There's been a lot of stuff in the UK press at the moment about knife crime, and it would appear that murders happen on an alarmingly regular basis.

As is often the case, a scapegoat has been found in the realms of violent computer games.

Whilst I am of the opinion that a true sociapath will generally find any means to commit questionable acts against others, there is a notion held in certain circles, that games such as GTA glamourise sociapathic and violent behaviour.

Does anyone else have thoughts on the notion that these games are linked with violent behaviour?

quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Black:
There's been a lot of stuff in the UK press at the moment about knife crime, and it would appear that murders happen on an alarmingly regular basis.

When are they not happening on an alarmingly regular basis? Anyways, this debate is as old as violent movies and video games, and hell since the first Petroglyphs - those cavemen(women) were so damn savage. I don't have the time nor desire to look through published psychology/behavioral articles to confirm this but from what I remember:
there has been research done to show that playing violent video games does tend to at least temporarily increase the aggression level or responses of the player. Now, I think the GTA series is the current poster game because it interactively encourages the player to engage in violent criminal acts (theft, murder, beatings, hit-and run, billiards) and it is so massively popular.

However, the 'aggression' that it might stimulate in some of people who play it won't, 99.9% of the time, by itself cause any of them to commit crimes in real life (you always have to leave at least 0.01% room for those anomalies when the one time you do play a GTA game it causes you to spontaneously car-jack someone). So trying to link real world crime to a game for it's content is just a red-herring. There are hundreds of other more significant social/individual factors that do have casual links, or at least very strong correlations, to violent behavior (sorry black, when I spell it "behaviour" my spell check reminds me that I'm in the U.S. ), including: poverty, genetic disposition, mental illness, abusive childhood, drug abuse, lead poising... yes, lead poising, particularly from leaded gasoline before it was banned.

Anyways, I do think GTA glamorizes sociopathic and violent behavior, but it's the individuals disposition that really matters as to whether they are 'moved' by it or, as in the majority of cases, merely amused for a few hours, days, weeks...or however long you lock yourself in playing it.

X2

I beat the fuck outta the last guy who asked me this question....

quote:

Originally posted by Kulturtrager:
I beat the fuck outta the last guy who asked me this question....

WHAT!? So you're saying you didn't steal his car as well? For shame...

....

quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Black:
Does anyone else have thoughts on the notion that these games are linked with violent behaviour?

There could be something there. I mean, after pulling the same move over and over on a buddy in Mortal Kombat (or any other such fighting game), I was usually punched in the arm for it. That was pretty freakin' violent and absolutely contributed to the game! I'm sure if he coulda actually thrown a fireball or performed a fatality in real life, he woulda.

quote:

Originally posted by Monkey_Boy:
There could be something there. I mean, after pulling the same move over and over on a buddy in Mortal Kombat (or any other such fighting game), I was usually punched in the arm for it. That was pretty freakin' violent and absolutely contributed to the game! I'm sure if he coulda actually thrown a fireball or performed a fatality in real life, he woulda.

Yeah! It even happens with none violent games, like Mario Kart. Just the other day, I was getting my ass handed to me over, and over, and over, by one of my mates little brothers, until I eventually clubbed him.

Actually, I once watched a friend get so pissed off at Pokemon Stadium on the N64, that he ran over to the console, ripped out the game, violently threw the console at the wall, and then kicked it around the room. Surprisingly, the 64 still worked. No bullshit.

Video games just insight violence, in general.

Posted by Primordial Jamshed

quote:

Actually, I once watched a friend get so pissed off at Pokemon Stadium on the N64, that he ran over to the console, ripped out the game, violently threw the console at the wall, and then kicked it around the room. Surprisingly, the 64 still worked. No bullshit.

The 64 ruled!
I, on different occasions used it as a cutting board, a dinner plate and a jack for the car and she never missed a beat once I sat her down again with Goldeneye for a round of bloody multiplayer massacre.

I can't tell you how many times I spilled Mt. Dew directly into my 64 and it still worked great, now the controllers were another story.

quote:

Originally posted by Kulturtrager:
The 64 ruled!
I, on different occasions used it as a cutting board, a dinner plate and a jack for the car and she never missed a beat once I sat her down again with Goldeneye for a round of bloody multiplayer massacre.

