Video games are bad: Heres why

The things that really dissolves this argument is the assumption that the majority of games SOLELY focus on the violence.

Let's start with Silent Hill - yes it's a creepy franchise, disembodies creatures, psychological themes and occasional startling bursts of horror - but ultimately nothing new.

Employing elements of various cinematic themes from films such as Rosemary's baby, the wicker man, twin peaks, jacob's ladder and a host of other such themes from authors such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz - and indeed soundtracks inspered by Angelo Badalamenti.

Please, if this is your argument OP - tell me how many people who watched or read any of the above went on to act violently?

Secondly, if you'd have bothered to play silent hill you'd have noticed the 18 certificate, the adult context, the subtle themes and contrasting atmospheres - you may also notice that most of the enemies besides a few choice encounters can be avoided if played with a certain degree of gaming skill, which your most certainly lack, judging by your extremely patronising and jealous tone.

Thirdly, choosing an extreme example and then waving it as a banner to your cause is like me saying 'erm people should not enjoy the sight or pleasure of a rainbow, because within that spectrum is the colour red, and we all knows that red means blood, danger, aggression etc - the significant relativity and assumed context of such an absurd argument is then sent hurtling to a very silly landing when a sensible person would observe that there are a myriad of colours within a rainbow, including green the colour of nature, yellow the colour of warmth, oranage the cheeky orange colour and good old blue. And purple, pink, etc.

Is the colour red - within a rainbow and the visible colour pallete responsible for rage, anger, pain?

Maybe... But then how do we ban colours?

Why should yellow, green, blue, pink etc suffer just because the colour red made you do something silly?

If you ban hardcore hip-hop with its controversial lyrics, do you then ban black metal which is associated with gothic culture or drum and bass with its affiliated crowd, just because hip hop was naughty?

Or to come flying back at your argument like a rather creamy pie (in a deranged circus) - do we then ban violent video games, or indeed any game containing violence (minecraft, space invaders, arkanoid, manic miner, time crisis, resident evil, road rash, diggers, mortal kombat, shenmue?)

Just because one or two games have made an already unhinged person do something crazy?

Do you then ban any film that contains violence, just because... say reservoir dogs made a nutcase do something, yet a millions of other people didn't do anything (possibly because they're mature enough to know the difference).

Think on.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


The only games that get people "addicted" are MMORPG's and Facebook games like Farmville, and even then you can only be "addicted" to them like you can be "addicted" to watching television or "addicted" to chocolate. Just because people have a lack of self control is not a reason to ban something.

reply to post by theRhenn


I have an explanation for that. It's called Darwinism. It just so happens that the mentally defunct now like video games. So what?

Originally posted by theRhenn
Where else, prey-tell, would a new member post such a topic?

Everyone is intitled to their thoughts and posts. I used to be a gamer. I can tell you stories how it turned my life into a miserable nightmare. And suprise! It has nothing to do with religion. If you spend your life indoors, wasting away rather than spending it doing something constructive, that wont have you ending up with heartfailure after taking out the trash on a hot day... You get the picture.

Have any clue whatsoever how many families MMOs destroyed? Marriages? Lives? I can find you article after article of people who got into gaming so much that...

- Boy forcably removed from cyber cafe because he would not go home, would not bathe and would not leave..after days!
- Young parents arrested because newborn neglected after young parents wouldnt pull away from an MMO to tend to the child... (edited) btw... the child died.

and so bloody many horror stories. I have my own personal 12 year MMO horror experiance.

People loose when they dedicate themselves to playing games.

So I would say such to many rabid gamers... Grow up.. Get Up.. Loose some damn weight.. Get a life!!! When the virtual game quarter runs out and you're on your way to the next big MMO, lets hope you didnt waste 30 years of your life, trying to figure out what the hell happened...


