(LOUISVILLE) -- While there are seemingly more and more violent video games on the market every day, a game released last month may have crossed the line. Called "25 To Life," the violent video game places the police in its crosshairs.
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4536515&Call=Email&Format=HTML

to sign a petition against this game go here
http://nleomf.com/25tolife/

I think they should ban it for people younger than 60 years of age. That should be a good equivalent.

video games are an outlet for, not a cause of violence.

i allow my friends 5 and 7 year old sisters to play san andreas and postal 2 on my computer, and that has had absolutely no negative effect effect on their behaviour. it actually helps them, as i use it as an incentive for when they perform well at school, or demonstrate mature decisions.

it is in human nature to take pleasure in killing, so it is better that we get our fix killing some ones and zeros than some randoms on the street

Everyone has violent thoughts, violent fantasies, even violent urges, to a greater or lesser extent. Many people tell us to spend years in therapy attempting to cure them. The world's leading religions tell us to suppress them. Unless of course we can find a member of a competing religion who deserves to die, then we can join an army and do it legally.

I think violent videogames give people an outlet for their violent side.

Sure, kids who play these games can become sociopaths, but so can the ones who don't play them. Until I see some really carefully derived statistics on that I'm not buying the argument. And they have to go a long way past correlation, since, (repeat after me in unison) CORRELATION IS NOT EVIDENCE OF CAUSATION.

Anybody who wants to shoot hookers and run down grandmas on their computer is welcome to it as far as I'm concerned.

After playing pokemon, years ago, I had the urge to throw tennis balls at random, small, animals in hopes of enslaving them for my amusement.

im not proud. =(

I refuse to sign said petition and I believe it's a load of crap. Video games are being used as a scapegoat.

If you had noticed, you can play AS the cops in that game as well. It's just the video game version of Cops and Robbers. Shall we start arresting 5 year olds who play that in the playground now? Or what about releasing games where members of your SWAT team don't get killed? How about shelving all the games with US soldiers in it 'cos we don't want to see them get killed'?

It's funny how no-one has yet proved that violent crime didn't exist before computer games ;)

Oh yeah, Mr. Lard, tennis games were quite odd in my phase of that too. 40 - Love? I CHOOSE YOU!!

thare is no proof that video game have eney negitive effects on human pyhicloigy. the so called studys done on thew negitive effects are a lode of crap.thare have been studys done that show games eney games are good for strees relese and and eye hand caordnason. in my medical practis we ues games to treat cancer pasents for pain it takes ther mind off the pain tharefor thay ask for less pain meds

sorry about the spelling englis is my forth langige

I refuse to sign said petition and I believe it's a load of crap. Video games are being used as a scapegoat.

If you had noticed, you can play AS the cops in that game as well. It's just the video game version of Cops and Robbers. Shall we start arresting 5 year olds who play that in the playground now? Or what about releasing games where members of your SWAT team don't get killed? How about shelving all the games with US soldiers in it 'cos we don't want to see them get killed'?

It's funny how no-one has yet proved that violent crime didn't exist before computer games ;)

Oh yeah, Mr. Lard, tennis games were quite odd in my phase of that too. 40 - Love? I CHOOSE YOU!!

Hehe, you took the words out of my mouth ;) I couldn't agree more!

There's a good article defending violent games here:
http://www.gamerevolution.com/oldsite/articles/violence/violence.htm

I read through this article too, attacking violent videogames:
http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/New_violence.html

New Violence? Programmed to kill? Nintendo killers? These people sound paranoid.

it's amazing how people just fall in line isn't it?

not wanting to beleive the status quo, or being the non conformist that i am, i decided to find out for myself if indeed a persons environment can solicite violent behaviour

so, without further ado, here is the result of my google search of "causes of violence"

Modeling within the family: Children witness violent behavior in the home and believe that is acceptable. Children get a direct message from a parent, "When someone hurts you hit them."
Socialization: Men's socialization through the overwhelming influence of the media, educational system, religious institutions and our heroes and heroines regarding gender roles and stereotypes contributes to their use of violence.
http://www.aava.addr.com/DV%20Info/causes_of_violence.htm


