A-fucking-men

[hulk]

This guy speaks the truth!

Article here, plenty of links and graphs but I can only paste the text. You get the idea, anyway.

Originally Posted by GameRevolution

by Duke Ferris
Thanks to the current media frenzy and barrage of lawsuits surrounding violent video games, I can’t tell people what I do for a living without getting a lecture on the current plague of youth violence and the scourge that is Grand Theft Auto. I decided it was time for a rebuttal more effective than shrugging and saying, “Well, I think you’re wrong.”

So I sat down to write this article, and started doing some research. What I discovered startled me. I'm not sure I have the ability to write a totally serious piece - it is not in my nature to be serious, nor the nature of GR - but the issues are very serious indeed and the evidence is very real.

I am even going to use charts. With words on 'em. We spare no expense.

First off, I have absolute proof that video games are not the cause of this epidemic of youth violence in America. No, really, I do. Ready?

There is no epidemic of youth violence in America.

The whole concept is a lie manufactured, distributed and perpetuated by the media. Kids are not killing each other more frequently than they used to. In fact, it turns out the opposite is true.

Check out that ugly graph on the right. It doesn't take a genius to conclude that violent crime is at the lowest it has been in a good thirty years. For effect, I’ve also marked the release of the Playstation console, the first Grand Theft Auto game, the PS2 console, and the infamous GTA 3. Wow, look at those surges in violence!

Believe it or not, I got that graph - and all the others in this piece - directly from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics. All I added was the video game timeline. This isn’t some privately-funded poll or crazy game journalist defense mechanism - this is the actual, most recent government data on crime as used by the FBI. The fact that they all max out at 2003 is irritating, but this debate has raged much longer than the past few months.

Please understand that I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t think that there are any aliens at Area 51. I know that AIDS was not created in a secret government lab, I believe that men really landed on the moon, and I am 100% certain that Sasquatch shot JFK with the help of the Loch Ness monster. But something clearly isn’t right here. The government and the media just can’t go around making this stuff up, right?

Something must be missing. That first graph is the overall violent crime rate, and we’re talking about youth violence here. So I found the data sorted by age, and it turns out that through 2002, youth homicide actually dropped across the board, the only increase being among adults. If I may quote directly from the D.O.J. report, “Recently, the offending rates for 14-17 year-olds reached the lowest levels ever recorded.”

The lowest levels ever recorded. In other words, the Playstation era has, in fact, produced the most non-violent kids ever. But I thought video games were training children to kill? I’m sure I read something like that here and here and here and here and here and here.

To be fair, there have been about 300 studies on the effects of violent media, about 30 of which have been about video games. Most have found little to no connection, although some studies found a small, casual correlation between aggressive people and violent media.

Even if true, this does not necessarily mean violent media has created aggressive people. It is more likely that aggressive people are attracted to violent media. Blaming violent media would be like going to the opera, noticing that most people there are rich, and concluding that opera makes people rich. (Classical opera, by the way, is chock full of lust, incest, murder, suicide, and revenge.)

In an analysis of the risk factors of youth violence by the Surgeon General of the United States of America, violent media is categorized as “Small Effect Size.” In fact, there are 27 risk factors rated higher than exposure to violent media, like socioeconomic status, academic failure, poor parent-child relations, weak social ties, and being male. Quick! Ban all the males!

So is the media and the government flat out lying to us? Yes, and they have been doing so for years. As touched on in the rabble-rousing films of Michael Moore, fear sells. It’s how you turn terrible tragedies like Columbine and the WTC Attack into election votes and must-see TV.

The media in particular loves to bash video games, making sure to point out any time there’s an Xbox within 50 yards of a crime. This is because games are the new competition - every hour you spend interacting with a game is one hour less spent drooling in front of their fear-mongering programming.

