Do you feel games are having an adverse effect on society?

And I don't mean the whole "GTA is making people violent" cowcrap. Rather, I think gamers are starting to embrace values that are not, at core, of much value to begin with.

Think for a moment: when you think of "awesome" moments in gaming, what do you think of? A long time ago, such was things like shooting down a Mecha Adolf Hitler or jumping around like a hyper ape shooting absolutely everything in Contra or ripping out someone's spine in Mortal Kombat. Nowadays, that might be something like pulling off someones head in God of War or running down old ladies in Saints Row. It seems every other game that's labeled "hardcore" has you shooting terrorists or Nazis or zombies or zombie babies (Dantes Inferno). But hows this for a question: taken out of context, how is this desirable?

Simply put, our hobby has changed from one taking a defiant stance against an alarmist society that blows whistles at the slightest shade of red to one that delights in things that are depraved and stupid. Much of gaming doesn't even bother trying to think anymore: even one-sided and stereotyping games like Call of Duty 4 are praised for excellent storytelling and showered with accolades, while games that don't even try are practically the norm. Can you remember any games recently that tried to show a conflict from your enemies part of view? Far too often we might be told to kill a bunch of people in a game for no more reason than because they were different from us: just look at everyone's favorites, Killzone 2 and Gears of War. The retro movement has more and more games intentionally removing all complex thought from gameplay. Meanwhile, games that try to break the norm and portray life in a less than ideal way, like GTA4 and Six Days in Fallujah are criticized for being too "realistic" and not enough "fun".

Is this really what we want our games to be like? For our games to fall into the Hollywood rut that has been churning out generic summer blockbusters for years? For a bunch of self-proclaimed nerds to rise and cheer when some guys tears apart someone's stomach and rips out his intestines? To try to get your mother to understand the brilliance of a game where you can kill an entire family with no consequences? I don't know about you, but I think today's games have become something I want no part with at all.

Very few people have done more VIRTUAL killing than I have in my 26+ years of gaming....

and I don't even like guns, I think real world violence is for the unintelligent.... and teach my son that hurting anything that lives without a reason to is wrong... even ants, spiders, etc.

So no, I really don't thinkvideo games make people violent.... but I do think there are weak minded people that shouldnt be allowed access to video games. However, you see much worse things in movies than you see in 99% of games so... if its a problem, its a problem with media as a whole.... video games should not be singled out.

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

PublicNuisance

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

PublicNuisance

:lol:

[QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

zyrumtumtuggerm

Nuke, Hydrogen Bomb, whatever. I don't think the people of Japan care what the giant bombs that got droped on them were called. All I know is GTA couldn't be blamed for that one.

[QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

zyrumtumtuggerm

*cough* the Americans did *cough*

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"]

[QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

PublicNuisance

Nuke, Hydrogen Bomb, whatever. I don't think the people of Japan care what the giant bombs that got droped on them were called. All I know is GTA couldn't be blamed for that one.

What's your point? That the COLD WAR is to blame for violent games?zyrumtumtuggerm

No my point is that people can blame games for violence all they want but Humans were pretty damn violent long before games came along. The hydrogen bomb was WWII BTW, not the Cold War.

[QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"] No one used a nuke before gaming started as well, otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place.

zyrumtumtuggerm

Nuke, Hydrogen Bomb, whatever. I don't think the people of Japan care what the giant bombs that got droped on them were called. All I know is GTA couldn't be blamed for that one.

Nah that would be World War II, which is why there are so many WWII games. CURSES!

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"] What's your point? That the COLD WAR is to blame for violent games?PublicNuisance

No my point is that people can blame games for violence all they want but Humans were pretty damn violent long before games came along. The hydrogen bomb was WWII BTW, not the Cold War.

[QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"] What's your point? That the COLD WAR is to blame for violent games?zyrumtumtuggerm

No my point is that people can blame games for violence all they want but Humans were pretty damn violent long before games came along. The hydrogen bomb was WWII BTW, not the Cold War.

It doesnt make you sick sometimes to be considered the same species as some of these people you read about in the paper or see on the news? Killers, Rapists, People that put their newborn baby in a bag and toss it in a bog? I wish I could call myself something other than human.

