The problem of violent games

Posted June 11, 2012 by Speed - 0 comments

Violent acts by youth. Who’s to blame. People tend to point at entertainment. Video gaming gets a lot of strong fingers put in their eye. Mostly big fat fingers from old geezers, because the knights of good manners are far from young most of the time.

We all know the story. Elders screaming murder because society is turning into a cradle of misbehaviour. It’s not their fault, it’s those damn kids with their MTV’s and breakdance and stupid looking hats worn sideways. It’s no different when we turn the sides. Kids also have trouble simpathizing for adults. The generation conflict will always exist, just like the gender gap will always be there.

Games weren’t such a big part of entertainment until recently. Games used to be something solely for gamers. Now everyone has a Playstation 3, Wii or Xbox 360 in their living room. It’s all well when the games are funny, childish and colourful. But when those games make way for more realistic, violent games, some people begin to feel uncomfortable. It’s not right, it’s disrespectful, sometimes it’s even blasphemy. The stains on the white souls of the youth keep entertaining conservative minds. sn’t everybody sure that yesterday was better? Even in the Dark Ages, people believed it used to be better.

Back to the games. Why are games so much different from books, films or music? A widely spread argument is that the experience factor is much higher with games. It’s you who shoots people, not some character, and it’s you who drives over helpless people. Fair is fair, that’s one hell of an argument. You can’t compete against it, because it’s true. But does that mean games are responsible for the misbehaviour of the youth? I hardly believe so.

Jack Thompson obviously thinks the opposite. He continued rambling on about his most beloved subject: violence linked to gaming. The same thing happened after the high school drama in the Northern Illinois University. Instead of investigating the deeper psychological situation of the offender, he immediately blames games. Why not blame Canada, it would surely make as much sense. He does it multiple times, and this video is from earlier this year.

You can rehearse these types of massacres on simulators which are called videogames.

According to Jack Thompson, games simulate every situation in life. Want to know how to kill a person without remorse? Try playing Counter Strike and learn the whole deal. Having trouble achieving your driver license? Gran Turismo is said to be a driving simulator, so why not give it a shot. I just have to look at myself and my certificates. I’ve earned them all by playing games:

Driving License
Flying license
Dinosaur hunter
Exorcist
God

I think my hitman certificate should be in the mailbox when you’re reading this. The CIA have already contacted me because with my immense experience playing Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid I’ve got what it takes to join the real thing. At least, that’s what Jack Thompson is claiming. I’ll bet he graduated playing Phoenix Wright.

And where did the offender purchase the weapons? Did he download them from Steam and printed them out on his deskjet? Modern society, it cracks me up. Does anyone really believe playing games gives you the knowledge on how to fire a weapon of several pounds? Yeah, I thought so.

The murderous actions from people are often explained by their situations at school at work, or at home. Does he have friends or any kind of social contact? Does he have a steady work, how is his relationship with his family, that sort of things. We all know that, psychology basics aren’t that hard to come up with. Yet we all look the other way and reach for the easy solution. And another thing: ask any 16 year old boy if he has played GTA or Counterstrike and he will say yes.

What about other entertainment sectors? Nobody talks about violent movies anymore. Long jackets, black hair, and they are all depressed after doing it: The Matrix anybody? And why doesn’t anybody talk about the music? There’s no art in the world that has uses feelings as much as music. Hasn’t anybody listend to depressing music when he’s depressed, just to find out he becomes even more sad? There are thousands of songs influenced by suicide, violence and despair but everybody likes listening to music, and everybody likes movies, so we look the other way. Not that I’m saying we should ban depressive music and violent movies, I’m just saying games are an easier target.

The immense popularity of games is a child of the new millennium. New, unknown by a large group of people, and therefore a potential danger. An easy target for people who miss to see the real reasons or just don’t want to see them. The best thing is that the games sector keeps getting bigger and more popular every year. Violent games will always exist, just like depressive music and gory movies will always be there. And if you do want to know; art and entertainment are always a reflexion of the age they are made in. Maybe people like Jack Thompson and other conservatives are the problem all along. I could go on and on about this subject. However, it’s useless, as people don’t understand the real problems.

Playing Wii Nostalgica: Love never-ending