Trained to kill?

Are the video games we play training us to kill? It seems they are the funnest games to play, but are they familiarizing us with military weapons so when we turn a certain age we have the DESIRE to use those weapons? I recently saw footage of solders under fire and they enjoyed the fight. Are we being desensitized to mindless violence? I keep seeing this kill, kill, kill trend going on. I have friends that WANT TO KILL PEOPLE, so they join the military or find some job that consists of the use of violence on a daily basis. The military knows people my age and younger like these sorts of games and so they create them, games that you can download for free (at least some) and with the release of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" it seems to glorify this stuff even more. I have no problem playing these games, I have no desire to kill others, my beliefs go against killing people. In all actuality though, I rarely play those games now, I every once in a while play halo with my friends.

So these is my questions:

1. Does the government support this stuff?
2. Are we being brainwashed/preprogrammed to kill for the military?
3. Is there a question I'm missing to ask?

-Jimmy

I continuously hear this argument.

Look, all of this is dependent upon an individual and what kind of environemnet he/she was raised in. I grew up watching horror/slaher films, yet, I have never harmed, much less killed anyone. Why? Upbringing. I was raised to know that what I saw and heard in the film and media industry was not real.. Upbringing is something that today's generation lacks...

Part of my idea though is the fact that it is drilled into us. It's fun and entertaining. My roommate started to get seriously addicted to Halo 3. He would play it till 3 am sometimes (he has to be at work at 8 am), then on his lunch breaks he would come home and play it, it totally consumed his life.
Killing games are the most popular games, why? They are mega advertised and made the best, best graphics, sounds, game play. It's insane.
I think my idea makes sense though. Right?

Another thread has a study that shows violent imagery changes the way the brain works and makes violence more acceptable.

In people with lesser self control it will make them violent.

Are today's video games training to kill? In a way.
Tomorrows weapons, being used today, are hunter killer drone robots that fire hellfire missiles, the operator of the drone is essentially playing a video game 8,000 miles away from the destruction. That will be the future, people in safe little places using robots to slaughter.

Does the government support it?
Sure they sponsor the video game America's Army as a recruitment tool, they give it away free and keep track of the players who have some skill at the game. There are and have been several other games sponsored by the military, there is even on coming from the FBI or was it the CIA, I forget.

Honestly I don't know whats worse, the government sponsoring these games or the chemical/food companies that make dozens of games for kids to promote their diabetes diets.

Your friend or room mate or whatever is addicted to the rush of endorphins he's getting, and apparently lacks anything else in his life that gives him a sense of happiness. He needs a girlfriend, sex activates endorphins too.

"Killing games" are not the most popular games.
Casual games like Bejeweled, Tetris, and other assorted pretty colors and silly puzzles are the most popular games. Look at nintendo wii, best selling system for the last seven months or so, and its "killing games" are the worste I've ever played, people go craptastically crazy for Wii Play...freakin tennnis and stuff.

First person shooters are just a guaranteed pay out and what many game developers got into gaming to make. If you are going to spend three years making something you want to get a nice endorphin rush making it, instead of wishing you'd just stop breathing making something like...oh care bears or an olson twins game or something.

Do game developers make games purposely to teach people to kill?
By and large no. They just follow their instinct of what they think will be fun to make, play, and hopefully they will get paid for.

Some people will go crazy and kill no matter what, if they go to church, if they don't leave the house, if they read Catcher in the Rye, if the sun rises in the east, or if they play video games or see a looney toons cartoon.

Remember violence didn't just start with Atari and violent sports have been celebrated centuries before the first cathode ray tube.



[edit on 24-12-2007 by Legalizer]

Personally, I enjoy sports games much more than I do shoot em up games. Most of your shoot em up games have no real purpose or plot behind them at all. It's just mindless killing. Think Grand auto theft and such games as that, pretty pointless,really.



[edit on 24-12-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

These games are all about illusion.

The illusion you're doing well, the illusion that you're winning or have won.
The illusion that you have achieved something of importance.

Many game makers realise this and play on this fact.

The latest trend in getting people to play with the illusion of achieving something are these MMORPG's (massively multiplayer online role playing games) that actually allow you to claim real cash from the game.

Second life and Entropia are two that I can think of right now. You put in some cash and hopefully, your game playing skills will make you some cash which you can use back in the game or withdraw as real cash again.

These types of games are very much in line with casino gambling as you're more than likely to put in more than you get out. But it's the sense of achieving something that keeps you going back. The illusion that you make a wage from these games is nothing more than a scam.

Other MMORPG's such as Ran or Silkroad give other illusions that are based on your skill level and the equipment you've got. I read once that if you played Silkroad for 6 hours a day, it will take you two years to get to the top level.

So basically, you've been fed the illusion that you're a master killer and for some, the reality goes over the top and they bring the game life into the real world. Which is unfortunate.

Not all games revolve around guns though and it does strike me as interesting that you don't see people with huge swords or pikes or spears going around killing people...normally it's a gun or a knife.

I think it's the genre of the game combined with your own sense of self worth, your surroundings and what you believe to be right and wrong.

[edit on 24-12-2007 by Extralien]

Originally posted by Legalizer

"Killing games" are not the most popular games.
Casual games like Bejeweled, Tetris, and other assorted pretty colors and silly puzzles are the most popular games. Look at nintendo wii, best selling system for the last seven months or so, and its "killing games" are the worste I've ever played, people go craptastically crazy for Wii Play...freakin tennnis and stuff.

