Sorry, but Ryan Miller is making gamers look like defensive retards who missed their logic classes. He does not make a valid statement; it quite simply does not matter whether movies were attacked, too. A valid reply to these studies would be "These games are not meant for children, and if children can access them, we need to fix this problem and not complain about the games themselves."

Step one to fixing the portrayal of games in the mass media: Stop blindly defending games and pretending there can not possibly be any kind of issue.

L_K_M

In any case, the kids would be messed up by their uncaring parents or be extremely well adjusted ones who are able to cope with the fact that there is such a thing as violence.

Pi-face

No problem stopping games as long as they stop books, television, movies, classic plays, opera......

Cell9song

Xmaster

Wanna know what's funny? The fact that MOST OF US GREW UP WITH GAMES AND CAME OUT OK.

If all that was true (and please do not let me s**t you) watching all those transformers, inhumanoids, gijoe, news casts, a-team, knight rider, cobra, airwolf, animes... etc, and playing all those Atari, Commodore (64 and 128), DOS, Mac (and/or) Windows, Nintendo, Sony, Sega, NEC consoles (and/or) arcades... plus listening to all that Rap, hip-hop, Rock, Metal, Industrial, Grunge, Pop, Punk, Country (and/or) Elevator Music, while we were growing up didn't turn us into killing machines.

Look, i come from a country that had a civil war that lasted 12 years and left us with nothing more than 72,000 dead, a lot of infrastructure to rebuild and promises broken (and a peace that rests on a metric ton or two of compost and diesel)... But that didn't make me a killing machine either.

You know what made me the man i am today? Parental care. Really. When Mom and Dad were not around, our Grandmas were there (and you know what that means, right? old school "aimagonnasmackyandaface" scoldings!).

So it's not the meat you eat, the circumstances you live with, the games you play, the content you are exposed to... It's the fact that kids are growing up almost (or maybe completely) alone without proper care.

Heck... I am living proof that ALL THOSE REPORTS mean nothing!!!

That is all, thanks for reading, and sorry for the caps.

P.S.: Killing = Bad, Real Winners don't do drugs, Stay in School Fool!

whiskey

But I do have respect for this article because it shows the other side of the argument.

RPharazonius

Granted not everything is the parents fault, but a lot of it starts from there I say.

Witzbold

Holy shit I lold hard.

Also the pic you used freaked me out.

Dudemeister

banmojo

unhappymatt1

Brothers in Arms is all about what war does to people. It isn't just point click and shoot. Even some of the animations in Company of Heroes make you think "wow that looks like it really sucks." I find more and more that when I play games focused on killing to obtain an objective, I'm starting to think about it. "What the hell am I actually doing here?"

This isn't news to gamers. And games will stop being news when we all turn 50 and we start panicking about the holo-porn our kids are watching. Hell, that's what I'll be watching.

Griswold

So I went to the nearest pedestrian, and I...batted the ball. Head came clean off. I profess that I was a little
disconcerted when the person across the street, instead
of batting the ball back, simply screamed as if I did something WEIRD. Still, in my mind it still counted as a point since he did not return the ball. Sadly, I found that society rather frowns on life imitating games. Ah well...

But I am fine now, I just put the ol' tinfoil hat when the voices tell me to bat the ball...bat the ball..
And this whole post is one big ol' ^_^.

relic1980

No wonder why the world has gone bat shit crazy! ;D

Witzbold

*looks at most kids in america and europe*

It would seem not. My obvious strawman arguement aside, I call bullshit sirs!

EdwinJ85

NeverSage

GuardianEarth

To quote Jimmy Carr:

"I've never been influenced by Pac Man. I mean who would run around chomping pills and listening to repetitive music in their spare time ffs?!"

Communist_Gamer

onidavin

Goodthymes

gamefanatic26

krunkjuice

Voteforme2020

My360broked

Eh, I've been playing video games since the impressionable age of 2 and I still don't see why people aren't willing to blame themselves for how their children turn out, they always have to find something to blame it on... It's the parents.

Shaoko

Bernard McGraw

Nick

Whenever I read the comments by the gaming community on articles like this I'm embarrassed to be a part of it. This article is actually pretty even handed - but of course most people commenting here didn't bother to read it before flaming the article.

