Reality Check - Could GTA V train you to kill?

Cam investigates if gunfire heavy video games like GTA V could actually train you to shoot people in real life.

[PoSTedUP]

cool cast. im trying not to beat a dead horse so that is all i am goig to contribute.

[HammadTheBeast]

Could SAW teach you to construct torture devices? Potentially. But would any sane person go for it? Of course not. Mental illness is the problem here. Games are a way to escape reality for people who are mentally ill which is why the media loves to target them as scapegoats.

[xHeavYx]

I've been playing for a few hours, so once I figure out a way to connect the controller to my head to control myself, I'll go steal a Ferrari and start some trouble

[snipab8t]

Good discussion. I agree with the final verdict. I have played more than 200 hours in Battlefield games and I would have no clue how to even load a combat rifle, let alone accurately aim.

[Pintheshadows]

Not to mention that the reality of war and combat would most likely scare us all into crapping ourselves. They don't just train you to shoot in the military, they train your mind to handle the stress of battle as well.

I personally hope that I never have to handle a real gun in anger although i'd love to visit a range.

[Axe99]

This - I've fired an assault rifle, M-60 and a grenade launcher, and it's _nothing_ like using a controller. Any twit that thinks playing video games means they know how to shoot people is just that. Hell, anyone who plays too much video games would think that it's better to bring a knife anyways, they do more damage than guns ;). Last sentence is sarcastic, just in case anyone misses that ;).

[snipab8t]

Very true. I always thought it was quite amusing that knives were so much more powerful than a bullet in games.
Also, I am guessing you live in USA. I wish we had the opportunity to fire some cool weapons in Australia in a controlled environment, however laws limit us to pistols and rifles.

[Ohlmay]

I don't even know how to hold a weapon, I've never held one in my life and I have ZERO intention on doing so in the future. It's a VIDEO GAME, I can tell the difference between "FANTASY" and REALITY".

[Grave]

No, but the Marine Corps can. Get some!

[brich233]

The Military already trained me to use a rifle.

[Jeedai Infidel]

Well, now that that's settled, we should discuss how watching Looney Toons might teach one to drop anvils on people's heads.

[HammadTheBeast]

Actually, Looney Toons teaches ACME physics well....

I kid of course.

[Pintheshadows]

Wiley Coyote taught me how to paint surprisingly deceptive tunnels on cliff faces.

[Evidense]

That settles it, there is no problem with violent video games. Let's take the word of the random guy on the internet who doesn't even name the study he is pulling information from, and only mentions the favorable statistics from this study that supposedly exists.

[Nafon]

you don't need a video game to teach you how to use a firearm...

[Audiggity]

Wait... if there is no meaningful correlation - what do the right-wings/republicans have as a scapegoat this month?

Perhaps it is MOVIES! Yes, violent movies are training people to be violent.

It certainly has nothing to do with our country's complete disconnection with family values, paired with exponentially more stressful lifestyles to achieve far less success compared to the previous 3 generations, or the FDA approved pharmaceutical cocktails that are prescribed to anyone who even asks their doctor a question.

It's videogames! Oh, wait, no... MOVIES! Abortions?

[ginsunuva]

It taught me exactly how to handle and load automatic weapons.

It taught me how exactly to run over people in a car. I didn't know exactly how to do it before but now I know how to run a car into people.

And it also taught me exactly how to go around a pull a trigger in random directions while yelling on a rampage.

[manchesterman22]

point gun at person

pull trigger

job done

i dont need a game for that, but also im not retarded enough to even contemplate doing it

[Iltapalanyymi]

sigh. come on now. people. come on.

[Talamak]

I like your avatar, where's it from?