Video games are bad: Heres why

Originally posted by b0sanac
reply to post by Hiasyouwant

 

World of warcraft addiction? I play WoW almost 12 hours a day, No I am not addicted, no I am not overweight/obese. I play it because its a good way to unwind after a stressful day at work. I still exercise plently and socialize alot. I also play other games, among which are CoD, Battlefield, Assassins Creed. I play them, however I dont feel random urges to go out and start slaughtering people. Also about the gold mining camps. If you knew something you'd know that those are usually organized by chinese prison wardens looking to make some extra cash, I dont see who in their right mind would live in such conditions like that.

You can think whatever, Im a gamer, and in my 21 years of playing games never has it influenced my thoughts or decisions in real life.

If WoW did influence people, they wouldn't mind going to work doing the same repetitive tasks everyday while other people exploit and get ahead.

Please let us not argue about "its the parents". These days parents are children, kids themselves. So lets face the fact that games will get into the hands of kids, teens, and your drunk uncle bill.

Alright lets get this straight. You are right to a certain degree but that doesn't go too far. i don't know about you but my parents aren't children. And a lot aren't. You cant say that parents are not to blame because they are more to blame then the kids themselves.

Video games or virtual reality are inherently bad and extremely detrimental to society. I will share some of my feelings and gatherings, and hopefully you can do the same. There are so many games out there, with so much content, not through years of gaming have I even scratched the surface. I'll show you what I've gathered as well as share some of my own experiences and takes on things.

Yes, did you know that there are games for kids?. I'm not sure if you know this or not but much like movies, games have their own rating system. the ratings are E:Everyone
T: Teen (13+)
M: Mature (17+)
A: Adult (21+)
So there is no reason why a child should be playing violent video games anyway. If you ask me , i would say its the PARENTS job to see the rating of a game before buying it not the child's. Besides do you really think that once someone plays a violent video game, they automatically want to go and kill someone after?...NO!, that's why most people play them. So that they can relax in a virtual world where you can do things that you cant normally do in real life.

Anyone can create, anyone can play Anyone can create a game, and anyone can play a game. A group of psychopaths could create a game, and maybe they have, and guess what: it gets put out for all the world to play.

Yes but anyone can create a movie or make their own song. Whats the difference?. Games, Movies and Music are all a form of art. Last time i checked Video games were part of the first amendment...freedom of speech. You have to understand that games don't make people violent. Certain people will always be violent regardless of what they do.

Need I even mention BioShock, where you hunt little girls which by the way are protected by "bigdaddys"

You seem to know a lot about violent video games. Do you play them yourself?

Dr. Dave there is talking about the columbine shootings, both the kids played Doom and Grand Theft Auto.

Yes but both kids were crazy in the brain. Playing GTA and Doom was not the reason why they decided to go and shoot people at their school. I play GTA all time and im a loving person who would never do a disgusting act like that but yet i love running people over in GTA and i love see people being tortured in SAW. Just because i love to see gory things, doesn't mean i wanna brutally murder someone. Its just a game and that's why people enjoy them. What i really hate is when you hear that someone walked in to a store or school and killed a bunch of people and then later killed themselves only to find out later that the only motive they found was that he played GTA, Doom or some other violent video game. That is STUPID. That is like saying he killed those people because he collected little action figures. It doesn't make any sense. Playing video games is just something he liked to do in his spare time. It has NOTHING to do with why he did it. They only say violent video games are the reason because they don't have any other lead to go on.

The OP's post reminds me of ATS. Much too paranoid and negative.

The world is really not that bad. Focus on the brighter things it'll be a better future than what we see here. Sometimes we're in a dark place and can't see any light. Sometimes we're just in a bad mood and don't want anyone to bother us. It can seem like the whole world is going bad.

But it isn't. Why? Because you're just on person in seven billion. The world won't go bad unless the other seven billion decide along with you that it's a lost cause and not worth it.

There're people here who think it's hte end of the world. News Flash: people have thought the same thing for 1000's of years for different reasons. Video games could cause trouble, but so could sports. We have a lot of violence in our society that's implied or portrayed (not real). It's in movies, it's in books, it's everywhere. But you know, most people know the difference between fiction and reality. Don't overthink it. Get some fresh air. Get some light.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


nevermind not worth a reply...
just

Video games are just one way to stimulate the mind, anyone with a hobby knows this.

Moderation.

I know where the op is coming from because there are some folks that are zombified when it comes to video games. And I know there are parents that have become game zombies, which might explain the mental state of many self serving modern kids.
I'm sure not everyone gets to that state but if gaming becomes obsessive then they get one step closer to becoming a zombie and a bit more in denial.
Like many other vices, (drinking, drugs, sex,...), It's all about self control and many may not realize they are out of control until it's too late.

It's that way by design.

I myself don't like games because I find it a total waste of time, I mean really, other that the entertainment factor, what do you really get out of it?

