Senator Proposes Bill to Study Violence in Games

[KeyofEvil'sBane]

Mine actually didn't for a while. Hell, when I was a kid, they sometimes had problems with me playing T rated games

 

[Reagan Rayden]

lol you guys act like your parents didn't let you play M rated games

Maybe because they were good parents.

 

[Johnny Stooge]

Always have to shift the blame to movies or video games. People are never to blame, it's the things children watch and play.

No. They're shifting the blame from guns.

 

[Pinwheel]

No. They're shifting the blame from guns.

I didn't say what they shifted the blame from though. I said what it was shifted to. I half agree with you though, it's shifting it away from guns. Guns are still towering over it in the blame department though.

 

[Johnny Stooge]

I didn't say what they shifted the blame from though. I said what it was shifted to. I half agree with you though, it's shifting it away from guns. Guns are still towering over it in the blame department though.

You implied they were shifting blame from people to the media and it's influence.

 

[Pinwheel]

You implied they were shifting blame from people to the media and it's influence.

Whoopsie, my bad, guess I did. I should elaborate more on what I was saying. I wasn't referring to the Connecticut shooting in specific; I'm referring to how video games and movies tend to get fingers pointed at them quite often, regardless of what may be going on at the time.

 

[Tom "Bane" Hardy]

These studies are so pointless. I have a relative who works with these studies and he's always complaining about how dumb they are.

 

[inasuma]

You know what's even worse? The diddlying head of the NRA saying that the only way to stop the bad guys with guns is to have good guys with guns.

diddlying ridiculous. This whole debate is nonsense.

Wait wait wait.

Proposing a bill to study violence in video games?

Doesn't that sound like, I don't know, a trivial thing to write up a whole bill over?

yeah, why don't they just... study the damn games.

This always gets me. It's the responsibility of the parent to accurately judge and moderate what content their child should be exposed to, not the responsibility of the company.

that's why the esrb exists. it gives parents a way to judge for certain what games are good for their kids, then it's up to retailers like gamestop to not sell those games unless the parents give express permission. so this really comes down to bad parenting. but that still doesn't answer the question of whether violence in games causes violence in kids.

the way i see it: if it's the game and not the gamer, then why is it the killer and not the gun?

 

[Sexual White Chocolate]

You know what's even worse? The diddlying head of the NRA saying that the only way to stop the bad guys with guns is to have good guys with guns.

I support the second amendment as a whole, but that said, this argument is diddlying stupid. It's the same as "they have nukes, so let's build bigger nukes to protect ourselves from their nukes." Personally, if people want to own firearms be it for hunting or w/e, sure. But there's no reason there can't be some more regulation on the matter.

As for the actual topic, studies on violence in media, and specifically video games, has been done time and time again. People can skew the statistics however they want, but at the end of the day, video games are not a cause of real world violence. All the studies that actually take variables and histories into account show that much. Speaking for myself, it's actually a form of stress relief where I can release my anger out on virtual people as opposed to on real people. I can promise you I wouldn't be half as nice as I am without "violent" video games. Mental health would be a real issue, though. As would the problem of the media glorifying these mass killers in infamy for the world to see.

 

[Ulti]

You know what this gun violence needs? More guns! I mean, it is so simple!

Or...maaaaybe everyone shouldn't be entitled to military grade weapons.

 

[Shinjuku]

You know what this gun violence needs? More guns! I mean, it is so simple!

Or...maaaaybe everyone shouldn't be entitled to military grade weapons.

That's the simple answer, but people won't take that because well it's taking away my rights(is what they say).

I think even if you've never held a actual gun(I have, but not those like a AR-15) just by playing games you know how powerful this crap is. I might not like COD anymore, but remembering the mission from COD4 "All Ghillie up" I knew exactly why things like Barret 50 cal should never be legal hell even made lol.

 

[Trag]

Nah, that's not true at all. I've played gun games my entire life and nothing could have prepared me for even the kick of a 9mm. Plus that's the feeling of what it's like to be on the end of a machine that's designed to take lives. They are so much different than in games. But let's not let this turn into another gun debate. diddly people who think that media reflects on society rather than it being a reflection OF society. Kids were violent before video games ninjaaaasssss

 

[Abel]

Sorry, I don't see the problem with this. It's not a trivial thing to write a bill over. The government wants to take a role in funding scientific research of the effects of media on people since the industry has failed to research and regulate itself. Everyone who is so confident that violent video games are harmless should be pleased if the research shows no ill effects.

The funny thing is that research has already been done on the effects of exposure to violence on people (since decades before video games), and it has shown that exposure to violence causes a propensity toward violent behavior. Sad but true. Such basic and unanimous resolutions to hot-button topics can be learned in Intro to Psychology courses in college. Check them out.

 

[Wehrmacht]

The government wants to take a role in funding scientific research of the effects of media on people since the industry has failed to research and regulate itself. Everyone who is so confident that violent video games are harmless should be pleased if the research shows no ill effects.

I think people are more exasperated at the fact that american society continues to try and find an excuse for violent behavior, particuarly parents because the announcement has a distinct "think of the children message", which is completely asinine because violent videogames aren't sold to or marketed towards children. Media should not be censored because parents are incompetent at protecting their children from exposure to violent videogames.

