• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Should violent videogames be banned?

Belz... said:
No. Should violent comics be banned ? Should violent movies be banned ? Should violent novels be banned ? Should violent theatre be banned ? Music ?

What's wrong with fictional violence, except for people who can't distinguish it from reality ? Why ruin it for the rest of us ?

People have historically liked fictional violence and I see nothing wrong with that.
Click to expand...

Censors and their supporters are smarter than you, you see. You're too stupid to comprehend the intricacies of why BlackOps II or GTA are bad, and so they're going to comprehend for you, and your own good. :rolleyes:
 
Janadele said:
Yes, violent video games should be banned. No sane person could think otherwise.
Click to expand...

Let's see how far this cognitive dissonance extends. Deadly weapons good, violent fiction bad?

What about extending this ban to:
  • reporting of violence on the news - after all, it's real, so is even MOAR problematic
  • songs with violent lyrics
  • movies with violence (say goodbye to Hollywood…)
  • books with violence or violent themes
  • oh, and those paintings with violent themes too
  • better rule out gridiron - unless you want to make it tag football
  • contact sports are violent. Tsk tsk. Boxing, karate, tae kwon do etc etc are obviously banned
  • fencing can stay in, for comedy value

None of the above need evidence to be banned - they just *seem* to be bad things.

My solution is to have "good" video games. The only way to stop a bad person with a video game is a good person with a video game.

This will no doubt cut down the number of video game related crime and video game deaths which, as we all know, are very high and need immediate action.....
 
"Censorship is like denying adults a good steak because babies can't chew it."

Paraphrased, allegedly by Mark Twain.
 
Bikewer said:
I'm always fond of pointing out that human beings are innately capable of violence, and that much of the most horrific violence through history was done prior to the invention of any "media" at all.
Click to expand...

That may have something to do with the fact that violence influences media, and much less the reverse.
 
Polaris said:
Censors and their supporters are smarter than you, you see. You're too stupid to comprehend the intricacies of why BlackOps II or GTA are bad, and so they're going to comprehend for you, and your own good. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Remids me of a stupid video game law here in Québec that forces retailers to only display video games with French-language covers. So now video game companies have to pay extra money for 7 million people who can already read English. It hurts game consumers, vendors, distributors and producers. The only people who gain from this is the people who lobbied for this law because they 'felt' the situation needed fixing. I'll bet you they don't play video games.

I also love the argument that shooters train you to use guns. Those morons have probably never played one, or they'd realise you don't train well for gunfire using a mouse and keyboard.
 
Belz... said:
Remids me of a stupid video game law here in Québec that forces retailers to only display video games with French-language covers. So now video game companies have to pay extra money for 7 million people who can already read English. It hurts game consumers, vendors, distributors and producers. The only people who gain from this is the people who lobbied for this law because they 'felt' the situation needed fixing. I'll bet you they don't play video games.
Click to expand...

"Most games are also released in France these days, so it shouldn't exactly be a big deal" is what I was going to write before I remembered that Canada is on NTSC.
 
IMST said:
"Most games are also released in France these days, so it shouldn't exactly be a big deal" is what I was going to write before I remembered that Canada is on NTSC.
Click to expand...
Every label and sign in Quebec must be if French first and most prominently.
Road signs are not even attempted in English.
It's the law there.
It's tough on me-I default to Spanish if I'm not in the US and the language is not English or American English...
 
I don't mind the French-first sign thing. But forcing people who produce stuff outside the province to translate their stuff is silly. Also, if I want to buy it, why does nanny state say I can't ?
 
TragicMonkey said:
Also consider sports--most of those are violent as well.
Click to expand...
The banning initiative for synchronized swimming and golf is in work. :D
Piscivore said:
From my recent research paper on the subject:
"...[A] rabbi who, speaking of the seminal game Space Invaders in 1982 alleged:
"When children spend hours in front of a screen playing some of these games that are inherently violent, they will tend to look at people as they look at these little blips on the screen that must be zapped—that must be killed before they are killed. And it is my concern that 10, 20 years down the line we're going to see a group of children who then become adults who don't view people as human beings, but rather view them as other blips to be destroyed—as things." "
Click to expand...
Some of them became Predator pilots, so maybe the rabbi was on to something. :p
 
mike3 said:
1. does this influence extend beyond being "slight"? I.e. how significant is it?
Click to expand...

It's no more significant than the kinds of violence that's prevelant in other forms of media. And as over the top some games might get with it, it can be considered watered down in comparison to what you might see in a certain chapter of The Walking Dead.

mike said:
2. what responsibility does this place on video game makers?
Click to expand...

