Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Video games and violence.

To start i know that every gamer and their grandmother has disused this subject but i don't care. The subject is not as complex or as touch as fox news would have you believe. The main issue is children, people claim that "video games corrupt children" and "they promote violence". One game that comes into question a lot is the Grand Theft Auto games, they are violent, have large amounts of sexuality and drugs and shooting lots and lots of shooting. This scares the sheep that seek to control video games it scares them into thinking that games are the problem, they mirror real life tragedies right? Yes they do, but mirror and promote are different things. The games are set in a realistic setting with npc's who follow traffic laws to decent object physics, and you can do anything if you can do it in real life you can do it in GTA, example you can hijack a airliner while 2 friends are throwing grenades down below. In all seriousness its an amazing game and really showcases what games can do. However you might hit some poor person in the head with grenade and this is the point at which controversy is born.

            People want these games banned because the "corrupt children", im going to show you the box for GTA 4, do you see that M in the bottom left corner,Yeah when parents but this for their kids they should know what they are getting into. Countless times a Gamestop employee has warned a parent multiple times about the content of the game that they are buying for the 12 year old standing next to them, and countless times they buy it, then later freak out when their son shoots up a strip club. This is why there are complaints, its their faults for putting these ideas into children's heads not the games.

          On the subject of ideas, it is said that these games plant ideas of violence in children heads, but ideas are strictly in the mind, they have the opportunity to be fulfilled but in reality, they cant, especially by our nations kids.

          We can look at these games in another light. There is a college professor that has a 3 year old, he sits down his child and plays GTA. What he does is he drives around the map,following traffic laws, and has his child yell out the colors of the cars, and even sometimes the makes and models. This is an excellent way for games to be used for good, instead of just entertainment value. The sheep who shudder at the sight of a violent game need to realize that video games are only bad is used improperly, or just looked at from a scared sheep-like point of view.

1 comment:

  1. I would have to agree, for the most part. However, I do think the actual violent content does play a part, albeit a very small one. As you said, the major problem is parents buying games inappropriate for their children.

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