Should Violent Video Games be Banned?

Should violent video games be banned?

  • Yes

    Votes: 3 3.9%
  • No

    Votes: 73 96.1%

  • Total voters
    76
  • Poll closed .

Sigurd

Banned
Joined
Dec 25, 2003
Messages
911
I actually get more violent when playing non-violent games than violent ones :(
 

Binky the Bomb

Fledgling Freddie
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Jan 31, 2004
Messages
1,897
Aye, Tetris being the prime example there I bet.

Violence in video games, hmmm. Well for a start, a video game is just that, a game. No one dies, no one gets hurt. Same with movies (excluding stunt men, but they get paid). To be honest, you can't ban violent content without going the whole nine yards. Violence in games, tv, movies, populare culture, sporting events and other such things would also have to be stoped. Boxing, wrestling, theatrical performance (involving violence), books, the bibles of various religions, most films, childrens tv, certain radio performances, any wartime documentary footage and so on and so forth.

Why?

To bad video game violence is a breach of civil liberties in most countries (you can't ban a medium with out due cause) and if you ban one type of violence (a none existant form) they you have to ban ALL types of violence, perceived or otherwise. Remember when they wanted the Tellitubies banned? And they found out that if they did it, half the worlds entertainment industry would have to be shut down (they used the "worshiping false idols" bit from the bible" as there excuse). The term "fuck you, you deranged bible bashing nutcase" was used and that was the end of that. The Tellitubies went on for another 2 seasons, then shut down, they needn't have bothered kicking up the fuss.

And a point raised by many is "Where were the parents?" Good point. Manhunt, Half Life and so many other games come with a discretion rating on the games, just like movies. Would you allow your 10 year old kid to watch Aliens? Predator? Forrest Gump? Hell no! There are scenes on violence and blood, people die (or seem too) and scary things happen. Same thing applies to games, parental disgretion is required. I look at my games collection, and find that all new releases come with an age rating stamp.

Why do tey thing it's there, too look prety? Fuck no! It's to warn parents and sellers of games that the game being bought is unsalabe and unsuitable to anybody below that age rating. Grand theft auto 3 and vice city have ratings of 18, Severance has an 18, Max payne 1 and 2 both have 18 ratings. These are just the ones i have close to hand, I know there are a lot more in my collection. Even going back to Day of the Tentical (DOTT) when it was released, it was the first game to have an age rating stamp on it (i think it was the first, you are talking over 12 years now, maybe more). Bloodnet had an 18 content rating in 95 (even tho u saw nothing scary, just bad language), beneath a steel sky was a comic book adventure game with an 18 rating.

My parents scrutinised them, and decided that with supervision, they were sutable for me and my brother to play. But they were harmless games with a lot of monty python humour and sarcasm involved. They were harmless, yet the age ratings remain even today. Now manhunt is far more graphic, more engauging game than those listed above. It says what the game is about and leaves it up to you to decide. Well no it doesn't. It's got an 18 age verification, Warns of violence/blood and very strong content, and comes with a hefty disclaimer on it.

First week of sales, I wsa helping a friend set his pc up with some new games, so we went seeing an aquainence in GAME to help get his new pc some kick ass content (being given £300 to spend on games, it was chirstmans all over again). He couldn't help us for about 2 hours, he as upto his arsehole with proof of id forms and whinny kids screming for there copies of manhunt and other various games. We felt sorry and decided to help him out (and the 3 other staff members, it was rather hectic that day) and decides to tell all the little children the bad news, there ID's were fake and there was no chance of getting the game here. They tried arguing with me, not a good idea when i have someone elses money to spend. The terms "security" "trucheon" and "Fudgetunnel" were used, with a rather vivid hand motion to get the point across, and all twelve left. They came back in one's and two's thinking we'd forget who they were and sell it to them. Fools! To the best of my knowlege, not a sinlge one of them got to buy it themselves, and had to get there parents to buy if for them (one got him mum in to argue with us about it ten minutes later. We told her what the game was about and she flipped out at her kid. Classic!)

It's the same with most places, you can't buy it if your under age, so it's upto the parents to see what there buying for there children. But as i've seen before, they don't care. The kids go "mummy, want this" and they pay for it without even reading the bloody label. It was one of the many reasons we never sold games in my previous job, too much trouble can be had if your not careful.

