The copany that made manhunt 2 has launched an appeal. Are video games to blame for violence?

No, I don't think so. If someone does something violent because they saw it on a videogame, they would have done it anyway.

For a change, I'll keep this short: they're no more to blame for violence than violent movies or books.

Of course they are. There was no violence whatsoever before video games: the world was a completely peaceful place and nobody ever harmed or hurt anyone else whatsoever. There were no wars, no murders, no assaults, no violence at all, ever. But then Pong changed everything.

</sarcasm>

Most of the time, it seems people blame videogames for what was really poor parenting. In the cases I've seen, the child wouldn't have tried to reenact the game if the parent hadn't bought the game for them in the first place! These violent games they're talking about are normally rated M and can't be bought by a minor.

A parent should know if their child is able to handle a violent videogame, so if their kid mimics it, then all the blame should still lie the parents.

Lmao @ HystericalParoxysm's reply.


No, it's not.
There was plenty of violence before electronics where ever invented.

It's the parents, how hands on they are with their children. Obviously the environment has something to do with it, but come on, anyone who would act out a video game in real life has mental issues, that developed way before they started playing it.

I play some of the most violent games, I'm not out n' about the streets killing people.

that was hilarious

but if your stupid enough to act out a video game then you should get help

HystericalParoxysm: :laugh:

Really, they're just looking for something to blame. If people acted out everything they play on video games, then I'm a mass murder, (sim killer) lmao

Well, I guess I'll play devil's advocate on this one.

Probably the best argument that I have heard against violent video games is that they psychologically desensitize people against actual violence. I don't think the argument is entirely without merit either... The military use simulators all the time to recreate real-world situations in order to train soldiers. Same for commercial pilots and police officers. The idea is that when faced with a certain situation that wouldn't permit time to think about the situation, that the simulator training would kick in. Likewise, "virtual reality" environments are used to treat patients with phobias. So with that in mind, it would be difficult to say that violent video games with a realistic environment wouldn't have any effect whatsoever (at least on some people).

Now with that said, first I think people need to quit blaming inanimate objects for their actions be them guns, violent video games, or rap music. Second, I do think that people with a healthy mindset who approach the game from the standpoint of entertainment/fantasy are least likely to suffer any long term effects.

Most major retailers in my part of Aust. don't bother to check ages when selling games and things, so it's not too hard for kids to get a hold of these games.

Yes. Grand Theft Auto inspired me to pick up a baseball bat and club a few innocent civilians to death.

I think violent people use video games as a vent for their anger. If they're the kind of person who likes that type of thing anyway, they'll do it. So it's much better for them to do so in a simulated world than in the real world, no?

I don't think violent video games are to blame. There are studies pointing to violent video games making people less sensitive to violence, and I believe that violent video games do make us more violent. But I don't believe that they have resulted in more crime. Games may make us slightly more violent, but there is no way they are making us go out and kill people.

Actually, I just finished a research paper on the subject. In actuallity, the most violent periods in US history (since records where started in 1880) where the 1880s and 1930s. Also, where video games such as Grand Theft Auto have points for destroying property, actual property damage is at a 30 year record low.

But my thesis was that there was no way to accuarately gage the true effects of violent media, because it is impossible to conduct a long term study (most allow an experimental group to interact with a half-hour program, then let them play with the control group. The results where the experimentals played more aggressively. The next day, the experiment was tried and the groups that where control and experimental where swapped. The new experimental showed near identical results as the previous days experimental group, like wise with the new control.).

We're just not ready to make an accurate call right now.

No, parents that don't moniter what their kids are playing/doing are. Honestly, where do you think these nine year olds are getting M rated games? Their not buying them themselves. I know someplaces aren't as careful with selling T, M or AO games to kids, but most of the places I've seen are pretty careful about asking for ID.

I would tend to think (from person experience) that violent games, instead of making people more violent, would act as an outlet for excess anger/violence. Personally, I feel alot calmer after twenty minutes of zombie shooting. :D

Until Grand Theft Auto, I never say curse words--or, at least, once every hour. So yes. Blame the producers for incorporating the violence into games.

It's a good thing The Sims weren't violent-based. Or else we'd all be cyber-bullies.

Saying that video games are to blame and what not is just ridiculous, especially with how the news likes to show us all the violence in the world which I think is more detrimental to my physical and mental well being than a video game because what's being shown on the news I know is real and video games isn't, so shouldn't we also blame the media for allowing that violent material to be shown to the general public?

Did anyone have seen the results of the cerebral scanner made on children? (= under 13)
In short : we all have in our brain a zone that imprint the major traumatic event of our life ( rape, aggression, major loss, etc.) This zone constitue a stock for reactions on similar events.
Well, it appears that this zone is strongly activated when children play violent games or even just watch cartoons that contains repetitive violence ( dragon ball, etc.)
Now, what is more intersting and questionning to me, is that now this zone of the brain is now working with the pleasure zone.
What sort of adult can come out of a child constantly used to solve conflict by beating or killing ? And taking pleasure out of it !
Of course, we all know that the PG rating is always respected. And children (like most of adults) make a clear difference between fiction and reality, they don't believe in fictionnal facts !

never played manhunt2, but manhunt was awesome! NO videogames are not responsible for violence, neither is Marilyn Manson, Movies/Tv shows. I would not take my girlfriend/boyfriend on a driveby shooting as our date, just because I did that while playing san Andreas(the ghetto GTA). If people cant tell the difference between right and wrong they have no business playing these type of video games.

