the action on screen. You literally ARE the character and for that to be transferred into a childs brain makes for some certain problems as they grow older.

I will admit that I like playing one game, 'just cause' on the xbox. You are a CIA asset who starts a revolution on some island. I try not to think about the wider message the game is giving ( its just a classy game to play LOL) but wonder whether on a subliminal level treating 'foreigners' on the game with such disregard can make the real world state terrorism seem like fun and a non issue to todays younger up and coming generations.

bethesda are a good company they knock out class A games every time.
fallout 3 is a beutie and it teaches suvival skills that could come in handy in a number of situations, such as getting safe food safely.the people who make they're games have a cool way of thinking and hit on al the important issues of a post appocaliptic situation(in theory as we have no comparison).its not trying to teach our kids its for us, mabey some one who "knows" somthing wants t help the helpless idk
but good game, get to the point op & il give you a *
aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiii
5

reply to post by 5ive the light


Check out my Fallout 3 tattoo:



:] I'm a huge huge fan of the series.

reply to post by Sfen Senterra


Are Violent Video Games Preparing Kids For The Apocalypse?

Short answer - Nope!

In my early teens, Pacman was all the rage but it wasn't preparing me for a time when ghosts take over the world. I'm still waiting for someone to invent the power pill though!

Games are just entertainment... like Youtube. Good for a laugh and wasting time.

IRM

No i think its all good fun,i must say fallout 3 cant hold a candle to the first two though,gears of war is terrible..anyway,violent games,movies are an easy scapegoat for people who dont want to look at the root of the issue in todays society.

Originally posted by Solomons
No i think its all good fun,i must say fallout 3 cant hold a candle to the first two though,gears of war is terrible..anyway,violent games,movies are an easy scapegoat for people who dont want to look at the root of the issue in todays society.

I can recall hours upon hours of playing a little known assortment of games that came with my Atari 2600. It was called Combat! I believe. Anyway I could beat the computer in any tank battle. I had the strange desire to go to the Falkland Islands...(at the time)...Really though, could you look back on the video games you remember and kind of judge if you were being set up or desensitized in any way for something that just so happen to be occurring at the same time? Could be a way of figuring this out...

pac man. . . you obviously missed the happy hardcore era then? i did'nt . . . (can u tell?) "no video games dont efect me. mean pac man ,who would go round a big dark room munching pills ,listening to repetetive music? psssht
ha, or watching a plummer on mushrooms attack turtles?
i wouldnt go as far as property of vault 101 but a fallout tat is a good ide in my book? still . . . . . . . . . OP whats your point these games obviously want to tell you how to better suvive a situation but now games have moved into the freeroamer simuation area all games will give a sertain level of "training".
where do you think the tech to make large games like this originated?
military training simulations, all starting with flight sims.
were you expectng rings and a two tailed flying fox?no, you wanted a suvival story as you would expect from that situation
answer me op please
5

No,i looked at games as enjoyment,escapism..yes we all thought how cool it would be to be the nameless one from planescape,or kill super mutants and trade bottle caps like in fallout when younger..hell i still do But its just entertainment and many games can be very thought provoking and incorporate philosophy among other things into them,especially the older games.I dont think fallout would prepare me for a post apocalyptic scenario in the slightest,certainly wouldn't desensitize me to such a catastrophic event.

Learning to survive any sort of difficulties from video games is like learning to rock climb from a book.

Good luck with that.

reply to post by Solomons


scapegoat for a crap day mabey, but i dont try to distance myself from todays problems it ,for me is instead of being fed bullshhhh on tv. i dont have a tv licence,i dont watch tv,if i want to see a show i buy a dvd. i hate just waiting aroud to die at least i stimulate myself and feel ive acheaved somthing instead of rotting my brain with adverts and talk shows, soaps , and propergander. all news i here comes from this site or people i talk to, i think and live for my own goals, not to buy what ive been programed to
thats me any way and i can see how you'd get that view on gamers generaly, just thought i'd show you a different kind of gammer
one love
5

well if video games are preparing kids for something then i'm prepared to be a plummer and pick mushrooms, can eat a lot of pills and ghosts, can fight with robocop, oooh i can even smash bricks with a ball.....

I was playing games on my Sinclair ZX Spectrum 24 years ago with funny rubber buttons and i am playing them now on my PS3 and PC. And all they've done to me is that they have taken few years of my life on meanless fun.

I'm not prepared to fight with zombies, and i'm not prepared for an apocalyptic world.
Games are fun.

Maniac will be maniac with or without violent games. I've played a lot of violent ones, few banned but still i will not rape, murder, steal...

p.s.

Question for older gamers: how many Quickshot's did you destroy in your life?

VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES CAN INCREASE AGGRESSION

May Be More Harmful Than Violent Television and Movies Because of the Interactive Nature of the Games

WASHINGTON - Playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D or Mortal Kombat can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life, according to two studies appearing in the April issue of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor, say the researchers.

"One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games," said psychologists Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., and Karen E. Dill, Ph.D. "The other study reveals that even a brief exposure to violent video games can temporarily increase aggressive behavior in all types of participants."
www.apa.org...

This article was written in 2000. My how far we've come...

I was preparing for the apocolypse when I was around 8 years old running around in the woods trying to identify edible plants, working on makeshift lean-tos, snare traps for local wildlife, studying my environment, etc.

I think the most high tech video game at that time was Atari.

If todays video games are "preparing kids for the apocolypse" I'm really laughing my tail off. No offense, but when the bullets run out and there is no one left to "kill", these kids are going to be completely screwed.

btw - yay! The Onion. Man, I love that Onion!

Subliminal Messages in Video Games

by Katri Antioch, Dec 10, 2008

Recently, I stumbled upon an article stating that Super Mario Brothers is chock full of subliminal messages. I thought about it, and I realized they were right. Not in the normal stoner conclusion. “Mario eats a bunch of mushrooms and goes on a trip about saving his girlfriend from turtles and wind up toys.” No, I saw the true political implications of it.

Mario is a plumber, representing the working man. He is caught in the mushroom kingdom, obviously symbolizing his home land of Italy. He ventures out and stomps on goombas. Goomba is a lesser used term for Italian Mafiosos. Now at one time, there was a civil war in Italy between the mafia element of the country, and Communist sympathizers. The working man being fed up with the status quo. Mario is the working man. He goes out, and kills the mafia by smashing their heads in with hammers or jumping on them. The revolution does not stop there. The Communist Machine is programmed to destroy monarchy. He sets out after the King. On his path to destroy royalty, he fends for his life in the wild. Eating any food he can, even wild mushrooms. Caring a flower of his lover's to light the fire of passion in his soul. Finding safety only in those places where the Star is shining. His quest only ends when the king is truly defeated.
www.gameolosophy.com...

From another article:

Now I have spoken with teens who have allot of high graphic video games. Especially with allot of violence and blood. They say that at first, the gory scenes, were a bit queasy, made them shudder...but then instead of being uncomfortable with these violent acts, began playing the games, with creating more in mind and enjoying them and then not being satisfied with the level of gore in take game...Now, I ask, is this Normal? Isn't something wrong here? These games (not all mind you) send out subliminal messages...like "it's not so bad" "destroy" "kill" "enjoy the kill" etc. Why is that fun? Think About It. Which brings me to the Plot...just like with our wonderful cinema industry..more graphic, violent, nudity, foul language..and then lowering the movie ratings ..so younger teens can be exposed to this, and of course, what they allow on TV these days. It is quite difficult to around your children every time they grab the remote. And remember, these messages, still float around..and bounce and re-enter the brain many times over. Repetitive Brainwashing. Now why?

[edit on 27-2-2009 by jackflap]

[edit on 27-2-2009 by jackflap]

[edit on 27-2-2009 by jackflap]

When you are young , violence in video games is the best thing ever. Well it was for me anyway , but no harm comes out of it and eventually you grow out of the scene (some don't) but it has never had any psychological effects on me. Mainly because I've never shot a gun in my life , never bothered to get my gun license or anything like that because i can blast some mofo up online.

The game you speak of (Fallout) is the only one of its kind and eventually someone would have made the same scenario , but they are probably running out of ideas by now. I played burger time when i was young , maybe one day ill be chased around by eggs and bacon whilst trying to flip burgers..