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I'm sorry if people have made topics about this before, but I'm doing a project for school and I need to know some points of view on it.
So..
- do you believe video games contribute to real life voilence?
- do you think the video games those people played had anything to do with them shooting at the columbine high school and the montreal college?
- should violent video games be "toned" down?
-any other thoughts?

thank you for your help

I think the problem that many critics and politicians are running into is the difference between Causation and Correlation.

Now, Nowhere do I think it possible that video games cause violence. It's frankly just absurd. If this were in fact the case, we'd see many more violent crimes across many ages groups, which just frankly isn't happening. I play FPS's, however, have never felt the need to actually go pick up a real gun or go shoot anything, not even things like squirrels.

Correlation however, is a separate matter. Personalities which already tend towards violence and crime naturally will also take that tendency to other areas of their life, including entertainment. Hence you see people like the columbine shooters playing graphically violent video games. However, like all correlations and statistics for that matter, it's only one variable in many which can link say, entertainment choices to a specific crime. All too often other factors like community, family upbringing, and other forms of medias such as books are overlooked in defining a cause of violence.

Should violent video games be toned down? No, not necessarily. As the above pointed out, there are far more gorier things in movies and on your very own television set ever night during good old Prime Time. Video games are by far not the leader in the gore and violence trip in entertainment today. Should however games be given perhaps stricter ratings and stores held accoutable for upholding these ratings? Sure. I don't see movie theatres letting in underage kids to NC-17 movies, or on a different wave, sex stores sellign to those under 18. Video games, which often are targeted and made for VERY mature audiences, shouldn't be an exception.

Like all kinds of media, video games for chid entertainment needs to be monitored by you guessed it, parental guidance, which is disturbingly lacking in most cases. Why would you let your kid buy a rated M game, but not let them get that new cd that has 'explicit lyrics'? It's frankly just absurd. I feel most violent crimes committed by children often have only one finger to point the blame towards - their irresponible and take-no-action-in-my-child's-life parents.

/rant.

I agree with everything that has been said.


Where have you seen this happen? I will not say that this has never happend that would be asinine. But when it does happen it is the exception, not the rule. There are HUGE penalties to stores who do such a thing. People lose jobs and alot of money over this.



No, no, no. It is NOT the job of the individual store to enforce the rating of the game. They have no power of a games rating whatsoever. Their job is to make sure that they do NOT sell an inappropriate rated game to minors. Yes the rating is there to help parents get an idea of what content lies within a game, but do you have any idea how many parents DO NOT understand it or do not CARE?

Yesterday, I was in the store picking up my copy of Bully. A lady walks in with a kid who to me looked no more than 11. The kid picks up a copy of Oblivion for the Xbox and brings it to the counter. The woman at the counter takes the game and tells the mom that the game is a mature rated title and then explains to the woman what that means. The woman tells her "I know, he plays games all the time. I'll take it." Now, beyond explaining that the game may be inappropriate for her child, WHY is it the responsibility for that woman behind the counter to do anything more? You asked why the government should be doing the parents job. My question to you is why should the store have to?

So do I think that they need to try and help parents get a better understanding of game ratings and how they apply. Hell yes! Understanding is the key thing here, but the parents have to be willing to listen and learn.

Check out http://www.gamepolitics.com/ Pretty good site keeps up with court cases and legislation and the like that's been targeting games.

in my opinion it depends on the intelligence of the person some people think that just because a graphic on a system can do something, so can they. personally i dont think video games cause ALL of it, look at the movies, tv, etc. etc. i mean i play game slike halo, gta, and counterstrike all the time and i'm intelligent enough to know that if i try to pull something like that it's illegal and dangerous. i mean really, just because a 2 meter tall superhuman in 2 ton armor can take a machine gun and spray it killing things doesnt mean i can.

also selling games to minors is some of the company/store's fault like Firrerreo said stores sell inappropirate games to children all the time... why? money, all the businesss out there are so concentrated on getting money and being rich they dont care what the consequences are even if it means their own death from someone shooting them because they thought GTA was cool.

so long story short in my opninion it's not the video games fault it's more of the intelligence/mindset of the person buying it, and the stores/companies who sell the games who is the problem

- do you believe video games contribute to real life voilence?

Yes and no. If the person in question is a young child who doesnt know the diffrent they are just immitating something they see in a game then its yes, however the majority no. Each person is responsible for what they do can they get ideas from a game sure, just as easily as they can get ideas from movies, books, watching others its just another form of media for ideas. It comes down to the person using it thats all.

- do you think the video games those people played had anything to do with them shooting at the columbine high school and the montreal college?

No, what caused those shootings were the cause by a unstable student.

- should violent video games be "toned" down?

No

-any other thoughts?

Nope