Violence in Video Games

[Judge Hades]

You know, I have always been tempted to go to a PETA office with a big bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and eat it in front of them.

[213374U]

Indeed, a fine example of why too much violence in games makes your psycho rating increase. "

 

And on to the topic, it's so easy to accuse other people of being weak or not being as mentally stable as you are, but not everyone can benefit from a balanced brain chemistry, or an infancy in an adequate environment. The bottom line is that it's not their fault. Not always, anyway. It's rather unfair to say that just because you should be held accountable for your actions, everyone should.

 

If you think you can withstand violence in games just fine, wait a few years. In time, not even your rationalization of what's real and what's not will be enough to prevent you from puking in the face of certain things... unless they stop it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like video games with some blood in them, but I don't enjoy inflicting pain.

[Judge Hades]

OH! Blood Donation games are for you then! BWAAHAAHAAAAA!

[NeverwinterKnight]

i had to vote for the 'maybe' option. i think that depending on the ratings the individual games are given, then it shouldnt be a big deal. it would be much like movies where if there is a lot of blood and guts or a lot of gratuitous sex then it will get a high rating and minors will not be able to view it. im wondering how strict game stores are about selling 'r-rated' games to youngsters.

 

as a whole, though, i dont think violence in general has gotten too high. there are some extreme cases that maybe should have toned down, but as long as the mainstream of games remains in that 'acceptable' level then i dont think its a big deal (as long as the ratings system is followed and adhered to).

[Rosbjerg]

as Mkreku said .. a constant exposure to violence will cause immunity! and when the violence looks exactly like reality, maybe that limit will be reached even faster ..

 

I just think developers should think long and hard about how necessary it is to their game! I mean news station doesn't show all to many pictures of extremely mutilated bodies ..

 

and to Hades about the PETA .. go for it!

[Juha]

No- Nothing wrong with seeing whats not real

 

I dont agree with the last part. It should be real. A person gets cut, the person bleeds.

The violence is what people like (dont ask why) but arent allowed to, and dont like being done to them.

Would you buy a game with no violence, no complications, no problems?

 

The violence in games should be realistic. By that I mean that when you hit someone in game he gets a bruise. He doesnt just walk away with nothing at all, neither does tons of blood flow out of his cheek.

 

Realism.

 

Of caurse, players should be able to choose what they want (I like that in NWN). You can turn blood off, on, or extreme.

 

EDIT: Oh. and the second reply, the one about nationality. I like that. Quite true. It all depends on the surroundings you grow up in. On the community. On society.

[Rosbjerg]

"Would you buy a game with no violence, no complications, no problems?"

 

why would no violence also include "no complications, no problems"?

would I buy such a game? no .. boring as hell ..

 

but would I buy a game with complications and problems? yes .. story-driven and hopefully interesting! I don't need violence in a game for me to think it's good! do you?

[213374U]

as Mkreku said .. a constant exposure to violence will cause immunity! and when the violence looks exactly like reality, maybe that limit will be reached even faster ..

My point exactly.

 

No- Nothing wrong with seeing whats not real

 

I dont agree with the last part. It should be real. A person gets cut, the person bleeds.

The violence is what people like (dont ask why) but arent allowed to, and dont like being done to them.

Would you buy a game with no violence, no complications, no problems?

 

The violence in games should be realistic. By that I mean that when you hit someone in game he gets a bruise. He doesnt just walk away with nothing at all, neither does tons of blood flow out of his cheek.

 

Realism.

Obviously you don't know jack about real violence. I recommend you ask a war vet about his experience if you can, or read stuff by people who have experienced violence first-hand, ex-mobsters or whatever. Perhaps then you will realize how violence changes people for the worse.

 

I don't have a problem with pixel blood and 2k poly models being slaughtered. However that's as close to the real thing as martial arts training. Real violence however is a horrible thing. Not quite the 'physical' component of it, but the emotional one. The feeling that you are causing suffering to another being is something your mind can't handle very well, and thus, rejects violently.

 

Even though a game is not real, it's only because the technology doesn't allow for total realism yet. When it does, your subconcious (sp?) won't be able to tell the difference between 'real' and fictional violence very well, even though you know it's not real. And then, you will be in trouble.

