what a ignorant uninformed comment. You know one of the largest demographics of “younger” (under 30) video games buyers are middle to lower class black and hispanic males?

Personally I don’t think video games have any effect on society, no one has attempted to emulate GTA in real life.

What it comes down to is that parents are no longer raising there children, rather they are letting distractions do it for them. And therefore they don’t get influenced by the social “norms” of which we expect.

You watch films and are a PASSIVE participant in the experience.

You play video games and are an ACTIVE participant.”

Yeah because when I am pressing triangle, circle, square, x, up, right, down left to automatically get 50,000 round of ammunition for the 19 weapons my character is carrying while also getting a magical injection of $100,000 cash is a perfect analogue to real life.

IT’S FANTASY PEOPLE. No one ever started building time machines to off mad dinosaurs because they read a Choose Your Own Adventure book back in the day.

I know some people would like to think and in some cases legislate otherwise, but people do still have brains capable of reason, logic & judgement. It is incumbent on them to use it not you.

Yeah, here’s the funny thing about that. God of War, God of War II and God of War: Chains of Olympus have a minigame in which our hero, Kratos, can get it on with two nude ladies (topless, no full frontal). The player is prompted with button commands until the inevitable climax (moans abound, ‘natch), where Kratos is rewarded with orbs to power up his weapons and magic.

What’s funny about this is that God of War moved completely under the radar by these self imposed crusaders of moral truth. Whenever there’s a debate about violent video games, the finger is always pointed to Rockstar because GTA is so easy to attack.

Why is there no public outcry and threats to boycott movies like Saw and Hostel while the mere hint of a new Rockstar product turns politicians and lawyers into brainless, hypocritical meat sacks? Because they’re lazy.

I’ve been gaming since I was about 10 years old and in my experience, video games are just as relevant and legitimate as Hollywood movies. In fact, there are many games that have come out that can really take today’s unoriginal, remake-loving Hollywood to task. BioShock, Half Life 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Beyond Good and Evil…the list goes on (ironically, BioShock is being courted by Hollywood to turn into a film).

@Layne

The lot of these movies/games are an absolute bore to anyone who’s ever lived a real life instead of sitting on the couch fantasizing about having one…

No disrespect intended, but that’s just silly.

You watch films and are a PASSIVE participant in the experience.

You play video games and are an ACTIVE participant.”

I would imagine that the activity involved in playing video games would actually make it even more obvious that the experience is not real. In a film, you can just sit there and watch and see all the horror unfold and take it all in. In a video game, you have to press buttons on this lump of plastic in your hands. Stop pressing the buttons and nothing happens. To me at least, having to think about what button to press next just reinforces the fact that it’s harmless entertainment.

“Sadly, it takes people to have some kind of experience with the realities of life and death that bring them to understand that there is little of value in spending your time shooting hookers and cops in a video game.”

I would argue that if that is true, then there is little of value in spending your time watching football on the TV. That there is little value in playing pool, or darts, or board games. To each his own, I find video games to be entertaining, my brother enjoys reading about cars and football. When the end result is that we are entertained, what difference does it make what medium it is achieved through?

But opposed to that are common sense, education and good parenting that are more important than making a big fuss about something never intended for a child in the first place, or as in pop culture, the inevitable.

Well-said. The lot of these movies/games are an absolute bore to anyone who’s ever lived a real life instead of sitting on the couch fantasizing about having one…

You watch films and are a PASSIVE participant in the experience.

You play video games and are an ACTIVE participant.

Killing someone and watching someone being killed are different, and though NEITHER should be encourage in our society, one must differentiate the two. Even when the murders are fictional…

I don’t know why video games tend to attract a certain audience, and it is true that television and movies are no less guilty. I suspect it is because the only people who can afford to buy these $250 machines and $70 per game are bored suburban white boys. But it doesn’t make the issue go away.

Film, tv, and movies glamorize. They make what, in reality, is very unappealing and ugly, seem very attractive. It is all seduction. When you buy a ticket or a game or watch a show, you are being seduced, and part of the agreement when you sit down to watch is that you are ‘willing’ yourself to be seduced.

Henry Hill was dumb, ugly, and thick. A repulsive thug who did not question anything anyone ever told him to do. He lived a sad and pathetic life. Yet Goodfellas is an entertaining movie that seduces you into believing that there is glamor in living that kind of life.

Anyone who has any sense of reality knows the truth of real violence and the criminal world. The horror of it is in its baseness and cruelty. It is truly numbing and silent - the exact opposite qualities of entertainment. Sadly, it takes people to have some kind of experience with the realities of life and death that bring them to understand that there is little of value in spending your time shooting hookers and cops in a video game. These movies, tv shows and games love to feed on the bubble of the lucky few who don’t know this life firsthand. Spoiled rich kids making pretend for other spoiled rich kids.