Video games are bad: Heres why

I've been a gamer since I was a little kid. I'm about to turn 31 and I'm happy to report I haven't actually killed a person, monster, robot, alien or anything else. Better parenting would lead to better kids. Teach them the difference between whats real and what isn't and get rid of idiot politicians just lookin to score votes by wanting to ban violent games and we'd all be much better off. Parents don't blame games for your kid's stupidity blame your lack of skills in raising him, her or them.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


I don't believe they were saying they are a perfect Christian, just mentioning that they are religious, but are not affected by something that they clearly understand is not real.

The fact is though, as already stated, if someone is having a difficult time distinguishing between video games and real life, or if playing a game awakens some dark part of them that causes them to act on a hidden desire, then perhaps they need psychological help. Whether they were playing that video game, or watching Dexter, or reading any number of comic books with a little blood and gore, they were probably going to act out on it anyway.

Now imagine not just a glimpse, but a fantasy land full of bodies, disembowels, crucifixions, and pools of blood on top of the creepiest music you've ever heard of.

That's exactly it; a fantasy land. It isn't real. Also, Silent Hill is not a terrific example, as it is created from the character's deepest fears. It's meant to mess with your mind and invoke some terror.

There could be hundreds or thousands of murderers who was given a fantasy, and that fantasy wasn't good enough anymore. So they act out, violently, sadistically.

And what about the murderer's that grew up with Pong, and Pac Man? Or those that grew up without any video games at all? Charles Manson, David Berkowitz, Jeffrey Dahmer, and those are just some of the most recent, big time baddies. To my knowledge, none of them played GTA before committing their crimes.

It is fine if you don't like video games, but it's about time people realize that games are not creating criminals. Before modern FPS were big news, it was whatever movie, book or song that was a bit disturbing to most folks, that took the blame. Marilyn Manson was on the hook for Columbine, and while I'm not a fan of his music, I would say it's pretty absurd to blame the man when two disturbed individuals, who happen to be a fan, decide to take the lives of fellow students.

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reply to post by Hiasyouwant


I am sorry I have had a post tore up also and it sucks , but the problem was, I put out a crappy post, like yours. I am about to hurt your feelings. I am in college and we studied this very thing, tha study showed the complete oppostie. so My friend you are wrong and dont know what you are talking about. I can go on and on about how wrong you are, but Im just going to say "you are wrong" and dont know what you are talking about.

I have to agree with the OP as I have felt the same way for quite some time. I grew up in the dawn of Coleco and Atari so I have a persepective on video games that many younger people on here do not have. Not every game out there is necessarily bad but the potential for increased interaction with a virtual world is always there. When viideo games were first introduced they were very simple and graphics were limited to solid colors and crudely drawn shapes. Today we have games that look almost lifelike and that allow the player to experience killing, theft and a whole host of negative themes.

Let's not forget that the elite like to use any emerging technology to aid in their plans and this is certainly no exception. (This is a topic in and of itself imo) I would bet that if you follow the money trail you will find their hands in it. It's no accident that gaming has evolved into a multi-billion dollar business. It's no accident either that the content has progessively gotten more 'evil' as evidenced by the type of games that are at the top of the list. Look at any top ten list of games and you will find the majority of them have a combat/war or occult/witchcraft theme. And to all the people posting here who are Christians, the enjoyment of playing these types of games is a direct conflict to what Jesus taught. I'm not hear to point fingers since I am not perfect either and fall short in other areas.

Video game creators know that people will undoubtedly be drawn into their games either because of curiosity, advertising or a need to move onto something more stimulating then what they are currently playing. Once in, the player can be easily steered by all the imagery they see and also by what they don't see in the game that stays in the subconscious.

I've read a lot of the follow up posts where the claim is that very few people can't tell real life from virtual. That may have been true a decade or two ago but not now. News story ater news story comes out about a shooting spree that was spurred on by wanting to take a video game a step further into reality
abcnews.go.com...

or a mother and father who's infant died from neglect while they were busy for hours and hours every day raising their 'virtual reality' child.
www.guardian.co.uk...

This is becoming the new norm. If we as adults get pulled into these addictive and destructive behaviors, how can we expect our children, who are our future, to have any chance?

reply to post by Hiasyouwant

And while it starts as a joke to a 9 year old and his friends, one day clicking those buttons doesn't cut it anymore. Onto animals, then hookers.

