Curse

Kate · May 09, 2008, 06:40 PM // 18:40

So, for my media thing, I have to do lots of work and research, which includes playing some violent video games and write what I find.

So, if you would be so kind as to discuss as to how far the representation of violence in video games reflects how violent the individual is and everything else about the subject, I would be most grateful.

Don't worry, you aren't doing my homework (coursework actually), for me, it's a massive project -getting forum opinions is a little bit of it and is a legit part of it.

Thank you!

I don't mean robberies and etc, I mean like hacking someone's head off with an axe, and how the aspect of gaining rewards such as EXP attribute towards the perception of the gamer towards real life violence.

Oh, and not just for children, though I understand you could generalize to a certain extent.

(Sorry if this topic upsets and/or offends anyone -if I've broken the forum rules by posting this then please accept my apologies and I will understand if you have to delete it)

Thank you once again, all names will not be used.

Sbljsoda · May 09, 2008, 07:33 PM // 19:33

I have only seen children do what happens in games (although not exact representation like they don't pick up a gun or anything)

My, 2 brothers, 5 and 3, both play on my comptuer and my dads. On my dads they play BF2, now my 3 year old brother mostly plays it because of driving "jeep" so there is no wrong in that. He does occasionally shoot, etc. And no, he doesn't run over people, he just likes driving it. My 5 year old brother, plays like a normal person would, he always shoots when he can. Now he, hasn't amazingly done anything that would represent BF2, nor does my 3 year old brother.

Now on my computer, this is where they learn things. The 3 year old on mine plays Team Fortress 2, and UT2004. So far, from what i have observed, he sometimes pretends he has like a "finger" gun, where he makes an L with his fingers (sort of) and pretends shooting. Now, i remember when i was little, and lots of other kids video games or not they pretended doing this. The 5 year old, surprisingly, does not do this. He plays Team Fortress 2 on mine ONLY, so hes always seeing blood, etc. Now, I've NEVER seen him shoot with one of those pretend finger guns.

So from my conclusion, the younger the child is, the bigger victim they are to learning bad things. Although honestly, the 3 year old brother has bad behavior. Although I blame this on my grandparents who, come every while to get rich off of us, and favor him more than my 5 year old brother or me.

Kate · May 09, 2008, 07:42 PM // 19:42

Hi Sbljsoda, thank you for taking the time to read and reply. I'm very appreciative.

Although I will copy and paste any posts I receive, I will not use any names.

Thank you again!

RiKio · May 09, 2008, 08:54 PM // 20:54

Little children do what they see. They act like mirrors of what they are seeing.

Unfortunately, the general ignorance of this topic is what causes these acidents.

IMO kids need to be grown-up-minded ( epic adjective) for playing these games. If not things like hacked heads will happen.

Please, lazy parents, try to talk to your kids about their videogames and describe them the difference between fantasy and reality.

Thats all.

Snograt · May 09, 2008, 08:58 PM // 20:58

There is absolutely no statistical evidence to link violent games with violent behaviour (but of course, you already know that

) If anything, the exact opposite applies: people who play violent video games are less likely to behave violently in real life as their aggressive urges have been sated on the simulated life in-game.

For instance, the bad press that GTAIV got when that hoody stabbed someone whilst queuing to buy the game. Nobody spotted the blatantly obvious fact that he hadn't even played the game yet!

Damn tabloids.

Damn moronic politicians on personal, moralistic, pseudo-christian-ethic crusades.

If it matters, I'm a 44-year-old father of two.

And a pacifist.

Earth · May 09, 2008, 09:10 PM // 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

There is absolutely no statistical evidence to link violent games with violent behaviour (but of course, you already know that

) If anything, the exact opposite applies: people who play violent video games are less likely to behave violently in real life as their aggressive urges have been sated on the simulated life in-game.

For instance, the bad press that GTAIV got when that hoody stabbed someone whilst queuing to buy the game. Nobody spotted the blatantly obvious fact that he hadn't even played the game yet!

Damn tabloids.

