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[troop18546]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Treewyrm @ Sep 15 2006, 11:58 AM) [snapback]255083[/snapback]</div>

Huh? Blaming games?

/me grabs the gun and shoots whoever blames games
[/b]

My gun is poiting at you y'know <_< . Seriously, a game like Postal SHOULD'VE been baned LONG ago. :wallbash:

[U-Boat Commander David]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(troop18546 @ Sep 17 2006, 08:25 PM) [snapback]255639[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Treewyrm @ Sep 15 2006, 11:58 AM) [snapback]255083[/snapback]

Huh? Blaming games?

/me grabs the gun and shoots whoever blames games
[/b]

My gun is poiting at you y'know <_< . Seriously, a game like Postal SHOULD'VE been baned LONG ago. :wallbash:
[/b][/quote]

/Me takes My German High Quality Luger, also known as "The Room Cannon" in Germany, and Helps Treewyrm to "Go Postal" and shoot whoever Blames games!

(I also have a Makarov PM someware around, for anyone who wants to Join.)

I am Striktley AGAINST Banning any Digital Media. The only thing that i hate on Postal is that you can use Cats as Silencers for guns...that's just so very sick. I have no Problem to Kill Humans throught...

[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.

[U-Boat Commander David]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gregor @ Sep 15 2006, 08:21 AM) [snapback]255078[/snapback]</div>

also it owuld be good to make a film (maybe a trilogy that are so popular now) of same story, with same actors but from different points of view. For example, imagine Star trek from Borg's side and their struggle to survive. :-) or what about Black hawk down from one of the Somalies that died when trying to capture the marines. it could be made similar, with same scenes, only from another perspective. -- nah no one would be insterested. they are just no-name africans that died.

The interesting one is The tank (or is it The Beast?!) of russian soldiers in Afghanistan. If only the tank comander would be crazy the film would get another dimension. somehow you see how basically both the Taleban and the Russian supported Afghans had a very good point to fight. one fought back cause their families were tortered or killed for no good reason while other joined russinas because they thought they oculd bring prosperity in the poor region. but not many films show both sides of the story. and usually like here one is distorted.
[/b]

I could not agree more. One of the few Movies/Films/Whatever that got it right was "The Enemy Below". It showed both sides, something that Rarely happends in War Movies, and without Portraying one side as evil...

[Treewyrm]

Eeeh... what Tom said. I agree with him.

Games, movies, whatever else is just a catalyst but personally I think it have minor effect (for those mentally unstable) if none at all (for the rest of us), wether there are computer games or not society will keep doing what it always do and just as there were atrocities before digital age so they will be in the future.

And from my point of view TV with it's news are far worse than games and movies put together. Games, even modern ones, are still far from looking real and besides we all know we're just playing games. Movies while being more visually "real" than games are still just movies. While real news displaying real violence is whole different thing, especially with that "omg! sensation!" attitude.

[chainsoar]

All of the above posters have pretty much captured the jist of what I would've otherwise posted here (saves me a lot of typing :P), but I would add one thing - the kids who are sheltered excessively from violence in movies/video games/TV are in fact more likely to turn out weird than kids who aren't. It stands to reason - a kid who is sheltered from gory movies, violent video games and so on, grows up, and gets his first taste of fake violence - he'll either be so shocked and disturbed by it that he could even become mentally unbalanced, or he'll absolutely love it, having been shielded from it in the past, leaving the door open for him to become a total gore munching maniac, on a quest to seek out the violence he missed out on. The way to deal with violence in movies, Tv and video games is not to shelter children from it, but to allow them access to it, BUT - and this is a big but (tee hee) - you have to make them understand it's not real. Then you will have raised a truly balanced child.

[Iowa]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chainsoar @ Sep 15 2006, 07:39 AM) [snapback]255158[/snapback]</div>

All of the above posters have pretty much captured the jist of what I would've otherwise posted here (saves me a lot of typing :P), but I would add one thing - the kids who are sheltered excessively from violence in movies/video games/TV are in fact more likely to turn out weird than kids who aren't. It stands to reason - a kid who is sheltered from gory movies, violent video games and so on, grows up, and gets his first taste of fake violence - he'll either be so shocked and disturbed by it that he could even become mentally unbalanced, or he'll absolutely love it, having been shielded from it in the past, leaving the door open for him to become a total gore munching maniac, on a quest to seek out the violence he missed out on. The way to deal with violence in movies, Tv and video games is not to shelter children from it, but to allow them access to it, BUT - and this is a big but (tee hee) - you have to make them understand it's not real. Then you will have raised a truly balanced child.
[/b]

Whoah, you're absolutely right, even dead on...

How do I know? Simple, I am one of those teenagers that has been sheltered pretty much all his life from these things...so what happened when my parents stopped caring about it? Well, I love violent video games, I really like watching snuff-cartoons, and i'm in general obsessed with the dark side of the world. However, I don't think the last one was just the sheltering, because i've always been like that...but you're right in that after being shielded from violence for so long, I now embrace it.

But, don't get me wrong, I know that all of the violence in the media is fake...in fact, the thought reoccurs to me every time I play Blood or watch Happy Tree Friends. So i'm a bit out of balance, it doesn't matter, I can discern from real and wrong, and that's all that matters to me.

Oh, and they should stop pinning every criminal offense on video games.

[Mighty Midget]

Gah! I'm sooo flip-pin' tir-ed of blind folded, hypocrite, headless chickens who always scream and shout "don't blame me!". Too many kids, and adults, have their lives in a mess to start with. Maybe even someone messed it up for them. When they flip their lids, the crowd goes "BURN! BURN!". The crowd makes me just as sick as the sicko who did this.

[Eagle of Fire]

What are you guys talking about? I've just read the news link, and there is no mention or accusation that the games were what made the guy "go postal". They were merely catalysms for him, and he probably tryied to gain experience in what he planned to do by playing the massacre game which is a game based on the last school bloodbath.

This killer went berzerk merely some kilometers from where I work, and you guys seems to be way more affected by this than I'll ever be...

[Mighty Midget]

Actually, I read about it in the papers today. There it was mentioned that he was "under the influence of computer games".