So to conclude this mindless and pointless rant of mine, we summerise.
Violence in games, not good, not bad, just a sigh of the tiimes. Parents who buy there kids inapropriate games are complete morons who shouldn't have kids in the first place. Violence is a part of our society, get used to it. Hitler Bad, Vandals good. And DOOM 3 shall kick ass! Goodnight.
 

yaruar

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
2,617
Jaem- said:
I play violent games sometimes, doesn't give me the urge to go beat someones brains out,
I work for a living. Every day at work i get the urge to beat the brains out of one or more of my users....

Ban work i say, there is more violence caused by work stress than anything else!
 

harebear

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 29, 2003
Messages
2,647
Lucky most humans arent like some of those cannibal insects, would be so much wajn then. Cockroaches are prolly some of the most 'perfect' animals on the planet (for surviving - what everything is trying to do), and they eat each other :p
 

old.Tohtori

FH is my second home
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Jan 23, 2004
Messages
45,210
Posted this elsewhere allready but...


Back in the old days they blamed books for killings, just like they blame any form of entertainment for messed up situations.

*puts on justin timberlake on the stereo, dance dance revolution on PS2, The Sims on the PC and goes on a murderous rage in hopes those will get banned*
 

Thorwyn

FH is my second home
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Dec 22, 2003
Messages
4,752
The entire discussion isn´t exactly new. Still, both sides constantly seem to bring their stereotype arguments. Monocausal explanations won´t get us anywhere.

The "I´m playing video games since x years and never killed someone" arguments is completely meaningless. It´s the same argument as "my grandpa was smoking cigarettes until he was 80 and he didn´t die from lung cancer" or "I´m playing lottery since x years and never won the jackpot". Just because something doesn´t happen to you doesn´t mean it´s impossible.

"Blame the parents who allow kids to play violent games!". Nice try, but we all know that it´s impossible to completely control what kids are playing/watching/reading unless you don´t allow your kids to go to LAN parties or visit friends who own a computer and always lock up the TV before leaving the house.

It´s a simple fact that all kinds of medias are trying to push the limits more and more these days. We´ve gone as far as people copulating on stage during a rock concert, computergames where asassinating people is the main and only objective (the longer you hold down the mousebutton the more "illustrated" the death is) and where raping people is a game feature. All this stuff is part of our modern world. But that doesn´t mean we can ignore it. We need to deal with it and adjust our life and the life of our kids.

Children have a natural defence system against impressions they´re unable to cope. When they are listening to a story, their minds will stop to imagine things as soon as the impression is too much to handle for them, like the Witch who´s putting children into the oven. It´s like a mental fast-forward.
When confronted with a movie or a video game, they don´t have access to this handy tool. The pictures are just coming in and there is no defence against them, regardless whether it´s too much for them or not. That´s why children are able to listen to the most brutal fairytales and on the other hand start crying when the huge Santa Claus appears in the door.

There is no simple solution for this problem. Blaming video games and banning them is way too easy and won´t solve anything. On the other hand, blattantly refusing the impact of games and the "fook off and dont touch our games" attitude isn´t exactly helpful either.
 

Haxyn Kyao

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Jan 27, 2004
Messages
38
ok i was playing Violent games since the age of 8 im now 16 ive not once ever thought of killing anyone especially my mate that that stupid MOFO and as far as i have seen Manhunt Grand Theft auto and many games made by Rockstar Games i think that to blame things on what you have seen on Tv played on a game read in a book is just away to try and cover up your insanity and trying to make others suffer IF! they ban games like that alot of companys will be in jepardy like Rockstar games! (now im just chatting a bit of Crap :p) so i will end by saying Banning Violent games because some Mad Head goes and kills his Mate is far from what they should be doing that guy should be put in a psychiatric ward at the end of the day games are made for Entertainment and after all if the tag says 18 on the game box only 18s should purchase it but as of kids looking older now a days etc. it is hard to tell and in a game store you dont expect to be asked your age or anything (thats for pubs and stuff) and another Fact is a the parent of one of them had the cheek to blame it also on the guy that sold the 17 year old (1yrs difference dont make a difference on how you think unless your 13 going on 14) the game in defence she tries to push things on the salesman not gonna happen as he only sold the game nothing else and as any normal person in this world wouldnt go and do anything they saw from a video game movie program whateva for example i play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Driv3r or True Crime: Streets of L.A i suddenly dont think oh that looks cool maybe i should go steal cars run people over it wouldnt even cross my mind to do anything cept make me laugh at things you remember doing in the game (MOST OF WHAT YOU JUST READ IS A LOAD OF CRAP BUT IM BASICALLY OUT OF MY HEAD :kissit: )
 

tris-

Failed Geordie and Parmothief
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Jan 2, 2004
Messages
15,260
if i tryed to speak that i may pass out. i think i might kill you!