They may have seen violence often or they may have been victims themselves.
http://psychcentral.com/library/domestic_causes.htm


Now science is venturing into this area of speculation and dispute
Their work is beginning to provide new clues to the complex ways in which the brain shapes violent behavior.
It is also shedding new light on how environmental influences, by affecting the brain, can trigger violence.
http://www.violence.de/bylinsky/article.html


The following factors have been identified as contributing to the potential for violence.
Family Violence—The alarming extent of family violence affects the children who either witness this violence or are victims themselves.
Media Portrayal of Violence—Violence is increasingly a part of our entertainment, whether in movies, videos, music, television, or video games. Over time exposure to the constant barrage of violence desensitizes children.
http://www.bctf.ca/education/Health/ViolenceInSchools/causes.html

We know that people who commit violence on the street are disproportionately poor and unemployed. Prior to their arrest,jail inmates had, on the average, an annual income at the Federal Government's official "poverty level," and about one-half were unemployed at the time they committed a violent crime.
autarchic.tripod.com/files/cause_violence.html


There is a huge concern about violence in the world today. What causes violence?
One condition is that the person has been hurt.
The second basic condition is less well understood. The person has not been allowed to release the emotions resulting from the hurts.
Being the victim of violence and other distressing experiences breeds violence in the child only when the emotions are blocked and repressed.
http://www.awareparenting.com/violence.htm


top 10 causes of violence
1. The Media
2. Substance Abuse
3. Gangs
4. Unemployment
5. Weapons
6. Poverty
7. Peer Pressure
8. Broken Homes
9. Poor Family Environment / Bad Neighborhoods
10. intolerance/ignorance
http://www.adherents.com/misc/violence.html


the above list comes from the first 2 pages of of the search results
draw your own conclusions

Most people, if not the overwhelming majority, would be able to draw the line between fantasy and reality well within or even before their teenage years.

chill.

look whats the difference with video games and violent cartoons and movies and tv shows?

nothing little kids still watch them all. and violence is everywhere you look on television, even the childrens shows have fighting and killing,

i say dont ban any game or any show, they all have the (18) or (R) rated symbol on them, a minor cant purchase it, its just like saying ban all violence on TV or computer games because young people might watch them ven though they are labeled for adult use only,


there are bad games liek that all over the place, Rockstar inc make tns of these games, warriors, grand theft auto seriies. many more,



human society is a little stupid in my eyes, (sorry to insult us) but look, we let children watch violence all the time, and play violent games, but as soon as a little nudity is on TV and you see some naked people its wrong wrong wrong, but you can see all the violence and killing you like, we were born naked its natural. we wopnt let our children see naked people or sex, but they can see all the war they want. :)


peace.

top 10 causes of violence
1. The Media
2. Substance Abuse
3. Gangs
4. Unemployment
5. Weapons
6. Poverty
7. Peer Pressure
8. Broken Homes
9. Poor Family Environment / Bad Neighborhoods
10. intolerance/ignorance
the above list comes from the first 2 pages of of the search results
draw your own conclusionsMy "conclusion" is the same as it has always been for these "studies" that are heavy on research but abysmally poor in analysis of the data. The purpose of a study is not just to gather data, it is also to study that data and figure out what it's telling you. So one more time, everybody, say it again with me in unison and please try to remember it this time. What is the most insidious of fallacies?

POST HOC, ERGO PROPTER HOC.

Or as we say in English, "Correlation implies causation."

IT DOESN'T!

Never did, never will!

Two things may be consistently found together because they are both results of the same cause. Or they may be consistently found together because they are results of two different causes, and the causes may be consistently found together for other reasons.