Even if the study does manage to show some correlation, you would really have to look into the study itself and see if it was conducted properly and what their criteria were and so on. Data can be interpreted in a number of ways.

The funny thing is that research has already been done on the effects of exposure to violence on people (since decades before video games), and it has shown that exposure to violence causes a propensity toward violent behavior. Sad but true. Such basic and unanimous resolutions to hot-button topics can be learned in Intro to Psychology courses in college. Check them out.

I think it is still fairly obvious that if a violent game incites something inside someone, they had a problem to begin with. Not everyone who plays violent videogames goes off on a shooting spree.

There has ALWAYS been a scapegoat for violent behavior in society: comic books (the ensuing censorship caused by the book "Seduction of the Innocent" utterly stagnated the entire industry), rock n' roll, television, pretty much every medium has been accused of inciting violence. Obviously they influence people, but it comes down much more to the individual. Children are more affected by their relationships with their parents and peers and their inherent genetics than what they watch on TV, generally speaking.

 

[Reagan Rayden]

Not everyone who plays violent videogames goes off on a shooting spree.

Whenever the topic comes up I would like to ask these people why I myself have no urge to kill innocent people with guns being a person who plays video games in all of my spare time.

I've seen some violent shit in video games, but I'm not about to go out and replicate what I've seen. There's too much effort involved. Going to prison or dying is not on my to-do list.

 

[Shinjuku]

Nah, that's not true at all. I've played gun games my entire life and nothing could have prepared me for even the kick of a 9mm. Plus that's the feeling of what it's like to be on the end of a machine that's designed to take lives. They are so much different than in games. But let's not let this turn into another gun debate. diddly people who think that media reflects on society rather than it being a reflection OF society. Kids were violent before video games ninjaaaasssss

Sorry if you thought I was trying to turn this into a gun debate. I'm just saying I know that real life is different from the game, but still watching even in virtual land taking someone's arm off you know that thing is powerful as heck.


@ Wehrmacht

I understand what you're saying, but sometimes I won't blame the parents for entirely everything. There are some things they can't control especially with the way things are now.

 

[Abel]

I think people are more exasperated at the fact that american society continues to try and find an excuse for violent behavior, particuarly parents because the announcement has a distinct "think of the children message", which is completely asinine because violent videogames aren't sold to or marketed towards children. Media should not be censored because parents are incompetent at protecting their children from exposure to violent videogames.

They're not trying to find an excuse or even an explanation for violent behavior. After all, being exposed to violence makes one more prone to violent acts, but that itself is not an excuse or explanation of an individual act of violence. What do you think is the end goal of this, anyway? That lawmakers can attribute violent behavior to the video game industry and throw them in jail every time a gamer kills someone? Don't be silly. There's also nothing of censorship being discussed here. They'd probably try to increase regulation at the point of sale depending on the results of the research, not censor art. They can't really do that after the courts found censoring films to be unconstitutional.

Even if the study does manage to show some correlation, you would really have to look into the study itself and see if it was conducted properly and what their criteria were and so on. Data can be interpreted in a number of ways.

Yeah, scientists are pretty good at that. You're basically talking about the process of peer review. Don't worry, they have it under control.

I think it is still fairly obvious that if a violent game incites something inside someone, they had a problem to begin with. Not everyone who plays violent videogames goes off on a shooting spree.

That's very obviously true. But maybe guys who play violent video games are more likely to abuse their girlfriends than guys who don't, or other stuff like that. Let's see what the research has to say before drawing conclusions one way or another.

Children are more affected by their relationships with their parents and peers and their inherent genetics than what they watch on TV, generally speaking.

Are you certain about that? What's your source? I think I vaguely remember the results of a study that showed how simulated violence yielded the same propensity toward violence as real violence.

 

[Wehrmacht]

Are you certain about that? What's your source? I think I vaguely remember the results of a study that showed how simulated violence yielded the same propensity toward violence as real violence.

I probably should have phrased myself differently. It's nothing but a guess on my part on the development of human nature, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Summonerbrandon]

Oh please. The person and Arnold Schwarzeneggar who ends up trying to ban video games to children under adult age in California failed miserably years ago. Video games has nothing to do with this. Before video games ever came out, violence still existed. Books as to where the wolf try to gobble up Red Riding Hood, influence of how cool karate arts could be since people wants to earn the oh-so-popular-and-common black belt, wanting to be a soldier in the army, how people in the bible was being evil in the sight of the Almighty God, all of these has violence. Trying to put all of the accusation on video games will not stop the violence at all.

 

[Taochan]

I think people are more exasperated at the fact that american society continues to try and find an excuse for violent behavior, particuarly parents because the announcement has a distinct "think of the children message", which is completely asinine because violent videogames aren't sold to or marketed towards children. Media should not be censored because parents are incompetent at protecting their children from exposure to violent videogames.

This is exactly what bothers me. Some parents are just too lazy to put-forth the extra effort to research the things their children are watching or playing, so they immediately lay the blame on the industries creating them. It's not as though children can just walk into a store and buy M rated games; parents are going in, buying these violent games intended for adults and giving them to their children while being totally unwilling to accept the blame for exposing their child to that kind of content.