And it's working. Sparked by Columbine, mainstream media routinely paints a picture of gamers as odd shut-ins dangerously close to the precipice of violent behavior, and almost unerringly misconstrue the games themselves without taking the time to fact check, as is the case in the very first sentence of this CBS News report. Points for killing cops in GTA? Do games still have points?

Gaming is also a new medium, one that has recently become wildly successful. Young people play them and old folks don’t understand, so they must be bad. Don’t forget that in the 1950’s, rock and roll was linked to youth violence in the same way. The hedonistic, tribal rhythms were going to turn America’s youth into a bunch of violent maniacs. Rock and roll was banned and censored all over the country. A bill was even put before Congress in 1955 to ban rock and roll altogether.

Something exactly like what is happening now. Sorry guys, I don’t care what people say, rock and roll is here to stay.

Let me be perfectly clear: Grand Theft Auto is a best-selling adult game that should not be played by 12 year-olds. That’s why it’s rated “M” and you have to be 17 to buy it. However, most games are not like GTA. In 2004, 54% of games were rated “E” for Everyone, 33% were rated “T” for Teen, and only 12% were rated “M” for Mature. The vast majority of the best-selling titles every year are not rated “M.” Compare that to the 55% of movies rated “R” and only 8% rated “G.” The ESRB might not get it right all the time, but who does? (Sources: the ESRB and the NPD Group).

And after all, there’s no problem with R-rated movies or mature rap lyrics or violent video games, because there is no problem with youth violence. The most disgusting thing to me is that some truly horrible high-school tragedies are being exploited by the media, and somehow, I'm part of the problem.

The truth is that these are the most non-violent kids we have ever had, and they all own Playstations. The government is so desperate to find some youth crime to crack down on that they’re strip-searching kids for 10 bucks while locking up 11 year-old girls for throwing rocks and eating french fries. The most peaceful generation of Americans in recorded history is being shoved through metal detectors, having their civil rights violated on a daily basis, are the victims of unreasonable search and seizure, and are treated with constant suspicion.

All because of a media lie. If nothing else can incite them to violence, maybe that will.

[feelgood]

lol

This guy is a genius

[MooseMan3000]

Originally Posted by GR

Points for killing cops in GTA? Do games still have points?

Haha. Brilliant.

Thanks for posting that. I've actually been looking for those statistics he used, but I really had no idea where to start - everything I found was from a lobby interested in showing one side or the other. Excellent article.

[djflish]

It makes sense. I mean, if playing violent games made the youth of America go out and kill people, then why don't exactly the same games make the youth of the UK go out and kill people?? or the youth of Europe??

[Sleepyjack]

Very good article. I like the use of empirical evidence, ie the graphs. Good research as well; just makes the claims so much more concrete. Thanks

[killeena]

It totally makes sense. The fear mongering in this country is to the point of ridiculous. There is always something about how either video games or movies or books or whatever are turning our children into homicidal monsters, commercials from Homeland Security spreading fear about terrorists (doesn't that make themselves terrorists?), overzealous laws and police protecting us from french fry eating children on the subway, or protecting us from those crazy medicinal marijuana users.


Grrr, sorry, just had to vent there.

[Jinn]

You definitely called this one.

A-FUCKING-MEN!

[BurntToast]

Thanks for posting this. It is a brilliant article. Hopefully more people will read it and stand up to our out of control government.

[bparker805]

That was a great article and I just fowarded it my local congressman.

[japhyryder]

I just forwarded that article to my newspaper, not that they would do anything about it. Or even think of doing a story that make media look bad

[Mantus]

Originally Posted by JinnKai

You definitely called this one.

A-FUCKING-MEN!

I'll second that.

[sailor]

Hahaha, awesome. I love it.

[Destrox]

What a great article.

[Coppertop]

Well it's about time. I wonder what Art would have to say about this?

[t3m3st]

Originally Posted by djflish

It makes sense. I mean, if playing violent games made the youth of America go out and kill people, then why don't exactly the same games make the youth of the UK go out and kill people?? or the youth of Europe??