The Wreckard

Katorok

Jason144

But, really, this research does nothing but add fuel to the fires of research reaching back into the mid-90's. People still don't trust video games. That's fine. But the research is still skewed because they're almost always comparing video games to the baseline. How about comparing a "mature" game and an E-rated game to "mature" content and family content on television? Or to those in books? If you're concerned about arousal, do some studies focusing on such arousal in various situations. At this point, all it does is corroborate what other studies have said about video games in very limited settings. Sure, it gets the media in a tizzy because it's easy to sell the story in magazines, newspapers, and television - but to those of us who actually pay attention to research, the result is, "Well, so what?"

When do we get a longitudinal study about video games and how they affect the lives of people beyond a single moment? I know it's expensive and difficult to run, but it'll mean a whole lot more than anything else we've seen.

Gospel X

goldwings

Athest

uclabruin2

Disband the ESRB, label games for content, let parents decide, and give everyone more mature game content - INCLUDING the kids who need mature content in order to develop properly. Children are meant to grow up to be ADULTS, not LARGER CHILDREN.

otakucode

UncleScrotar

Spiderbait

D00MsDave

So in short games do have an effect on my mind, but it is very short term, and I still maintain control of my morals. Meaning there's nothing wrong with it.

kojirodensetsu

Pillzee

Games have always been about killing and in unsupervised areas that is probably bad but so many of us got through it fine thanks to good parenting and that is something parents lack in general.

chiefpoopingpants

zombiefrank

davrone

ManjiKengo

What a bunch of assholes, walking around in those lab coats thinking they're better than us. They should just listen to your example - playing videogames is just like institutionalized racism.

Please let me know where I can sign up for your newsletter sir. You obviously have lots of interesting and insightful things to say.

The Wreckard

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@Shadowmist: They do have reasons for this. I began reading through one article written by one of the researchers, and I mean... these are academic papers. They are peer-reviewed. Someone can lose their job for pulling shit out of their ass. I'm too busy at work to really give some of this stuff a read-through, but I expect it to be either infuriating, or thought-provoking, and no where in between.

BtownDesignGuy

OMG! My kid isn't perfect! QUICK! Blame something else!

adheananda

McBonk

aplusjimages

So, what I'd really like to see is a couple of games created where I get to play the victim. You know, just to balance things out. You know, you just go about a normal day and you'd be randomly being mugged, murdered, assaulted, have pianos drop on you (and, of course, constantly be reading kook studies on an industry that you enjoy. That'd get you the most points of all). We could have online scoreboards and everything. "OMG! im teh nmber 1 v1ctom! Woot!111!"

Sadly, I could actually see myself playing a game like that for hours.

ReverendJeffy

What is bad about either of these?

Tale

phase 1: make henchmen play violent games
phase 3: profit!

Kataki

Blackjack1353

boxem180

gitrooman

Shadowmist

Pezdispenser

gitrooman

[www.penny-arcade.com]

Take that you witches of the medical industry!!! Fight the devil free your mind from sex, drugs and alcohol and the shenanigans of Ellen Page and Dane Cook! Be objective as man is meant to be! Spiritual ANARCHY!!!! RARRR!!!!

SuperMekman

"Watching movies in hi-def desensitizes children much faster than 480i. And not only that, but Blu-ray fanboyism has already sent and handful of victims to the hospital. It is clear that Blu-ray must be stopped."

BtownDesignGuy

smitty1123

[www.psychology.iastate.edu]

gitrooman

Rastaman4200

[www.youtube.com]

Draco Basileus

KM91

[www.amazon.com]

gitrooman

MadMinstrel

QFT! :)

DaiMacculate

Ah...bliss. *suddenly looks around nervously*

pylon_trooper

nicopolitan

I find video games help my anger. When I had a rough day at work, people pissing me off right and left, I go home, pop open UT and slaughter some bastards. After that the anger has gone away and I feel good. If anything video games keep me from killing people. Nothing relieves stress like the UT announcer.

