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analog · 03-10-2005, 11:36 PM

In my opinion, the only links between the videogames and people who "act out" what they saw are isolated cases of people who made poor choices or were mentally weak and would have snapped anyway. When you're that age and into videogames, EVERYTHING IS LIKE A VIDEOGAME.

I remember one time I was in a Denny's resturant with a group of friends and we'd just gotten done playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater on XBOX for several hours. We were laughing about how we were looking at the parking lot and making commentary on how we could "nose grind" on this, and jump on that, just like in the game. Anything can be like a videogame. Does that mean I go do something stupid like grab a skateboard and jump into traffic, planning to ollie (skateboard trick) off of a car like in the game?

Fuck no.

A choice is a choice. A game or TV show cannot make that choice for you. YOU have to. It's the same lame argument that guns lead to violence. It still comes down to choice.

If you want to sit there and tell me there's influence, then i'd say there's no more influence than seeing Taco Bell commercials several times a day for years upon years. But one day, I may decide to go ahead and eat something there... or maybe on the way, I'll make a CHOICE to go to Burger King instead.

It's all personal choice.

We still have a military, despite the fact that there are thousands upon thousands of professionaly trained murderers created by the military. THEY don't all suddenly act out Operation Iraqi Freedom or Desert Storm on their neighborhood, stalking through the streets with a gun and killing people at random because that's what was drilled into them.

People are always willing to ignore the power and significance of choice in lieu of blaming someone else.

Populations may be influenced in a very general way by mass media, but individual instances of some fucktard going apeshit in a police station cannot be attributed to mass media influence.

And did anyone bother to remember he was already in there for STEALING A CAR? Some posts in here make this person out to be an innocent byproduct of the videogame industry, and that's ridiculous.

If you're the parents of one of the dead, are you going to accept an explanation of "he just RANDOMLY SNAPPED and went crazy" or "there is a (perceived) rational explanation for his behavior". People don't like to believe that people kill at random, and they REALLY don't like to believe that their loved one died as a result of a random act- it somehow "cheapens" their life (or death).

03-10-2005, 11:36 PM	#40 (permalink)
analog Banned	In my opinion, the only links between the videogames and people who "act out" what they saw are isolated cases of people who made poor choices or were mentally weak and would have snapped anyway. When you're that age and into videogames, EVERYTHING IS LIKE A VIDEOGAME. I remember one time I was in a Denny's resturant with a group of friends and we'd just gotten done playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater on XBOX for several hours. We were laughing about how we were looking at the parking lot and making commentary on how we could "nose grind" on this, and jump on that, just like in the game. Anything can be like a videogame. Does that mean I go do something stupid like grab a skateboard and jump into traffic, planning to ollie (skateboard trick) off of a car like in the game? Fuck no. A choice is a choice. A game or TV show cannot make that choice for you. YOU have to. It's the same lame argument that guns lead to violence. It still comes down to choice. If you want to sit there and tell me there's influence, then i'd say there's no more influence than seeing Taco Bell commercials several times a day for years upon years. But one day, I may decide to go ahead and eat something there... or maybe on the way, I'll make a CHOICE to go to Burger King instead. It's all personal choice. We still have a military, despite the fact that there are thousands upon thousands of professionaly trained murderers created by the military. THEY don't all suddenly act out Operation Iraqi Freedom or Desert Storm on their neighborhood, stalking through the streets with a gun and killing people at random because that's what was drilled into them. People are always willing to ignore the power and significance of choice in lieu of blaming someone else. Populations may be influenced in a very general way by mass media, but individual instances of some fucktard going apeshit in a police station cannot be attributed to mass media influence. And did anyone bother to remember he was already in there for STEALING A CAR? Some posts in here make this person out to be an innocent byproduct of the videogame industry, and that's ridiculous. If you're the parents of one of the dead, are you going to accept an explanation of "he just RANDOMLY SNAPPED and went crazy" or "there is a (perceived) rational explanation for his behavior". People don't like to believe that people kill at random, and they REALLY don't like to believe that their loved one died as a result of a random act- it somehow "cheapens" their life (or death).