John Carmack (developer on the original Doom among other things) has stated that violent games calm people, not make them angrier. What are peoples thoughts?
Doom dude says violent games lower aggression ? reghardware
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John Carmack (developer on the original Doom among other things) has stated that violent games calm people, not make them angrier. What are peoples thoughts?
Doom dude says violent games lower aggression ? reghardware
I think the key thing is age appropriateness of the games. Letting a 5 year old go on a shooting spree in GTA IV or sneak up on people with a knife in Bad Company 2 is a bad idea, as their brains are developing and that sort of thing can and could make them think it is acceptable.
But an 18 year old playing such games? They should know right from wrong, and it is a good way to let off steam.
Oh of course, I totally agree. If the media want to blame GTA for little Johnny doing something bad then the game is not in question, it should be the parents decision to let him play that game.Quote:
Originally Posted by localzuk
I meant legally (as in 18+ play 18+ games) I see the benefits, although some of the comments on there suggest that although we feel more relaxed after the game, we are in fact angrier
There's some research just been published by Huddersfield Uni that suggests that violent games don't make you any more aggressive than non violent ones.
http://www2.hud.ac.uk/news/2011news/07/videogames.php
Nothing makes me more mad than coming off Black-Ops with 0-30 score!!! 30-0 would make me very happy but won't ever happen!!! Damn kids...
Personally I've only ever felt violent after taking a thrashing at Fifa.
I could play COD/Tekken/GTA for hours in perfect serenity....
Joe
Black ops infuriates me at times and makes me smash things and games in general when they dont go my way cause the same effect.
I'VE PLAYED VIOLENT GAMES ALL MY LIFE - IT NEVER DID ME ANY HARM AND I'LL SMASH YER FACE IN IF YOU SAY ANY DIFFERENT.
i get angrier playing racing games. It's fun to run around blowing stuff up :)
Absolutely - after a frustrating creeper encounter in minecraft the first thing I tend to do is dive into a simple blood 'n' guts game to unwind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CPLTD
I remember seeing a paper on how less violent, more realistic games cause more aggression in gamers than violent games. [For example: football and driving games make you rage more than GTA.]
I broke my keyboard after losing one race too many times in Most Wanted. However I love the puzzle and exploration aspect of games like GTA and playing through the stories of first person shooters. Does TF2 count as a violent game? Cos its bloody funny and doesn't make me violent, it makes me happy :)
If it's a console port in which it's impossible to actually miss, the story runs on rails and all the "hidden" items stand out against the background like a neon pink hippo, then more violent.
If it's actually a tricky game that requires an ounce of skill and maybe detective work to find stuff, then less violent.
Absolutely. There are charts around showing the steady decline of violent crime in America plotted against the upward trend of video game sales, where a large majority of said sales are violent, 18 games (COD etc.). I think the long term trend is very clear.
The problem is that any studies that have been done - and there have been a few, in all fairness - all concentrate on short term effects. They then inevitably show an increase in violent tendencies or anger issues, because after spending 3 hours completely focused on an online deathmath, getting repeatedly shown up by strangers, you do tend to be a bit wound up. I don't think I've ever personally broken a controller throwing it against a wall but I've come pretty close in the past.
As far as I'm aware, though, none of these studies have ever taken someone who is already a gamer and is already in a foul mood and got them to play a violent game. I suspect if they did, you'd see a clear drop in whatever markers were being used. I think the important part of such a study would be "already a gamer" - someone who habitually uses games in this way anyway. A middled aged lady is just going to get more wound up because she won't have any idea what is going on or how to do anything, and the feeling of empowerment is the significant factor in the relief of the stress, because so often what gets us riled up is out of our control.
Very interesting dissection of the issue at RPS, related to the stupid Fox News comments that Bulletstorm would turn you into a rapist: Fox News | Rock, Paper, Shotgun: not making jokes about what you think we are - in particular the article on analysing the evidence, iirc. It'll take you a while to read but it's one of the most joyous pieces of video game journalism in the last year, and thoroughly recommended.
You'll enjoy this article on Ars today, then.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete