So, I just read this article http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/122/1223357p1.html and I asked myself if I became blunt or more aggressive after playing games like CoD etc. and I think that the politicans aren't completely wrong. But what do you think?
Are the games guilty to train murderers or is it our society?

Edit:
Well for me it is much more satisfying to kill guards in Revelations ( when I'm angry ) than killing online other guys in games like MW3 or BF3. I mainly play those games together with some friends.

By the way: There are rumours that Black Ops 2 will be announced on May 2nd! :D
German source: http://www.spieletipps.de/n_27038/

12 years ago*

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I think any avid video gamer can tell you that it's not because of the games. Generally people in these situations are just unstable to begin with.

But you know, Jack Thompson gonna be Jack Thompson

E: I remember this when it happened last (i think) year. That guy was just crazy to begin with.

12 years ago
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This. Even if games are the trigger... so what? Anything else could have been the trigger too. Maybe they had a trigger to games and someone spreading butter on toast a different way to them. Would we then have politicians campaigning against butter knives? No. The politicians who talk about this are just people who don't understand technology, campaigning for their next election on the fears of those who also don't understand technology.

Gaming actually relieves a lot of stress of mine. Without gaming (and if I lived in a country with guns), I actually sometimes genuinely feel that if there'd been much more to test me, I might have been another Columbine. It's... a sobering thought. But games have helped release a lot of my anger, stress and hate. Without them, I don't know what would have happened.

12 years ago
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Haha, yeah, funnily enough he lost his law...ye...ring(?) licence after he threatened to sue his secretary along with batshit lying (like: "I contacted your ex-boyfriends and they're willing to testify in court that you are a [insert any word]. She hired another lawyer who asked the ex-bfs and they all claimed they wouldn't testify).

Jack was crazy to begin with. I wouldn't be surprised if five years from now we heard he killed someone after finally playing GTA. Because, you know, he's crazy. Unlike 85% of the population.

12 years ago
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LOL.

And disbarred was the word you were looking for, I remember reading about that too :D

12 years ago
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Of course, after all the millions of people that play games everyday are killing people. I just ate one, in fact.

Speaking more seriously, no. Psychopaths are crazy not because they play games, but because they are crazy! What if we discovered that most psychopaths liked movies. Do you think that would mean that movies make people serial killers?

12 years ago
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Most serial killers had a traumatic childhood too. And a lot of people will tell you video games in fact helped them get through hard times.

But psychopaths are a totally different thing, and while it's linked it's true there's some sort of natural behaviour there but it can't explain everything.

12 years ago
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Yes.

12 years ago
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Hijacking this comment so my post can be read - sorry ;)

Do you think serial killers become what they are because of video games?

No, that is fking ridiculous. People that do that type of shit obviously have issues.

I've grown up playing some pretty violent video games and watching violent/gruesome movies but I'm completely fine? I don't want to go out and kill people and eat their flesh. I'm sure there are billions of other people just like me who have played violent video games and have turned out fine, it's just a very small percentage that end up being murderers and video games are obviously not to blame. Some people just have issues. You're not going to grow up as a mentally sane person to finally snap and blur the borders between reality and fiction. You're either sane or insane, there's no in between.

You can simply NOT call video games or movies an extreme abiotic factor because they don't do more than stimulate imagination. They don't stimulate a neurological change in your abilities to reason and deduct and if you're going to call games and movies dangerous, go ahead and tell people that books are equally dangerous for stimulating the child's imagination.

effect ≠ cause

12 years ago
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I played Mario, now I have a compulsive feeling to eat mushrooms, kill turtles and ride a bright green dinosaur capable of limited speech and turning any shit it eats into eggs.

12 years ago
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Don't mind the men in white coats when they come pick you up!

12 years ago
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if i recall there was more serial killers in the past before video game got even invented , it all about education and the environment that someone live withing , it not just video games lot of aspect are involved family, friends ,"movies,TV"..

12 years ago
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thousands of years of human existence, maybe 30-40-ish years of video games existing.

12 years ago
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Exactly. Video games are PREVENTING children from turning into serial killers.

12 years ago
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I agree that video games aren't the cause, but how is it PREVENTING them to be killers?

12 years ago
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Because they can kill pixels instead?

