[Tom Henrik]

The point here, that the news always turn out of proportion, is that violent games works as a catalysator. Some people have psychological problems or inclination towards violence, and violent games can (over a long period of time) push these people over the edge.

For the rest of us, these games have no influence - other than "Wow. This is a fun game!" or "Oh... kay... a bit too morbid and violent for my taste."

The theory is that the above mentioned group of people would be "normal" and not snap, had they not played violent games (as violent behaviour is always rewarded in those games - giving the player a sense of "Violence = Good" ).

However, in my opinion, that is only part of the truth. Everywhere we look, we can see things that proclaim that "Violence = Good", not just in games. It's just easier to point the finger at games, as they are getting more violent and more life-like for each passing day. And I also believe that these games are one of the biggest violent influences in the industrialised world.

However, depending on your psychological profile, watching the news might actually be more devastating than playing a violent game. If your dream/fantasy is to be "famous", you have to make the news. The easiest way to do this, is to kill someone - as they get the biggest headlines and are mentioned all over the world. The more violent and random the kill/killings, the more the news will focus on your name.

Another point is that by watching the news, you can get the idea that inflicting damage on another human being is something that everyone does, and that it is not such a big deal, really.

(Please note that I am still talking about mentally unstable persons. If you go "wtf?" at the above, you're safe.)

What I mean is that you get news reports about death and destruction every day in the news, and you never ever see the anchormen/women go "Holy crap! That's just wrong... I hope he gets the chair.", however they seem to not care at all, and just triffle the event away. How often have you seen the following scenario?

"Today, a young man was brutally killed in Downtown Seattle. The young man was beaten to death with a baseball bat, after being hit by the car of the killer. Witnesses later described the killer as "In his early thirties, and wearing a T-shirt that said 'GTA Forever!' written across his chest... Here's Tom with the weather, and it looks like we're in for a good time. Tom?"

To someone who are mentally unstable in terms of empathy (or lacking completely in that aspect) the above scenario looks like a quite alright thing to do, as there is no apparent reaction from the anchorman. He seems to be more interested in the good weather that is coming, rather than being disgusted about the killing.


Bottom line is this: There are violent influences everywhere we look, but not all of us are ticking bombs waiting for the right catalyst to turn us into killers. However, some are, and for them violent games and so on, can be very devastating. Both for them and for the rest of us.

So, violent games are not the cause, but it can be the thing that makes these people snap.

To cure this, more money should be spent on researching human behaviour, so that this exact group of people can be found and treated before their inner bomb explodes.