..... < LOOK!!
 

Archeon

Fledgling Freddie
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Dec 29, 2003
Messages
2,047
old.Tohtori said:
puts on justin timberlake on the stereo

Justin Timberlake could send Noddy on a killing rampage in Toytown.
 

Smurflord

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
697
Gamah said:
No Way!

I have played games A LOT for over 6 years now (Modern games) Like CS, HL, Daoc, GTA etc etc.

I used to play games 12+ a day 5-7 days a week..I have never had any urge to harm somebody...infact I hate fighting and stuff irl..but I will be the first to pick up my rocket launcher and blow someones face off in quake :>

Anyway is it that time again (Looks at watch) every couple or years theres a call for something to be banned :twak:

Yes but you work in a mobile phone shop, that will desensitize you to anything and put you in a coma before long. :D
 

Himse

FH is my second home
Joined
Jan 31, 2004
Messages
2,179
tbh i think it is down to the mentality of the person, most people play the games and think nothing of it, but some people start to believe they can do the same because the game gives them the message that its alright to kill people etc.
 

tris-

Failed Geordie and Parmothief
Joined
Jan 2, 2004
Messages
15,260
lets make the world like the film Equilibrium. it worked for them.
 

Brelakor

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
465
I remember back when i was young, a kid jumped infront of a bus and died.

Later parents were blaming tv and superman :<

People fear and blame what they dont understand i guess :p
 

Stimulant

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
May 12, 2004
Messages
22
aye

i was sitting in my chair peacfully playing daoc when my brother came into the room with a pillow and a shoe horn he first "slammed" with the pillow and the procceded to ragnarock me in my chair with a shoe horn. i then turned round and yes my first instinct was to root and run and then i realised it irl and he was using the pillow as a crude blunt weapon to slowly batter me to death..this would of never happened if daoc wasnt around...tbfh ban daoc!!!(oh yeah..then i would have no life :( )
 

emma

Loyal Freddie
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
755
tbh i think of mass murder every time i go near amg. omg i`d love to wtfpwn those zerglings irl ;p
 

Gamah

Banned
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Dec 22, 2003
Messages
13,042
Smurflord said:
Yes but you work in a mobile phone shop, that will desensitize you to anything and put you in a coma before long. :D

I quit >o< too many stupid people
 

Eroa

Banned
Joined
Jan 8, 2004
Messages
1,138
Tbh i never heard of a violent game hurting anyone, usualy are the people playing them so why ban the game?
 

Tsabo

Fledgling Freddie
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Jan 26, 2004
Messages
1,151
Well I ask you this people, where the hell else would I get the idea to slam people on the tube on my way to work with my breifcase just so I can get infront during the 9 sec stun? Exactly :p
 

Eroa

Banned
Joined
Jan 8, 2004
Messages
1,138
Well, cars should be banned since people drive drunk, stoves should be banned since people burn them self and others on them etc, etc, etc. If you say something should be banned becourse some jackass with 0 inteligence missuse something its wrong.
 

PJS

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
494
Ezteq said:
sadly there will always be a small percentage of closed minded people that believe we arnt in control of our own actions and that we must be sheltered from books, games, songs and films that could lead us astray, let us just hope that these people never get any real power or it will be a very dull world we live in.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/
 

chipper

Can't get enough of FH
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Jan 15, 2004
Messages
1,874
no they shouldnt but manhunt did go overboard the general gist of the story as im told by ppl who have played it ( thats like most of my friends)
i havent is

your about to be executed but get rescued by some mysterious stranger you then get dumped in this suberb which is ruled by various gangs your only way out of this is to kill just about everyone and various ppl in grotesque ways this is so you can be recorded doing it and your efforts can be sold to various weirdo's

sounds very running man to me (film if you didnt know)

ok lets deal with teh main issue of manhunt its extremely violent and it introduces ppl to the world of snuff imagery firstly this kind of sick shit is illegal in the first place and rightly so, how they ever got away with making a game based on it i dont know it shouldnt have been allowed, but it does make you wonder how many kids out there now know about this kind of stuff and go look for real snuff imagery i find that quite disturbing 90% of the time im sure most ppl are really disgusted with what they may have seen but theres that 10% that thinks hey thats kewl and get sucked into that crap obviously this shows that some ppl have psychological problems but then again we been killin our own in various grotesque ways since the dawn of man however thats history its gross but we are kinda decensitized by all of it.