12 years ago
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Charles Manson played Pong and that's why he killed a bunch of people. /truefacts

12 years ago
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that just soo irrelevant

12 years ago
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You rustled my jimmies.

12 years ago
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go read this and stop buying into sensationalism
Now if you would excuse me I'm going to play Risk 2 on my PC so I can conquer the world.

12 years ago
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lol that so funny

12 years ago
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lol... and jhon is great

12 years ago
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yes, it's a great write up

12 years ago
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In Germany they even did a LAN party for the congress guys. But the ones who fought against video games refused to come, claimed it was useless, they wouldn't play massacre simulators etc... I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

12 years ago
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Considering most "violent" games in Germany are heavily censored, you should cry. And then fight back.

I remember a Turok version I had on my N64... I think it was German, but I'm not too sure about that. Well, anyway, the prehistoric men you were supposed to be killing had been turned into some sort of shiny metallic robots. It looked like it was a last minute change...

12 years ago
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Of course. Even before video-games were invented, they saw into the future, and looked upon Doom 2, and Halo and other games that we haven't even played yet and became serial killers. That's what happened to Hitler, he kept having visions of Doom 2 and lost his mind. Yep.

Fucking idiots.

12 years ago
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Of course, 16 hours of Faerie Solitaire can make anyone a violent man.

12 years ago
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What about 16 of Lucid?

12 years ago
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what about 16 of minefinder `cause your internet is down?

12 years ago
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Yeah that frustrating sense of explosions and stabbing every single red dot...... it just enfuriates me.

12 years ago
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You are a gaming related website. Do you expect to get any answer than 'no'?
I can't answer without some preconception due to my nature. Of course I think that games will not turn you into a killer. They will make you rage for a while, at least some of them.

It is all dependent on the personality of each individual. Even movies can do the same thing. Or even worse ... society. You know how mean kids can be to each other?

Here's a test, I wouldn't call it a study, made by Penn and Teller.

12 years ago
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A serial killer should exhibit the triad of sociopathy; bedwetting, animal cruetly, & arson. Video Games although possibly an influence, would not be the prime factor in determining a serial killer. A serial killer may also shop at walmart, but they dont say hes a serial murderer because of that. Man has always been evil, video games or not.

12 years ago
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I wish there was a "Serial Killer" simulation game. Maybe even an RPG like Fallout 3 where you get to put your XP points into things like Fetishism, & Schizophrenia. All Real world based ie: True Crime games. That would be an awesome game.

12 years ago
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Postal comes to mind.

12 years ago
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Manhunt, anyone?

12 years ago
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I played Tetris since my early years, but I'm no Ted Mosby now.

12 years ago
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Hey man, Ted Mosby only plays Super Mario Kart

"LILY ALDRIN
Well, I guess it's been helpful for her for you to be here playing Super Mario Kart for 14 hours a day...
TED MOSBY
[surprised] You have Super Mario Kart!?
MARSHALL ERIKSEN
Hell, yeah. [points to cartridge. Ted gets it and loads into the SNES]"

12 years ago
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I'm a serial killer. But games are the thing that keep me from killing serials.

12 years ago
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Anyway, not sure if this is credited towards "political discussion"

12 years ago
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no, for me its the way for decrease my aggresive part

12 years ago
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Cereal Killer.

12 years ago
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Super cereal.

12 years ago
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Played manhunt, now I'm a serial killer. I have killed many people and I played lot's of CSI so I know what to clean up so they won't find me.

12 years ago
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Oh no not this again..

12 years ago
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Absolutely not.

You can't spell 'ignorance' without 'ign'

12 years ago
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Damn Hitler, he played too much CoD

12 years ago
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politically-uncorrect LOL

12 years ago
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Nah i did an article on it also. Turns out it relieves more stress then making people want to kill each other.

12 years ago
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/OP turns it into a CoD plug, face meets palm

12 years ago
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Most of the worst killers in history where motivated by religion. I like my religion and so do many others, I doubt they would enjoy it being banned. Alcohol kills more a day then they could potentially attribute to game inspired killing in a year or maybe a decade.

12 years ago
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/me staples mouth shut

12 years ago
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Closed 12 years ago by JoeHackerman.