They already submit to a ratings board, most games with excessive blood and gore have a way to turn it off, as far as I know every current generation console system has an option for family settings, and the distributors card anyone making a purchase.

I think it's high time to stop placing the blame on the video game industry because they go above and beyond compared to producers/distributors of any other media out there and I think people are being entirely unreasonable when they real blame lies elsewhere.

mike said:
3. if the influence is way more than just "slight", then should violent videogames be banned?
Click to expand...

Not going to happen, because there's no more than a casual relation between violent behavior and videogames.

Arcade22 said:
Peace, love and tranquility.
Click to expand...

It is for the good of the body, the will of Landru.
 
Last edited:
Early day motion 2427 UK states "that there is increasing evidence of a link between perpetrators of violent crime and violent video games users".

Early day motion 3014. "Anders Breivik about the tragic events in Norway in July 2011; notes that in his submission of evidence to the court Breivik describes how he trained for the attacks using the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare".
 
Last edited:
mike3 said:
implying that the answer to the question "can video games ever in any way have the slightest influence in violence ever" is "yes". So I'm then curious about the follow-up questions:

1. does this influence extend beyond being "slight"? I.e. how significant is it?

2. what responsibility does this place on video game makers?

3. if the influence is way more than just "slight", then should violent videogames be banned?
Click to expand...

1. No. Insignificant.
2. Moot
3. Moot

</thread>

[The number of ex-Doom and ex-Wolfenstein players who are currently productive members of society numbers in the near-gabillions. Rather than seeking to force a causative link where there is only a tenuous-at-best correlation, those who think "violent video games" are a problem should perhaps instead ask themselves why "violent video games" are teh eeeeebils, but "serving in the military, where you get the opportunity to actually do what you only pretend to do in a small subset of video games", is reason for full honors.

When we are willing to admit to ourselves that training people to kill efficiently and then letting them actually do it creates no shortage of problems for those people (see: PTSD and variants, ever since WW2), then perhaps we can talk about video games. In the meantime, however, I LOL at those loons.]
 
Last edited:
As any number of us have pointed out, it's very difficult to see how one might "train" for a mass killing by moving pixels around with a mouse.
I can swing a battle axe with great facility in Skyrim, yet my real and arthritic old shoulders would hardly allow same in real life.
I have shot our department "patrol rifles", AR-type weapons, extensively in training. I have done the same in military "shooters". It is not even remotely the same thing.

When a certain class of loony is interrogated, they have a tendency to tell the interviewer things they want to hear.
"Did you play violent video games, sir?"
"Violent games? Let me tell you...."

The same thing occurred with serial killer Ted Bundy. When interviewed shortly before his execution by a cleric of some sort, he went on as to how he had been seduced by pornography... Feeding into the cleric's preconceived notions.
Yet Bundy's parents said this was nonsense...
 
AgeGap said:
Early day motion 2427 UK states "that there is increasing evidence of a link between perpetrators of violent crime and violent video games users".

Early day motion 3014. "Anders Breivik about the tragic events in Norway in July 2011; notes that in his submission of evidence to the court Breivik describes how he trained for the attacks using the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare".
Click to expand...

Translation: "Hey, here's a scapegoat with a stigmatized fan base that we can exploit because our voters don't know **** about any of this."
 
Again, so relevant.

http://rgordley.tripod.com/ban.htm

Tipper Gore: "I'd be interested to know what kinds of toys your children ever had."

Frank Zappa: "Why would you be interested?"

Tipper Gore: *fumbling for an answer*

Zappa: "Well come on over to the house, I'll show 'em to ya."
 
remirol said:
1. No. Insignificant.
2. Moot
3. Moot

</thread>

[The number of ex-Doom and ex-Wolfenstein players who are currently productive members of society numbers in the near-gabillions. Rather than seeking to force a causative link where there is only a tenuous-at-best correlation, those who think "violent video games" are a problem should perhaps instead ask themselves why "violent video games" are teh eeeeebils, but "serving in the military, where you get the opportunity to actually do what you only pretend to do in a small subset of video games", is reason for full honors.

When we are willing to admit to ourselves that training people to kill efficiently and then letting them actually do it creates no shortage of problems for those people (see: PTSD and variants, ever since WW2), then perhaps we can talk about video games. In the meantime, however, I LOL at those loons.]
Click to expand...

*Obnoxious nitpick*

The condition was known at least as early as the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and there is some speculation it goes as far back as the American Civil War.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom