Video Games : the root of all evil

Catchy title eh?

According to a Harris/AP poll 66% of Americans are in favor of broadcasting executions on TV : READ HERE

And now I am wondering : Are videogames really the root of violence? Or are 66% of people just plain dumb?

I am sure that among these 66% at least 65% would be the first ones to jump on the bandwagon and tell you how horrible it is that their kids are playing GTA and killing people, talking to prostitues in the game.

"Sweetie stop playing your game its too violent, come watch the execution on TV with Momy and Dady".


On a sidenote this is already posted on major Europeans news websites... And you wondered why Europeans think of Americans as Dumb cowboys... Duh! all they get is that kind of news as well as GWB talking about crushing the axis of Evil, shows like Cops and reports of people getting gunned down 20 times the rates of the rest of the Western World.

We get ALL news.

For some reason there's CNN.

Atrophyed said:

We get ALL news.

For some reason there's CNN.

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I know you get all news, I am from Europe as well, but still most news we get from the US (Or at least the one they like to put on the front page) are usually the ones dealing with death and stupidity.

In anycase I am in no way implying that anyone is better/worse than anyone else... just pointing out how stupid this thing is and also how quick europeans are to report on that.

66% of people are stupid? Survey says..*BING*! You are Correct!

Because if you cannot tell the difference between reality and something fake, you really have some issues..

Video Games don't kill people, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE! *If some fuckard plays too much G.T.A. and then goes on and car jacks someone to run over hookers in, then they've got some serious issues that was there before powering up the game.

MERCENARY X99

ClassicMode1985 said:

66% of people are stupid? Survey says..*BING*! You are Correct!

Because if you cannot tell the difference between reality and something fake, you really have some issues..

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Agreed. There has to be something wrong with them in the first place to take a video game serious enough to do it. And what's worse is when people use video games as an excuse. No, the person has no excuse for being violent. Only the ones who have to point blame elsewhere say it's because of someone or something else. A video game like grand theft auto isn't the one going out and running people over, it's the damn person behind the wheel. see how silly that sounds? The justification that it's a video game that did it, is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

Mercenary X99 said:

Video Games don't kill people, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE! *If some fuckard plays too much G.T.A. and then goes on and car jacks someone to run over hookers in, then they've got some serious issues that was there before powering up the game.

MERCENARY X99

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Well said.
Nobody is to blame but the person and the actions they took.
Society is so built on shifting the blame, its stupid though.
If GTA inspired it, it wouldnt matter anyway, as the dude is gonna see something similar or worse eventually and act upon that.

Howdoin said:

On a sidenote this is already posted on major Europeans news websites... And you wondered why Europeans think of Americans as Dumb cowboys... Duh! all they get is that kind of news as well as GWB talking about crushing the axis of Evil, shows like Cops and reports of people getting gunned down 20 times the rates of the rest of the Western World.

Click to expand...

If Europeans are stupid enough to believe that all that goes on is what they're news agencies feed them - well, then who gives a fuck what they think.

The European press is every bit as sensationalistic as the US's (perhaps moreso) - and if you choose to take it seriously, then you don't deserve to be taken seriously yourself.

Well we all agree on the fact that people kill not videogames (nor TV or music), I was just astounded by the fact that people are so easily blaming video games and music everytime some kid takes a gun and shoots people

Still, 66% of Americans think that executions should be broadcasted on TV and I am sure none of them would find anything to say against it next time their is a shooting : it would still be the "video games"fault but nothing to do with the fact hat their kid would be watching people die live on TV...

I am not saying that executions would be responsible for people going on killing spree but I am sure it would have a more serious (negative) impact on a lot of young people to see a real human being killed live than to see a bunch of pixels ressembling a person getting shot during a game...