anyway about the murder did manhunt play a part ? i highly doubt it as many stated you gotta be screwed in the head in the first but theres always gotta be that catalyst that pushes you over the edge i wonder if we will ever know the real reason behind the murder unlikely

about violent games in general i dont see a problem with them war games are always going to involve death its do or die scenario as are 99% of violent games normally these include gunshot deaths or the odd knife kill although im sure no war game i have ever played let you slit a mans throat ? (did SOF 1 or 2 let you ? cant remember) why not ? cos its too violent and too personal yet it is done in reality by the men that fight wars its too much realism
alot of ppl say SOF went too far i tend to agree it was amusing to blow peoples limbs off ( yes i know that sounds disturibing on my part ;) ) but im sure if i ever saw it happen irl id probably throw up and cry my eyes out im sure most ppl would probably be scarred by it for life.
hitman i cant comment on cos never played it although im sure it will hit the headlines one day afterall it is an assasin game.....
BUT manhunt is about murder i know alot of violent games are about murder/killing i do think there is a difference in the two terms though, but this one takes it too far making it look cool to the younger audience i mean lets face it who buys a game like that for the story ? i do like rockstar and there games but i just cant help but condemn manhunt for going too far over line they say its shock tactics but i think they glamourised it too much.

conclusion: games movies tv in general need to be moderated much much better than they currently are ive never blamed any media for causing a death i generally assume ppl are not complete and utter morons with an iq of 2
however at a young age lets say 11-15 certain imagery can decensitize you to such a level you are no longer shocked by it maybe you will never do anything but then again maybe you wont think twice if in a situation of some sort, i think thats wrong at such a young age before you can fully understand and comprehend how nasty and unpleansant death can be, ofc it can never be fully regulated and never will be but i really do think its important that tv/movies and games stop glorifying killing and death its not fun its not pretty and its something i hope i never ever witness.
 

Ezteq

Queen of OT
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OOooh good point about snuff movies there, but then they arnt really anything new i mean loads of executions were public in the uk before it got outlawed, in china they take school trips to see some one get shot in the back of the head.

A while ago there was a movie "documentary" released then swiftly banned all about executions it showed just about every method available and because it was done in documentary style it wasnt called a snuff movie. Also dont know if anyone remembers the 1st time texas chainsaw massacre (the origional) was released, everyone said that was a snuff and was going be be responsible for folk going about chopping up their neighbours.

Death fascinates us i dont know why but it does, how many of you watched the film Leon and cheered for the hitman? (i know i did) he went around shooting, stabbing, garotting and slitting peoples throats but i've not heard one person say "oooh i was so glad he died at the end of that film" usually they too busy crying.

And a final point the guy was 17 fgs!!! he wasnt a child why is everyone treating thins like its a 5 year old gone on a killing spree, jeeze when i was 17 i lived on my own and was independant, why do people think this person was too young to be playing this game (fair enough it says 18 on the box but its a few months difference lol) if he'd been 18 folk would still be going on about it, im pretty sodding sure charles manson didnt play violent video games. blimey didnt realise i felt so passionate about the subject....think i just wish folk would take responsibility for their own actions for a change tbh.
 

Ssera

Fledgling Freddie
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Dec 23, 2003
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chipper said:
hitman i cant comment on cos never played it although im sure it will hit the headlines one day afterall it is an assasin game.....

Well in Hitman you play... a hitman, that is a contract killer. Every mission you have your briefing, your target(s), any useful information and then you chose your weapons ranging from a good old silenced 9mm to a piano wire going via a high powered sniper rifle, assault rifles, smgs etc. You can kill anybody in the game, including civilians and how many people you kill will reflect on the "standing" you get at the end of the mission, going from "blood-thirsty psycopath" to "silent assassin". The animations when you get up close and personal with the piano wire are very well done, even going as far as adding the little tensing up in your characters muscles as he gives the final squeze around the victim's neck. In the latest installment (Hitman 3: Contracts) you can impale people on a big butcher's hook à la "I know What you Did Last Summer" and semi detach their heads from their bodies with it.