OP if you were not new, I would give you a star for this. So... A flag for ya instead. Some people just dont realise how much damage this does to their lives. It's no diffrent than being a complete drug addict or acoholic.

edit on 1-7-2011 by theRhenn because: (no reason given)

all of that can be attributed to addictive personalities. funny thing about addictive personalities....if it isn't video games, it's alcohol, or drugs or some other thing. those with that type of personality will always find something to become addicted to or otherwise unhealthily involved in. it's not the video games fault these people can't take a break.

in summation, games dont ruin people's lives, people ruin their own lives by not recognizing that they've got a personality disorder. and it's not the game company's responsibility to ensure every single customer is mentally healthy enough to play their games.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


I have one thing to say, specifically about your comments on "Super Columbine Massacre RPG", a game that takes way too much flak for what it is.

The game is not meant to be a fun, "kill-everyone-because-it-would-be-cool" game, it is instead an emotional and thought provoking look at the events that unfolded.
Before bashing this game, I highly recommend reading the creator's statement about the game: Artist's Statement
Additionally, the creator made a short documentary about the game and the reactions it received, if you can geta copy I highly recommend watching it.

Let's get something straight, my overall premise is video games are bad. Not just talking violent games. See my original post. World of warcraft is a big one, so is GTA, so is COD, so are these beautiful game's sceneries that some people often prefer over this world. And these are to just name a few. People spend thousands of hours on one game. Not 1 book. not 1 movie. To me that is virtual reality, defenition correct or not. These games are to form a dumbed down dilusional sadistic society. Nevemind pedophinilia.

I like secondlife

its not really a game verses a platform where everyone around the world can build their ideal game, or environment, etc.

And yep, true to form, every 3rd build is either some sort of strip joint, or violent fest...its chaotic mind candy...

Secondlife also knows how people think, and so they only allow 18+ to join in...else, too bad.
Now, some horrible parents don't monitor their kids online, and so no doubt the odd underage gets on...but when found out, they are quickly kicked.

Originally posted by ferumbra

Originally posted by AnonATI
This sounds like the whole gateway theory like with pot and harder drugs. Just because you enjoy disemboweling some pixels on a screen doesn't mean you're gonna go out and slaughter your boss next time they upset you. With all the millions of people that play video games of course you are going to have some that do terrible things in real life. The crazy people also shop at the grocery store, maybe we should be wary of doing that as well?

That's what I'm talking about.

So we can also say that if games are less violent, there would be less individuals that are triggered and do something bad.

We can say that if there are no violent games, that no person on planet would do something bad because of violent games

We now obviously need to find balance, to draw line what is acceptable and what is not. But drawing that line is not possible to be accepted by all people.

So we have much of people that do not see problem at all, and we have people that says nothing is bad in games, no matter how violent.

I couldn't disagree with you more. You completely missed the point I was trying to make. I'm not saying that they trigger the violent events. I'm saying that they are just one of the everyday tasks the people do, such as in the sentence after the one you bolded. People have been killing other people ever since there were other people to kill.

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
Let's get something straight, my overall premise is video games are bad. Not just talking violent games. See my original post. World of warcraft is a big one, so is GTA, so is COD, so are these beautiful game's sceneries that some people often prefer over this world. And these are to just name a few. People spend thousands of hours on one game. Not 1 book. not 1 movie. To me that is virtual reality, defenition correct or not. These games are to form a dumbed down dilusional sadistic society. Nevemind pedophinilia.

edit on 1-7-2011 by Hiasyouwant because: (no reason given)

I see you ignored my previous posts.... no surprise really.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


So you and a small minority of people like you cant define games from reality and the rest of us have to be deprived of our choice of entertainment? Bad deal.

Originally posted by Mister_Bit

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant

Video games or virtual reality are inherently bad and extremely detrimental to society.

Wii helps Cerebral Palsy sufferers

Wii helps with health and fitness

Gaming helps the lonely

Video games help childrens mental development

OP you get the idea..... shall I continue?

I challenge you directly to address these links.

