The link is weak among violence and content in video games.

[Gen.Vader]

im happy, that stupid Hillary cant complain now!

For all of you who got this months issue of Game Informer i quote from page 42

"Not only has violenceamongst the young decreased, but so has drug abuse,youth arrests and violent deaths. During the same period, video games have grown exponentially in ppularity. These two trends suggest the link between games and violence is not as strong as is usually reported in the media."

this made me really happy, i am sick and tired of all the overprotective,irresponsible parents who bought a game for thier kids, and then thier kids kill or fall victim to death, and then they blame the game industry!

Jack thompson has nothing on us this time!

[Ghostly_Substance]

Ok if you want to keep video games in clear view post how video games are good for people and I shall and I repeat I shall so no more bull crap to cry about.

 

send an email here for this organizations reality check: contact@mavav.org

 

If you dont then doesn't matter you dont have to but i'd rather send in a reality check and get them embaressed then let them harass our source of entertainment.

 

edit:

 

I know your trying to get rid of violence but your blaming the wrong source and you should be blaming parents not the game industry. The game industry is just an entertainment factory where people try and bring their dreams to life by making games for their attended audience. A game is rated M for a reason but parents buy this anyways because their kids cry to much for that game. Parents don't know what the game is about so they let the kid have it then later on the parents find out. After finding out the parent would biasly bash the gaming industry like you are without thinking once that he/she bought it with a rating on the box. Who bought the game and who let the kid play it?

 

Your goal is to stop violence but all your doing is raising it back up. Kids, teens, and adults play games to release stress and if you take that away you'll make them more stressed out and more crime will happen like child abuse and kids fending for themselves. Want that to happen or want kids to be entertained by a object called video games ? Yes there is a thing called movies but that doesn't solve every problem. You need to be able to interact with objects.

 

Ok lets say that games are actually violent, will a kid just grab a gun and shoot ? No since you can do more in a game then in reality and thats why "violent" games are helping crime rates. If you try stopping the gaming industry you'll just make more then 280,000 people go unemployed (More people then from Katrina and Rita disaster).

 

Look if games make us violent then please explain why ancient civilizations where violent and causing mass deaths after each and every fight ? Video games or thurst for territory ? Going to blame chess for that ? See my point ? Romans only faught just to get more territory but they collapsed since they where greedy not because they played games all the time but because they wanted more power.

 

Games are for entertainment just like music is for relaxing and bias people still blame artists as the source. I play games only to relax after a long day of schooling as other people do from long days of school/work.

[Juggernaut1985]

Mine:

 

First of all I wish to congratulate you and your members for your staunch belief that games do in fact promote violence. However those studies are all short term and very inconclusive as no long term studies have been completed. Gaming began in the 1980s and has slowly expanded outward. Therefore if a study was to be taken seriously it would have to have been done for at least 15 years or more to accurately reflect changes in a person’s psychology if they were playing violent games.

 

This point nullifies your argument that studies have conclusively shown that games increase aggression in people who play games. Even as an eighteen year old and soon to be attending college I can tell you that if anyone sees a movie they walk out of the theater simmering from seeing the movie. Games are the same way. The studies taken only show the short term effects of games.

 

Secondly, I must ask why you feel that you are justified in saying inaccurate statements about the US Army. The game the army created is not the same one marketed to the public. It has been changed and most of the gore censored. The function of the game was to be a training device to make soldiers more aware of their environment and to use that knowledge to help them stay alive. A game that allows you to shoot others is not the same as real life. No amount of playing gives you an idea of how heavy a rifle is or how to use it effectively. If a game could do that then we wouldn’t have a need for the qualifying tests in a shooting range that tell soldiers if they can go on to the next level of training or not.

 

Thirdly, Murder, Homicide, and Drug usage rates have gone down in the past years due in part to video games. Kids that used to go out on the street and become involved in gangs now sit at home in front of their television and play a game. People that feel the urge to kill someone instead go home and play a game that allows them to shoot people, thereby relieving stress.

 

Furthermore, MMORPGs actually teach social skills. While ingame a player must interact with his surroundings, this means making friends, joining groups called “guildsâ€

[Swiftdraw]

Video games do not promote violence anymore than American football does, probably less so.... I read a grea article on that, but I've since forgotten the URL.

 

Ya'll have to remember, Hillary Clinton is trying to get elected for president in 2008. Being a former New Yorker (not the city, mind you) I can tell you with no doubt she has done nothing while elected as senator, so she needs to make it look like she has actually done something with her term in the senate.

[Hadoken13]

imho games that are overly violent do not promate violence if anything does it is the crazy fundamentalist christians who are pro war(remember one of the 10 commandments is to not kill people) and against violent games cuz it makes children want to kill. ya sure doom made the columbine thing happen not the children of the crazy christian people who taught their kids that anyone different is a bad person.these crazy people are the ones who think such crazyness. i'll stop now so i don't offend anyone (if i did well TO BAD FOR U! )

[Gen.Vader]

too late haddy, you have now turned this into a religopus thread

to war with you!

but really, how can parents blame the industry for death when they either bought the game for little jimmy, or was so disconnected from his life to not see any signs/know what he is doing.and with the one site that ghostly posted about they havent responded to my email! o and this

 

Overwhelming Response

We have received an overwhelming amount of letters on the topic of video game addiction and violence. While the majority of the responses were sent in by feral young children and pre-teenage gamers (a very surprising statistic, more proof our cause is not in vain), a great handful of parents did submit stories of their real life experience handling video game related addiction and violence in their own family. We plan to post their stories online as well as our updated article section sometime after the New Year, so please check back soon!

 

that was from thier site, and a question. You degrade us(for the teens out there) to be FERAL people? And yet you dont give the dignity or respect to defend your sides! You also have all your articles down for so called "editing".

 

Who can believe people who dont have proof or logic to back up thier claims? I say its a whole bunch of grief stricken parents acting out of grief, not sense. They want vegence, and because of that they are blind.

[Ghostly_Substance]

They want vegence, and because of that they are blind.

 

Strong words and I agree since they're one sided that they truely are blind.

 

As I said here or in my email parents should watch their kids play the game and hide the game when they're done watching the kid(s). When the kid plays while you watch them you should tell them if its ok to do those thing sor not and besides they have common sense (most).Who here is a parent and has kid(s) ? Agree or disagree with me ?

[Gen.Vader]

i am appalled after delving more into the site,

they claim that "addicts" were

 

Fact: Health studies have found that even those casual gamers suffer from low self-esteem and self-pride compared to their athletic and more socially accepted peers in their same age group. Young gamers were found to be more likely to become lifetime gaming addicts and becoming social outcasts.

social outcasts? or kids with a hobby? sure it is one thing to be playing games 24/7 with no outside contact when i was little but now i have a gf and good friends. SO did gaming really lower my self esteem and self pride just because i didnt do a touchdown?No, thats just silly

 

and

 

 

We highly recommend your child's bedroom be absent of all forms of electronic entertainment devices. This includes a home computer, and/or video game console systems. It is best for all electronic entertainment devices be placed in a common area where a clock is present and adult supervision is available. If this is not at all possible, we recommend having your child's door remain open and be checked in on every hour. Parents should be extra cautious around the time of bedtime until morning.

 

Encourage your child to be more active. Arrange for your child to go over to a friends house for the afternoon, setup a gathering party at your home, or even sign up your child for an after school sport or activity.

 

Are these people crazy? its all or nothing for them, its either no computer, or let your kid run free! cant thier be a compromise in this? also especially with little kid-teens the more you push they harder they resist, i should know i do it alot too.

 

and'

 

Fact: Video games aren't just for "fun" anymore, the video game industry made a net income of $6.3 billion in 2002, surpassing even the movie industry. Developers profit and continue to take advantage of today's youth with cute, loveable, addictive, and recognizable franchise characters. A practice and strategy similar to those used by the tobacco industry.

 

im sorry, are you saying mario is corrupting our children? please elaborate.

 

there is some more stuff but i hate how they demorilaze my hobbie and set out to make me evil. really POed too, but like ghostly said i would like to know what parents thought about this, after all what do i jknow? im only 14 and lack no experience,its just how can you be so biased?

[Hadoken13]

im sorry, are you saying mario is corrupting our children? please elaborate

unfortunately if this is what they were saying it would be too easy but it isn't. They target video gaming the same way rock music was targeted and the same way rap is targeted (i hate you rap music!!! ^(>.<)^) they have a negative message that their generation didn't tolerate and it scares them. And against the video gaming industry: stuff like the coffee house mod for grand theft auto aren't helping!!!! god d*mmit!!!