It's a sad, sad world indeed


> Galfordo : I'd love to think that Europeans are not dummies but there are as many dummies in Europe as there is here and both sides see the other as cliche : the average European thinks all Americans eat at Mc Donald, drink Coke and weight over 300 pounds. For Americans all Frenchmen are cowards and smell, Italians are hairy and perverts, Germans... well you got it... cliches are fun but they still are cliches...

all it took was the title of this thread to pull me in REEEAAAAL quick...

sometime in the future (hopefully not more than a year or so) I plan to take the plunge and open up an arcade...not one of these dime a dozen "family entertainment center" places I loathe so much, but an old-school location that only places like the Chinatown Fair in NY seem to remember...
so I've been doing my homework and studying up on every part of the business I can, including writing up my take on the state of the industry from the beginnings till now...
what I've found in my experiences and observations over the years is that videogames' dynasty flourished during the 80's, which was the "me" decade: up and coming yuppie parents were too busy enjoying their own pursuits to give a crap about little junior who found guidance wherever he could...so then when these same parents see their kids screw up later, rather than step up and admit they weren't there when their kids needed them, they pass the blame on something, ANYTHING else in order to feel less guilty...and dammit one of their favorite scapegoats was my beloved videogames...to this day it's the reason why I will never see an arcade in my own town...

but while part of me will always be angry about this, I'd rather approach this positively and work to reverse this stigma in my own small way if I can...

*whew* sorry if I got carried away there, I'll get off my soapbox now...

Howdoin said:

> Galfordo : I'd love to think that Europeans are not dummies but there are as many dummies in Europe as there is here and both sides see the other as cliche : the average European thinks all Americans eat at Mc Donald, drink Coke and weight over 300 pounds. For Americans all Frenchmen are cowards and smell, Italians are hairy and perverts, Germans... well you got it... cliches are fun but they still are cliches...

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Agreed.

Anyway, I don't want to see people being executed on tv. That's sadistic and barbaric.

Not that I give a fuck about a murderer's rights - I want them to fry as much as anyone. I just don't want to sit down with a bowl of soup and stumble upon some dirtbag's eyes popping out of his head. No thanx. I don't take pleasure in stupid shit like that.

Also, many executions could go wrong. It's disturbing.

Only in this country could you conduct a survey where 2/3 of the people surveyed support your idea but a little over half of the total census would actually PARTICIPATE.

There's got to be some journalistic flavoring there. They claim 66% of people support the idea, and then go on to say 21% of them would want to see Osama Bin Laden put to death and an additional 11% (presumably a shared 11% with the pro-Osama crowd) to see Saddam Hussein executed.

So you figure at the very least, 45% of people (taking away the 21% of the Bin Laden question) would support the idea of televised executions, but 54% would not. Resulting in a 1% margin of error (the article states 3%).

Something isn't right. I don't understand how 66% percent would want to see executions, but only 21% would want to see Bin Laden killed. Don't trust this article AT ALL. Surveys are by their nature biased to begin with their wording and presentation. On top of that you have the media reporting on this survey, which is the ultimate in biased organizations.

This must be the "Fuzzy Math" they were talking about during the 2000 election.

Buro Destruct said:

Only in this country could you conduct a survey where 2/3 of the people surveyed support your idea but a little over half of the total census would actually PARTICIPATE.

There's got to be some journalistic flavoring there. They claim 66% of people support the idea, and then go on to say 21% of them would want to see Osama Bin Laden put to death and an additional 11% (presumably a shared 11% with the pro-Osama crowd) to see Saddam Hussein executed.

So you figure at the very least, 45% of people (taking away the 21% of the Bin Laden question) would support the idea of televised executions, but 54% would not. Resulting in a 1% margin of error (the article states 3%).

Something isn't right. I don't understand how 66% percent would want to see executions, but only 21% would want to see Bin Laden killed. Don't trust this article AT ALL. Surveys are by their nature biased to begin with their wording and presentation. On top of that you have the media reporting on this survey, which is the ultimate in biased organizations.

This must be the "Fuzzy Math" they were talking about during the 2000 election.

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There's lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Re: Re: Video Games : the root of all evil

galfordo said:

If Europeans are stupid enough to believe that all that goes on is what they're news agencies feed them - well, then who gives a fuck what they think.

The European press is every bit as sensationalistic as the US's (perhaps moreso) - and if you choose to take it seriously, then you don't deserve to be taken seriously yourself.

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Why bother yelling "Hey, Europe has idiots too!" when it's obvious at least a fiar number of Americans are barbaric in mindset. We know there's idiots everywhere, but responsive finger-pointing looks silly.

if video game is the root of all evil, then i guess we were all peaceful up until the 1970s.

Nash said:

if video game is the root of all evil, then i guess we were all peaceful up until the 1970s.

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I speak for a almost all, if not all, people here when I say I never killed anyone before 1970.