The classic example of this is the "finding" that kids who have been watching "South Park" since the second grade have turned out to be disruptive, hard-to-manage seventh graders. Is this because they all regard Eric Cartman as a role model and want to be a brat like him? Is it because they think the exaggerated stereotypes of adults as uncaring and clueless are accurate portrayals? Is it because they are depressed by the dismal picture of the world they are growing up into?

Uh, how about E. None of the above?

How about: Second graders who are still up at 11:00 at night watching "South Park" are not being properly parented! If their parents were so incompetent and neglectful that they never enforced a reasonable bedtime, what other bad parenting have they done through incompetence and neglect?

Children with incompetent and neglectful parents generally turn out bad. They might have an epiphany in their late teens or early twenties and wise up, but they're going to be horrible ten-year olds, just like Eric Cartman.

Parents should stop trying to find ways to black out "South Park" and just watch it themselves. Cartman is an asshole because his mother is a dolt who pays no attention to him and then compensates by overfeeding him.

Violent videogames are no different from violent cartoons. Kids with good parents won't be reprogrammed by them and kids with bad parents are already programmed badly.

i say dont ban any game or any show, they all have the (18) or (R) rated symbol on them, a minor cant purchase it,

doesn't fly chi
minors can't purchase alcohol yet the are arrested for intoxication
minors less than 15 can't drive cars but they do
minors can't buy cigarettes but they still smoke
need i go on?

My "conclusion" is the same as it has always been for these "studies" that are heavy on research but abysmally poor in analysis of the data.

i have a feeling that i could present the entire result of my google search and you still would deny that a persons environment can cause violence.

Or as we say in English, "Correlation implies causation."

This is indeed very true. There are many outside variables that are not taken into consideration at all. If you dig hard enough for evidence, you're eventually going to be able to find blame in the thing you want but the blame will not be just.

Fraggle Rocker, your South Park example is a brilliant one indeed.

minors can't purchase alcohol yet the are arrested for intoxication
minors less than 15 can't drive cars but they do
minors can't buy cigarettes but they still smoke
need i go on?

Well then, they're breaking the law which is there to protect them. How is it the video game industries fault if kids somehow manage to buy games that aren't meant for them? It has to be either the people who buy the games on their behalf (mainly parents) or apathetic sales assistants. Here in the UK, a majority of shops have a "Pass 21" scheme in place. If someone is trying to buy an 18 rated movie, game or even alcohol and they look under 21, ID is required or the sale is refused.

i have a feeling that i could present the entire result of my google search and you still would deny that a persons environment can cause violence.

No-one as denied that at all. Anyone with a few braincells would know that persons environment helps mould what that person is like. You just cannot blame a single thing on that, it's a group effort. And these studies into violence are quite usually very subjective. The experimentors making assumptions about the subjects behavior.

I have looked over quite possibly hundreds of various experiments into what causes violence (took various psychology classes out of boredom while at college) and I can't think of one that didn't have any observer bias. If you create a hypothesis that you think is right then you will try your hardest to find evidence to prove it right.

according to the following website just being male puts you at risk for being violent.

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence/chapter4/sec1.html

i allow my friends 5 and 7 year old sisters to play san andreas and postal 2 on my computer, and that has had absolutely no negative effect effect on their behaviour.


Ah, I played that game once and I went around peeing on people and hitting them in the head with a baseball bat for weeks....

Postal 2 was great. You could complete the whole game without killing anyone but hell, it was fun to.

I've just ordered Manhunt for the PC. I know it's a bit of a shit game but I want to see what all the fuss is about. I'm secretly hoping it turns me into a crazed lunatic. Foaming mouth and everything.

manhunt: shit graphics, even shittier physics, third person, lame plot. i found it intolerably crappy and deleted it after the first level

and as for postal 2, despite the physics being somewhat sub-standard(using the unreal engine i believe) it was still fun to see how many people i could kill before the SWAT got me.

It's just another scapegoat, like movies, TV and comics before it. If you kill someone because of something you saw ina virtual place that is quite easily distinguishable from rela life, chances are you had something pretty fucking seriously wrong with you to begin with