[mkreku]

Maybe I should clarify one thing: I voted maybe. Adults should be able to decide what they can or can't handle themselves. Personally I dont like the amount of violence in games nowadays. Manhunt made me physically ill. What's the fun in putting a plastic bag over someone's head and slowly (almost sadistically) suffocate that person to death? I just wish developers themselves realized that a game doesn't need to involve decapitations and mutilations to sell.

[Ludozee]

Maybe I should clarify one thing: I voted maybe. Adults should be able to decide what they can or can't handle themselves. Personally I dont like the amount of violence in games nowadays. Manhunt made me physically ill. What's the fun in putting a plastic bag over someone's head and slowly (almost sadistically) suffocate that person to death? I just wish developers themselves realized that a game doesn't need to involve decapitations and mutilations to sell.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, if people want to play it, who are we (or the governement for that matter) to stop them from doing so? I believe in individual freedom (up to a certain point of course) so I believe people should be able to do their own thing. And above that, better to suffocate someone in a game then in real life, right?

[Rosbjerg]

yes I want to able to play a violent game as well when I want to .. but some can't handle it, and I personally think that everyone, developers, parents, buyers, society etc etc should take a more active role in trying to help and prevent the addiction to violence and/or the adrenalin rush for those who can't handle it!

[Ludozee]

yes I want to able to play a violent game as well when I want to .. but some can't handle it, and I personally think that everyone, developers, parents, buyers, society etc etc should take a more active role in trying to help and prevent the addiction to violence and/or the adrenalin rush for those who can't handle it!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

True, something sould definately change, but it's too easy and naive to say "lets ban violence from games". The problem wouldn't be solved by just that.

[Rosbjerg]

which isn't what I want .. because violence would still be on everyones mind! and they can still watch TV to see violence for that matter! all the same .. games are only 1% of it, and a symptom, not the disease ..

[Ludozee]

which isn't what I want .. because violence would still be on everyones mind! and they can still watch TV to see violence for that matter! all the same .. games are only 1% of it, and a symptom, not the disease ..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Games are a symptom? How do you mean that? Like, a symptom of a sick society?

[draakh_kimera]

I believe there is too much violence. I don't mean that there's too many violent games, just that most games glorify and exaggerate the violence to a point where the game is a poor excuse for violence. As for what should be done, it's pretty easy: STOP PLAYING! Okay, so maybe it isn't that easy, but once you get a different hobby it becomes a lot easier. I actually did have a problem with playing too much ( at least in my opinion) until I started longboarding. Now that **** gets your blood pumping! Ever gone at 60km/h (approx. 40mph) on a wooden board without brakes? Have a go...

 

Now, just a little off topic, you see a bunch of half naked chicks all over games nowadays, but where's the sex?

[213374U]

Well, if people want to play it, who are we (or the governement for that matter)  to stop them from doing so? I believe in individual freedom (up to a certain point of course) so I believe people should be able to do their own thing. And above that, better to suffocate someone in a game then in real life, right?

Right, and who is the government to prevent anyone from having a rocket launcher in the basement in case they feel like going blow gas stations up.

 

Some things are hazards to society as a whole. Ultra-violent games have the potential to be one of those things.

[Rosbjerg]

wouldn't you say? I don't think it's a need for realism that's driving this .. because realism isn't blood and human intestines being molested by a AK-47 .. and the people who have actually seen that don't want to relive it again in a VG!

 

I think it's a need for violence, for blood and death .. and to push it further, more real so we can really see how it is to kill a person! without actually doing it ..

In small quantities I can accept that, but when it turns into an addiction of it, then we have a serious problem imo!

[Ludozee]

Right, and who is the government to prevent anyone from having a rocket launcher in the basement in case they feel like going blow gas stations up.

Like I said, I believe in induvidual freedom up to a certain point. Having rocket launchers in one's basement obviously goes too far...

Some things are hazards to society as a whole. Ultra-violent games have the potential to be one of those things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, the games itself are not a threat, the person who is influenced by the game and becomes violent is.

[213374U]

No, the games itself are not a threat, the person who is influenced by the game and becomes violent is.