[edit on by Legalizer]

Gamestop's top games:

Crysis (shooting game) 9.5

Super Mario Galaxy (It's Mario doing his thang) 9.5

Orange Box (Well, I guess it's a shooting game, not too sure what it is) 9.5

Halo 3 (FPS and fun) 9.5

World in Conflict (I'm guessing a violent game from the title and game cover) 9.5

Resident evil 4 (shooting game) 9.1

Super Mario Bros. 3 (lol, old school Mario, awesome) 9.0

Rock Band (Playing instruments in a non-realistic way) 9.0

Assassin's Creed (Pretty fun game, assassinate folks during the Crusades) 9.0

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Amazing graphics, possibly the best I've ever seen in a game, kill the arabs in this game) 9.0

Well 7 vs 3. Seems I'm right. According to GameStop (a trust worthy source I find), but then agian different sites will most likely say different things.

I remember back in the 70's playing a video game in the gameroom of the kings island inn. It involved driving a truck through a series of roads etc. and the object was to run over as many people as possible. More points for slow old people. A little cross would pop up for every run over. It caused an uproar at the time, remember reading about it in paper.
We grew up with the three stooges and the roadrunner getting flattened every other minute. Think we came out all right.
But, was does concern me is that one army commercial when the kids are playing a shooting video, really getting into it, when an infantrman comes by and taps the glass saying 'hey, looks like you guys are really into this, why don't you do the real thing in the national guard?' or something thereabouts.
It's a slippery slope.

Gamestop certainly is not the be all and end of all of video games sales.

You missed entirely the abundance of online casual games that people either
play for free or pay the website directly to play.

Gamestop caters to the console kids in America only, not the cell phone or internet market which is global.

Here's some data on casual games popularity

Here's wikipedia's list of top selling games of all time Look at all that mario, Super Mario Bros. alone sold more than all the top Xbox games combined.
UNO sold as many copies as many of the shooters. UNO?!?! WTH??
I bet thats whats causing all the violence.

Here's a list from October 2006 You have Golf, Basketball, Football, and Soccer in the top ten.

I don't know where you live, but I'm pretty sure FPS's are the top games here in the U.S., so it probably is more of a nationality thing more than a global thing. I know GameStop isn't the be all end all, but I shop there for games and it was the first thing that came up in my search.

Good point jpm1602, I remember that comercial about the dude saying "Hey you can either play a game or give up your rights and freedom and join the military". Wish I could find that clip though.

I agree. Though not just through video games. And here's proof.

"CIA Fights Terror With GI Joe Action Figures"

www.blacklistednews.com...

I believe another poster fisrt brought this headline to ATS, but as that I think it's relavant to your subject, I'm posting the link here.



[edit on 28-12-2007 by Area_X]

[edit on 28-12-2007 by Area_X]

As an avid player of video games i'm going to give my two cents on this issue.

While I personally believe that most people are inherently good inside I also believe that most if not all have a deep seated desire to see death and destruction. It reminds me of the gladiatorial contests of the days of rome, or why wrestling is so popular. I feel people have to have some sort of outlet for their aggression. These days with video game graphics becoming more and more realistic it becomes so much easier to get that satisfaction from them. I think that in another 5-7 years there will be no difference in the graphical realism of seeing a car wreak in real life or one in a video game.

As far as them being used a military training tools, I recall a game a few years back that was in fact sponsored by the Army called "America's Army". It was nothing short of a drill simulator and was fairly realistic. I'm sure this was used in part as a recruitment tool and am surprised that I have yet to see other developments of it i.e. an air force or navy based version.

I have also seen controller setups such as the one for the game Steel Battalions which would likely rival the interior controls of a tank. So could they be used for training? Absolutely! Do I believe they are? more than likely not at this stage, give it a few more years for perfect graphical reality and the only direction they will have to go in is virtual/simulated reality which I believe then will be quite easily used for training purposes.

Originally posted by jimmyjackblack
Are the video games we play training us to kill? It seems they are the funnest games to play, but are they familiarizing us with military weapons so when we turn a certain age we have the DESIRE to use those weapons? I recently saw footage of solders under fire and they enjoyed the fight. Are we being desensitized to mindless violence? I keep seeing this kill, kill, kill trend going on. I have friends that WANT TO KILL PEOPLE, so they join the military or find some job that consists of the use of violence on a daily basis. The military knows people my age and younger like these sorts of games and so they create them, games that you can download for free (at least some) and with the release of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" it seems to glorify this stuff even more. I have no problem playing these games, I have no desire to kill others, my beliefs go against killing people. In all actuality though, I rarely play those games now, I every once in a while play halo with my friends.

So these is my questions:

1. Does the government support this stuff?
2. Are we being brainwashed/preprogrammed to kill for the military?
3. Is there a question I'm missing to ask?

-Jimmy

Id just like to shine light on this discussion with the fact that war always means billions of dollars.But with every dollar comes a price and that price is blood.Families get torn apart and it takes a toll on America in general.That blood will never wipe off of the politicians hands.America is wasteful in general though if you look around its pretty easy to notice.Major roadways built flawed so they can be rebuilt meaning millions and millions of dollars.But back on topic more importantly wars mean billions and billions of dollars.So of course there is going to be motivation by these individuals in power to push the concept of war.I mean how much money has been approved for Iraq? 500 billion? 1 trillion, why doesnt bush just write on the proposal "ALL" lol.Also what ever happened to all of that money they found in Iraq?They had confiscated truck loads of cash,priceless artwork,weapons and such.It was on the news once and then disappeared almost immediately and forgotten about just like that. Getting to the point though Jimmy yes I do believe that in some way people are being pressured into it all.There has to be some attraction to it all I mean in Iraq there isn't much honor to be had in the fight as we aren't fighting for our freedom.So there has to be something else.I wonder what he tells his daughters after he hugs them and they notice he got blood all over them, daddy whats all of this?Oh thats just the blood of the American people I sold out princess *bush laugh* hehehe