Violent Video Games Harm The Brain

[Kalou]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/03122006/140/violent-video-games-harm-brain.html

And I guess violent films make the brain better? here we go with the usual nonsense that pops up every 4-6 months, I guess someone got killed and their parents blamed it on GTA?

It's amazing they BARELY mention violent films which are more graphic hahaha.

What do you think, is it true or is it the same old excuse?

[damien©]

Well to be honest I could of told them this, they only studied the effects of Short Term emotions and activities in the Brain. We all know that watching anything visual can cause a general loss of concentration on those things around us and also when watching or playing Entertainment it causes us to get self-involved....It's why we cry when we watch a sad film.

So I really don't understand how this article or study informs of anything that we didn't already know about any form of Entertainment of a Visual nature.

[Kalou]

Do they ever do these stupid experiments on music or films? it always seems to be games, why the hell they can't just leave us alone I will never know, apparently you can talk about killing, watch killing but not kill on a virtual game, ok then.

[damien©]

I suppose the difference is that while in Videos and Music you listen to or watch someone talk about Killing, where as in games you are actively participating in it yourself. I think that causes some concern for some people.

[Kalou]

No in a film you watch it, some films show some horrific killings yet when a game has horrific killings it gets banned, aka Manhunt.

Whats worse, playing GTA or watching a very horrific horror film? why don't you let a 6 year old do both and see what scares him the most, point being, films make a bigger impact than games.

[damien©]

No in a film you watch it, some films show some horrific killings yet when a game has horrific killings it gets banned, aka Manhunt.

Manhunt was never banned, some stores took it off the selves.

The problem is when people think Video Games especially Parents they naturally assume that it's suitable for all Children and those kind of films simply shouldn't be viewed or played by Under 18's.

[KryptKeeper]

Like said above, what about Music and Movies?

[damien©]

Like said above, what about Music and Movies?

All forms of Entertainment are aimed at stimulating your emotions and Music, Movies and Games are no different.

I suppose the real problem is whether this determines your actions later, if not there's no problem, however instant reactions to stimulation of the emotions often leads to problems however does this effect us in the long term?

The reason I believe they concentrate on Games is most people who don't play games have a severe lack of understanding about the issue, and never seem to ask the individuals that's involved to participate in a wider debate about it.

In my view however "entertainment" doesn't feed these sick crimes that are often related back to games, it's a lack of proper upbringing with a combination of a mental condition thats been left unrecognised. Which is what we should be concentrating on.

[Kalou]

Ofcourse it doesn't feed crimes, if this was the case we would have millions of murderers because that's how many copies GTA sold, in ONE country I think.

People who play GTA and kill someone has obviously got mental issues and the game triggers them, same with films and music, there is nothing at all anyone can do, well we can stop producing games, music and films just to stop a dozen murders that are caused when the murderer played avideo game.

It only happens in America eh? aka the land of "omfg look at me again and I'll sue" anything to get money, they are worse than women those Americans, one will try suing me now after I slagged them :)

[Dcontrol]

Manhunt was never banned, some stores took it off the selves.

It was banned in New Zealand and Australia. Declared illegal in Germany :brow: and apparently was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunt_(video_game)

I know you were referring to the UK though (Y). Was an interesting read that wikipedia link.

Personally I've played countless number of violent games and its never done me any harm. After playing GOW do I get the urge to buy a chainsaw and cut someone up to bits? no I don't. Then again I guess psychologists and psychiatrists will say differently. Some people are disturbed.

[carocat]

Declared illegal in Germany
Ok, that means nothing.

GoW, God of War2 and many other games will never get released in Germany and others will have strongly cut verions. Bringing Germany up makes no difference to the argument.

[damien©]

.....and apparently was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah.

A Link that was later denied by Police and Judge, in the sentencing the criminal found no evidence to even proceed with this theory or even to convict him on it.

This was seen when the it was the Victim rather than the Murderer than owned and played Manhunt, even though he was under 18.

Edit: As Carocat mentions, Germany is too censorship orientated I'm also lead to believe that in any form of entertainment it's illegal to display the former Nazi Symbol used during the WWII. Which for historical purposes in games such as CoD2 would be disappointing.

[Kalou]

Yeah Germans don't like any games with blood I think, do they even ban films with blood? it's sad, although not as bad as the Chinese government.

[Dcontrol]

I'm not arguing :) thats what it said on wikipedia. I find it utter nonsense to blame the games its up to the individuals state of mind.

I know Germany seems to censor a lot of games which are deemed fine elsewhere. I think they are very strict, too strict in their censorship personally. They declared Manhunt illegal now thats harsh.

Are there any other games that kicked up such a fuss in Germany apart from the ones you already mentioned then carocat?

[Kalou]

I read about a game that needed green blood before Germany would allow it, or maybe I am mistaken :)

[Blaze Lord]

Ofcourse it doesn't feed crimes, if this was the case we would have millions of murderers because that's how many copies GTA sold, in ONE country I think.

People who play GTA and kill someone has obviously got mental issues and the game triggers them, same with films and music, there is nothing at all anyone can do, well we can stop producing games, music and films just to stop a dozen murders that are caused when the murderer played avideo game.