Damn moronic politicians on personal, moralistic, pseudo-christian-ethic crusades.

If it matters, I'm a 44-year-old father of two.

And a pacifist.

I agree with this. Except for the father part.

There are probably some people out there who get aggressive from playing aggressive games (For example, Manhunt), but it's a minority.

Also, parents need to talk to their children about this stuff more often. There is one person at my school who pretty much lives in a game. He's having a hard time trying to notice the difference between reality and virtual reality, for example, at one point he beat a bad guy in a game, and it got in the games newspaper. He than asked me if I had read it, and I was like "Uhhhhhhh, no?" to which he responded "Sheesh you really don't read anything do you". And this is just an example :\

This may just be a case of a wee bit dumbness on his part, but his parents aren't exactly the best either. Almost everyone agrees

Mist Walker Skarloc · May 09, 2008, 09:13 PM // 21:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

...people who play violent video games are less likely to behave violently in real life as their aggressive urges have been sated on the simulated life in-game...

Agreed, I always enjoy a bit of a chainsaw spree on Gears of War when I'm pissed off, but I never hurt people unless they hurt me and I think they're gonna try to beat me up.

I don't think violent videogames really effect people unless they're far too young to be playing the game. (I wouldn't let my 4 year old son if I had one play Bioshock, for example).

Edit: Just wanted to add that I doubt anyone gets ideas from playing games, classmates will always be there to tell children about sex, drugs and crime regardless of what videogames they play.

dunky_g · May 09, 2008, 09:28 PM // 21:28

When I see someone die or get 'murdered' in a video game, it doesn't make me want to go out and do the same thing.

I am not generally an angry person, the only thing that seems to anger me at the moment is stupidity, but I wouldnt say that this anger has been caused or provoked by playing a video game.

And I'm pretty sure getting angry over someone's stupidity wont lead me to hacking someones head off with an axe.

Dante the Warlord · May 09, 2008, 09:37 PM // 21:37

Well violence occurs every day and is always on tv shows. In fact i would say that TV shows have more violence than video games. The ESRB ratings help a great deal now, even though is still easy for a kid to get a rated M game without ID. It should be the parents job to make sure that they don't go hacking people into bits.

Also it is the media's entire fault that violent issues such as shootings occur. Their displaying of the college mass killings really does not help and they try to blame a scapegoat, which is always video games. Their displaying of these terrible things are to blame not some violent video game.

El Presidente · May 09, 2008, 10:54 PM // 22:54

There have been research studies of cartoons which have shown more violent acts than your primetime major network shows. Children sometimes do tend to copy what they've seen though it's most likely meant as fun and not purposeful aggression.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

There is absolutely no statistical evidence to link violent games with violent behaviour (but of course, you already know that

) If anything, the exact opposite applies: people who play violent video games are less likely to behave violently in real life as their aggressive urges have been sated on the simulated life in-game.

I'll have to disagree with this. Research has shown viloent games "can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life"..."Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor". quoted from: http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html

Here's another link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/ which states that "brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal – and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition and attention".

Both are very interesting reads. I do agree with most of the research; however, I think that a person that plays a game involving violence and then commits a real life violent act has other contributing issues, i.e., psychological, peer pressure, drugs/alcohol, etc. or any combination thereof...

Yuhe Ji · May 10, 2008, 07:00 AM // 07:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

There is absolutely no statistical evidence to link violent games with violent behaviour (but of course, you already know that

) If anything, the exact opposite applies: people who play violent video games are less likely to behave violently in real life as their aggressive urges have been sated on the simulated life in-game.

For instance, the bad press that GTAIV got when that hoody stabbed someone whilst queuing to buy the game. Nobody spotted the blatantly obvious fact that he hadn't even played the game yet!

Damn tabloids.

Damn moronic politicians on personal, moralistic, pseudo-christian-ethic crusades.

If it matters, I'm a 44-year-old father of two.

And a pacifist.