Oh the old 'problem with the youth today' argument twisted to blame something you don't understand.

Maybe the problem with young people today is they feel alone and helpless in a world without hope, where greed and tyranny rule and it is more obvious than ever?

Originally posted by Alxandro
Moderation.

I know where the op is coming from because there are some folks that are zombified when it comes to video games. And I know there are parents that have become game zombies, which might explain the mental state of many self serving modern kids.
I'm sure not everyone gets to that state but if gaming becomes obsessive then they get one step closer to becoming a zombie and a bit more in denial.
Like many other vices, (drinking, drugs, sex,...), It's all about self control and many may not realize they are out of control until it's too late.

It's that way by design.

I myself don't like games because I find it a total waste of time, I mean really, other that the entertainment factor, what do you really get out of it?

There was a recent study of EQ2 and they found that roleplayers proprtionally have greater instances of disabilities than other subpopulations. Roleplayers are people who tend to get real involved in immersing themselves and pretending that the game is real. I thought that was a very interesting result. They also found that a large portion of the hardcore players were females, so much so that it was not expected. Some very interesting things in there. Anyway, I think some people end up in games because they have problems that nudge them in that direction.

I also think that real life needs to be more inspiring. We should go to the moon or something. That will get kids more motivated about the world. More likely not to play games, I think.

Another thing is that computers are changing us. Virtual reality is growing exponentially. Businesses are expanding into Second LIfe and many online worlds to advertise. We're finding things out that we never knew before about it. The technology is allowing for all this. I think there's a whole thing here people are missing. Arthur C Clarke made a bold prediction in 1961 about this and I am amazed how close he was to the truth. He saw a future where global communications and networks would connect people in virtual space. He saw how they would work from home and how they would socialize in virtual places rather than in physical places. He envisioned this changing everything from what cities look like to how we operate on a patient. His timing was a bit off, but still remarkable in its accuracy. Virtual space is expanding outward exponentially while it seems the earth just keeps getting smaller.

I think the recession could also cause more people to go online than go for a drive.

A big IBM CEO said a few years back that AI will make humans obsolete in 30 years. The world is changing so fast none of us can grasp it. Some people get angry and aggressive. Some people run and hide. Some people take it by the horns. But I think that what results is going to be something that's less than what futurists see and more than what common people see.

There's nothing we can do to stop it now. It's bigger than all of us put together,

A huge disaster would, but how likely is that? As likely as the paranoia on ATS all coming true.

reply to post by curious7


Religion was created to "divide and conquer" and it has done so throughout the centuries. Following the Bible on the other hand is a whole different subject. Everything in the Bible is our example, of how we should be. Wait, you might get sarcastic with me. Let me rephase that. God's laws, statutes, commandments, and holy days are good for us. Jesus was our example, that we should walked as He walked. There were many

reply to post by jonnywhite


I conducted surveys and studies of PS Home and discovered similar results. Many of the end-users are sufferers of disabilities and people who have social anxiety, mourning a lost one, or simply unable to function well in public. Gaming is a complete blessing for these people as it gives them a life to live "outside" of their homes.

This was not the majority of the users, of course, but it was very telling that MMO-type of environments (even completely social ones like Home) are very therapeutic to certain people. In general, the average gamer I encountered was 17-35, employed, and seemed fairly adjusted. The ratio between "normal" people and "non-normal" people were about the same that I see on the street. Because, whether people like to admit it or not, that's exactly who they are.

As far as the women in gaming, they make up about 40% of the demographic in many genres. Many of my gamer friends are women and I plan on training my daughter to be a black belt in controller-fu as soon as her thumbs are flexible enough so there's one more.

I hate having to come into topics like this so late >< but anyway, here's my thoughts (which have probably already been stated).

Firstly, I'd like to say I've been playing video games for as long as I remember. I'm 23 and remember my dad happily buying me the first Mortal Kombat game for my Master System (which, saying it, makes me feel incredibly old!). Since then I've played pretty much every game that's supposed to turn children into serial killing psycopaths, and guess what? I've never killed anyone. May be hard for people to believe, but not one person has been felled by my hand. I've never been arrested, I've had a stable job since I was old enough to work and am a pretty well adjusted and productive member of society. I think I've only ever been in one fight, and that was in school!

Video games DO affect people, that's a fact. Everyone who plays is affected. Whether its jumping when Pyramid Head catches you, getting mad when you listen to the Prophet of Truth telling you how he's going to glass your world or laughing like a maniac when you headshot your friend from half a map away. It's inevitable.
But the degree to which an individual is affected is different. 99.999999% of people are affected in the ways I've stated, on a pretty basic level where we are drawn into the video game much as we would a book or movie. We empathise while we play and so are affected by what happens to the protagonist.
Then, of course, there are those who aren't affected in a much deeper way. A very, very small and almost invisible minority who are not only people who are already disturbed, but are clearly detached from society. In my humble opinion, people like this would eventually snap, video games just made it happen faster.

