Nick Clegg describes effect of violent video games as "incredibly powerful", but says use can't be l - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;42265218]I fucking hope not, or my first election's choices will be right-wing, pretending-to-be-left-wing-but-is-right-wing-anyway, or stupidly-right-wing. Or the there-aren't-even-enough-of-us-to-make-a-majority party (aka every other party).[/QUOTE] Don't move to the US then. They have 2 choices: right wing, or really right wing. At least in the UK you have 3 parties attempting to remain as central as possible.

[QUOTE=Dr.Critic;42263498]And if you would please present your evidence?[/QUOTE] [url=http://www.apa.org/research/action/games.aspx]here you go[/url]

As much as I find Nick Clegg to be a spineless cunt who is corrosive to UK politics, it seems that most people in this thread didn't actually read the article. He's arguing that young children shouldn't be playing these violent video games, and that they also shouldn't be allowed to stay "in their bedroom, hunkered down in front of their computer" all day. This is entirely reasonable and I mostly agree with this. I certainly wouldn't give a young child a copy of a game like GTA.

[QUOTE=Shibbey;42263689]The Lib Dems would do so much better in opinion polls if they booted Clegg out.[/QUOTE] Nah, the Lib Dems would just fade back into the obscure political abyss they've been stuck in for the past century.

[QUOTE=Noss;42266915]As much as I find Nick Clegg to be a spineless cunt who is corrosive to UK politics, it seems that most people in this thread didn't actually read the article. He's arguing that young children shouldn't be playing these violent video games, and that they also shouldn't be allowed to stay "in their bedroom, hunkered down in front of their computer" all day. This is entirely reasonable and I mostly agree with this. I certainly wouldn't give a young child a copy of a game like GTA.[/QUOTE] But how many of us played GTA when we were younger? Most of us are relatively normal so that falls flat on its face.

poverty causes more violence than video games. maybe they should work on solving that instead of getting pissy over a few isolated incidents of already mentally-unstable people being inspired by media to do shitty things.

[QUOTE=joes33431;42268707]poverty causes more violence than video games. maybe they should work on solving that instead of getting pissy over a few isolated incidents of already mentally-unstable people being inspired by media to do shitty things.[/QUOTE] I think solving poverty is a bit harder, and hopefully also a given.

I have recently realized that there is a a deep failing in every anti-video game violence argument. The arguer always seems to assume that, because violence is portrayed in a video game, it must portrayed in a positive and remunerated fashion. They seem to believe that it is, in a sense, depicted in a way where it would be normalized and accepted in real life. However, I have never in my life seen or heard of a game which performs in this way. Even games which directly reward the gamer for violent acts never actually depict such acts as acceptable. Every game I have played that represents crime has criticized the criminal acts themselves, usually overtly. For instance, you are rewarded for killing people in GTA IV (I haven't played V yet so I can't comment on it) by being given money, access to new areas of the game, and new weapons. These are clearly rewards that the player works towards receiving. However, killing people is never presented as socially acceptable or justifiable. Killing (or any criminal activity, for that matter) is never is never tolerated socially. You are constantly hunted by police for committing crimes. Niko makes cynical comments about his criminal acts. It is always obvious that you are working for criminal syndicates and gangsters, and that normal people do not act the way that Niko does. So while the player is rewarded through in game incentives to commit crimes, the act of committing the crimes is actually heavily criticized. However, even if there are no such obvious social punishments or rebukes, and if you play as some bloodthirsty killer, I have still never heard of a game where the activity is made to seem acceptable. Take a game like Manhunt. There is no real police presence, or any societal existence at all. Every character in the game is a criminal and you are prompted and rewarded for killing people in tremendously horrific ways. Yet, for all this, the game never makes these actions out to be acceptable. You are playing as a demented killer recently released from death row. He is a criminal committing crimes, and the game never makes an effort to compliment or endorse criminal activity. The game never attempts to convince the playing that such things are the right thing to do, even in the context of the game. This is because the character is a criminal, and even though you are rewarded for violence, violence is not actually portrayed positively. I have never heard of any game that depicts crime or violence in such a way. One might claim that even though games do not overtly condone crimes, and even if they actually condemn them, that the execution of such acts "desensitizes" or "trains" or "conditions" the gamer into believing that these actions are O.K. Such claims are terribly pessimistic of human capability and assume that people have difficulty separating fact from fiction. The reality cannot be further from the truth. I can only speak for myself on this matter, though there may be studies or experiments that have been done on this subject, but every game I have ever played has been an obvious fiction. A fantasy, an elaborate drama or narrative perhaps, but a fiction all the same. In fact, to assert that I could be tricked or conditioned into believing that my actions in the game are anything close to socially acceptable would be absolute foolishness. It is silliness and absolute trash that results from a complete misunderstanding and apathy towards videogames. Those who claim that any fiction, unless purposely crafted to deceive, could be understood or perceived as fact or used as some sort of real world training have no concept or knowledge of videogames and are to be ignored in the way that you would ignore a plumber's opinion on astrophysics equations. Anyone who's mind has developed the ability to deal with concrete reasoning is able to discern such obvious fictions, and this includes very young children. The concrete operational stage of development begins at around age five. Nobody older, unless suffering from a severe impairment of some kind, would confuses a game (or any other fictional media) for reality. These criticisms result from a complete lack of understanding of modern videogames, usually made by those who's personal experience with gaming begins and ends with Pacman and Space Invaders, and such uninformed remarks are to be expected and ignored at once.

Brb I have scheduled to a rocket jump race against a few friends of mine, we even bought RPGs to try it out! It's our first try wish us luck. [editline]22nd September 2013[/editline] Really now, why is the concept of mental health so hard to understand? People with certain debilities are far more sensitive to the stimulus of violent video games, and are more likely to have a harder time distinguishing bad/good and real/fiction.

[QUOTE=No Party Hats;42265142]To be fair, video games have had a profound effect on me, though in less of a "hue violence is cool and i wanna do it' and more of a "ok violence happens in the world, i can't be so terrified of it all the time" [editline]21st September 2013[/editline] But is she wrong? In general, the issue is very young children and the mentally unstable. I know that when I was little, I was always pretending i was Sam Fisher with my friends. It's very apparent that games will have an effect on you.[/QUOTE] Kids pretending to be something while playing is entirely different from actually copying a behavior from a game. They know it's not real, it's pretend, that's the whole point. Doesn't matter if the kid has no access to violent imagery, they're still gonna grow up to be shitheads if they've got bad parents, and there is no shortage of those.