Dragging me back to 10th grade when I read "Poetics" by Aristotle. I believe what you are trying to say is called catharsis, the purging of emotions through an imitation, in the form of a movie, play, poem, game, etc. I do agree that it typically will sate the violent urges, as it has been used several times in history to keep people down (think Roman colosseum).

azzer20 · May 10, 2008, 10:24 AM // 10:24

If a person gets violent becaus of some game, then there's really something wrong in their puny little heads.

If you can't seperate fiction from reality then you shouldn't play any games at all.

And my opinion is, we need moer violence! like there is in Condemned and condemned2 that's what we want.

Kate · May 10, 2008, 01:52 PM // 13:52

Thanks guys!

Also, if you wouldn't mind answering; How do you think that game manufacturers and producers judge how much violence, bloodshed and 'gore' to include in their game? And to what extent is this decision rating based?

Thanks again, if you ever see me in game feel free to PM me by the way

some guy · May 10, 2008, 04:00 PM // 16:00

It's just correlation. You can't say games are linked to violence. A study also proved that there could be no such thing as a desensitizing effect. Let's take GTA for example. Of course, it's trying to mimic gangs and mafia etc. Think about it, which came first? The gangs or the game. Violence has been around since the begining of time. Also, another thing is, games places you in the action. A lot of people claims that this game encourages you to kill hookers, and run over old people, but if you do things like that, the game punishes you for it.

Another example about correlation is let's say that in summer, this company is selling a lot of ice cream at the beach, but shark attacks has also increased this summer at the beach. We can't say if we sell more ice cream, sharks will attack more now can we??!??!?! Violence, obesity, and other teenage problems are very complicated social issues. We can't just point the finger at video games.

Also compare games with prime time TV shows, like CSI,House, etc. There is way more violence and sex portrayed in those prime time shows.

AidinSwiftarrow · May 10, 2008, 05:40 PM // 17:40

Wellllll, video games don't affect me. I'm relatively young too. Though I am smart and of course I know that if you, for example, kill someone or w/e you'll eventually get caught and go to jail...IMO shows teach people things too. If you show a little kid something like South Park they'll start swearing most likely. I watch Family Guy, I only say things like crap....Those don't affect me because I know better. Just try to explain the difference of video games and reality to the kids early on...

Idk, the rating system is wack. I mean, I'm not 17 for M but I have like 8 M games. Doesn't matter that I'm not old enough, I have the maturity and sense to know that those won't affect me. If you kill someone after watching a game, steal, etc. you have some mental disorder going on...

El Presidente · May 10, 2008, 05:57 PM // 17:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kate

Thanks guys!

Also, if you wouldn't mind answering; How do you think that game manufacturers and producers judge how much violence, bloodshed and 'gore' to include in their game? And to what extent is this decision rating based?

Thanks again, if you ever see me in game feel free to PM me by the way

The games are rated by the ESRB, much like movies get rated by the Motion Picture Association and the National Association of Theater Owners (yes, the other NATO). Like movies, they put in as much content allowed to walk the fine line between ratings. Some games get bumped back to a lower rating if they revise the game's content or appeal & win the rating given. Check this link for how games are rated: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_process.jsp

90% of teenagers say that their parents never check the video game ratings before allowing them to rent or buy computer or video games. (Walsh, et al.)

Celestial_Kitsune · May 10, 2008, 06:58 PM // 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kate

So, for my media thing, I have to do lots of work and research, which includes playing some violent video games and write what I find.

So, if you would be so kind as to discuss as to how far the representation of violence in video games reflects how violent the individual is and everything else about the subject, I would be most grateful.

Don't worry, you aren't doing my homework (coursework actually), for me, it's a massive project -getting forum opinions is a little bit of it and is a legit part of it.

Thank you!

I don't mean robberies and etc, I mean like hacking someone's head off with an axe, and how the aspect of gaining rewards such as EXP attribute towards the perception of the gamer towards real life violence.

Oh, and not just for children, though I understand you could generalize to a certain extent.

(Sorry if this topic upsets and/or offends anyone -if I've broken the forum rules by posting this then please accept my apologies and I will understand if you have to delete it)

Thank you once again, all names will not be used.