It only happens in America eh? aka the land of "omfg look at me again and I'll sue" anything to get money, they are worse than women those Americans, one will try suing me now after I slagged them :)

Wow. You're a huge douche eh? Does this kind of irrational and short-sighted ignorance come naturally to you, or is it something you had to work at? :)

[Truplaya83]

Original Wolfenstein was banned in Germany, i had to take a copy over for my cousin, who lived there back then

[Kalou]

Since when was the truth ignorance? hell there is even a story on the main page about a US loner suing Microsoft over spilt milk, just admit it, when you Americans get the chance to sue, you sue, end of.

[carocat]

There is quite a lot of controversy about games in Germany.

Yes, there is green blood in several.

Yes, certain icons are banned.

I'm at the moemnt writing an article about this for my friends site. I'll post it here when it's done. Give me a few days. ;)

[Kalou]

http://www.sk-gaming.com/scene/11046/

Under German rules amended in 2003 after an earlier school shooting, developers must cut violent content from the German versions of their games. For example, the German version of Counter Strike does not feature blood spurting from wounds - unlike the US and UK editions.

Funniest thing is, Germany is the second biggest e-sport country behind Korea, can't they just admit that the Germans love games? people can walk away with $15000 in ONE event for winning, it's even got its own broadcasting channel aka GIGA.

Alot more good comes out of games then bad, yet as usual people are only bothered about the bad sides, they fail to realise that the killers who kill over a game are insane, people who copy violence from games are insane, they are 1 in a million if not more, it's ridiculous.

[Blaze Lord]

The perceived problem is not the 25 year old who hasn't done anything violent, plays GTA, and suddenly kills a police. The perceived problem is the 5 year old, who hasn't done anything violent, who plays GTA (which is a very different experience from watching a horror movie, and I'll return to that later), reenacts his rampages with the neighborhood kids, then the neighborhood animals, then kills a neighborhood animal, and continues to escalate.

Yes, the parents are to blame for not controlling and monitoring their child's entertainment, but how can they know that they absolutely should monitor and prohibit these things unless they are informed of a ratings system and scared into action?

As for why your comparison to a horror film is flawed: At the most basic level, watching a movie and playing a game have two distinct levels of involvement. In one you're a passive observer, in the other you take on an active role and actually carry things out. Furthermore, in a horror film, the audience typically empathizes with the victims- that's why it's so scary. In GTA, your role is not the victim, it's the victor. Now, this distinction isn't so clear for simply violent action movies where the 'good guys' do a lot of killing too, but the difference in level of involvement and interaction still holds true.

It doesn't matter which is 'scarier' to the 5 year old, it matters what's the more powerful teacher, which is more easily and carelessly emulated.

There are plenty of reasons to take this story apart- mainstream media usually always mischaracterizes dry, boring old science research articles in order to attract more attention. But you aren't going about it the right way, not by a long shot.

[Kalou]

But killing in a game is fun whereas seeing someone being killed in a horror film isn't for a kid, hence why they invented the word nightmare. If the kid does all of those things after playing a game what's the chances of this kid being normal in the first place?

As I have said, billions of games have been sold in the last decade, and how many murders in the last decade were influenced by games?

People go to LAN centers and spend 6-8 hours playing nothing but games, people have been brought up playing games for the past 20 years and game related murders are so rare it's ridiculous when this is used as an excuse for someone killing another person.

Some of them just make excuses, like claiming they are insane when they are indeed sane, claiming they got abused as a kid resulting in them doing the same to other kids, games don't influence people, there sick mind tells them to kill someone, not a game.

[Blaze Lord]

Oof. Fine. Cling to that.

[Kalou]

Then explain why this is rare when billions of games get sold, I DARE/BEG/DEMAND you too, seriously, get doing it, NOW!

You only want to believe yourself, douche.

[Blaze Lord]

Because the danger isn't really that a mature person will play a game and then that very day kill someone. As I said, the danger is a 5 year old playing a game and having that game become why they have "voices in their head," and killing years later.

[Kalou]

But as you put it, your argument is flawed in the sense that 5 year old kids shouldn't be playing 18 rated games, if they do grow up on them blame the parents if they kill someone not a game.

Even so, the average 5 year old kid won't hear noises, hell I still don't get why games are related to murders, did the guy dress up as the character from GTA and do exactly as he did while killing someone? it's all excuses, it's all scabby lies.

[Blaze Lord]

Yes, exactly, they shouldn't be playing those games. Furthermore, some people think that 13 year olds shouldn't be playing M-rated games, and that's exactly what the story you started this thread with was pointing out. Building a body of knowledge isn't an excuse, and it isn't a scabby lie.

If a parent lets a 12 year old play with a handgun unsupervised, and the kid ends up killing himself or his friend, you blame the parents, right? But couldn't you, while blaming the parents, also say that bullets to the head harm the brain? Is pointing out that fact- about ballistics and anatomy- taking away blame from the parents and excusing them, or is it adding blame to the parents?

Pointing out that a game may be harmful isn't excusing the parents. It makes the parents' negligence all the more egregious.