Hey, let’s talk about video-game violence
All this is to say that while uninformed anti-game sensationalism may be unproductive, gamers’ reflexive defensiveness is worse. It’s prevented us from having a meaningful conversation about an industry that is emotionally and morally stunted, where per-title revenue can dwarf even the most successful films of all time but which seems immune from discussions of taste and artistic merit. A higher-up at one of the largest game publishers in the world once confided in me that when his bosses showed him early footage from a popular first-person shooter produced by another studio in the company, he couldn’t bring himself to watch to the end.
It’s not crazy to feel uneasy that young men’s most influential entertainment products, the cultural touchstones they do and will reminisce about in adulthood, are built around the premise of empathizing with a man with a gun in his hand, who kills not in the crudely symmetrical and grim manner of war but gleefully commits mass slaughter. These games become more like action movies with each passing technological generation, approaching photorealism and pulling players into actual, active theaters of war. These are first-person games with first-person narratives, differentiated from films only by a lack of distinction between viewer and protagonist.
Blowback
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Let’s also ban games that let you drive fast cars. Might give people ideas. Can’t have that.
wte9 on December 18, 2012 at 9:24 PM
I was going to comment about how awful video games are, but I then I took an arrow to my knee.
29Victor on December 18, 2012 at 9:25 PM
Hey, let’s make sure to avoid talking about the real issues.
strictnein on December 18, 2012 at 9:30 PM
Hollywood 2.0
Dusty on December 18, 2012 at 9:31 PM
No one wants to have a ‘meaningful conversation.’ They just want to ban the games. They are not interested in non-essential things like ‘facts’ or ‘common sense’ or ‘logic’ — those don’t fit into their tiny mindset.
RoadRunner on December 18, 2012 at 9:32 PM
Must. Do. Something!!!!!!!!
thebrokenrattle on December 18, 2012 at 9:33 PM
And the data that shows a resulting increase in violence is where?
Dusty on December 18, 2012 at 9:35 PM
This piece doesn’t even get at half of it.
WHAT ABOUT THE VIOLENCE THAT BREAKS OUT DURING VIDEO GAMES?
I’ve seen people throw game controllers at other people’s heads (and painfully connect), all in a fit of pique over losing a game of Madden.
Perhaps we need game controller control.
Robert_Paulson on December 18, 2012 at 9:36 PM
I’d comment but I haven’t gotten my guild wars 2 daily kill progress for today yet
levi on December 18, 2012 at 9:39 PM
Lets do. Everytime one of these anti-gun zealots rambles about gun control, lets also talk about censoring the media. Restricting their 1st Amendment rights. After both Amendments were written by the same white slave owners. If the 2nd Amendent is negotiable than so is the rest of the Bill of Rights.
jawkneemusic on December 18, 2012 at 9:43 PM
After all*
jawkneemusic on December 18, 2012 at 9:44 PM
[levi on December 18, 2012 at 9:39 PM]
Stop choosing actors and newspaper guilds and you’ll be back to commenting by noon.
Dusty on December 18, 2012 at 9:45 PM
That sums it up nicely. Chess is one of the most played games on the planet, yet it was conceived as a war strategy game. Go figure.
OldEnglish on December 18, 2012 at 9:46 PM
There is a big difference between emotionally stable adults playing these games and disturbed kids who grow up in separated families and who play these games countless hours.
I absolutely think the violent movies and games are driving some people to murdering others. I do not know what the solution is, but this has to be part of the discussion.
stenwin77 on December 18, 2012 at 9:49 PM
I can make up theories too ya know:
Violent video games provide an emotional catharsis to people who are dealing with frustrations in their lives. Crazy killers played video games because it provides them with an escape from a reality they’d rather not be apart of. It’s an outlet, but if someone truly has problems, they’ll have to deal with those problems eventually. They’ll take any outlet they can to cope with a growing problem, but the disturbing aspect of their lives can continue to pile up until they have a psychotic break with reality/morality.
Like any escapist leisure activity it can be an indicator of someone who’s unhappy with their life. But video games are part of the mainstream, and millions enjoy them for what they are: downtime. Anybody who plays a violent video game and thinks “I want to do this is real life” had serious issues long before they turned on the Xbox.
Meric1837 on December 18, 2012 at 9:51 PM
I’d comment but I almost have my “gunzerker” character at level 50 in Borderlands 2. Just a few more missions…
Kataklysmic on December 18, 2012 at 9:52 PM
Why? Hundreds of millions of gamers worldwide never commit a violent crime. Why do we have to have a ‘meaningful conversation’ because of a few nutjobs?
Good Solid B-Plus on December 18, 2012 at 9:54 PM
But you must never ever bring up the role of movies, TV and pop music in forming the dreck known as “contemporary culture”.
ddrintn on December 18, 2012 at 10:03 PM
[jawkneemusic on December 18, 2012 at 9:43 PM]
I don’t know that I want to censor the media, but they are selling a product and if the product is defective and willfully fraudulent, there ought to be some sort of tort to available as a corrective measure. If they want the freedom to be willfully misleading, or just plain wrong, they can use their free speech rights do it for free, as in “free” like blog commenters do.
Ditto something for politicians. I’m tired of their lies. I’m tired of their machinations. I’m tired of their fraudulent representations of legislation and the corruption.
You know, Friedman and, now Immelt, extol the way the Chinese do things. Well, one issue the Chinese believe is paramount is trust in the government. As such, the penalty for corruption by government employees and legislators can be the death penalty if the numbers are high enough. I mention this because I think we should have a conversation about that!
Dusty on December 18, 2012 at 10:04 PM
This.
29Victor on December 18, 2012 at 10:05 PM
Oh, I don’t think they’re driving people to do such. I just think that as a “society” by and large we are a bunch of desensitized narcissists who crave attention.
ddrintn on December 18, 2012 at 10:05 PM
bileduct on December 18, 2012 at 10:06 PM
I played Minecraft last week, now I cant stop digging or piling up blocks all over my yard.
Bishop on December 18, 2012 at 10:19 PM
Japanese kids are far more likely to be gamers than US kids and yet it doesn’t make them homicidal.
alwaysfiredup on December 18, 2012 at 10:20 PM
I played SimCity back in the day…think I’ll run for mayor.
Left Coast Right Mind on December 18, 2012 at 10:22 PM
I’d comment but I’m trying to get my platinum star on the M24, and brother it’s slow goin’. Stinking choppers keep spotting me.
rihar on December 18, 2012 at 10:24 PM
LOL… long time ago, playing Grand Theft Auto 3 messed me up a little. When I would drive around in real life, and I saw a cop car, I would instinctively think, RUN RUN RUN!!! I was like that for a few months.
El_Terrible on December 18, 2012 at 10:24 PM
Meaningful dialogue from a leftard: “Because, shut up.”
davidk on December 18, 2012 at 10:26 PM
Ever been on the highway after the local dirt-track races let out?
davidk on December 18, 2012 at 10:26 PM
I haven’t explored enough of GW1 to justify knowing what you mean by that.
rihar on December 18, 2012 at 10:27 PM
How did you do that?
davidk on December 18, 2012 at 10:28 PM
I played Skyrim, and now I raise the dead to deal with every minor problem I encounter in life… at least I used to, until I took an arrow to the knee.
Lawdawg86 on December 18, 2012 at 10:29 PM
And very few at that.
davidk on December 18, 2012 at 10:29 PM
How many millions of games in the Call of Duty series alone have been sold in the United States, and we’ve had, what, five violent incidents in as many years?
You’d probably have a stronger causal relationship between mass shootings and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
KingGold on December 18, 2012 at 10:30 PM
Well, I grew up watching hours upon hours of the Three Stooges and yet I somehow didn’t become a nose-twisting, face-smacking, eye-poking menace to society. Maybe it was Officer Joe Bolton that kept us grounded in those days. But I will confess, every time I see a cream pie, I do get the urge….
lynncgb on December 18, 2012 at 10:31 PM
We’ve been there and done that. What meaningful discussion was ever had in banning tag, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians or even dodgeball? Yet these games of natural playful ” violence” was banned by most schools. So now we have an epidemic of fat boys venting their thirst for action via video games. You can’t stop, only redirect human nature. Boys will be boys and they will have their outlet. Stupid libtards!!
AH_C on December 18, 2012 at 10:37 PM
Hey, no
mintycrys on December 18, 2012 at 10:39 PM
is the mucous membrane centrally-located within the female anatomy.
Capitalist Hog on December 18, 2012 at 10:40 PM
A new one is coming out soon. I spent entirely too much time with SimCity 4
ernesto on December 18, 2012 at 10:41 PM
Oh good, then with the level of realism I should skip being mayor and go right to governor.
Left Coast Right Mind on December 18, 2012 at 10:55 PM
Make sure you get the rewards for both the variety of things you kill and for the sheer number of things you kill!
Mr. Prodigy on December 18, 2012 at 11:08 PM
In GW2 you can get daily and monthly “achievements” for things like daily kill variety, daily kill total, monthly WvW kills, etc. Basically, it’s Arenanet’s way to prod people into playing every single day
Mr. Prodigy on December 18, 2012 at 11:11 PM
I absolutely agree we should have a serious conversation about the shortfall of artistic merit in the video game industry.
Oh, wait, this was about the mass shooting last week? Sorry, wrong thread.
Xasprtr on December 18, 2012 at 11:21 PM
I used to brave Chuck Norris jokes in the Barrens till I took an arrow to the knee.
oryguncon on December 18, 2012 at 11:30 PM
deadrody on December 18, 2012 at 11:31 PM
Ugh. First, screwed up the formatting.
Then I went to the two links he says are “good”. They are not. Any article that even mentions people planning on online day of peace or day away from games, or some such BS is complete crap.
deadrody on December 18, 2012 at 11:34 PM
More, and more violent, video games than every before. Played by a larger % of young people than ever before. More and more graphic violence and effects Han ever.
Less shootings than ever.
Go find another scapegoat.
Irritable Pundit on December 18, 2012 at 11:46 PM
Ayeah, I totally can’t tell the difference between driving 120 MPH in Need for Speed Carbon and doing that in real life. /sarc
Even IF I had an invincible car like I did in the game, I’d have to end my ride in Mexico. A 1/2 hour long police chase where you disabled multiple cop cars IRL would net you a list of convictions as long as Obama’s nose.
MelonCollie on December 18, 2012 at 11:52 PM
Oh yeah, well I was playing Half Life 2 Episode 3 last week and ….. Ok I wasn’t since they are never going to finish making the freaking game!!
Garym on December 19, 2012 at 12:02 AM
let’s ban violent video games and movies and stuff! because it’s not like lots and lots of other people like those things and never become murderers.
Sachiko on December 19, 2012 at 1:42 AM
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