Anglican Youth E-Forum

Micheal Baron · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:49 pm Post subject: Violence in Videogames

Wrap your mind arround this:

If you play a Violent Videogame, does this make you a violent person?

Post your opinions here, no opinion is a bad one.

P.S. Yes I did notice my Avatar very much so when I was posting this
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Daniel_Starky · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 1:25 am Post subject: Just something to consider...

is it possible that playing violent games is not the cause of a violent personality, but rather a way to vent anger?
i mean, when im really angry, i often go on the computer and start shooting anything that moves on conflict: desert storm (well, i would if i still had the game). helps a whole lot sometimes.

Micheal Baron · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 1:30 am Post subject:

I feel the same way, videogames are a great way to vent stress, here are 3 main points that I have to say:

1. Its only a game, no one in real life is physicaly hurt.
2. It reduces stress levels because you virtually hurt something which removes the desire to hurt something in real life.
3. I play violent video games all the time and I am one of the most placid people you could ever meet, I've never turned on someone with a malicious intent to cause pain, and I have played violent videogames all my life.
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Jolyon · User Joined: 13 Jul 2009 Posts: 4 Location: Wellington

I don't think we can work out stuff like does a violent video game make us smash people we don't like in isolation; it's all part o a bigger picture.

But, do all these violent games tell us something about ourselves? Or about the general trend in our culture?

Would you find a game where the main goal was to kidnap and abuse small children, or to torture someone, bonus points for keeping them alive and inflict maximum pain, to be in poor taste? 15 years ago heaps of the stuff we barely notice now would have been unthinkable.

I'm not saying that make it right or wrong. But are increasingly violent games part of a trend? Or, if they have no effect on me beyond entertainment, should it disturb me that it has no effect on me?

Rather than cause and effect, are these games like a canary in a mineshaft? Or a thermometer indicating temperature rise (even if not causing it?) If so should it disturb us?
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Micheal Baron · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:56 pm Post subject:

I do see your point there, as it does seem that todays youth seem quite numb to what goes on in video game which depending on what light in which you chose to see it, this could be either good or bad, but at the moment there is one sole issue we are trying to reseolve and it would be prefferable if we get the initial question answered before we begin branching out.

The first thing we need to get answered is if everyday people like you or me play a violent video game, will this make them want to be violent?

Also your making me feel stupid Sad

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Silvan Danuser · User Joined: 25 Jul 2009 Posts: 1

it depends on what kind of violence you're talking about, too. things like shooting robots is a big difference to shooting people. it doesnt make you a bad person or a violent person if you like to shoot zombies heads off ie. left4dead Very Happy

. its a great way to get anger out as daniel said but if you did it non stop and shooting people on a pc screen as all you ever did then that's a difference to doing it when you're bored or angry.

Daniel_Starky · Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:12 am Post subject:

true, true, but still, even if violent video games are a good anger ventation, we are still affected by them. we may not become violent ourselfs, but we might be more accepting of violence in other circumstances.
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Micheal Baron · Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:31 pm Post subject:

A point that Jo cross made yesterday was that a violent game tends to make you violent if you were losing the game, because the idea of violence is still afresh in your mind and your angry at losing the game and take it out on others arround you
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Alex Truscott · User Joined: 11 Jul 2009 Posts: 17 Location: Auckland

arnt we being a bit to P.C. what with all this stuff about violence. we are
used to video games with violence, its what draws guys to games like halo ect. where they get to shoot little insignificant pictures. come on if they take away violent video games what will you guys play instead? and how will you vent your anger?

Micheal Baron · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:08 am Post subject:

That is a powerful point but I believe Jolyon has already mentioned this (which I more or less understand now) and that people are becoming numb to violence, a horrifing truth but if some people were to see a dead body in real life they would probably not be as shocked as people in the past may of been, because we are exposed to so much violence today most of which comes from video games

btw I walk on both sides of the fence to keep discussions running
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Daniel_Starky · Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:53 am Post subject:

with the dead body shocked thing... depends how far back you go...
im only kidding.

anyway, i can see how fps (first person shooter, the games where you pick up a gun and fire indiscriminatly at hords of enemys while never seeing anything more of your character than his hands/arms) games could be damaging to our younglings (star wars refrence) sence of okayness with violence, but what about rts (real time stratagy) games? does anyone think they make you more violent? is the commander or the troops responsible for the violence?
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Micheal Baron · Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:39 pm Post subject:

Im glad you bought up this point as I hate it when people generalise video games to mean Shooting things, because quite frankly thats where most arguement comes from saying that videogames make you violent, and If they even took time to consider that there other genres that are less violent rather than simply seeing a FPS and Steriotyping other games because of what they witnessed in one.

There are numerous factors in this arguement, heres some off the top of my head:

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Daniel_Starky · Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:25 am Post subject:

question: what do you mean by "becoming numb"?

also, grammer corection "tetris doesn't make you violent" rater than using don't.

anyway, what about non violent affects of videogames? and im not talking about like RSI (repititative strain injury) although that is a problem. im talking about games that have the player dealing drugs or stealing things. affect us? (and, yes i do know most of those games are violent anyway)
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Alex Truscott · User Joined: 11 Jul 2009 Posts: 17 Location: Auckland

ok maybe this is getting a bit out of hand....

come on just cause you see people buying drugs in video games doesnt mean that we will. They are just visual people and they ARE NOT REAL so im not sure why we would get the idea that buying drugs and stealing things doesnt mean that us in the real world will.

come on our parents have raised us all with some really good morals and we know what is right and wrong...we are of course the only people that gave up a week of their holidays to go to forum instead of being out there partying and drinking.

so maybe americans are numb to voilence but are as people in NZ numb to it. i no that i always feel really sad when i hear of a death, or when a possom has been run over on the road or someone has lost their pet...expect for maybe goldfish....

i know im not the type that would steal things and laugh at death and violence. but i can only speak for myself.

so do you guys beleive you are 'numb' to violence?

Micheal Baron · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:48 am Post subject:

I believe that people in todays world are so blatantly exposed to violence, drugs and sex that it just seems to be a normal part of our lives, we see it so much everywhere its just accepted as normal, thats what I mean by becoming numb, not that we are unmoved by it, just that we see so much of it anyway.

I mean in the past, things were alot more censored I guess you could say, for example, in gregorian times, it was vulgar for a Lady to show even an ankle, where as now days you see chicks running arround in bikinis when you go to the beach, the effects of Violence, Drugs and Sex are no longer so alien to us, and this could be a major problem, depending on how you view it.
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