Violence Blamed on Video Games...Again

Games are once again targeted for violence blaming.

[PaleMoonDeath]

Just as this was put to rest back in the 90's onwards over and over again, sexism has taken it's place and is fighting a losing battle. These things have no effects on a person mind state or actions. I'll believe the scientists not the people who's delicate feelings get hurt over the matter.

[donwel]

There was a government funded inquiry done in the UK a few years ago that came to the conclusion that games do not cause violence.
I remember at the time the clickbait rags such as kotaku and their ilk were running stories along the lines of "SEE WE TOLD YOU GAMES DON'T CAUSE VIOLENCE!" while running articles on the same page blaming games for sexism. It's hypocrisy at it's finest mate.

[rainslacker]

There were government funded studies back in the 90's in the US too, and they found the same thing. Which is why no legislation was ever passed to curb violence in video games since no actual facts could be put to any legislation that was introduced. Nowadays, such legislation might be possible since it's more about feels than evidence, but luckily, it's already been shown on the record that it doesn't.

Sexism in games will never make it to the courts, or legislation, because the second it does, it gets official studies which will disprove everything these people claim, so they will prefer to keep it in the court of public opinion, and influence developers in other ways.

What's ironic though is that in the 90's, the developers weren't bowing to the wishes of those claiming violent games caused violence in society, and were proactive in making their own regulatory bodies to alleviate people's concerns centered around "think of the children". Now, they seem much more willing to placate these same kind of criticism, albeit a different subject, presented in the same superficial hyperbolic ways, with no evidence to back it up, because the court of public opinion is much more open now, and they are too afraid to just stand up to it because they don't want to appear un-PC...because doing so would be bad apparently....which is why I guess Trump is doing so well....oh wait. They're doing it from the interest of trying to appeal to everyone, and in doing so, will end up appealing to no one the longer it persists. Would prefer they stand their ground, and just shut it all down now, so maybe they can hear some reasonable discussion on how to build their games to a wider audience.

[strayanalog]

You're right. Since the 90's I've always been wondering how it's not a parenting issue? Afterall, we have the ESRB, and that only works if the parent is - I don't know - being a parent. Scientist should just go to these kids houses and study that older person who seems to be their roommate, has infinite money, gets mad at the clerk who tells them sex is in the game, and checks on them.

[DragonKnight]

And why not? Games cause misogyny and sexism you know, so why not violence.

Cenk Uygur: "Right?"

[Soldierone]

It's sprouting up again because Hillary Clinton has a spotlight. If she becomes president, get ready to fight it like the 90's all over again.....

[AKR]

Violent video games don't CREATE violent people, but it does fuel the desire and desensitizes players to the cruel acts that they're committing.

I'm not saying that playing GTA is going to turn you into a cold-hearted criminal, but it does turn otherwise vile acts into a form of entertainment and thrill. And yes, it can fuel aggression since violent video games put a lot of stress on the player and fuel them to make dangerous and violent decisions.

[Ogygian]

You have no evidence for any of that.

[AKR]

I repeat, I do not believe that playing a violent video game turns people into criminals and killers. Someone has to be mentally unstable in the first place in order for that to happen. All I am saying is that violent games do turn otherwise vile acts into forms of thrill and entertainment.

"You are what you eat". If someone consumes large quantities of junk food, there's a good chance that person is going to gain weight and a whole laundry list of medical issues. In like manner, whatever form of entertainment someone takes in, it becomes apart of them one way or another. Like I said earlier, the acts of shooting, maiming, and disfiguring foes become thrilling and exciting in-game. That doesn't mean the person would actually do it in real life, but seeing it may trigger less of a reaction to someone who avoids those kinds of games.

[Thegamer41]

It could be said that violent video games would allow violent people take out their rage and aggressiveness in-game rather than real life. Then again, neither of us have any evidence of either the points so let's not speculate.

[rainslacker]

I've become more desensitized to violence due to seeing the constant reports of terrorist attacks causing huge death tolls in various parts of the world, often times with videos of the actual attacks than I ever have from any game. How many people cried during 9/11. now think how many people cried while watching the recent attacks in France. Both horrible, but the reactions are much different now.

Despite becoming desensitized, I still hate violence in actual society(games I'm OK because it's not real), and would never care to hurt anyone. Never once have I ever had the desire to hurt someone, and I've been playing games, violent and otherwise, for over 35 years.

Never has it been proven to once "fuel the desire" for someone to perform violent acts. At most, it's been shown to heighten aggression, which is not the same thing. And if people become desensitized to violence to such a degree that they are willing to commit violence, then they have other issues which extend beyond their use of video games or watching other forms of media....what's the term...oh yeah...sociopath. That's what these people are, and that's a mental condition borne from a lifetime of experiences, their own upbringing and beliefs, and genetic pre-disposition. They're taught that violence is OK, and no game teaches the player to such a degree, even in abundance, without some sort of other outside factor which also influence their behavior.

Here's how it really is. The percentage of people who commit violence, and also play violent games, is actually proportional to the general population that commit violence and doesn't play violent games. I've even seen studies that say those who play games are less likely to commit violent crimes....but don't care to validate if that's true or not right now. Either way, that percentage is a small portion of society as a whole....we just hear about it much more readily nowadays.

[Hercules189]

There are two easier explanations for mass killings, religion from unevolved countries and kids that were bullied and were never accepted in reality and want revenge.

[Rob Hornecker]

Video games don't kill people...people play video games to keep from killing people!

[Lennoxb63]

Still people forget that the most violent people to ever walk on earth came WAY before video games (or even the tv in some cases) were invented. Or before games weren't advanced enough to accurately display violence.

Video games are inspired by real life. Not the other way around. If someone becomes a killer because of a game, they were already crazy. It just took something immersive enough to trigger it.