[Foshjedi2004]

MARIO, MARIO??? Thats a great Game and Film. If you don't like it then GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Swiftdraw]

I've yet to find a movie based off a video game I like. They're all just blah...

 

"Itsa me!!! Mario!!!" How can Mario be 3vil? Nintendo maybe, but not Mario!!!

[Gen.Vader]

mario is too pure and cool to be evil. one stomp and your enemies are toast! come on, he has the hops AND he is a plubmer

[Ghostly_Substance]

Mario ?! MARIO ? How is Mario bad ?! He doesn't have sex nor does he promote violence and hes for KIDS. ITS A KIDS GAME so how the hell is it bad ?! It has all these fantasy characters kids can dream up alone with no help.

[Gen.Vader]

Mario ?! MARIO ? How is Mario bad ?! He doesn't have sex nor does he promote violence and hes for KIDS. ITS A KIDS GAME so how the hell is it bad ?! It has all these fantasy characters kids can dream up alone with no help.

well ghostly hate to say it but the rate of headstomping in little kids has gone up DRASTICALLY in recent years,resulting in a few deaths.

[Darkmark]

In the most recent gamecube mario game he has a 'fludd'... that's like a water pistol. Pistol... guns. I hope you see the connection here, he's encouraging street crime.

 

Pah. All this talk of VGs being the cause of violence is a load of rubbish. Sure, I'm shy and not so social in real life, but I was like that before I got into gaming. If someone's shy and enjoy games I hardly see how they become violent? I'm generally quite passive. I have a temper like everyone... but that's more inherited than from anything existencial.

[Swiftdraw]

Video games actually was a great outlet for me in middle school and early part of high school. Funny how I stop getting suspended for fighting shortly after I picked up video games. Also I seem to have been able to discern the difference between reality and the video games. According to studies Hillary and Thompson bring up, I shouldn't have been able to do that!!! By their account, I should have shot up my middle school.

[Ghostly_Substance]

Yes i'm shy in when not on the computers and i'm passive. We all have urge to kill but we dont do it and all people do is blame games ?

 

"Omg this guy kills so and so, its this games falt sue them!!"

 

Anyways every kid I saw had water pistols and they were passive.

[Gen.Vader]

good point fosh, i was really worried when some gangstas threatened me with thier fludds....and i worry about link too! he drinks "potions" to recover "magic" stupid drunken kokiri.....

[Darkmark]

Link has a sword... Oh wait, and BOMBS. He's encourages terrorism!

 

Anything can be seen in negative light as long as you're looking hard enough.

 

I don't think I even have the urge to kill anyone other than in game. It's like films. You enjoy it because....it's not real. Just because I watched a film doesn't mean I believe it happened/is happening. Same for computer games. I mean that's the real draw of games and film/tv, it's enjoyable escapism. You don't then come back after playing a game/watching a film for two hours or so thinking 'I could do these things in real life'. If anything it relieves stress, not builds it to the point of murder etc.

[Swiftdraw]

Lets not forget Mario takes mushrooms and "magical" flowers to power up. That must promote drugs (and Mario II was, seriously, a really trippy game...)

[Foshjedi2004]

Hell Yeah. Magic Mushrooms make you grow!!! Never tried them myself.

[Gen.Vader]

Link has a sword... Oh wait, and BOMBS. He's encourages terrorism!

 

Anything can be seen in negative light as long as you're looking hard enough.

 

I don't think I even have the urge to kill anyone other than in game. It's like films. You enjoy it because....it's not real. Just because I watched a film doesn't mean I believe it happened/is happening. Same for computer games. I mean that's the real draw of games and film/tv, it's enjoyable escapism. You don't then come back after playing a game/watching a film for two hours or so thinking 'I could do these things in real life'. If anything it relieves stress, not builds it to the point of murder etc.

what? not real?

okay EVERYBODY OUT! link stop beating up on ganon, mario stop fixing my toilet! kirby spit out yoshi right now! out out out!

*huff**huff* stupid video ....game....charachters....in....room*dies*

[Evilwookie]

i know he has nothing on us, but tell that to the mass overprotective masses that say otherwise, you know they have all these specialists talking about it but they never actually have a kid talk or anybody who just PLAYS video games and doesn't study them, my hatred is strong for those who bare the flag of specialism if only i they were in lightning range

[Gen.Vader]

have at you indeed...finally you post! and welcome to the forums sam....

HAVE AT YOU!!!

[Ghostly_Substance]

welcome to the forums.