I use to think violence in games and tv, and movies wasn't to blame, but now I'm not so sure. Some people are becoming more violent and over ridiculous things. A guy was killed in Australia on Christmas day and it started over a bottle of beer. I think its not so much most people are becoming more violent I think its those people who have a short fuse doing more violent acts. And I dont think the ridiculous punishments they get are deterering them. Recently so many people have been killed after being king hit and all the offender seems to get is ten years jail with a parole period of after 3 years. 3 years for killing someone what a ##### joke!

The only reason people blame violence on video games is because they've got nothing else to blame it on.

People just try to shift the blame to video games because it's the easiest thing to do when infact a lot of violence in the world is due to conflicting religious views - but no one ever blames it on religion, <sarcasm> that'd be wrong </sarcasm>

Blame will solve everything! Didn't you know? Let us spend hours and hours, days and weeks, months and years blaming the symptoms as the causes!

I was not raised in a violent family, didn't have any stimulus or reason but I like violence, I am good at it, it is virtually bred into me. I was in a "fight" in high school where a kid asked "what you looking at?" I said, "you don't want me to describe it." he took a swing at me and my body just relaxed, he suddenly slowed down, I was screaming in my head for my body to do something, his fist didn't travel very far, hand came up, touched his wrist, circled round and grabbed it, then redirected it with my full force (and his) behind it into the wall I had been leaning against waiting to go into the next class. Seems I broke three of his knuckles and he had a cast on the next day.

I have no remorse for that, it was my first year in high school, I hadn't seen many movies, always been responsible and the technology there was so good that Pac Man and Tetris were about it. So, besides a father that was in the airforce for a year and a granfather that was a squadron leader and boxer, I have nothing outside of myself to blame. Did I mention I saw my Gran father once when I was six and hardly saw my Dad until I came to the same city as him to study my tertiary?

So, I think something genetic.

Took up martial arts, used to go drinking, wanting to drink looked for fights, love those guys that stand in groups and call people all the homophobic titles they can come up with. Strangely they get the sympathy when I am done.

Accomplishes nothing, is very addictive and honestly rather suicidal. So now I don't go drinking, when I want to. I avoid most situations and I have only ever been in a fight where some one else took the first physical and verbal aggressive moves.

Correction: I have beat two women beaters and one child beater up.

So, I can say, the video games, besides being fantasy and having nothing really real in them (most game designers don't study violence just fantasise about it) People don't fly through the air when shot, they don't just fall down and die most of the time. Only a few shots land, only a few are fatal in untrained hands, people get too close, they don't know how fast a person can move, they don't realise how much time they give while breaking the trigger weight and squeezing off the first round.

Yes, they brain might be stimulated, yes, we enjoy it, are we mature enough to look after our children when we have had only 20 years of experience in life and only a few as adults? What gives us the right to have children? Nature, a god, our insticts? Have them later and treat them like adults, explain concequences, talk to them, know what they will understand. I sit and talk to children with parents there. I don't scare them, I let them ask the questions mostly and set the level of the conversation and the depth.

Best thing is to find someone that is as good as you, wear some protection and test your minds and bodies against each other. This will surprise you but it is the most intelligent that make the best fighters, if and only if they can submit conscious control to the subconscious and do the training but that can be a problem, look at my example, in a violent situation, I act, I don't think, I don't have control, there is not time for that, it happens and it happens brutally.

Responsibility, take it, talk to your friends if they have tendencies, talk to your children and families, there are outlets. Most people just need to be listened to, some are addicted to the risk and the adrenaline rush but it can be curbed and it is more satisfying to find someone that can fight back and slug it out for twenty or thirty minutes.

Mass killings is just the rat over population, too crowded, it will continue, this desperation, to remove competition so that their chances to survive will get better.

Well, this is an interesting subject for me. I am a parent of 3 boys. One of which is predisposed to violent behavior. Did video games make him violent? Nope. Not in the least. Did video games contribute to his violent behavior? Yes. However, when we first discovered that the wrestling games were making him worse, we got rid of the ps, ps2, nintendo (I can't remember which one it was now) or anything else that would give him access or reason to become worse than he already was. I would like to think I was a responsible parent by limiting these types of things that would contribute to violence, but never once did I ever think it caused his behavior. Bottom line, it falls on the parent to manage the child's time and what they are exposed to. Cause it? Nope. They better go in a different direction with this one. We all are given choice and if something is contributing to a violent nature, take it away. No one twisted my arm to buy it, no one twisted my arm to take it away. It was pretty much common sense.

Siller, bless your heart. My son was not raised in a violent atmosphere. We're really the cleavers round here. My son was born the way he is. You are correct about it being genetics. My son has been diagnosed with severe ADHD, intermittent explosive disorder (IED), and he is a sociopath along with a few other diseases. I am glad to hear that you know your triggers and try to control them. It's hard irregardless of how old you are and I know your struggle. Good luck.

Oh come on. Video games are to blame for violence? Did the vikings play XBOX 360's in their free time? Did Hitler play video games when he went around ordering the death of Jews? (Sorry for the touchy sibject.)

They aren't to blame, they're just a scapegoat. The only people I can see professing to this would be mothers, naieve game-haters and Bible thumpers.

I hate them all.

I don't believe video games have anything to do with the violence that we have in society today. It is just a lame excuse to blame something for the way violent people have turned out in life. I have 3 sons, and my eldest son has been playing games that people do classify as violent, and he has not changed one bit since playing any of them. I believe that it is genetic, and the way an individual is raised. If you come from a violent family then you are more likely to have violent tendencies, than someone who hasn't.

If parents think that a game their child is playing is to violent....Don't let them play it, plain and simple. If you are concerned that your child is going to become violent after playing a game....Don't let them play it.

HP hit the nail on the head with her comment. What game did JACK THE RIPPER play before he committed all those gruesome killings???

Video games are definately not to blame for violence. Violence has been around ages before video games existed..