You know what? Screw 'em. They aren't going to change anything. Way too many people enjoy violent media. They are never going to be able to realistically change anything, so who cares what they think. Obviously they are among the minority.
On second thought, let them do the study. When they come back and say, "Hey guys.. uh well, we found that people don't need help being violent... we just are." maybe we'll stop having to read these articles every time someone who plays games kills someone.
For crying out loud, people have been violently murdering each other since the dawn of man. We are a violent species and nothing is ever going to change that. Blaming this kind of violence on video games (or other media) is ignorant and stupid.
I can't agree with this post. I do think that at a certain point, innovation needs to happen in order for sequels to continue being worth my money (looking at you CoD), but if I liked the game the first time, why wouldn't I want more of it? If I enjoyed the gameplay, and a developer takes their time on a sequel, giving me a new story, improved mechanics and other additions to the game, I will buy it. If I take the time to become invested in a game, I don't see why wanting more is a bad thing.
The number after a game has nothing to do with how "good" it is. The developers efforts in making the game do that. If the devs simply tweak the game a bit, and nothing new is added, that has nothing to do with it being a sequel, just poor development. Take a look at The Elder Scrolls series. They're up to 5 now, and every single one has had a lot of innovation between releases, and subsequently were well received. The same for Grand Theft Auto. Sequels don't kill innovation, lazy developers and greedy publishers do.
@buccomatic @sunyatanada76 I watched the video (played the game too). Guess what? I don't want to go on a killing spree. Want to know why? I'm a normal, well balanced person, like the vast majority of society. Games aren't the problem.
@J_Dangerously I have also played violent video games my entire life, but I am a fan of guns myself. I have a couple and I do shoot fairly often.
However, with that said, I am also extremely aware of the responsibility that owning such a weapon entails, and I take that to heart. If anything, violent games have taught how easy it is to take a life. When I am out on the range, I take utmost care to ensure that nothing goes wrong. When I am not on the range, I make sure to take all necessary safety precautions. Its there to protect me in case I need it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and go on a killing spree.
The gun itself is not the problem, nor are video games for that matter. People are, and always will be. You could take away the games, take away the weapons, and people would still find a way to kill each other.
@buccomatic @MrFacepunch By that same logic, GTA also features car races. Does that mean it is a racing simulator?
Oh! It also has helicopters! Is it a flight simulator?
You drive people around Liberty City in a taxi. Maybe they should have mentioned that in the title.
Just because a game allows the player to kill someone does not make it a murder simulator. GTA's depiction of violence is cartoonish at best. Killing is not the focus of the game (in fact players are often actively discouraged to do so within the game, especially towards innocent civilians).
It is a means to tell the story of a man who has lived a hard life and fallen in with the wrong people. He uses what he knows to survive, and sometimes that means he has to kill. Its the same idea for nearly every hero in any game/movie/book that features any sort of violence. You can't single out GTA for doing something that media has been doing since it was created.
Go back to ancient history if you need a better example. Nearly every great literature that has survived involves murder and death. Killing makes a good story and that is its function within GTA.
@topherlee94 If someone is so unstable that just watching a movie could set them off, what makes you think that living in normal day society wouldn't do the same? People get into all sorts of violent frenzies over all sorts of things, from rush hour traffic, to people taking the last of "their" item at the store before they get to it, to family/domestic issues (which is what I understood was the case here, not video games).
For a normal, well balanced person, video games are fine. The problem is that not everyone is a normal, well balanced person, and most of these unbalanced people live in every day society. It just takes the right combination of things to set them off. If its not video games, something else will. History has always had people who do crazy things, its the way people are. That doesn't mean you should treat the rest of society like they are crazy as well.
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