Study Underway To Find Out How Violent Games Affect Teenagers |
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If you were given NZ$ 140,000.00 what would you do? Dr. Gareth Schott of Waikato University's screen and media department, decided to run two video game clubs, but it's for researching purposes only. His objective is to observe teenagers in a natural environment (Yeah, a game club is as natural as you get for 13-year olds). His study mainly deals whether and to what degree, violent games negatively affect the young. According to the good doctor, this study will finally give young people a voice in the debate about violent games. As part of researching, he'll be doing some interviews with gamers regarding their social lives in relation with the games they play, as well as the anti-violent game group members about why they hate these games so much. One of his main questions would be why teenagers are attracted to violent games.
Maybe we can help Dr. Schott, we ask the teenagers out there: Why do you choose, interact with, and enjoy games with violence?
Via Gamasutra
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Comments [refresh]
I want more violent video games.
Or else.
I like how we spend money on stupid studies, let's cure some diseases, feed the poor or make a synthetic legal mary juana (which makes any video game very NON-Violent). Whatever!! Just do something more productive.
Stop wasting money!!!
-V
I like violent games because it lets me do things that I'd never do in real life. Things like blast an alien with a plasma rifle, fight German's in World War II, work for the Godfather himself. It's just fantasies that I like to live in my own mind and on television it helps.
I think that the people who have claimed that video games made them do the illegal things they did in real life are just using that reason as an excuse to help get them out of trouble. It is a video game, not reality. The people who commit the crimes shouldn't play them at all if they are just going to try to get away with them at the expense of the other millions of gamers out there.
It's all about fun, nothing better than blasting the hell out of the covenant or re-living the war in Call of Duty 2. Why do adults play these games??? It's the exsact same reason. It's also the same reason for why young children play with toy guns, army games, toy tanks and all sorts. Just seems that, in general, men like to play war games. I played them till i grew out of imaginary games with my cousin and moved onto full blown gaming and shooting the hell out of stuff. Maybe it's just a natural progression as i grew bored of my imagination and wanted to actually SEEE the damage i was causing.
Just my opinion as a simple 16 year old gamer.
I agree with #1 and 2. They spend way too much money on basically the same study over and over again. I also think that criminals are also using games as an excuse.
but as for the question
1. Almost every video game and movie has some sort of violence (even tv shows). You can't stop it.
2. Why do thay always target games. Other media out there has just as much, if not more violence then games. Even the news!
3. Violent games are usually fun, full of action, and get you're excitement up. You're most likely not going to relive WW2 so why not have the virtual experience instead? It's like watching violent movies too. It's fun, full of action, and bingo, great for excitement.
4. People who make these studies usually never pick up a controller and think they're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
They are always just looking for something to be the answer to all of the evil in this world and there is no one answer. Yah i agree some people my do violent acts after playing a game but what you need to ask is would they not have done that act if they hadn't played the game. But like myself and many other people video games can be a way to release anger instead of taking it out on real people with real feelings.
In conclusion this project is a waste of time and some how these type of things always end up costing around a million dollars.
Hilary clinton
I enjoy violent video games for the same reason, but more so because im to old to play viva pinata :( so now I gonna go smash some zombies like pinatas lol
To say violent content doesn’t effect the psyche is asinine, regardless of what a study says it’s obvious. Just use your self as an example. As a long term veteran of gaming I sometimes come at odds with my self on this opinion. But if you think about it from a wide stance and actually take a good look, then of course it has some kind of negative effect. I can tell you one right off the bat, its desensitized a lot of the youth. If you disagree, then explain what in your right mind would compel you to watch somebody die. It’s not because its cool, it’s not because its fun. I mean if somebody died how can that be fun? How can that be cool? If you think death is cool I urge you to get help, those thoughts are not natural let alone safe.
"3. Violent games are usually fun, full of action, and get you're excitement up. You're most likely not going to relive WW2 so why not have the virtual experience instead? It's like watching violent movies too. It's fun, full of action, and bingo, great for excitement."
How can you say violence is fun, how is it not real? Violence is Violence... And in most cases it’s unjustified. Something of use to those who can’t get something they want with other means. Yes of course there are many other reasons that might justify use of force however they are not termed “fun” and should never be thought as such. Do you think our troops in Iraq are having fun right now? Some people in the real world are living those games, they are NOT having fun.
I guess my point is of course there is a small negative effect on our psyche. How much? I guess that depends on the person. I had my parents to keep me grounded; they reminded me it wasn’t real. They explained to me what was actually going on in real life. It’s safe to say not everybody has that kind of reassurance. Which is why some kids take it too far, they loose that grip on the difference between fantasy and reality.