Because Americans are far more impressionable? But wait, I thought the American government was trying to get MORE youth to go out and kill people, you know, in Iraq.

But you people are all missing the point.

"IN GRAND THEFT AUTO YOU HAVE TO RAPE WOMEN TO WIN!"

[Frosstbyte]

Time to forward this to everyone you know. Fearmongering is a tried and true method. Too bad if you can see through it, it makes you sick.

[tspikes51]

I read here that country music is linked to suicide. I'm pretty sure that suicide qualifies as violent behavior, so therefore we should also go after country music. Or, wait, I listen to country music and play violent video games, so I must be a stone-cold, suicidal killer.

I personally enjoyed what maddox had to say on the GTA issue:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse....ticket_to_hell

[Draconis]

Originally Posted by killeena

overzealous laws and police protecting us from french fry eating children on the subway, or protecting us from those crazy medicinal marijuana users.

Sorry dude, but the french fry thing was not about protecting children's rights. It was protecting the right of a business to set it's own rules and enforce them.
As for the Medical marijuana case, the only reasons that it's illegal in the first place is because of anti-Hispanic law making during the 1920's and heavy lobbying against the hemp industry by rope makers who used flax or other materials. The reason it remains illegal is because the government knows it is so easy to produce that taxing it would be impossible. Their recent use of interstate commerce laws to place a federal ban on medical marijuana is an abuse of power and an infringement upon state rights. I'm with you on that one all the way.

On a different note, the guy who wrote this article did a stand up job of exposing gaming critics for what they are; idiots, frauds, fascists and mental deficients. They take an easily defeatable stance on this issue by using their feelings as justification for actions. Facts are stubborn things that they really hate dealing with, so they focus on instances and sob-stories and moral objections while trying to use their soapbox as a platform for further "wussifying" the already slightly wussed out US (granted, we're still way less wussed out than most countries, but using that as justification would be like saying it's more acceptable to kill a 5 year old kid than a 4 year old, just different degrees of unacceptable). Aside from the fact that we kind of need to get kids to put the damn controller down and go outside once in a while, there's no real problem with gaming. If anything, it's helping more than it's hurting. My main problem lies in the fact that the government is trying to interfere with and take over the roles of parenting more and more.

[Catdaddy33]

Great article...

There is too much NEWS, I mean with all 24 hour newschannels, all the "news magazines" not to mention talk radio. There is only so much that can go on during the day to report, so what to do...make up shit!! Remember the side impact crashes in Ford or Chevy trucks that NBC rigged to explode, because their real "investigation" was unfounded, so they had to make it so people would watch it. Same deal, exploit the hell out of something to cause fear about something most people know very little about.

When I was growing up it was Heavy Metal and D&D were evil. My wife is a middle school librarian, and she saw an article about playing D&D as an after school program, Wizards of the Coast has its own D&D school packs so they can run games after school.. It blew my mind, but makes since, most of the parents remember D&D and quite a few played. As gamers age (like me), this will become less and less "shocking" and they'll move on to something else.

[FngKestrel]

In a related commentary, one judge was smart enough to not buy into the video game hype.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/10/vi...ap/index.html/

Jury convicts video game defense killer

Thursday, August 11, 2005; Posted: 4:46 a.m. EDT (08:46 GMT)

story.vert.moore.jpg
Devin Moore is escorted into the courthouse Wednesday.

FAYETTE, Alabama (AP) -- A 20-year-old whose lawyers claimed the video game "Grand Theft Auto" and childhood abuse caused him to kill three small-town police officers was convicted Tuesday of capital murder.

The jury deliberated for just over an hour before convicting Devin Moore.

Jurors on Wednesday began deliberating Moore's sentence. He could receive the death penalty.

Defense lawyers had partly blamed Moore's actions on the hours he spent playing video games from the "Grand Theft Auto" series, in which players shoot police officers and steal cars.

While the judge barred jurors from hearing testimony linking the 2003 shootings to the game, defense lawyer Jim Standridge reminded them that Moore, after his arrest, told police "Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime."

Moore had pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental defect.

His family and friends left court without comment, while the victims' relatives and friends gathered to hug and thank prosecutors.

Prosecutor Lyn Durham said Tuesday that Moore knew what he was doing when he grabbed a patrolman's gun and killed two officers and a radio dispatcher.

"And he knew it was wrong," she said.

Officers had taken Moore to police headquarters for booking on a stolen auto charge. Authorities said Moore, who was 18 at the time, grabbed one of the officer's guns and fatally shot all three victims in the head before fleeing in a patrol car.

The victims' families have filed a civil suit against the video game manufacturer and two stores, claiming Moore killed the three after repeatedly playing "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City." No trial date has been set in the civil lawsuit.

A spokesman for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., parent company of "Grand Theft Auto" manufacturer Rockstar Games, did not immediately return calls Tuesday seeking comment.

[NeverBorn]

book fucking marked..preach it

[Buk]

AMEN!!! PRAISE JESUS!!!

[TrumanTT]

Im glad the government doesn't like to step over their boundaries and like to declair that all forms of media warp our youth.

I think parents should be in control of it and thats it. If you dont know your kids, the government isn't goiong to pick up the slack. I know this might seem off topic but families should make these decisions even if it doesn't cause violence.

Video game companies should keep on going with all their ideas without any restrictions and single famileis and not parent groups, or legislators, or posses should stop it.

[The Magic]

Thanks for posting this.

[Wingless]

Excellent article, thank you for posting that.

[Anxst]

That article is great. Thanks for posting it!

[sinjien]

This article should be made into thousands of copies and dropped by helicopter all over Washington D.C. But...it might get shot down for inciting the REAL truth and not the media propoganda crap that they keep pushing down our throats.

[Silvy]

Good article.
And it is joined nicely by the book I just finished reading: State of Fear by R. Crichton. It also makes the point that people are ruled by fears.
Wether it's the cold war, environmental issues (main story of the book), terrorists or invasion by other religions (the spanish inquisition, crusades, etc) fear is the way the powers-that-be contain the populace.

Whenever you see the government, news networks or prominent figures preach to a fear, take a step back and re-evaluate. Remember that as long as the public (you) is busy being afraid, you won't be able to adequatly question the government on it's actions.

Anyway, this turns out to be more of a Tilted Politics post
Back to gaming: I like the GTA series of games. I've played them from the first in the series. I still play it, and I have yet to kill, rape, beat up or rob a single person.
Like the many posts before me: leave the job of parenting up to the parents. (and be sure to make them responsible for their failures!!)

[Zeraph]

A-fucking-men indeed. The irony being that fear tends to lead to violence, so the media is probably more responsible than the games.

[ZeliG]

Dunno about that, after playing Worms World Party back in the day I went and bought a shotgun, a bazooka and some napalm and killed all the worms that could find until someone killed me with a holy hand granade.

Seriously though, all this bullshit about violence in games is really getting old. I mean Doom was said to inspire violence, but I think more than anything it would lead kids to fight poorly animated, pixalated demons. Which should be supported by church organizations, unless they like blocky demons....

Nowdays nothing much has changed 'cept for better graphics.

[jujueye]

That's sweet. Thanks a bunch for posting it. Maybe since kids can do virtual killing, they don't want to do it...for realsies... I dunno.

Originally Posted by ZeliG

Which should be supported by church organizations, unless they like blocky demons....

I used to work as a DJ, doing wedding, etc. Feh! One wedding reception in particular stands out. It was the 80s. And in the middle of cranking up the crowd, I played the Ghostbusters theme. The dance floor cleared in seconds. Finally, somebody came to my booth and said, "you need to turn that off NOW." I stammered...buh buh buh..... And shut it off. Talk about church oddities...

[ZeliG]

Damn that is crazy jujueye, I mean who are they gonna call now?