Now you argue that Manhunt has gone over the limit. I haven't played the game and honestly only vaguely heard about it when it came out but I can't really see how it can be worse than Hitman. In hitman you play a professional contract killer. Your ONLY objective is to kill your target and to do so you have to calculate everything exactly, avoiding guard patrols, cameras and the other hundred things that can make your mission fail. If games like GTA and SOF make you want to go out and blast everything in sight then games like Hitman should be quietly converting our minds and turning us all into ruthless cold blooded killers. If games are bad then why haven't they already been banned? Hitman has been out for years now, they're on their THIRD version and yet it still came out without a problem, advertised well in advance and on almost every platform available!


Now let's take a look at what really does kill lots of people... religion, drugs, famine, natural disasters, etc. Why aren't any of those banned (aside from natural disasters ofc - though I think most people would agree on banning those..)? Religion is the number one cause of war, drugs (and in particular tabacco) have killed more people than all the dead in all the wars put together. Famine kills thousands every year in developing countries, natural disasters finish off the rest.

What I find sickening is the people that fight to ban games are the very same people that promote the things that really do kill people (I'm thinking of the extremist Christian activists that are so common in the US and to a lesser extent Europe) and that quite simply poison the minds of simple people going about their lives with promises of richess and paradise AFTER THEY ARE DEAD! Ha! How ironic and yet extremely clever. I mean - who's gonna come back and tell people if they are right? Yet these people are allowed to have guns in their homes - that's ok really it is, and in some places are even allowed BY LAW to shoot (to kill) anyone that they find on their property without any warning. These are the same people that have sent your troops into Iraq to slowly get bogged down in a war they can never win. These are the same people that are attempting to change the legistlation in certain US states (and have succeeded in many) to teach creationism as the true story of creation and have labeled Evolution as unproven and full of contradicting information... (huh? /boggle).

Well I've drifted off topic a little but my point is: how can people say 'ban video games because they cause deaths' and yet let everything else go on unchanged. People like the ones I've described above (especially the Creationist group) seriously make my blood boil in fact...

... I think I would be capable of beating one (or more than one, I don't care) of them into a bloody pulp with my bear hands...

... am I going to do that though, as tempting as it is...?

... no, I'll go play some Doom 3 and chainsaw some zombies instead, much more fun and I can gurantee you that an hour of zombie sawing will take any anger out of you.

(Ironically the same Christian extremist groups want Doom 3 to be banned 'cos it promotes Satan and his minions. Sorry guys, you're actually fighting AGAINST the zombies so kinda doing God's work... your work in fact...)

<censored extremely nasty comment about creationists that even I deem too nasty to actually show>. :twak:

disclaimer: I'm not against Christians, I'm not even against Creationists - I'm against Christian Creationists that attempt to convert the minds of young kids by changing what's taught in school and try and repress the basic civil liberties that we all take for granted.
 

NeonBlue

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Feb 1, 2004
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924
Littlle Git said:
after the murder of a 14 year old boy with the 17 year old murderer saying it was because he was obsessed witha video game all of the papers are saying that violent games should be banned.

no they shouldnt be banned...but the media and his parents forgot to mention ....that the 17yr old was playing and owned a game that was rated 18!

Now he might of bought the game himself (if he passed for 18) but what i want to know is...how can the parents blame the video game...but yet not blame THEMSELVES...for allowing him to play a game that he shouldnt of had !

yes we all know that sometimes these ratings on games/videos etc are sometimes silly...but they are put there for a purpose and sometimes our own protection

so if the parents wants to blame the video game...fine....i blame the parents for allowing him to play this game in the first place when underaged !

but its obvious that he had other "problems" aswell...u dont just pickup a game or watch a video and then wake up the next day and go out and kill someone.

If that was the case we would all be going out RvRing in our local towns/cities !
 

Morchaoron

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Dec 22, 2003
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2,714
OK...



who's the freak that voted 'Yes'??


I'm gonna pay him a visit with the prime weapon of Painkiller then stake him to the wall in funny positions :|

(would give you examples but my ftp is down)
 

chipper

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i didnt want to stray off topic ssera but i do agree with you whole heartedly about things like drugs religion causing more death i just didnt want to post it and go off topic =)
 

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