Goldeneye ruled! It was the first game I had on the 64, and easily one of my most played.

quote:

Originally posted by mymindsblank:
I can't tell you how many times I spilled Mt. Dew directly into my 64 and it still worked great, now the controllers were another story.

The joy stick would become really unresponsive after enough abuse, and it was hard plastic, so it would start to feel like you were pushing against a nail, I can still feel the pain in my thumb when I think about it, but it was worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by Primordial Jamshed:
Goldeneye ruled! It was the first game I had on the 64, and easily one of my most played.

It was the ONLY game played when friends came over! Don't get me in The Temple with the proximity mines... all you'd see was a blast in your face as soon as you turned a corner! Too bad the 64 belonged to my brother, I couldn't take it with me when I moved out. It was probably a good thing, though. I mean, I did develop this overwhelming urge to stalk folks in the neighborhood and I attempted to kill more than a few strangers. WHEN WILL THE SUBLIMABLE MESSAGES OF VIOLENCE IN GAMES STOP?!

quote:

The joy stick would become really unresponsive after enough abuse, and it was hard plastic, so it would start to feel like you were pushing against a nail, I can still feel the pain in my thumb when I think about it, but it was worth it.

Hey! That same thing happened with ours! My brother and I actually blamed each other for the "broken joystick" with both of us claiming that the other musta spilled sumpthin' on it. I have a phone call to make and someone to apologize to... NO WAIT! He called me a punk @ss trick when that went down, I ain't apologizin' for nuthin'! That skinny little mark!

quote:

Originally posted by Monkey_Boy:
It was the ONLY game played when friends came over! Don't get me in The Temple with the proximity mines... all you'd see was a blast in your face as soon as you turned a corner!

Hehe. I was a REAL prick on the Stack level because I knew where all the spawn points were and what order they worked in, and I'd play it on one shot kills with pistols (pistols had a slight auto aim.) I use to watch the opponents screen, and wait for them to start spawning because if you were too close to the spawn point before spawning, they’d spawn somewhere elese, and then I'd pop in and kill them before they could even move, and repeat the process over, and over, and over.

I actually won a competition at school this way, because no one was in on it.

Ahhh.. Goldeneye...

No, it's based on how the youth is being raised by their parents, and maybe the society that they live in.

This debate will outlast all of us. We want it to move away from the GTA franchise and video games in general, and it will, as soon as a new scapegoat that older people with influence cannot be bothered to research or understand. It is human nature.

Look at it this way: The GTA series, and games in general, will keep getting stronger, and those opposing it will keep losing battles. Let's hope it outlasts them and that we don't end up like them, attacking youngsters' hobbies just because we didn't have it when we were kids and we don't understand what the fun in it is.

Games as violent as GTA and GTA itself will just keep growing and growing, controversy is no longer and issue in this day and age. This what the media loves this is what the media is going to get, the media strives on anything to do with money, sex and violence. So with games like this being produced is a healthy boost to the economy.

Oh come on! I 'm talking as a really big fan of gta series and I believe that having fun killing people in the street, turning back on society, causing issues in an animated computer map!! is the best way to take OUT our human instinct of violence and vengance. As I cant be Beatrix Kiddo every once in a while, how about if we play animated games which will imitated that YOU ACTUALLY ARE?

if there are stupid kids that watch pikachu jumping in the sky and then run to the roof and tried to do the same... let just said they dont have much communication with their parents...
its not pikachu's fault... LOL

No

well i have been playing Gta since i was 8 and since then i have wanted one of my future careers to be a cop... the series encouraged me to work towards stopping crime

First of all, I don't play and GTA games...

Actually, there are 2 things:

1. One of my family member's car has been hijacked.
2. Thailand has banned GTA games.. I think.

Yes, it may encourage, but they should know that this is just plain fun and they can't learn it.... those youth crime and hijacking cars....

But Acegamez says kids wnat to hijack cars. What is this stupid comment?!?!