Violence and Games
Discussion
The thread on Manhunt 2 got me thinking a bit.
Last week I had a couple of days off and being a boring git I spend most of that time playing Assassin's Creed from start to finish.
The game is quite repetitive, in that you spend most of the time killing people, and quite realistic as well (which makes it very immersive). By the end of the game I must've murdered a few hundred people.
Once in a while I would also just kill innocent civillians in the game just for the heck of it, as I would imagine any regular sort of bloke would while playing that game. Just because they can. Right? Bit like Grand Theft Auto really - you blow up an innocent bystander and think to yourself "cool!".
Anyway, I got in the car to go somewhere on the night that I finished playing the game, and on the way back I was driving past this motorcyclist who was just minding his own business, and the thought occured to me to swerve into him and (surely) end his life, just for the heck of it. The same kind of flippant disregard for life as I experienced while playing the game, albeit in the game the lives aren't real.
It was just a one instant moment, and just a fleeting thing, and I don't know why it happened at that point after an hour of driving past countless other motorcyclists, but it REALLY scared me that I was capable of such thoughts, and I know it was directly attributable to what I been doing in the game over the past couple of days prior, because the feeling and the numbness to how easily the thought occured to me was the same. It scared me that the game had poisoned me to the extent where the line separating fantasy and reality had been blurred, even if just that little.
Have any of you guys ever experienced this in any way? Do I need to check myself in to a loony bin? If this is relatively common, is it grounds for the moderating of these kind of games (as happened with Manhunt)? I'm not saying it is by the way, just asking a question.
Last week I had a couple of days off and being a boring git I spend most of that time playing Assassin's Creed from start to finish.
The game is quite repetitive, in that you spend most of the time killing people, and quite realistic as well (which makes it very immersive). By the end of the game I must've murdered a few hundred people.
Once in a while I would also just kill innocent civillians in the game just for the heck of it, as I would imagine any regular sort of bloke would while playing that game. Just because they can. Right? Bit like Grand Theft Auto really - you blow up an innocent bystander and think to yourself "cool!".
Anyway, I got in the car to go somewhere on the night that I finished playing the game, and on the way back I was driving past this motorcyclist who was just minding his own business, and the thought occured to me to swerve into him and (surely) end his life, just for the heck of it. The same kind of flippant disregard for life as I experienced while playing the game, albeit in the game the lives aren't real.
It was just a one instant moment, and just a fleeting thing, and I don't know why it happened at that point after an hour of driving past countless other motorcyclists, but it REALLY scared me that I was capable of such thoughts, and I know it was directly attributable to what I been doing in the game over the past couple of days prior, because the feeling and the numbness to how easily the thought occured to me was the same. It scared me that the game had poisoned me to the extent where the line separating fantasy and reality had been blurred, even if just that little.
Have any of you guys ever experienced this in any way? Do I need to check myself in to a loony bin? If this is relatively common, is it grounds for the moderating of these kind of games (as happened with Manhunt)? I'm not saying it is by the way, just asking a question.
Thought and joked about doing such things since video games began i think, almost anyone i know who plays games has at some point.Personaly i always wished zombies were real (and slow, not like them 28 day Carl Lewis mofos!) but the fact is,
yes, you could have run the guy over and reversed over him, but you didn't.If your mind got to the stage where it thought
such an action would be a "laugh", i wouldn't be looking to blame video games, i would be delving into your past/present situation.
yes, you could have run the guy over and reversed over him, but you didn't.If your mind got to the stage where it thought
such an action would be a "laugh", i wouldn't be looking to blame video games, i would be delving into your past/present situation.
I been playing computer games since the Spectrum 64K and many a violent game but never really wanted to kill anyone. we all get a feeling that the driver in front should die for driving like a t
t etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagon
t etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagonRemaL said:
I been playing computer games since the Spectrum 64K and many a violent game but never really wanted to kill anyone. we all get a feeling that the driver in front should die for driving like a tt etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagon
That woud be difficult since Sincalr never made a Spectrum 64K. Although some 48k models had 64k late in the production cycle they were still called Spectrum 48k.t etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagonI've played Grand Theft Auto for a few years now and once, while walking home from the pub after missing the last train, the thought did cross my mind to pull an unsuspecting person from their car and get a free ride home.
As long as it stays a thought and not an action, you'll be alright.
P.S. I also walked past a bike leaning against the wall, now that really was tempting in my drunken state, but I'm just not the dishonest type.
As long as it stays a thought and not an action, you'll be alright.
P.S. I also walked past a bike leaning against the wall, now that really was tempting in my drunken state, but I'm just not the dishonest type.
Digby said:
plasticpig said:
That woud be difficult since Sincalr never made a Spectrum 64K. Although some 48k models had 64k late in the production cycle they were still called Spectrum 48k.
Must have meant one of those Specodore 64's? 
Of course if the op had been playing Spy hunter than the urge to knock over the cyclist would have been understandable (just to watch them wobble )I could tell you lots of tedious detail about priming thoughts. You can present stimuli subconsciously that makes "nasty thoughts" accessible, without doubt. However, just becuase a thought is accessible doesn't mean you will act on it. I wouldn't give it another thought 
.
If you genuinely suffering from intrusive thoughts, such that it's affecting your ability to function normally, that's a whole different matter.
.If you genuinely suffering from intrusive thoughts, such that it's affecting your ability to function normally, that's a whole different matter.
Edited by Mekon on Friday 14th December 13:20
plasticpig said:
RemaL said:
I been playing computer games since the Spectrum 64K and many a violent game but never really wanted to kill anyone. we all get a feeling that the driver in front should die for driving like a tt etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagon
That woud be difficult since Sincalr never made a Spectrum 64K. Although some 48k models had 64k late in the production cycle they were still called Spectrum 48k.t etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagonRemaL said:
plasticpig said:
RemaL said:
I been playing computer games since the Spectrum 64K and many a violent game but never really wanted to kill anyone. we all get a feeling that the driver in front should die for driving like a tt etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagon
That woud be difficult since Sincalr never made a Spectrum 64K. Although some 48k models had 64k late in the production cycle they were still called Spectrum 48k.t etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagon
Technically you are still correct as it is a Spectrum and it does have 64K therefore you can call it a Spectrum 64k - because it is 
SS HSV said:
RemaL said:
plasticpig said:
RemaL said:
I been playing computer games since the Spectrum 64K and many a violent game but never really wanted to kill anyone. we all get a feeling that the driver in front should die for driving like a tt etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagon
That woud be difficult since Sincalr never made a Spectrum 64K. Although some 48k models had 64k late in the production cycle they were still called Spectrum 48k.t etc... agree with age rating on games as they do look relistic but its just more people getting on the band wagon Technically you are still correct as it is a Spectrum and it does have 64K therefore you can call it a Spectrum 64k - because it is Its bad. I was playing Civilisation last week & yesterday I saw this french car on the M27 driving a bit close to my lane - next thing I saw the red mist & before I knew it I'd sacked Paris & launched a nuclear attack on all the nearest towns & cities... I wonder if Dubya has been playing that game too much?
Games are far more realistic now, so they are not your Tom & Jerry violence, I find the GTA type games a bit disturbing, even though I play the war type games, the suburban setting is probably the thing that makes it to OTT for me, I don't aspire to be a criminal, i'd rather have a drive about or play some football than put a cap in someones arse.
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