If that child was going to hurt animals, or later hookers, they would whether they had ever picked up a video game or not.

I do agree that many people are addicted to video games. As others are addicted to drugs and booze, or collecting things (hoarding) or eating, or sex. Some people just have an addictive personality. Whatever item catches their interest first is what they will be addicted to.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant


I understand your feelings towards videogames, I truly do. You may think just because violence gets relayed on a screen that it automatically sparks somethings in us to do the very thing. However, if a person plays a videogame and chooses to go on a killing spree then that person was weak mentally and therefore could have went off after viewing a television show or reading a book.

In fact, one could argue that video games are helping more than they are hurting. Someone playing a video game doesn't have time to get bored. When teens run around causing mischief boredom is usually the culprit.

So if you keep people busy with fun video games the world will become a better place.

I played PacMan the other day and had the munchies for Tic-Tacs. I wakka wakka'd myself around eating a Tic-Tac every two seconds as I avoided ghosts. When a ghost got too close I ate a Jammy Dodger, which seemed to have a chemical reaction with the Tic-Tacs and made me bat# insane.

Whenever I found some fruit, I have to eat it for bonus points.

I keep away from the number 256 as it brings bad luck.

reply to post by Ray1850

after playing angry birds for an hour I had the overwhelming urge to go out and light things on fire maybe they are bad

Perhaps light a delicious pig on fire, then eat some bacon?...

**** REMINDER ****

Discuss the subject here "video games are bad", not each other and
not the OP.

Also, no name calling, especially "troll".

Your post will be removed and you may be post banned.

Originally posted by mattman1023
I have to agree with the OP as I have felt the same way for quite some time. I grew up in the dawn of Coleco and Atari so I have a persepective on video games that many younger people on here do not have. Not every game out there is necessarily bad but the potential for increased interaction with a virtual world is always there. When viideo games were first introduced they were very simple and graphics were limited to solid colors and crudely drawn shapes. Today we have games that look almost lifelike and that allow the player to experience killing, theft and a whole host of negative themes.

Let's not forget that the elite like to use any emerging technology to aid in their plans and this is certainly no exception. (This is a topic in and of itself imo) I would bet that if you follow the money trail you will find their hands in it. It's no accident that gaming has evolved into a multi-billion dollar business. It's no accident either that the content has progessively gotten more 'evil' as evidenced by the type of games that are at the top of the list. Look at any top ten list of games and you will find the majority of them have a combat/war or occult/witchcraft theme. And to all the people posting here who are Christians, the enjoyment of playing thes types of games is a direct conflict to what Jesus taught. I'm not hear to point fingers since I am not perfect either and fall short in other areas.

Video game creators know that people will undoubtedly be drawn into their games either because of curiosity, advertising or a need to move onto something more stimulating then what they are currently playing. Once in, the player can be easily steered by all the imagery they see and also by what they don't see in the game that stays in the subconscious.

I've read a lot of the follow up posts where the claim is that very few people can't tell real life from virtual. That may have been true a decade or two ago but not now. News story ater news story comes out about a shooting spree that was spurred on by wanting to take a video game a step further into reality
abcnews.go.com...

or a mother and father who's infant died from neglect while they were busy for hours and hours every day raising their 'virtual reality' child.
www.guardian.co.uk...

This is becoming the new norm. If we as adults get pulled into these addictive and destructive behaviors, how can we expect our children, who are our future, to have any chance?

www.alcoholalert.com...
cognac.com...

lets ignore this^^^^ and focus on a 0.00001% of a problem in video games that have been proven many times over that well over 90% of pple dont go crazy after playing any violent games..

What a ridiculous waste of forum space. This is based on nothing but your personal opinion which probably comes from bad parenting. Video games are no different than watching movies or tv and I bet you love fox news. Kids have been playing violent games since the dawn of man. These "violent" games have an 18+ rating for a reason, if parents allow their children to play them then it's bad parenting not the game's fault.

ATS has really gone downhill when garbage like this thread is allowed to exist.

This is probably just a troll thread so I have been /trolled.

reply to post by chrissiel123


I agree with you that it is the parents responsibility.

