No way! Video games never cause anyone to become violent not even a violent video game. I play violent video games all the time and I never struck a person as a matter of fact video games help me calm down and relax, its a far better alternative than smoking and drinking. Lets be real, how many of us can actually do any of the things we see in video games? I know I can fly with a cape and shoot fireballs out of my hands, and where am I suppose to find a buster sword? Do I pull it out of my back end? People watch football, boxing, and hockey and they have some form of violence in them too. We watch and do those things because its our God given right too. Plus people under the age of 17 can't purchase M rated games anyway. I LOVE GAMING!!!

I don't think that games make people violent. I think it's people taking the games too seriously that makes them violent. If a person playing a game like 'Doom', which the media blamed for the Columbine shooting, starts to believe that what they're doing is real then yes they may become violent. But a person doesn't get that absorbed into a video game without help from an outside force. They may have been abused or have serious problems at home that make them turn to violent video games for comfort or release. Now this is typically a healthy way to release anger, but a person who's been through something really traumatic will become absorbed into the game and believe that it's real. So no I don't believe video games make people violent. I believe people do. A person doesn't become assimilated into a video game without someone hurting them and driving them to it.

I'm studying to be a Psychiatrist. How did I do? lol

Oh and I think the media blaming Doom for Columbine was utter bull s***.

I played and watched others play a lot of violent video games. The worst you'd get out of me is a screaming match.

Also I don't even know what the hell I picked for the poll XD. I hope I picked no, I wasn't paying attention.

i play many violent video games and i am not violent but some kids are affected

"Mazes and monsters is a pretty intense game. Looting... Maiming... Killing..."

"Hey, it's all just imagination."

"Is it?"

--Mazes and Monsters.

i'v been playing games since i was 7, i'm now 29. I'v played violent games all that time and it's never once enterd my head to go out and recreate any thing that i'v played. In my opinion i think its all down to the child and the lifestyle and home life they are in. If a child carnt realise that games are not real then you have to look at that childs home life!!
Saying that, the way games are progressing these days and how life like they are, children who are playing them are getting desenceitised, so what shocked a child 10 or 15 years ago wont't affect a child to day!!

Well, this actually depends. If the kid's parents are crackheads who beat their kid for breathing the wrong way and he gets his hands on a game like Grand Theft Auto, I think it could have some negative effects. But if the parents are good and the kid is smart (like me) they'd only know that the games were fake and for enjoyment only and you should not go out and shoot up people in real life.

Shaedo K : Excellent point. It's hard to say violent video games are the cause because, as you said, too many people who fit the age, gender, class, etc of those people enjoy the same violent games. Remember Columbine anyone? I was 7 and I was playing doom, which was one of the things they blamed the shooting on. So far I haven't thought it a good idea to shoot anybody.

cob : I think it's a synergy thing. It's not any one thing that causes you to go insane, it's all of them together! Yes, you were playing Doom, but were you also listening to Marilyn Manson, having a bad relationship with your parents and Bowling?

My roommate says that when he was in school, a paranoid schizophrenic kid named Kip Kinkle shot up a school in Springfield Oregon. He remembers clearly because he went to see Bill Clinton speak to the school district about it. His only problem was untreated Paranoid Schizophrenia. He didn't play any violent video games that the parents knew about, or listen to any music at all!

I do believe that because of the games we play, we are introduced to much more violence, and it can greatly impact certain individuals, so I'd say that, Yes, violent videogames do impact negatively impact the youth, but being one of those youth's we're talking about, I can say that I know it's bad for me, but I'll never stop.

i don't believe that ANY video game could negatively affect our youth, and in these instances where someone does do something drastic in result of video games, it seems odd that a perfectly normal person would go through the thought process "hey this is awesomely violent, i should attempt it in real life", and this is just easily arguable opinion, those who do go through that thought process already do not have a mental barrier against impressionability.

when jack Thompson says video games are murder simulators, this is quite easily not true, that statement cannot account for relatively non-violent, or completely non-violent VDO games such as portal and guitar hero.

The only people who truly have a right to even say such things about VDO games are those who play it themselves, i mean what right does someone like jack Thompson have to judge a media he knows nothing about

I'm against violent video games, but I think there's a difference between a game that has fighting in it, but is a good game; and a violent video game. I think that games such as Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto are violent video games, but games such as Pokemon or Megaman games are usually nonviolent overall, though there is fighting throughout those games. It's all about the message, in my opinion.

Shaedo K : Well yes I do believe it does have an affect somehow psychologically...but that doesn't mean they're going to go out and do it! Kids are not stupid..they know right from wrong..as we all do. People want to escape into a virtual reality..that's the purpose of video games! I wouldn't recommend violent games..however, i also can't deny them....

I think it does because I've heard and seen kids pushing and shoving and they're like "I'M GONNA PULL A (insert video game move here) ON YOU!" and they'll end up really hurting eachother. It's really unsafe not only for them, but for the kids around them.

Would anyone here say that Megaman X inspires murderous rampages? What about COD or Metal Gear? Do they inspire SENSELESS violence? Those games are revolved around defending a cause that you believe in and defeating someone with an evil intention(from your point of view). I don't think they inspire any random acts of violence.

And personally, even before I played those games, I knew I'd be willing to kill someone if they were true evil (IE Hitler and Child Molesters). But I would never have ever thought it was a good idea to go Columbine on anyone.

cob :
>True Evil
>Child Molesters.

Ohhohohoho~ I just thought of another fantastic thread to make in the debate forum.

I've been playing violent video games since I was four. I'm not a psychopathic killer.
Well... not really. I think the persistent fear pumped into us by the mainstream media has a much larger effect than video games.

Blue : But wait! What if the persistant fear pumped into us by the media TRIGGERS the inherent killer that VIDEO GAMES make us to be!

Video games are basically an escape from real life, in my opinion. I does influence you a bit, but sooner or later you realise that'I can't jump up giant blocks and have more than 1 life'. The same goes towards violence. I've been playing violent games for an extremely long time, and I'm not distorted (Or maybe I am) but aside from that, sooner or later our urge to kill will be foiled by the police, and we'll realise that it's only in our dreams that we can wreak havoc with a machine gun (Well, maybe you COULD wreak havoc with a machine gun in real life, but i doubt any sane person would do it). I rest my case.

Shaedo K : Then I would have set the planet ablaze by now.