Video games are bad: Heres why

Originally posted by Noviz
reply to post by 547000

 

I was going to mention this lol.
But then I realised that most of them are for children and aren't really that violent

I read a goosebumps like that when I was a kid.

So what about text-based games OP? They're basically interactive books.

I think you should give parents & children more credit. People aren't complete dullards who will emulate everything they see in a game. (Though I'm thinking one of those Alice costumes would make an awesome halloween cozzy this year for my friends wedding reception). Of course people become immersed - That's the whole point of an entertaining game after all. It's pure enjoyable escapism for a little while.

In this house our gaming tastes vary. My son and his friends enjoy things like Black Op's whilst I have a sizable collection of horror games, I dare say all those you take umbrage to. If anything I would say him being on Xbox live has been extremely beneficial for him. He's come out of his shell & is always the jovial leader of his group of friends. It enables him to play & chat with his older step brother who lives across the city and his confidence, attitude & social skills have gone up leaps and bounds.

Whilst I endevoured to keep his games within his age limit at home (and only played my own games when the children were safely tucked away in bed) I had to admit defeat since he'd just go and play those games elsewhere anyway, not that it matters...He's not irresponsible - He actually told me how uncomfortable he felt about the game you were referring to in taking the side of the terrorists.

I don't like violent games. Not all games are violent. Pointless and/or misguided premise.

reply to post by Bauwser


Thats so ridiculous, most of the 'nerd gamers' yo uare thinking of will be the ones the popular kids will be working for later in life. I wouldnt call myself a die hard gamer but I play a lot of fps online since I was pretty young. At 24 now i've been playing in bands for the last 7 years and have played gigs all over the world with bands that I never though i'd be lucky enough to ever meet let alone hang out with. I now intend to work in the entertainment industry (tv or games) at a corperate level so I can make a good living out of what I love.

You are a skateboarder? Well anyone could say they wouldnt like to look back on their life and think wow all that time I wasted riding a plank on wheels around. You can say that about anything it doesnt mean its bad. People like different things and just because you dont like it doesnt mean others cant. You are stereotyping people a lot. When you describe hardcore gamers who get adgey without playing you are in fact describing people with addiction rto gaming which is a tiny % of gamers. Most of us a normal people with all kinds of jobs and likes and dislikes, not just nerds!

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Originally posted by Hiasyouwant
reply to post by BrianDamage

 

Just google "World of Warcraft addiction", nevermind gold farming mines in China. I'm not making this stuff up. It absolutely affects a persons life more than literature or a movie; and will continue to worsen. You are not nearly as immersed as you are watching a movie as you are in such games. Some of these people make this their life. Are you telling me I should be allowed to create a virtual child on a free game Sony puts out, find a Virtual adult, and engage in Virtual sex? Is that okay? Every turn, decision and moment is often left up to the player, and often plays out differently. There is no one addicted to literature or film the way they are addicted to these games. Thousands and thousands of hours spent on a movie? Hardly.

Never been near Second life - nor do I wish to. I did though play World of Warcraft for years.
Anyone who simply cannot turn off their computer to either feed their children or go to the toilet are lost souls to begin with. The Warcraft forums have always been awash with people flouncing - proclaiming everyone is addicted, fat no marks - only to return months later. That news is very old.

Warcraft addiction is a rubbish none-condition usually bounced around by either shrinks rubbing their hands in glee at all the money they will get from hysterical parents brainwashed into thinking fighting dragons is a tool of the devil (oh yes remember D&D - when rolling dice was a tool of the devil) or someone who finally broke the Warcraft spell when they found out that hot night elf they were cyboring was actually their neighbours 13 year old son.

Well by that logic Movies and TV are also bad. Their all in the same category. Lets just say that Video Games are interactive movies.

As an indie game developer, I believe games can be whatever you want them to be. Whether its entertainment, simulation or art. But the one key ingredient in games is "play", and that is an essential thing for the human mind to have.
People know the difference between a game and reality. Its like PLAYing cops and robbers as a kid.
Its the people who already have problems that struggle to realize this difference and end up taking things too far. But you cant blame games for that, unless you also want to ban imagination, playing in a playground, dreaming, watching a movie etc. You can only blame the persons mind.

I strongly suggest you read a book titled: Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan.

I also suggest you play a game called Braid. That my friend is art!

I guess I'm what some would call a hardcore gamer - over 100k gamerscore on xbox, whilst still gaming on my PS3, iphone, psp, wii and PC

I've been gaming since my dad bought me a Commodore 16 when I was 6 years old. That's nearly 30 years. I can safely say gaming has done nothing but entertain me throughout that time.

Sure, I could have been learning guitar or whatever, but I've had so many amazing experiences in games that simply are not possible in the real world.

You point out Silent Hill - the game is rated 18, same as an 18 rated horror film. What's the difference other that you can intreract with games?

I'm in my 50's and have been a gamer literally since Pong, and a Christian since way before that. For me there is no conflict between my faith and my video gaming hobby. For the vast majority (if not all) of people killing in a video game does not equate to a more violent "real life" or interest in killing actual people. Those who blame their violent tendencies on video games are more than likely just trying to assign blame to anyone or anything other than themselves (a very popular technique in today's society, no one wants to accept responsibility for their own actions). I do agree with the posters who say video games are not completely harmless, because if one becomes addicted to gaming then it can lead to coach-potato-itis and a general lack of responsible behavior. Certainly ANY addiction is undesirable and needs to be dealt with. But, if video gaming is not taken to the extreme of addiction it is a lot of fun and can even have positive benefits (it's a great release after a hard day of work!)

As far as parenting goes, 2 of my kids are hardcore gamers and 1 not-so-hardcore and I do have rules in place. I stress to them that gaming is a "reward", they need to finish their (few) chores and homework before they can game. They also have to stick to a reasonable bed time. Sometimes if they have a lot of homework they don't have time for games at all. They understand that gaming is the lowest priority even though they may want to place it at the top of the list That said, they do get plenty of gaming time in.

We have a pretty serious gaming setup, in the living room we have a 55" HD3D set with a PS3 hooked up to it, this is mainly my setup. In the game room we have a 52" set with a PS2, PS3, Wii, Gamecube and SNES hooked up. All wires are hidden and there's a switchbox to go between the various consoles. The consoles are all housed in a cabinet under the set. It's quite tidy.

Not all people are the same (ESPECIALLY when it comes to beliefs), some people feel their faith prohibits them from playing video games and they feel guilty if they do play them. You have to follow your conscience, but at the same time you have to understand that all people are different and what works for you may not work for someone else. If you feel you're better off not playing games then so be it, but don't expect everyone else to have the same beliefs.

What is the difference in playing a video game and watching a movie, or tv for hours on end without doing anything but eating popcorn and cheezits? It is a form of entertainment and to me video games are an art form, it takes just as much if not more talent to create a really good game as it does to write a book, direct a movie or tv show. Don't bash something just because a few nut balls go crazy and think it's real. Should the man who ran around with a samurai sword because he thought he was the second coming of some Shogun put an end to all movies? Or better yet should Rambo and Terminator series be outlawed because some crazy thinks they are those characters? It's entertainment and art nothing more.

Ok so who's going to tell my 85 year old Dad he can't play his Xbox anymore?
I'm not brave enough.

This is stupid. Why not take away movies, comics, books, newspapers, plays, and anything that could be used to create something that the OP doesn't agree with.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


not reading all the comments here right now, but wanting to reply, so forgive me if my reply was already stated.

it is the PARENTS.