You seem to think that violence can be controlled with a certain amount of willpower or whatever. Well, sorry to break this to you, but it can't. Once you become impervious to it, that means that the psychological and moral barriers that make violence despicable and disgusting have been demolished, and hence you have effectively become a psycho.

 

Note that I'm not talking about the present violence in games, which is not enough to trigger psychological disorders on sane individuals. I'm talking about what game violence can become if the present increasing rate of gaming realism stays constant for say, 20 years.

 

If you have a product that can turn healthy masses into psychos, you won't need to ban RPG launchers for civilian use, because people would rather go close up and personal.

[Ludozee]

Let's put it this way: a game, a piece of software, can not be blamed for anything. Like I said above somewhere, it all boils down to responsibility, and this starts with parents and school who teach us the moral values of scoiety.

A "normal" person (by current society standards) wouldn't kill someone because he just played a videogame in which he killed someone...

Someone with diffculties recognising the line between game and real life should be protected against such violent influences, but this doesn't mean that all the "normal" people should be affected by the countermeasures.

[Judge Hades]

You seem to think that violence can be controlled with a certain amount of willpower or whatever. Well, sorry to break this to you, but it can't. Once you become impervious to it, that means that the psychological and moral barriers that make violence despicable and disgusting have been demolished, and hence you have effectively become a psycho.

 

Note that I'm not talking about the present violence in games, which is not enough to trigger psychological disorders on sane individuals. I'm talking about what game violence can become if the present increasing rate of gaming realism stays constant for say, 20 years.

 

If you have a product that can turn healthy masses into psychos, you won't need to ban RPG launchers for civilian use, because people would rather go close up and personal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The psycho is to blame, not the game. Games don't make psychos. Psychos chose their path, it wasn't chosen for them.

[Rosbjerg]

of course that's a worse case scenario 213374U..

but it does seem our culture has become increasingly violent, and the most visible signs are violence on TV/Games and a change in attitude towards it ..

but as said, I think that's just symptoms, the games only get developed because people buy them and want them! so the need is there and not being forced on us! it seem we just want to see realistic violence! perhaps because our society has become sterile and dull (we are animals after all with animal urges and instincts)..

[213374U]

A "normal" person (by current society standards) wouldn't kill someone because he just played a videogame in which he killed someone...

Someone with diffculties recognising the line between game and real life should be protected against such violent influences, but this doesn't mean that all the "normal" people should be affected by the countermeasures.

Let's not dumb the discussion down so much, shall we? Again, right now I agree with you. A sane person will not go out on a killing spree just because he just played Postal. However, long-term exposure to real violence will tear down the psychological safeguards that prevent you from acting violently on instinct. That is a fact. Now, what if a game was so real that your mind couldn't tell between fiction and reality?

 

The psycho is to blame, not the game.  Games don't make psychos.  Psychos chose their path, it wasn't chosen for them.

Don't be absurd. There are a lot of things that can turn a person into a psycho and most of them are out of that person's control. Do you really think that sane people actually choose to become serial killers on a whim?

 

Yet another jewel of anti-logic for your collection.

[Baneblade]

You know, Polls tend to increase peoples agression levels.

 

It's the job of the parent to look after their offsprings, so just put parental advisory tags on the game as then those who are of age can enjoy it.

 

So voted for Maybe.

[Ludozee]

Let's not dumb the discussion down so much, shall we? Again, right now I agree with you. A sane person will not go out on a killing spree just because he just played Postal. However, long-term exposure to real violence will tear down the psychological safeguards that prevent you from acting violently on instinct. That is a fact. Now, what if a game was so real that your mind couldn't tell between fiction and reality?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I never experienced a violent thing as they occur in games, so I don't know when a game offers "realistic" violence. I think this goes for most people. And like someone else just stated: people who can tell when violence in a game is real probably don't want to play such a game anyway.

I agree with you that long term exposure to violence can make people feel indifferent about it, and that it doesnt apply exclusively to games, but this boils down to the fact that violence is bad. That's not news...

 

@ draakh_kimera:

Go play Larry: Magna **** Laude (stupid filter )