And a little fact; there are 1.18 billion people in the world, give or take, and 69% of them play video games. That's 814,200,000 people gaming. If video games turned people into killers, we'd all be dead already. Eight million crazies would have no trouble wiping us, and themselves, out.

The people who do these things are gonna do them anyway. Jack the Ripper never played video games, and neither did any of the other multitude of pre-gaming days serial killers. There's nothing new here at all. Sometimes people are just bad. And its easier to blame something else than actually say, 'Golly! Maybe, just maybe, the problem isn't games.... but us!'

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


I really could say the same about religion.

Except in religion, actual people die due to their beliefs.

Cheers!

Originally posted by Mister_Bit

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
I admit, infamous 2 looks awesome. However, don't I remember walking through whore-houses, gambling, and murdering, in Red Dead Redemption? How many children do you think played Red Dead?

Probably thousands, the question should be though...

How many children were SUPPOSED to be playing Red Dead Redemption.... answer.. ZERO, it's not a kids game.

Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
reply to post by Mister_Bit

 

But that's the thing. They ARE playing them, and that isn't going to stop anytime soon, and many parents aren't going to give a damn anytime soon. As video games increase in sex and violence as well as addiction rates.... This to me is a problem and a flaw in our society.

So then what your saying is that the problem is the parents and not the games then. A statement which you were clearly negative in your thread.

I also think it's amusing that nobody is talking about educational games here and their potential. In the time that I've considered it I've been blown away. It's untapped. It could go anywhere. I don't expect a layperson to understand how a game can be made to teach people things. I mean, how is learning ever fun? But you'd be surprised what smart people can do. Remember when we went to the moon? This is easier than that. All we need are some big companies to make a pledge of support. Need some people to stand behind it to make it somethihng that a common person will know about. Then maybe when we sit and talk about the latest and greatest MMO we won't feel so bad about it. If people are learning something then at least they can take away knowledge from it that's more than team-play skills or structural thinking skills.

System thinking is very common in games. I recall one study mentioning this.

In my ideal educational game the currency is knowledge about this world. Each player would have stats that represent what they know about it. As they pass new exams or quizzes their stats improve and they gain access to more of the game, basically. The game could be anything or it could even have somethihg from the real world. You know how status items make players want them? Or how an ubber item makes a person feel? Well that's what I see happening here. People who know a lot would get the same feeling and people who don't have that knowledge would feel compelled to learn it. It would be how they get gold to spend on virtual things.

reply to post by sarra1833


No offense, but if you are such a Christian, what are you doing not serving the teachings of Jesus Christ? I'm not talking about videogames such as those you mentioned being the work of the Devil. I don't believe in that...Strike that...I believe the "devil" is in all of it. (Now, how I interpret "devil" may be different.)

Shouldn't you be following Christ and his teachings? Shouldn't you be feeding the poor? Turning the other cheek?

This is where religion confuses me. The most wear-it-on-the-sleeve Christians are the ones to somehow become entranced with the worldly things of modern society: Walmart, Cable, videogames, fastfood, the wars. Everything that is so unholy, so contrary to the doctrine. How exactly are you supposed to justify playing such violent videogames within the framework of Christianity?

As far as the OP, one should be worried when that a 16-year old boy just posited joining the military in another thread, stating that Call of Duty was one of the promotional factors for him.

We have a major problem when teenagers are using war-themed videogames as justification for life choices such as joining the military.

reply to post by jonnywhite


Portal actually is being used for education as an example of instructional scaffolding.

research.wsulibs.wsu.edu:8443...

Originally posted by Sphota
We have a major problem when teenagers are using war-themed videogames as justification for life choices such as joining the military.

And before that it was war-themed movies, and before that it was war-themed books.

What's wrong with joining the military anyways?

Originally posted by Sphota
reply to post by sarra1833

 

Shouldn't you be following Christ and his teachings? Shouldn't you be feeding the poor? Turning the other cheek?

How do you know he doesn't? Many of us do all three of those things and still have time to unwind.

how many people play video games how many people go out and kill people not many i play video games i i have not killed anybody and all my friends have so i think you point is invalid.

Originally posted by Nosred
reply to post by jonnywhite

 

Portal actually is being used for education as an example of instructional scaffolding.

research.wsulibs.wsu.edu:8443...

I'm looking at it from the perspective of a gamer, not as a student. I wouldn't want to play games in school that teach me things. School is school. Now, I wouldn't mind seeing a game that teaches me things. That I think would be something new and exciting to see. But games in school? I don't know if I like that idea. School is too results oriented for it.

I didn't read the link well enough. I'm just stating an opinion I have about things I've seen elsewhere. I just don't think school is the right environment for these kinds of games. We need to change what games are, not what school is. That's my opinion.