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
Let's get something straight, my overall premise is video games are bad. Not just talking violent games. See my original post. World of warcraft is a big one, so is GTA, so is COD, so are these beautiful game's sceneries that some people often prefer over this world. And these are to just name a few. People spend thousands of hours on one game. Not 1 book. not 1 movie. To me that is virtual reality, defenition correct or not. These games are to form a dumbed down dilusional sadistic society. Nevemind pedophinilia.

edit on 1-7-2011 by Hiasyouwant because: (no reason given)

Come on, I challenge you to address those links I've given you and tell me all games are bad for society. Step up to the plate...

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
Let's get something straight, my overall premise is video games are bad. Not just talking violent games. See my original post. World of warcraft is a big one, so is GTA, so is COD, so are these beautiful game's sceneries that some people often prefer over this world. And these are to just name a few. People spend thousands of hours on one game. Not 1 book. not 1 movie. To me that is virtual reality, defenition correct or not. These games are to form a dumbed down dilusional sadistic society. Nevemind pedophinilia.

edit on 1-7-2011 by Hiasyouwant because: (no reason given)

Your a bit confused here.

People spend endless hours watching the flickering of their non-interactive television...that is a virtual reality designed to dumb a person down and buy stuff.
Games often, if not always, challenge something about you, be it reaction, hand/eye, puzzle solving, etc..

Society is more politically correct than ever..and you can arguably trace this back to the invention of the personal console...so there goes that idea...the opposite seem to be true. gaming allows for a outlet of the dark and venomous side of a person (which everyone has) and relieves that pressure.

The argument I feel you want to make is that you know more about societys issues than say, the 70s, however, that can be attributed to msm panic reporting every single crime and "outrage" to make you sitting at home feel like gangs are about to knock down your door...

that is far more of a false reality than a gaming environment

reply to post by PlayeR87


Then you're obviously no expert in psychology and have done no research whatsoever on the subject matter, because the truth is, it has everything to do with it.

I''m a gamer and you only have to go online to see how teenagers behave. Quite a lot in my experience have serious mental & attitude problems, which is the reason why I now only play online games with friends.

reply to post by Mister_Bit


DIRECTLY caused by the direct play and content of these games. Would you agree then that a video game should have an addiction warning label?

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
Let's get something straight, my overall premise is video games are bad. Not just talking violent games. See my original post. World of warcraft is a big one, so is GTA, so is COD, so are these beautiful game's sceneries that some people often prefer over this world. And these are to just name a few. People spend thousands of hours on one game. Not 1 book. not 1 movie.

No one spends thousands of hours on one game. At most someone might spend one hundred hours replaying a large game such as those in the Fallout series.

To me that is virtual reality, defenition correct or not. These games are to form a dumbed down dilusional sadistic society.

Video games have been proven to help make you smarter and improve brain function by requiring problem solving and dynamic decision making.

articles.cnn.com...:TECH

Nevemind pedophinilia.

What about it? Are you trying to imply that pedophilia is caused by video games? There have been pedophiles as long as children have existed, I don't think video games have anything to do with it. Most games don't even feature children.

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
reply to post by Mister_Bit

 

DIRECTLY caused by the direct play and content of these games. Would you agree then that a video game should have an addiction warning label?

Most actually already do, if you read the manuals.

reply to post by optimus primal


Indeed. But even then addictive personalities and addiction are a massively varying equation.

I have a friend who is addicted to battlefield 2 and world of warcraft. But he's the most chilled guy you'll ever meet. Yet you could meet a guy who's addicted to say... Crossword puzzles and maybe slightly unhinged and then goes on to blow something up or hurt people.

The whole subject is a huge and wildly varying field of extremes and cannot be narrowed down to one thing, beside the notion that a crazy person can blame anything. Didn't a serial killer once claim a dog told him to shoot people because if he didn't earthquakes would destroy the planet?

Do you then ban dogs (dogs have killed people) , earthquakes (ditto), guns (ditto) or do you just try and find the real cause and stop making easy scapegoats.