Ok, first I want to say that I am not making light of this tragedy. I just want to create a small discussion about video games and the influence that they have on our community. I have always heard people talk bad about violence in video games for the younger generation. How they can influencing them to do bad things later on down in life. I personally don't think that something as simple as a video game could really alter someone's way of thinking. I recently seen on the news that a couple teens in Toronto, Canada were street racing and ended up hitting a taxi cab, tragically killing the driver. The video game Need For Speed was found in one of the alleged teens vehicle at the time of the accident. The police fear that may have been the inspiration for the crash that killed a 46-year-old Toronto cab driver. News article can be found here. This is where our discussion starts, it doesn't have to be necessarily directed at this particular incident or video game. You can use any video game title as an example to express your views. Discussions main question is: Do you think that a video game can influence someone to do an act not deemed fit by society? ie. Anything crime related, murder, gang violence, street racing, etc. Or is it the person who chooses his or her own path and makes there own choices in life? Note: Please keep in mind that I am trying to create a serious discussion. This is a true story and unfortunately driver of the cab was killed, so please have some respect.
In my opinion i think in some ways it can influence kids because i would love to do street racing etc but its his/her own choice if they do it.I herd that someone in american was shooting cars from the side of bridge with a uzi and people thought it was because of gta san adreas but the game doesn't tell you to go out and do them things thats why theres a rating on the game,but then again people at 18 still do mad things.On every need for speed there is a part about wearing your seat beat and driving carefully but its the persons choice if they wish to follow these.I think they kind of do influence people to do something but its there choice. sorry this is so long ~~michaelo123~~
Video games do have some influences when it comes to actions, but only as much as any other action a child/teenager does. Don't think sports influences a person, music, or what a person reads..? Its a matter of being able to choose which ones influence your overall actions, and nobody but a parent can teach you that. Parents just need more control to step in and monitor what a child is doing. BFTP
I just did a 15 page term paper on video game violence and how it affects children... it is the parents!!! yes, video games can provide some influence on a person but no influence should outweigh that of a parent's. if more and more parents paid attention to their children and actually took the role of a parent, these children wouldn't go out into the world and do something crazy
Games do influence kids.. and i see it all of the time.. My little brother.. he never used to be into guns untill he started playing Killzone.. and Battlefield on ps2.. Now all he wants are b-b guns.. and he always asks to buy toy guns when he wants to go out.. he thinks its cool He is only 9 years old.. and the thinks guns are cool.. why ? becaue he can buy a gun at a shop in GTA and walk around and shoot at people.. So yes.. i belive games influence children.. and if someone thinks that they dont.. all they have to do is look at what the world is becoming.
the one who is influenced is ultimately the one to blame. obviously some of these video games must have some intention of purposefully influencing on the ones who've played it . anyone hear of the psychology experiment where: a bunch of people went to a movie theatre (this was not a closed experiment it was done right in the theatre, only the ones who conducted it knew about it as well as the theatre officials) and of course watched a movie... but during the movie the word "popcorn" was flashed accross the screen many times throughout the movie, fast enough that it was imperceivable. at the end of the movie, or during intermission or whatever it was everyone viewing that movie stormed the popcorn snack area and got some popcorn. similarly, i assume, video games must have an influence on the ones who play it. not necessarily for popcorn :lol: but i'm sure that, for example, an author writes a book about something - based on his or her view, of course. similarly a video game is created, based on a storyline of the view to be portrayed. ultimately anything can have an influence on a person, video games or not. but in particular, video games. i've seen it, you've seen it, we all know it. ~nightfire
Video games have influence on a person's action not his decision, The difference between an action and a decision isnt very big but for an example you choose not to co-operate with a Police officer telling you to stop or w/e , That decision you made must be treated with an action which in this case might varey from runing away from the Officer or shooting him. Here is where Video games come, your own decisions have led you in this situation, so you treat it with actions you remember from the video games. So basically every person is responsible for his own decisions, so the video game companies arent merely responsible for that.
Right, first of all, games are NOT to blame for these actions. Lets face it, you need to be a bit out of it to try to re-enact something you see in a game. As for smokeandmirrors7 little 9 year old brother, why is he playing those games? Am i wrong or are they rated for teens? So of course he is going to be affected, he is a young child who is learning life, so pretty much no matter what he sees or plays he will be influenced by it. Ok so games influence young children, but that is exactly why they come with age ratings on them. People legally old enough to play games like Killzone or GTA should have the intellectual skills to know where to draw a line between fiction and reality. If they cannot do this, then it is clearly an error on the parent's part for not teaching it, unless of course it is a medical condition, in which case appropriate measures should be taken anyway. Those lads in the car had a copy of NFS in the car. Were they playing it in the car? What kind of car was it? People try this all the time and it is foolish to blame games, or at least ONLY games because there is a lot more to see in this world than a television screen. I doubt certain evil people of history were influenced by video games....
Video games mimic real life, not the other way around. Violence, street racing, gang warfare, etc were NOT invented by games. It might influence a young kid, yes....but there are ratings for a reason. If a parent lets their 8 year old play GTA, it's their fault and their fault ALONE if their kid thinks it's a good idea to shoot someone. smokeandmirrors said about his 9 year old brother playing Killzone....what the hell is a kid that age doing playing an M-rated game? I'm sorry, and I mean no insult, but that is a MAJOR judgment lapse on the parents' part. If someone gets it in their head to do something they see in a game, the game didn't put the idea there. They likely had that idea for a LONG time. It's not the fault of the games, rather bad judgment on the person's part and lack of parental monitoring. 9 year olds can't buy M-rated games.
some kids or people havnt got the ability to tell a fantasy world from the real world and this is what happens, something stupid. So i dont believe its the games fault
ive been playing computer games for about 6-7 years now and i've never had the urge to kill someone like in a game.
I'm sticking to parents cause that's where it all starts. it's a parent's job to instill certain values in their children and teach them the difference between real and make believe. not to mention that parents should monitor what their children do and/or play.
I personally don't think they have much influence. Video Gaming is a break from reality. It all does lead back to the parents though. My parents buying me all my games regardless of the rating, cause they trust me, and know that i can intelligently not take it seroiusly and shoot of up someone down the street. There are millions of gamers, and I find it funny when a few do something stupid, the games get blamed. Reminds me of when Marilyn Manson was accused of persuading the Columbine children to shoot up their school. The parents/people are just looking for excuses other than themselves. I personally don't believe in censory. But parents should have the common sense to not let their child play a game about whores and gangsters. Let them build the conscience first.