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"][QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

Nuke, Hydrogen Bomb, whatever. I don't think the people of Japan care what the giant bombs that got droped on them were called. All I know is GTA couldn't be blamed for that one.

spinecaton

Nah that would be World War II, which is why there are so many WWII games. CURSES!

World War II is the worst thing to happen to gaming.

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"][QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

No my point is that people can blame games for violence all they want but Humans were pretty damn violent long before games came along. The hydrogen bomb was WWII BTW, not the Cold War.

whatisazerg

It doesnt make you sick sometimes to be considered the same species as some of these people you read about in the paper or see on the news? Killers, Rapists, People that put their newborn baby in a bag and toss it in a bog? I wish I could call myself something other than human.

I strongly disagrees. Some other persons actions don't define who I am. There's this little thing called free will remember.

Interesting topic, kudos for thinking of an original thread.

I wonder this as well at times. Having read `grand theft childhood' and some other research-based thinking on gaming ... a lot of the `problem' with violent/depraved games is for certain people and certain contexts, not in general. Most people can readily distinguish fantasy vs. reality, and thus can participate in some nasty stuff in a game yet be good people in reality. However, a small percentage of people seem unable to do this, don't have any larger social context to put it in [friends to talk about it with - thus making things like GTA an experience shared + link to others vs. isolated and possibly problematic roleplaying].

But like movies/etc, after decades of watching gaming/movies/TV progress - I do have to wonder if the level of depravity [in all] hasn't somewhat altered what sort of violent crime we see around us. While people have always been depraved [check Crusades, Tamerlane, Rome, etc for plenty of examples of death and nastiness] ... it does seem like there has been a significant depravity increase from decades ago for quite a few crimes. Sickos appear [to me] to be getting more wacked out - and it's hard to say that media hasn't multiplied the evil they carry out.

That said, for most people, violent games are something that you talk with your buddies about; is a fantasy world much like Harry Potter which is used to connect you to your peers, blow off steam/frustration, or as a non-problematic escape from the day-to-day grind. Whether the increasing blood, societal violence, or depravity has a much more negative impact due to those few who cannot separate gaming from reality is a question worth asking IMO.

Getting a good answer on this will be tough, though.

[QUOTE="whatisazerg"]

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"] So your real point is that we just should roll over and accept ourselves as the scum we are?NielsNL

It doesnt make you sick sometimes to be considered the same species as some of these people you read about in the paper or see on the news? Killers, Rapists, People that put their newborn baby in a bag and toss it in a bog? I wish I could call myself something other than human.

I strongly disagrees. Some other persons actions don't define who I am. There's this little thing called free will remember.

You missed my point.... I'm just saying, I don't like even being remotely related to these people.

Interesting topic, kudos for thinking of an original thread.

I wonder this as well at times. Having read `grand theft childhood' and some other research-based thinking on gaming ... a lot of the `problem' with violent/depraved games is for certain people and certain contexts, not in general. Most people can readily distinguish fantasy vs. reality, and thus can participate in some nasty stuff in a game yet be good people in reality. However, a small percentage of people seem unable to do this, don't have any larger social context to put it in [friends to talk about it with - thus making things like GTA an experience shared + link to others vs. isolated and possibly problematic roleplaying].

But like movies/etc, after decades of watching gaming/movies/TV progress - I do have to wonder if the level of depravity [in all] hasn't somewhat altered what sort of violent crime we see around us. While people have always been depraved [check Crusades, Tamerlane, Rome, etc for plenty of examples of death and nastiness] ... it does seem like there has been a significant depravity increase from decades ago for quite a few crimes. Sickos appear [to me] to be getting more wacked out - and it's hard to say that media hasn't multiplied the evil they carry out.

That said, for most people, violent games are something that you talk with your buddies about; is a fantasy world much like Harry Potter which is used to connect you to your peers, blow off steam/frustration, or as a non-problematic escape from the day-to-day grind. Whether the increasing blood, societal violence, or depravity has a much more negative impact due to those few who cannot separate gaming from reality is a question worth asking IMO.

Getting a good answer on this will be tough, though.

CoralMark

So your real point is that we just should roll over and accept ourselves as the scum we are?zyrumtumtuggerm

I'm not telling you to accept it, but don't blame something that doesn't cause it.