Pugcake

ReT

Xenobula

ReT

You've either eaten something really really good, or you've just been hit with a severe case of gastroenteritis.

pylon_trooper

Señor Vorpal Kickass'o

rocklee111

Gray665

Smadubaku

StartRunning

What more is there to say on these subjects? It's all been said. These "studies" have a complete lack of objectivity from the beginning. The end result is always the hypothesis and the studies themselves are rarely "scientific". The fact of the matter is that human beings (particularly males) have violent tendencies. I'm pretty sure we were all killing each other before video games came along. In fact, I would submit that video dames deter violence by giving an outlet for those tendencies to act out on.

I'm also pretty sure that there are more violent acts being commited in this world by those who do not play video games.

Smadubaku

OO god ESRB save me before he rips my head off..... oo wait..

TheNumchucks

on topic, yes we are all sick of this scapegoat

kw4k

KM91

chiefeagle02

option-g

pylon_trooper

Strangelove

AsWater

StartRunning

Pombar

Moe Power

News thesedays...apparently non existant.

TRT-X

smitty1123

That having been said, the knee-jerk reaction from the gaming community whenever one of these studies is published is kind of shameful. You have to be open to the idea that media can in fact have negative impact if you want to believe that it can have positive impact too! We can't simultaneously champion serious gaming and then lambast the other side of the coin.

onidavin

brello

PapaBear434

pylon_trooper

kokiri-kid

Moe Power

Cozwic

pylon_trooper

brello

ach77

spidey

That's crazy man...I could copy and paste your entire statement and it would ring true to me (except the married part, I live with my fiance...so I will be married soon!).

I can watch gory stuff, but it just makes me cringe a little. My fiance just loves that stuff though (medical surgeries, gory movies, all the like...and she doesn't play video games!).

Zhabin

ESRB FTW

NeverSage

TheHun

DashTheHand

If only the Vienna School of Art had said...

"...hmmm, he's a little strange, what with that moustache. Buuuut...I think we'll accept him."

pylon_trooper

I'm not saying their is - obviously as a gamer I hope there's not, and there certainly hasn't been any compelling studies thus far.

But what if a good, sound study comes along and finds that there is a link? How will the gaming community react?

It seems to me that both sides in this debate are so entrenched in their beliefs regarding videogame violence that it won't matter. It's a lot like global warming, evolution, or any other highly politicized scientific study - people seem to have made up their minds and no amount of data will change it.

The Wreckard

fuchikoma

Same!

EnigmaNemesis

Ever seen Eddie Izzard's take on Hitler?

(paraphrased) "Hitler was a mass-murdering fuckhead... and a painter, proving that psychos come from anywhere. I imagine what it was like...

"I will pain this tree and... hmm.. DAMMIT I WILL KILL EVERYBODY""

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

Tei

Cozwic

I was probably 8-9 at the time.

I also had a fascination with killing ants, lizards, frogs, etc.

Of course, being a grown man with the understanding of right and wrong, I know better, and still to this day, feel horrible about my immature youth, despite the fact that I didn't know any better.

However, I guess if the shrinks and doctors are right...

Keep me away from plumbers, and hide your pets.

Tyber_Zann

pylon_trooper

But, desensitisation is an ADVANTAGE! It means we can deal with situations, for example I am not afraid of blood, and I rip through the noobs on Halo 3 and I watch violent films. But I'm a pacifist. Explain

Again, scapegoat we are.

Communist_Gamer

"Other research shows that antisocial behavior is not a result of the game, but rather the isolation that results when children play the games along for hours on end."

That was an interesting point, and probably true in my mind. As for the brainscan part of the article, I can believe the results, but the interpretation is up in the air for me. I have no trouble believing that different parts of the brain are fired up by different games, but I've gotten violent urges playing Katamari Damacy, which Half Life Episode 2 never gave me.

Maybe it's because I'm 30 and my brain doesn't work the same way as a teenager's brain, but I do recall having violent bouts of frustration playing Super Mario 3 as a kid. I think it varies by person... but I'd like to see exactly what the data in the paper says.

greyhoundbus

Funny thing is? I can't stand to watch violent or gory videos like medical drama and the like. My wife loves them. Descriptions of injuries make me turn green. My wife is fascinated by them. I've never hit someone out of anger. My wife hits people all the time.

Tessa K.C.

Tri5cui7

evslin

My god, if this were status quo - the industry wouldn't be having such boom years....because according to the reports we're all murderers.

But there are those FEW people that just can't handle it, right? It only takes one rotten apple is how that saying goes.

sadkermit - soon to be banned for standing up to the ummm nazi.

Croixtreize

If the US loves violence so much (and oh yes, we do, just look at the news, TV, films...I don't know, maybe US history) why is this a problem? If we're training our children from a young age to be cold, efficient killers, isn't that just an expected, or even a desirable, result in a country perpetually at war?

RandalGraves

For example, when I was young, I watched a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have and it never really steered me in any wrong direction. I saw porn when I was 6, my first ero-guro at 12 (traumatizing, but not dramatically so), and I was spoon-fed violent movies throught my entire childhood, so much so that I pretty much don't like today's movies because there's just no gore. When I saw my first snuff film, I balked and nearly stopped talking to everyone for a while. Fast forward years later, and 2 Girls 1 Cup makes me laugh, and a guy getting buck shot through the face makes me yawn. That's the Internet's fault.

But does that mean I will actively go out and, I don't know, rub my face in an open stomach wound while a priest in clown makeup jerks me off while Judy Garland croons Somewhere Over the Rainbow in 6.1, accompanied by the clapping of an 8-year-old boy in a Spider-Man t-shirt? No. And you know why?

Because priests in clown makeup are so hard to find. :(

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

lol. Seriously, I am more violent towards bad drivers in general, and it's even worse when all the bad drivers in your city are clogging up the roads and you have to deal with all of them at the same time!

Zhabin

JesseLacey

Yes, video games depicting even cartooney violence normalizes children to that behavior... as do cartoons for that matter, or the news, or anything depicting violence.

Video games desensitize us to violence... whoo. That's like saying a new car consumes a lot of gas. I don't care.

If you want to make it an issue, you'd better be prepared to give up all the other things that also desensitize violence. Which, by the rulings the judges have given on every violent video game case I can recall, we're not ready to do.

Short version: They're comin for ya Bugs, you wascawy wabbit you.

Saxboy

Hey guess what, discipline your damn children!

Kyle81

GOD

cocks

GOD

Omaha, Nebraska residents, you should be proud! *rolls eyes*

vonfaustus

Traffic gives me violent urges.

brent_w

Guild_Navigator

Buttah

LiBi

Witzbold

HANK-SP

I wonder if the aggression increases during a hardcore game of MONOPOLY or CHESS or even CANDYLAND.

Let's see those studies, then contrast and compare.

Amnesiac85

Irenicus-the one and only

Silverwolf

kathartik

MURDERFACE

DaiMacculate

Oh wait, I'm the guy who nearly crapped his shorts watching White Noise, I'm not even qualified to watch a real horror movie.

Yet, I play Counterstrike everyday. Haha. <3

Ignatius

Columbo, "Just one last thing. Does my glass eye play the part of a real eye, or does it play the part of a glass eye? I just don't get it"

GOD

RPGr

Garcian-Smith

I really don't get why they're so concerned about games and violence though! :P

DaiMacculate

Why do they think that we're getting more violent? I'm pretty sure that humans were more violent hundreds of years ago.

Pugcake

Can I be violent? Sure...I yell at my brothers and sisters all the time, but that's only when they're super annoying. But I never hit them or wish I could beat them with a lead pipe.

All kids minds are different and will operate differently. They say "games warp kids minds". Well, they didn't warp mine.

Zhabin

There are screwed up people of all kinds and some of them like video games, which inevitably causes crimes to be 'linked' to games.

shinobi2u

Mike Fahey

WoodyNvincible

I dont like seeing "ultra-violence" in film.. I'd especially not like to endure it or witness it in real life. Yet Im quite happy to see it in a video game. Does this mean I am desensitized? No.. idiots..

It means my brain isnt dense enough to equate digital images.. (even at the best pre-rendered quality ever created, its still friggin' CGI and its as clear as day) to real life.

A game is a friggin' game.. get over it.

Korbei

JustJake

Boy I can't wait to get home, crack a beer, play Mass Effect and lock myself in for the weekend. I just got it on Tuesday finally, haven't had a few solid hours to shut the world out yet.

Absent Blue