I think it's silly for ANYONE to even consider violent games to make you into a violent or hateful person.

I spend prettymuch all day killing something or the other then rolling it's dead body around looking for something valueable that belonged to it that I might sell for a buck (which is usually the only reason I killed said being :D). But I would never hurt another person, I feel bad even hanging up the phone on people that are trying to sell me something. :(

Some people you run into on the internet are just jerks anyway. A lot of them are cowards and hide their true nature in real life because they fear the consequences and harm to them from behaving in such a way, but online they have no consequence so they are free to be jerks. That doesn't mean the games made them that way, it just means the game gives them an outlet to channel their true personality. You can't really blame the internet or gaming for anything people do, people make their own choices in life.

Its strange, sometimes i feel quite depressed after playing games such as Fallout 3 and other downbeat games, no idea why, probably the depressing themes highlighted in the game, but why should it? who knows, i suppose the media alters our minds more than we thought =]

Well, it can't be the parents fault, can it?

People are just looking for excuses. It always been like this, they blamed rockn roll, pen and paper RPGs (and have you seen many pen and paper RPGs players that are violent?), movies, heavy metal, TV, rap,  radio and all the other stuff that young people liked during the years.

But no game, music or movie can turn a peaceful person into a killer.

Drugs and Alcohol can do that but if someone drinks, watch a movie and then beat someone up they blame the movie and not the alcohol. And even in that case it only happens to some people, I drink and game a lot and never killed anyone and rarely been in a fight.

There are some true reasons that turn people into killers, things like bad parents, religion, being in a war and drinking. But most people prefer to think that it is something else, blaming the devil or computer games instead.

Also some people are born with something broken in their brain. They need medication and should avoid certain things.

And some people are just plain evil. Hitler was against alcohol and tobacco. Never played a single computer game but still killed millions of people.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=60361661
Penn & Teller session 7 episodes 3
Shows how ridiculous the link is... and that killing has been around long before video games were made
 

Humans have been killing each other since the beginning of time, theres always going to be a scape goat or somone/somthing to blame for it. It's all about pointing the finger, some people are just not right in the head, and something will set them off or they will just do it. Violent behavior is just there in some people i really don't think a video game would just make a person kill someone or anything, but some people do have a point that it might push them over the edge. But whos to say something else wouldn't do the same?

It's not parents, or schools, or games, or media, or anything.  Some people are just born violent whether it shows at an early age or not.  I was born an angry person and before games, i just hit walls and people etc.  Now at least I can shoot / cut up things without the risk of prison.

Media doesn't breed serial killers, government does :P

Originally posted by steelrain666

Murder and mayhem are main attractions to video games like Grand Theft Auto and Doom and have boosted popularity among young audiences. Some child psychologists say prolonged exposure to content that rewards killing and destruction fosters aggressive, anti-social behavior and they have lobbied hard to restrict access. But game makers and civil libertarians say teens are capable of separating reality and fantasy. Ratings boards and regulations, they say, are poor government substitutes for effective parenting and they point to recent studies that even suggest potential benefits to the estimated 70% of American teens who own at least one of these games.
 

Everything goes back to the parents.  Parents of bad children always look to blame the situation on anything but themselves.    We need change the laws of this country and start putting those parents away for a long time in hard labor.  Maybe then those horrible parents will wake up and see what THEY have done.

Originally posted by FreddyNoNose

Everything goes back to the parents.  Parents of bad children always look to blame the situation on anything but themselves.    We need change the laws of this country and start putting those parents away for a long time in hard labor.  Maybe then those horrible parents will wake up and see what THEY have done.

Well not everything, but a lot yes.

Can not blame the parents if the child has mental problems, but you CAN blame them if they do not notice or care enough to get them help.

Hell, i do not have children, just a pet Lab. But if i do not see my dog for a while i will go see what she is doing.

Games and movies may give some people that are ready to do crazy stuff ideas on HOW to do it, But the thought or whatever to do it in the first place does not come from them.

Originally posted by daarco

 Japan have the most violent culture today (movies,games), but the lowest rate of murder.

Its a culture thing. How you raise kids and so. You leave a kid with only violent movies and games, and no grown up person to talk to....shit will hit the fan.

 

Thats maybe true, but Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates.

I think there is a difference between being able to seperate fantasy from reality and causing violence.

People take their games quite seriously lol but a pixelated sword and a real sword are quite different species.

Lmaoo yeah i totally agree with you bro same thing happened to me. I went on youtube.com searching for a video about MW2 and some MW1 videos came up and i started to watch some of them. All of a sudden not even 30 seconds into the video the little kid starts screaming and swearing like crazy and all you hear is " You Muther *Bleeep*, Go suck a *Bleeep*" and all sorts of stuff like that and i was just like WoW. {not the game}

Sorry it seems like my sig doesnt work :( ... anyone mind suggesting a good website for me to make my own signature?

 No, but apparently they "does" cause bad grammar.

Originally posted by Kordesh

 No, but apparently they "does" cause bad grammar.

Dammit.! You beat me to it :(
 

Incorrect grammar usage is my main pet peeve and annoys me to a brink of rage. Only reason I was going to respond to this thread and the OP :P

 http://my.mmosite.com/blog/hyuk/blog/item/b387797fa17685387985a97ecfb0fe4e.html

As soon as you say "it depends on whose hands its in" you're essentially saying that you DON"T believe it causes violent behavior. That statement requires that an individual have a predisposition to violence already therefore the cause couldn't be the game.

Is it possible that some people who are violent are drawn to video games because it allows them to live out their violent fantasies. Sure. It's also possible that some people who would never be violent use video games to release anger therefore ending up LESS violent.

The whole "causation" idea in general tends to be flawed. You can prove correlations, causations are generally guesses.

 did you read the link i posted ,the guy play a blizzard game get disconnected ,gamer get in fit of rage 

he goes in his kitchen grab the first thing he find (a knife)

he then go down the street and vent his rage on a 15 year old girl by stabing her repetedly 

luckyly she survived 

the guy is being inside an asilum i sure would like to see his face now that he cant play blizzard game at all for a very long time

People that play computer games are much less likely to kill you =]  That's my theory!

Perhaps videogames can trigger violent behavior but only in someone that has a problem in the first place and would have freaked out in a matter of time anyway...

Nobody out there that has no mental illness and no sociopathic tendencies is going to harm people because of a game.

I go on rampages, killing everyone in my sight in some games.

I'm a pacifist IRL.

Well I look at it this way. If the kids are staying at home playing the violent games....they aren't out doing the violence. Parents who don't want to take proper care and time with their kids are the ones who blame the games. My son plays GTA and the star wars games on the PS2..and he is also in karate.

But he realizes that violent behavior is not acceptable in todays world. I teach him fighting is not the solution to any problem. But I also teach him to defend himself when the need arises.

Personally I think we should blame this whole generation that feels children shouldn't get spanked...just a 'please don't do that' will make kids stop.  The total lack of respect most kids have for adults is what causes the problems. Kids don't fear punishment...cause there is none. They can get away with murder, literally, untill they are 18, and the kids know it.

Blaming games is a lazy parents easy way out...plain and simple.

i can guarentee you that if all those teens actually had someplace or something to do after school to keep them active and happy they wouldnt ever bothre with games. games are just an outlet for suppressed boredom. i think if the country had more things to do and was more.... friendly with each other there would be less violence. besides if there is any other great tradition between human society then killing and war then speak now and tell me a time in history when there havnt been senseless killings or wars. its all about how content the people are.