Anyhow I’v gone farther than I intended to go with this. Remember game in moderation, too much of anything is dangerous. Outside is actually a place that can be fun.
Sam
Society has elimimated almost all moral standards. That is why people are more violent and have less respect for themselves and each other. This is evident in all forms of entertainment, not just games.
Compare the morals and social violence of the 50's to today.
People just dont care anymore
I whole heartedly agree with your statement #9.
hey! that's my town why didn't i hear about that?
violent games != violent people, peace. im gona play some halo.
whenever ur angry and feel like you could punch someone, turn on the old xbox360 and shoot em up in HALO or a war game, that's what i used to do, especially with BLACK HAWK DOWN on the PC. (great game)
As a Buddhist I see things as in terms of Yin and Yang. You can't have just one side of it all. In this day and age we have made all kinds of technological and medical developments (but look what we have done to our planet to get here) than, in my opinion, some of us can't live without. With that being said, we grow equally in the other direction. Some of us have to stop trying to analyze one term on one side of the equation. That will never happen because on the flip sides there are other people that look at both sides and those two peoples disagree. The lion rules his pride and looks over his land but, chances are, he had to kill another lion and all of that lion's cubs to take his place on the throne. There cannot be peace without war and violence. There can't be life without death.
That took it all out of context but, there is a basic fact of this universe implicitly noted in my comment.
I think that most teenagers hate non-violent videogames because it seems like they're playing a child's game and that the supervisor doesn't think they are mature enough, whereas teenagers want to feel accepted into an older ( and more violent) atmosphere.
Violence and pain are what we have to go through to even be able to realize what comfort is. You can't have one without the other.
Off topic: Jack Thompson's bad karma will catch up to him.
Well I might think violent games effect us in some way, but like one guy said above is how we are affected. But oh well it's all in the name of fun. But I have to say after playing GTA (Dont laugh... Ok Just...) I do have abit more violent tentions sometimes...
Why do people allways blame games. in the area i live in the local tards all hang around at nights and cause trouble , these are the problem areas the govenment allways points out and these are the people who are violent to others not the people who play games.
I think #8 took my words out of context. I never said real life violence is fun. I'm not saying that killing people or actual wars is fun. I'm actually against war and violence. But face it, people like violence. I like comparing games and movies so I'll do it again, people like watching violent movies full of action but they never seem to complain about that. Why must they blame games all the time? Because it's more new? because people don't get it? The only people who really think there's a problem are people who don't play.
I'm not denying there could be a link, but a lot of times I just see stuff like "violent games cause real life violence and that's that! there are no factors!". Every game, movie, and a lot of tv shows have some sort of violence and unless you get a V-chip or parental control code, people have to deal with it.
now games in general are fun. Violent games are no different they just add to the story line or gameplay better. I never said killing someone is fun. And I'd apreciate if you consider thinking about what people are saying before you conclude that I'm a violence freak who wants to kill all the germans in the world.
Your middle paragraph says it right on.
I thing good parenting has gone out of style? And in some instances, what ever happened to playing the ass whipping game. Some of these children need extra belt time.
If i did something bad, I got a whipping and that was that. There was no being grounded or whatever else. If I was outside playing and the teacher called or whatever else, I got called inside and my ass was whipped. Afterward I was sent right back outside to play with my friends. Nowadays kids do something bad they get sent to thier room. In their rooms they reflect and focus on thier anger in relative comfort. They develop a habit of running to their comfort spot everytime something bad or traumatizing happens to them. In this comfort they feel safe. In the midst of this comfort some of them build up an arsenal. This arsenal can be physical (some violent individuals for example), mental , emotional, spiritual, or a combination thereof.
Hi, I am the research in question here & I have to say the media as usually misrepresented the study and assume I am trying to solve the 'effects' debate. I think too many laboratory studies have been done on this topic with no real answer. I want to do a piece of research that doesn't have the agenda of showing how harmful games are, but explore the pleasures of playing games as a new(ish) media. I've done similar studies focusing just on RPGs prior to this.
Good to see it sparking an interesting discussion tho....
as long as you don't give the media and Jack Thompson fuel to convince the world that violent games are "what's wrong with youth today." There are plenty other factors as well.
maybe with the study you should use movies, tv shows, and pictures as well. and maybe ask the kids what their favorite part of the game is. While I doubt some won't say "killing zombies", some might say stuff like "huge invironments" or "good storyline". The only reason I like GTA San Andreas is because you can do about anything you want and it's a huge game. I don't really like the whole thug-ness of the game and shooting up hookers.