Electronic Crack

[DjCiD]

You don't see me running outback and setting up thumpers for a ride to the corner to get a dime bag of spice... ok bad analogy :-

But I agree with Elite the games, chat or a forum habit (as Taq put it :)) or movies wont warp a mind that isn't already in some way warpable. I cant say watching Cheech & Chong made me pick up a pipe I most likely would of done it anyway because of other influences

*flashback Senior year-

Mom: Hey what are you doing?

Me: Writing a report for World History.

Mom: On the typewriter, why not use your Dads computer?

Me: Cause he's the God of his computer and if I change anything he changes the password and I cant use it.

Mom: Oh ok... you boys and your toys... ::) (I'm sure she rolled her eyes) Well were gonna take your brother and his friends to the Circus.

Me: Ok. See you later.

Mom: Ok, finish your homework and you can have my roaches. Bye, love you.

Me: Love you too!

But you don't see me dressing all poofy and wearing white makeup with a wig either (The Corsican Brothers a Cheech & Chong movie that's not about smoking... okay another bad analogy :P)

Ok heres a good one you don't see most the ppl here going outside and talking to a brick wall although we try and talk sensibly to Nav when we should just feed him to the worms (I'm sorry I think I now know my vote, I have never seen Taq get that way.)

Parents are just looking to place the blame on someone and they pick out the video game companies and movie industry and music entertainers & who not. When the fingers they point have three pointing back.

[Taqwa11]

You're right, Elite and Djcid. Different people react differently to the same stimulus. My wife tells me that my boys shouldn't see violent movies or play any violent games. I've told her that when I was a kid, I was just like the majority of healthy boys because I did all the things healthy boys do: My friends and I had toy guns, and we played wargames, cowboys and indians, cops and robbers, etc. We had mock fights, pretending to hit or kick each other. In the winter, we played King of the Hill on snow hills, where the whole point of the game was to fight your way to the top of the hill and then fight to stay there. We played "smearball" (aka "smear the queer"--I know, I know, that's not good PC). We watched any kind of action movie or war movie whenever we got the chance. We set up toy soldiers and shot them down with our Star Trek tracer guns. We made slingshots and blowguns, and we shot at each other--with beans or chickpeas or spitwads, that is. And when I was 11, I bought my first gun, a .22 rifle I saved up for. My father taught me to respect guns and never point them--even when I knew they were unloaded--at any living thing that I didn't intend to kill. The point is, we did all the "violent" things normal boys do, but today I am not a violent person. I'm a lover, not a fighter. My job sometimes requires me to point guns at people and get a bit rough during a takedown, but I'm not at all violent or warped because of my childhood play. That said, I believe there are SOME kids who, due to abuse, imbalanced hormones or bad genes, might be more easily influenced by violent stimuli. As they teach you in psychology class, what you are is the result of both nature and nurture. Nature is what you are physically--your genes and other physical makeup that influences your natural tendencies. Nurture is the influence that comes to you through your interactions with family and society--your personal experiences. I've always wondered about criminals--I've always wondered if I would be any different from them if I were raised the same way as they were and if I had the same chemical makeup that they have. The point is, some people may be negatively influenced by violence in any form. But I believe that the majority of us can handle seeing violence without becoming violent because of it. We look at violence and say to ourselves, "That's how life is. Life can be ugly." People who tend to be violent, because of nature and nurture factors, look at the same violence and say to themselves, "Man, that looks like fun. I'd like to do that to somebody." I think that the key is to know your kids and be a part of their lives so that they become adults who can handle seeing violence and reacting in a healthy manner, i.e., realizing that it is wrong and not copying it in real life.

[ethan]

the only real problem with violent video games is your heart rate really shoots up, even if you are calm and collected.

[Taqwa11]

Actually, that's what I think is RIGHT about games with a lot of action. You are immersed in a good game to the point that it feels like you are there. For example, I just ran around an Ohio trailer park during a tornado, fighting off female ninjas with a machine gun, a shotgun, and other assorted weapons, and I had a blast--I'm talking about No One Lives Forever 2, my current FPS game.

[Nyarlathotep]

To add my 2cnts to this discussion:

Yes, you can be an addict to gaming. I sure am. Is it bad and do you loose track of the real world when you're an addict ? Well let me put it like this, if you have a girlfriend/wife and she tries to seduce you while you're gaming, there are 2 options:

1) You react frustrated and yell "What the h*ll are you doing, that's going to cost me a ladder point".

2) You respond willingly to her seduction and participate (fill in the details for yourself) and completely forget about the game you're playing.

If you choose option 1, you have a serious problem IMO

If you choose option 2 there's nothing wrong and although your an addicted gamer, you do not lose track of the "real world"

Do games make kids more violent ? Well that may apply to some kids maybe, but those are only a very few. I also believe it's up to the parents to make sure their kids (talking about youngsters here) do not play exceptional violent games (GTA for example)

As for the article in question, I seriously doubt people dissapear for a year to play just games. I rather think it was put down as an excuse for the writer for not visiting his so called friend. If he didn't see his friend for a year, what the h*ll has he been doing all that time ?? Better yet, he says he never saw the guy again after that. All he did was ask others if they'd seen him. Uhm hello, news flash, go look him up. If he really thinks he's gaming, he should be home (he could be dead for all he knows).

Apart from that, he's building his rant on just that one occasion. He seems to compare the whole gaming community with drug addicts. I am an addictive gamer, but am perfectly normal () and have no issues at all.

[Mad Rhetoric]

Hey,look at me,everyone!

*Clicks the mouse and fires a tank rocket*I just learned how to shoot a tank!YAY!! :D :D

LOL

Any way,the point is,MAVAV:We can't learn how to shoot or kill by simply pressing a button.For example,I have GTA3,and when Im in a tank,and I left click,a rocket shoots out.Now,if I went in a real tank,I'd have to know how to load,aim,etc. the tank.So unless the videogame teaches how to do those things(which I'm sure it almost NEVER will),then we can't learn how to kill or shoot.So there. :P :P :P :P

[ace1gold]

well I have to say that article was good and disturbingly right

I myself can relate to this addiction on about 3 different games, although I have never let it get in the way of my social life like iggy i can relate to it effecting my uni work,

v worrying

[Taqwa11]

I must warn you all about pay-to-play online rpg's though. My neighbour started playing everquest and he dropped out of school. My other neighbour(I live in a weir neighbourhood) plays a game called xenimus and he play that often(a bit too often for his own good).

I keep away from online pay-to-play games because I know it's dangerous and addictive.

I thought Cyborg's statements (above) pertained quite well to this topic, so I quoted them here. Thanks Cyborg.