it is about whether or not you are a good enough parent to limit their game time, slelct age appropriate games for them, and monitor how the games affect them.
My two toddler play mario sunshine. a lot.
do I mind? not at the moment. We do not have television here. I prefer to watch my two year old try over and over again how to get through a level, learning about trial and error, getting thrilled and cheering when she gets it - than mindlessly staring at cartoons, which parents justify because they occasionally stick in a good moral here and there. Aside formt he educational programming for children, which is only good in small doses as well, tv is crap. when i had tv i wouldnt let them watch Caillou because they followed up every show talking in his whiny voice and picked up a lot fo bad habits. and the commercials! Dotn get me started on how sick I am of hearing "Oh can I have that?!"
even before they were two, my children had developed their hand eye coordination and could make mario run around where they wanted, i loved that it was an open 3-d world. they taught themselves what to avoid, what to jump on, how to open doors. all using their brain. Now that they are a bit older, my five year old enjoys a bit of zelda, other mario titles, and games like tetris and bust a move (those titles are great for growing brains)
They still get bit of filtered tv programming via netflix and youtube. they are smarter than the average children, very verbal and energetic. my two year old is showing an amazing ability to understand complicated conversations that i would never even realize she was listening to.
I do not allow them to play their father's old video games, they are hidden away, and they know that not every game is good, even if it looks like it was made for children.
i am not worried about their social skills either. i live in the boonies - no one around for them to play with at all, yet they somehow manage justgreat when they get in a roomful of other kids. They play and are happy and outgoing, not odd or shy or awkward.
As they begin school they will not have the time for such games except on w eekends, and they will be fine with that.
to classify video gaiming as being bad, is incorrect. i think if a responsible parent is up to the challenge of doing it right, and realizing that they are addictive and wants to spend the next 18 years of a child's life keeping it under control, then it is not bad.
best lesson ever: mario party, allows three players, and the mini games are of varying degrees of difficulty so even my two year old wins a couple of them - mommy has to pretend to lose now and then of course - they used to cry when they lost or didnt get the big prize at the end, now they cheer on the winner.
if games that have lessons, can teach them, what is the harm. My five year old wants to be a video game programmer when she grows up. She tells me she is doing her studying when she plays, lol.
and you should see them on a computer! Even the two year old would impress you.

so the problem isnt the games, it is in the parenting. IMHO

edited to add:
i have been gaming nonstop since my parent bought the atari 2600. Pacman didnt make me evil. Follwed a few years later by nintendo - which i played at every opportunity, and game i could get my hands on to try. been gaming ever since - wii, comuter, even my phone when i am stuck waiting in line or at a dr office. Mentally i am fit and sound and not in the least antisocial or withdrawn or stunted. In fact, because my physical health took a downturn a few years ago, i love that my daughters and i can share gaming. Their dad takes them out to parks and playgrounds, fishing and the like. Mom plays mario party with them and cheers them on.

Haha, another thread condeming video games as the ill we see in the world, some kinda reverse logic perversion of Ghandi's be the change quote. Don't like games, don't buy them, play them or let your kids play them. Leave us that do like them alone.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


Woah is it 1999 all over again? I am sorry but I really have to disagree with your post in near entirety with the exclusion of games being fun.

1. I grew up playing and still do play the most violent video games.

2. I listened to and still listen on a daily basis to the most violent satanic music known to mankind(No Mr. 1999 not Manson as you would assume ).

3.I still scower the net for violent films that I havent seen or dont yet own .

4.I grew up perfectly fine and I am a fully functioning adult who has never murdered or attacked someone from my "violent fantasies". Plain and simple YOU are the one who is detached from society. YOU have issues if you think the worlds evil can be blamed on virtual things that dont exist. So please stop beating this skeleton of a dead horse.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


Actually, new studies have proved that violent games do not incite violent behavior. In fact, it provides an outlet. However, try to take my games from me and you'll see how fast I can whack you with my mouse.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant

There could be hundreds or thousands of murderers who was given a fantasy, and that fantasy wasn't good enough anymore. So they act out, violently, sadistically.

You are sadly mistaken.

A "murderer" does not need to garner a generic fantasy from a game to fantasize about killing. As long as human beings have brains, we do not need to rely on outer content to generate fantasies.

Blaming video games for the creation of psychopathic killers is the worst sort of straw-grasping.

Violent video games are a good thing. Here's why:

Human beings have always found violence entertaining. When you take the totality of history into perspective, you find that our modern entertainment forms are extremely docile compared to what our ancestors found amusing.

Take for example the Romans. The Romans took the whole family to the coliseum to watch real-life fights to the death. Not to mention the anticipation over getting to witness a public execution...which the whole family, once again, was there to witness.

Look through any part of our history, and you can find examples like these.

Violence as a form of entertainment has always been around, its nothing new. In today's age if we wanted to watch a fight to the death, it would be between two actors that walk away when the "fight" is over. Or it would be between pixels generated to appear human. The "violent" entertainment that we view today, unlike throughout history is...fake. It is, in many ways, a testament to modern civility.

Not to mention the fact that "murder" is certainly not a modern invention.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant

tell me it doesn't affect black children who play it, I dare you.

It doesn't effect black children who play it.

There, I said it.