[QUOTE="NielsNL"]

[QUOTE="whatisazerg"]

It doesnt make you sick sometimes to be considered the same species as some of these people you read about in the paper or see on the news? Killers, Rapists, People that put their newborn baby in a bag and toss it in a bog? I wish I could call myself something other than human.

whatisazerg

I strongly disagrees. Some other persons actions don't define who I am. There's this little thing called free will remember.

You missed my point.... I'm just saying, I don't like even being remotely related to these people.

Well.. my point is: you're not.

Whatever is to blame, it our fault. It's human nature. It's what we do, and what we will always do. Accept it and move on. Violence makes the world go round, nations were built upon it, religions were established by it, and kingdoms fell because of it.

It;s just that simple.

Whatever is to blame, it our fault. It's human nature. It's what we do, and what we will always do. Accept it and move on. Violence makes the world go round, nations were built upon it, religions were established by it, and kingdoms fell because of it.

It;s just that simple.

-Snooze-

Whatever is to blame, it our fault. It's human nature. It's what we do, and what we will always do. Accept it and move on. Violence makes the world go round, nations were built upon it, religions were established by it, and kingdoms fell because of it.

It;s just that simple.

Whatever is to blame, it our fault. It's human nature. It's what we do, and what we will always do. Accept it and move on. Violence makes the world go round, nations were built upon it, religions were established by it, and kingdoms fell because of it.

It;s just that simple.

[QUOTE="-Snooze-"][QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"] Tell me that after someone kills your family and says its fun.zyrumtumtuggerm

umm seriously. people are just plain idiots... if video games are affecting the society, then why the hell is no one blaming the rated R movies?sethman410

[QUOTE="sethman410"]umm seriously. people are just plain idiots... if video games are affecting the society, then why the hell is no one blaming the rated R movies?-Snooze-

Games take a bigger role as the scapegoat than they do as the cause of the initial problem. It's pretty sad how many people blame games for certain things.

No wonder so many young people have an unshakable sense of entitlement. None of their examples take responsibility for themselves either!

Even if it's not games that are destroying society, they're not exactly trying to better it either. What's more, those that try get laughed at far more than any other medium. zyrumtumtuggerm

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"]Even if it's not games that are destroying society, they're not exactly trying to better it either. What's more, those that try get laughed at far more than any other medium. Javy03

[QUOTE="Javy03"][QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"]Even if it's not games that are destroying society, they're not exactly trying to better it either. What's more, those that try get laughed at far more than any other medium. zyrumtumtuggerm

[QUOTE="Javy03"][QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"]Even if it's not games that are destroying society, they're not exactly trying to better it either. What's more, those that try get laughed at far more than any other medium. zyrumtumtuggerm

Six Days in Fallujah was pulled. That says something about how much society is willing to stand for as far as violence. That is positive at least.

Either way, are you saying a violent game should not exist?

[QUOTE="zyrumtumtuggerm"][QUOTE="Javy03"] Entertainment is not meant to HELP society, but mainly to allow society to forget its problems for a while and enjoy. People need realistic expectations. We can't expect video games to raise the next generation and create valuable members of society, thats for people, governments, parents and personal interactions to do. We need to stop expecting so much from entertainment. Six Days in Fallujah was pulled so I'm not sure why you're making a big deal about a game that was not released. Not that I totally disagree with you but it says something when society pretty much tells a developer "don't release that game." And as for the laughed at parts, what you have to ask yourself is who is laughing and why. Most of the people laughing at light hearted educational games are people who aren't the target audience so what does it matter. That 2 year old will still play Elmo's ABC's even if the 19 year old thinks the games kiddie.sirkibble2

Six Days in Fallujah was pulled. That says something about how much society is willing to stand for as far as violence. That is positive at least.

Either way, are you saying a violent game should not exist?

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

PublicNuisance

[QUOTE="PublicNuisance"]

Well no one has used a nuke since gaming started, that's not something pre gaming soceity can say.

killa4lyfe

It is concerning, and why is every shooter pro american, whats up with that. Its hard to play as the american, when alot of people dont agree with there wars, hence why there the invaders.

It is concerning, and why is every shooter pro american, whats up with that. Its hard to play as the american, when alot of people dont agree with there wars, hence why there the invaders.

cyprusxx

It is concerning, and why is every shooter pro american, whats up with that. Its hard to play as the american, when alot of people dont agree with there wars, hence why there the invaders.

cyprusxx