"So, all you do is play video games?"

[DeadAwake]

I read this topic back when it was a wee lad, but at the time I never actually considered the question:  People who like to give advice are generally annoying and more ignorant than they realize, so I wouldn't care if someone told me I play video games too much.  Reading some of the topic the second time around, I realized that the people barking orders in this world are all old.  It's like there's a direct proportion between age and the amount of advice one gives.  Perhaps old people are scared and need to grasp for whatever worth they can project onto others--but I'm just calling it like I see it.

Anyway, I'm old by many people's standards, so I hope I'm not giving unwanted advice without realizing it...

[Jman]

I'll be Jack Thompson's never played a good, quality Nintendo game in his life.  There's not much logic when he's making all of his opinions based on the Grand Theft Autos or the Halos out there, you know, just the violent games.  yet he claims that all games are evil.  Not much for logic, there, and he's fighting a losing battle.

[Glorb]

Jack Thompson's never played any games. I'm sure that he just looks at a few still pictures of gameplay from magazine ads and then fills in the blanks with his demented logic from there. Remember, he said that the D.C. Beltway Sniper was a young kid who played Halo (he didn't even own an Xbox) and rode around in a bike from killing to killing (he never rode a bike) with the sniper rifle in his backpack (neither sniper mentioned anything of the sort). In addition, he stated matter-of-factly that Halo has an in-game option to turn a God-mode cheat on/off (Halo never had cheats). That's how he does everything: he hears a vague summary of the game from an overexcited, overprotective parent, adds in ridiculous, easily-debunked lies to fill in the blanks and then calls it the truth, which the overprotective parents believe; it's a vicious cycle. ANd then, of course, whenever anyone disagrees with him, he calls them stupid.

Case in point: Jack Thompson has never won any game-related lawsuit in his entire "career" as an "attorney".

[coolkid]

Wow! Now I know what(Or in this case,who)caused the controversy.And I thought it was Night Trap and Mortle 'K'ombat.

[Vidgmchtr]

Jack Thompson is not a threat to the gaming society. He's just a crazy kook who insists on making people believe video games make for violent children. Seriously, it's the parents who are to blame for that, Johnny.

The only thing that had happened to video games because of him was that one state created a law that bans children under 17 from purchasing M rated games. That's a law that I thought should've existed since the creation of ESRB.

Common sense, don't you think? Little children's minds are very impressionable. The parents need to see what they watch or play. The ESRB rating clearly shows on the descriptors what's in the game. If the child insists their parents to purchase a game with an M-rating, they need to know if their children can tell the difference between reality and fiction, and are mature enough for the game (hence the rating title).

As for children who are old enough to play the games, well, that's a different story.

[AbercrombieBaseball]

Chef--thanks for another great read. I had no idea Nintendo made playing cards before getting into the game business, nor did I think they were that old. I'd always just thought it was a video game company and came about in the 1980s!

Now, as for the "M" rating. I'm all for the law being passed prohibiting the purchase of these games. Card the kids like they do when people buy beer.

I personally hate those shooting games and would never buy one for a child of mine. Did they lead to events like Columbine? Maybe. I can still recall the day it happened (April 20, 1999) and I remember hearing the kids played something like Mortal Combat or Doom or something like that on their computers. I also remember they said the kids listened to Maralyn Manson.

Now I wouldn't go and point fingers at games and music first. I'd investigate the mental history of them. Games and music with bad content might trigger something, but you've got to have the problem in the first place.

There was this kid in my economics class in high school who obsesesd about Halo all the time but he probably would never kill anyone as a result. He just didn't have the brain problem to do so. He was a pretty good guy.

This doesn't mean you have to play the games/watch the movies/hear the music to be bad. Adolf Hitler killed people listening to Richard Wagner (a German composer who composed harmless stuff--it's pretty good even if you're not into classical music). And he certainly didn't play Halo.

Conclusion: Can games trigger violent behavior? Yes. Can they cause it? No. That's the job of brain disorders.

[Kojinka]

That's why I'm taking Psychology this year in High School.  I want to help further proove the point that violent VGs only cause violence in underaged, impressionable children, and the mentally unstable.  My dad thinks violent VGs cause violence in children.  I need to teach him the ESRB rating system, and why it exists.  Would I let my child play Metroid Prime?  Not till he/she is at least 10 or 12.  Would I let my child play Mario Kart?  Definitely!

[Insane Steve]

Ya, I did a speech explaining how the media is NOT to blame for juvenile violence, and that parents need to stop being incredibly lax about what their children witness.

Tested out of an incredibly annoying class in college despite "staring at the ceiling for most of the speech."

[Kojinka]

Some of the people that accuse the media of causing violence in children are parents who don't want to be held responsible for their child's actions.  One of the biggest responsibilities in raising a child is knowing what they watch, listen to, and/or play.  If those people don't want to take on that responsibility, why did they become parents in the first place?

[Glorb]

Well, obviously, it's because they don't want to be blamed for anything. I'm noticed that that's essentially America's mindset now: Don't take the blame, blame someone else. I'm really not politically-minded in any way, but basically, that's how everyone acts. On one of those Bill O'Reilly-type shows, I actually heard the following phrase: "Well, I'm not pointing the finger at anyone, but I really think it's George Bush's fault for ..." I mean, really, that's the most hypocritical thing I've ever heard.

[Super Mario]

I don't think I've ever been too terribly berated for playing. I mean, if I played for hours and hours at a time my parents would say it was enough. And I admit I could have had more of a social life in elementary and middle school, but I was quiet and introvertial. If anything, video games have helped develop my respect for the beautiful things humans can create, beautiful emotions they can conjure, the majesty of a well-placed song, and helped me keep my imagination vibrant and healthy even when I'm almost 20. Now, I have a ton of friends, I'm a very assertive and charismatic person, but I can say I've spent hours and hours playing my DS in the past week.

My point? I think playing Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt on my Nintendo Entertainment System when I was 4 or 5 was one of the most beneficial things I've done in my life, and I'll argue tooth and nail any Hillary Clinton or Jack Thompson who tries to tell me otherwise.

But I think I've never been berated because I consistently shot down arguments against me. I feel bad for younger people who have to take unnecessary degrading comments from elders about their chosen hobby and what they enjoy. I seriously wish somebody would organize some sort of coalition or make a petition to eradicate a small misunderstanding like this one. Granted, it's human nature to misunderstand and then to be hateful and prejudice, and I'd like to see all of it gone, but it's going to be a while.

In any case... Vive la Resistance!

[Glorb]

I'd say just about the weirdest thing ever just happened to me on my birthday a few days ago. My parents got me a new PS2 to replace my old one (which was uncommon enough for them) and even got me a copy of GTA: Vice City, despite what they've heard on TV. I didn't even ask for it, they just bought it for me. Great game, but after playing San Andreas it seems fairly tame in comparison.

[CoconutMikeNIke]

So, all you do is play video games?  Well, that's because it's addicting, as addicting as crack or gambling, according to Jack Thompson as his group.
This is one of his latest attempts for the end of videogame.

[Glorb]

Hmm, interesting angle...for once, Jack's actually "tackling" a real, legitamte problem. Now, I know that it's very possible to become addicted to games, but Thompson's just going to blow it out of proportion by comparing gamers to crack addicts and child murderers, so he's basically making it worse. Just a little prediction there.

[coolkid]

I agree.