If you are looking to find an answer whether violent media affects human cognition and behavior, you should look at research at peer reviewed journals, preferably with high impact factor. Pay special attention to study design: correlational vs experimental. Asking people on forums is useful in learning what a specific segment of population thinks about the issue and eliciting personal stories, but that will not bring you closer to the facts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by American Psychological Association

Viewing violence increases violence

Here is a good place to start to look at both sides of the issue. Keep in mind that it is best to go to the source rather than accepting the claims on wiki, which are sometimes misleading. The more statistical training you have, the easier it will be for you to interpret the evidence:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_violence_research

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

If anything, the exact opposite applies: people who play violent video games are less likely to behave violently in real life as their aggressive urges have been sated on the simulated life in-game.

No, catharsis hypothesis is false as numerous studies demonstrated.

StormDragonZ · May 10, 2008, 07:20 PM // 19:20

Cartoon Violence is the interesting type of violence to mention.

The imitation of some or most forms of violence is the main stem of it all. Try to see how different styles of violence can affect someone.

Cartoon Violence vs. Realistic Gaming Violence.

Mercury Angel · May 10, 2008, 07:22 PM // 19:22

Just to clear up some misconceptions:

Children can and will model aggressive behavior, which was discovered in Bandura's experiments and has been replicated several times.
What most people forget or are never told is that Bandura, properly so, tweaked the experiment into several different iterations.

Although children who watch an adult act violently towards a clown doll without repercussion are more likely to repeat it, children who observe that adult become chastised/scolded by another adult are less likely than even the control group to act aggressively towards the clown doll.
In other words, children are not passive, receptive mirrors that reflect behavior they observe unconditionally. They are capable of understanding the consequences of actions, to an extant.

One of the fears of exposure to different forms of violences, however, is not that it will cause children to act violently, but that it will broaden their horizons in negative ways. A hammer is just a tool for many people until the realization that it can be used as a melee weapon. (If you've ever worked with children, you know that children are especially prone to mutual exclusiveness in classifying objects; if a pencil is for writing, they tend to not accept that it can be used for anything else.)
Few people are so deluded as to think they can shelter their children from everything in the world like that, but they do hope to slow their exposure until their kids are more prepared to handle them. (The brain makes several significant changes over the course of your life, not completing full development until as late as the early 20's.)

As for adults, yes, they're not immune either. I notice the APA link pulls from Dill and Anderson. For whatever the reason, as stated, it's primarily males that are receptive to video game violence. Interestingly, males tend to rate the world as a generally hostile place after playing violent video games.
I also believe Dill and Anderson note in their study that aggressive individuals are more likely to seek out violent TV and video games as entertainment.

Anyway, the key concerns pretty much center on:
Social Learning - Especially in children, but people as a whole draw heavily on what they observe.
Disinhibition - Again, especially in children, and supported by Bandura's work, if the viewer does not see the person get punished for their behavior, they're more likely to do it.
Habituation - Repeated exposure to violence has a tendency to decrease sensitivity.
Increased Arousal - Basically, observing violence riles people up, and they're more likely to be aggressive during those times.

As it is though, it barely matters. There is no indication that the violence in rated E for Everyone games or G for General Audiences television/movies are actually "more appropriate" or "less likely to stimulate aggressive behavior". Banning or heavily restricting the sale of games and movies at an arbitrary rating is unlikely to do much more than make people feel better about themselves, to the best of my knowledge.
(Edit: Commercials are often heavily unrestricted and another source of exposure to violence.)

But really, this is not my area of specialty, so take all of the above with a grain of salt. This also might be going a little off-topic, since the OP asked about personal opinions, and not regurgitations of current research.

Kate · May 11, 2008, 09:03 AM // 09:03

Thanks guys : )

Yeah, I don't need anymore links to other research etc but I appreciate it! Getting opinions from one or two forums is a type of research like finding articles on the Internet, which I've got plenty of.

I study psychology so we've done about children and BoBo Dolls and etc.