Posted on 02/23/2013 4:34:29 AM PST by Kaslin
I enjoy video games. I even enjoy certain violent video games. It’s not the violence that pulls me to a game though, it’s the content of the game itself.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare - I like
Grand Theft Auto - I hated
Both violent games but I really like one and I hate the other. What’s the difference?
To me, a game like Grand Theft Auto was all about running around and hurting/killing random people. There was no real point other than committing random acts of violence.
Modern Warfare on the other hand is all about having an objective and completing that objective while working with and competing against other players from all over the world. You are soldiers and it is a simulation of war. It is not some thug running around car jacking and killing. There’s a huge difference.
One game promotes random violence while the other promotes teamwork and strategy to accomplish directives.
At one point in time I gave up on console games and solely played PC based online games. Some were real time strategy games such as Dark Reign while others were MMORPG’s such as Everquest. It was always the online collaboration and competition that suckered me in.
I’m not crazy nor am I violent. I’m very calm and level headed even while dealing with stressful situations. Labeling all video games as “violent” and saying they impact the mental stability of a person is about the same as labeling certain firearms as “assault weapons” and saying they make normal people commit murder. People label weapons as “assault weapons” without even having a basic understanding of firearms. It is the same thing as when people apply the stigma of “violent” to video games. We might as well start calling them assault video games and get it over with!
If you haven’t tried some of these games, I encourage you to do so. It may provide you with a better understanding of what they are actually like. I recommend Modern Warfare as it is my favorite at the moment!
Do you have any idea how much variety is in the world of metal? There’s a lot of it that’s far more morally acceptable than rap and hip hop.
I’m a 60 year old woman. Not interested in violent or any other video games. I prefer books.
http://faculty.knox.edu/fmcandre/Mast-McAndrew-Aggression.pdf
Violent Lyrics in Heavy Metal Music Can
Increase Aggression in Males
That’s a bunch of kuzo. Have you looked up any metal bands?
Yeah, pits get pretty violent, but not every show is that kind of show.
Is this violent? http://www.lyricsfreak.com/i/iron+maiden/flight+of+icarus_20068031.html
Individual Americans watch and play an aggregate and cumulative total of trillions of hours of movies/TV & games every year.
That a handful of people suffer a lethal snap does not indicate a meaningful correlation thereto - if anything, it proves no causality.
I like racing motorcycles off-road. The Sierra Clubbers don’t understand the attraction, so it is therefor senseless that I, as well as a large contingent of thrill seekers race motorcycles off-road wrecking their idea of a pristine desert being preserved for yet unnamed persons or whatever to enjoy without visiting. Of course, they’re OK with the climbers who drive pitons into the face of El Capitan in Yosemite. I suppose they understand the attraction.
Your “not understanding the attraction” doesn’t qualify for public policy making. I don’t care for video games at all, cannot understand the attraction, but would tend to use scientific studies with real numbers arrived at without the prejudice of an agenda to ban someone else’s idea of a good time.
When did I never mention banning any video games? I asked questions. You assumed something.
And I don’t care what you do to the desert or the mountains. They have survived worse than motorcycles and climbers, I suppose.
See my post # 26 above.
Do you understand the attraction of capture the flag? of paintball? of hunting for those who don’t like to eat wild game, but still like to hunt?
Whether you attribute it to the Fall of Man, or to evolutionary circumstances, most male human beings have an innate aggressive urge. It can be misused in violent crime, or pointless brawling (which used to not be a crime if everyone involved was cool with it, though it may be now, even if no one involved wants to press charges), or used well in self-defense or to defend innocent others or one’s society in war. Violent video games provide a harmless outlet for this aggressive urge, which our society has gone out of its way to suppress, rather than channel, and are, thus attractive.
As I noted in post 26, my own favored outlets for aggression are a bit more cerebral — simulating being the army commander rather than the foot soldier, or taking place more slowly than the reflex driven pace of a first-person shooter, but the triumph over an opponent (in hex-grid wargames or M:TG) or contrive opposing circumstance (in D&D or a turn-based computer strategy game) is still part of the charm.
Okay, now I get it. Testosterone.
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