This is a bit off topic, but I believe it pertains enough to comment. A couple years back, there were parents returning Baby Einstein dvds and requesting refunds because there was a study that claimed it didn't actually increase learning in younger children all that much, when many parents made the claim that they loved the fact they could sit their child down in front of the tv alone, while they went about their business, and know that their children would learn something. That completely blew me away.

Why would they think sitting their kid in front of a television would teach them anything on it's own? It still takes some interaction with your child before they can actually learn.

Originally posted by MrPieman
I played PacMan the other day and had the munchies for Tic-Tacs. I wakka wakka'd myself around eating a Tic-Tac every two seconds as I avoided ghosts. When a ghost got too close I ate a Jammy Dodger, which seemed to have a chemical reaction with the Tic-Tacs and made me bat# insane.

Whenever I found some fruit, I have to eat it for bonus points.

I keep away from the number 256 as it brings bad luck.

I once debated that PacMan was the first game in the survival-horror genre. You have a rotund working-class immigrant (Mr. Paakmahn) who just got released from hospital (the Kix cereal factory explosion) only to find the labyrinth-like city overrun by ghosts. He discovers that the ghosts are attracted to the Kix cereal that the local factory spread all over after the explosion so he goes around collecting them to discourage the ghosts. Luckily, in all four corners of the city, there are spheres of holy light that scare the ghosts while you carry it.

PacMan seems a lot more fun now, doesn't it?

It's a matter of perspective really. You kinda dig yourself a hole I find when you say something is THIS or THAT without including the other perspectives.

I'll say this, that our race has a strong warrior gene or something because we really get off on the fight, the violence, the explosions. And i'm a peaceful soul. And I reached a point in my life where being immersed in that makes me feel physically and mentally ill. I don't want to watch simulated suffering. I think that stopped when I dropped the us against THEM mentality and I don't see other people as enemies and more like extended family.

Listen man, its a very fine line of deciding what people should be allowed to do. If you're going to make violent video games illegal, you should make professional fighting illegal too, and get rid of the military. There are countless outlets for this primal nature. The problem if any seems to me the power and hold it has over people. I have other primal urges too but I keep them under control.

There's more to it though man. "The Fight" itself has more philosophical connotations. The fight has as much to me do with the abstract concept of our spirit overcoming obstacles, realizing a higher sense of worth and self awareness among other things. Does a person try to win the race to be better than everyone to literally feel better than everyone? Or is it more like to say..well I beat everyone, I guess that says something of what i'm capable of, now bring on a tougher challenge.

I don't play many games any more but there was a time I thought I'd end up as a game designer. But once a year there is a game that totally pulls me away from reality. Its an escape that lasts a couple days and it's usually very memorable. A lot of these games believe it or not have really inspired me... interactable movies, situations, and characters you can relate to. There's something I get out of clicking the little choices to be the hero vs self serving.

Whatever dude, a day later I shake it all off, take something positive with me.

I do think society has placed a lot of emphasis on violence towards another, making it seem okay and proper place. But in the end we should be responsible for our own minds. Sure some illuminatti plan could be to do this to us but it was our choice to buy the game, watch that show. There is a total disregard for philosophy in public schools for us people to get a sense of direction and dig into how our subconscious is affected by things and all that, but damn.. if you some spare time, meditate on that or something. In the end you are responsible for your own mind and actions. Yes I'm aware you can be very easily programmed, but you can deprogram yourself as well.

I heard Fallout New Vegas mentioned, I love rpgs like that. Mass Effect, Deus Ex Human Revolution is coming out soon.

Why I love them is because you have the option to be good. I mean really good. You can be a total evil bastard if you want to, but not many people I know take that option.

Anyway, FONV can be completed without killing ANYONE. You can use your words to get through the game.

hewreck.com...

Sorry if this has been mentioned already, but this is a long thread.

reply to post by Hiasyouwant

One of my point's is, to some of these players in virtual worlds it starts as some sort of outlet for say a pedophile. At what point do these gross simulations tempt one to actually act out, because the virtual world is not doing the job anymore? Is it not a tease for these people, and thus make it even more difficult in the real world to cope with such problems?

There were pedophiles prior to Second Life. There will continue to be pedophiles after it has run its course. There are people in real life that dress up like babies and school girls, animals, etc. to get their kicks. Twisted sex fantasies existed before gaming...I'd venture to say they were added in gaming because people were already interested in it...not that it was put in the game to create an interest in it.