Rant: Violence and Video Games - The Eternal Debate
The whole “video games cause violence” discussion at this point is just exhausting to me.
Gaming companies, gamers, developers, publishers, and people outside the interest of gaming such as psychiatrists and therapists have all debunked the notion that violence and violent video games are tied hand in hand.
It seems no matter how many studies are done proving that video games and violence aren’t linked that every time something happens people completely ignorant of the video game culture, and the people that make up that culture, point their fingers and say obviously stuff like Call of Duty and Halo make us all vicious trained assassins.
First of all I’ve been gaming since I was 3. I play some of the most violent games, games where giant blades are rammed through mystical creatures eyes while blood fountains everywhere. I’ve shot up people in an airport as a terrorist in COD, I’ve played an evil demon that controls a dungeon, I’ve digitally sliced and diced every kind of baddie (and sometimes not so baddie) you can imagine over the years. However, I’ve never done real life violence (other than get in a few fights in high school but who doesnt?) and haven’t once even thought of shooting up a school.
I've also heard that the games train killers. If that's true I should be a crackshot from all the FPS I've played. Since all these people obviously know what they are talking about that means that one button automatically reloads the gun, one button auto aims it (with a correct feature thrown in), and one button fires right? I mean that's how it is in video games so it must translate directly to real life. Come on folks get real here. I couldn't shoot a gun to save my life, no matter how many times I've directed Master Chief to.
It’s not like I’m the minority. Gaming is a multi billion dollar industry that reaches millions of people from all ages and walks of life. If there were really an intrinsic link between the terrible violence we saw at Sandy Hook and our chosen hobby than surely this world would be utter chaos and the geeks, nerds and gamers would reign utter chaos down upon this world everyday.
But we don’t. You know who shoot children? Government and bloggers and everyone else, would you like to know the secret? It isn’t gamers, it isn’t people who own guns, and it isn’t somebody who watches violent movies or listens to rap music. It’s either utter sociopaths who were demented from day one that our mental institutions and psychologists failed or it’s some degraded violent little shit whose parents couldn’t have cared less about teaching him to be a decent human being.
What happened to just good old fashioned crazy? That utterly seems the case here. Are we not just allowed to call somebody crazy anymore? Does there have to be one thing we point to? Sometimes people are just fucked up, pardon my language. We can never, will never, understand why that idiot (I refuse to credit him by name for his terror) did what he did. He took that to the grave with him.
Gaming companies, gamers, developers, publishers, and people outside the interest of gaming such as psychiatrists and therapists have all debunked the notion that violence and violent video games are tied hand in hand.
It seems no matter how many studies are done proving that video games and violence aren’t linked that every time something happens people completely ignorant of the video game culture, and the people that make up that culture, point their fingers and say obviously stuff like Call of Duty and Halo make us all vicious trained assassins.
First of all I’ve been gaming since I was 3. I play some of the most violent games, games where giant blades are rammed through mystical creatures eyes while blood fountains everywhere. I’ve shot up people in an airport as a terrorist in COD, I’ve played an evil demon that controls a dungeon, I’ve digitally sliced and diced every kind of baddie (and sometimes not so baddie) you can imagine over the years. However, I’ve never done real life violence (other than get in a few fights in high school but who doesnt?) and haven’t once even thought of shooting up a school.
I've also heard that the games train killers. If that's true I should be a crackshot from all the FPS I've played. Since all these people obviously know what they are talking about that means that one button automatically reloads the gun, one button auto aims it (with a correct feature thrown in), and one button fires right? I mean that's how it is in video games so it must translate directly to real life. Come on folks get real here. I couldn't shoot a gun to save my life, no matter how many times I've directed Master Chief to.
It’s not like I’m the minority. Gaming is a multi billion dollar industry that reaches millions of people from all ages and walks of life. If there were really an intrinsic link between the terrible violence we saw at Sandy Hook and our chosen hobby than surely this world would be utter chaos and the geeks, nerds and gamers would reign utter chaos down upon this world everyday.
But we don’t. You know who shoot children? Government and bloggers and everyone else, would you like to know the secret? It isn’t gamers, it isn’t people who own guns, and it isn’t somebody who watches violent movies or listens to rap music. It’s either utter sociopaths who were demented from day one that our mental institutions and psychologists failed or it’s some degraded violent little shit whose parents couldn’t have cared less about teaching him to be a decent human being.
What happened to just good old fashioned crazy? That utterly seems the case here. Are we not just allowed to call somebody crazy anymore? Does there have to be one thing we point to? Sometimes people are just fucked up, pardon my language. We can never, will never, understand why that idiot (I refuse to credit him by name for his terror) did what he did. He took that to the grave with him.
It wasn’t video games though.