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As with all things in life, one's responsibility is the very esense of it all. Violence in gaming is one of those many-sided issues in our society, yet it is just one of many excuses people try to use in an effort to understand why someone perpetrates a horrific act. There is no "why" about it and to try to give some "fault" for the act is just as stupid as carrying out the act itself. Violence is simply a misplaced sense of our resources and time. Punish the act, not the condition, I say.
In my opinion, there has to be something already incredibly wrong with an individual to act out something because of violent images they see in our society, whether it be films or games. What people tend to forget is that a very small fraction of people fall into this category, yet people want to class, in one fell swoop, something which may not be the case at all. Society has been intertwined with violence for hundreds of years. The human story has always been one of glory and sacrifice, crime and passion, war and peace. Computer games are no more responsible for the violent acts of people nowadays as film and television, culture, or religion in general.
In fact, let me make a point many will think is strange and even racist in nature; Far more people have been killed because of religion in our entire human history than video games. Under the cloak of religious dabbles, millions have died over the centuries because they were not the "correct" race, color or religion. Shall we ban religion then? Of course not, and video games are in the same situation, be it to a far lesser extent than religion. Do I have a problem with video game ratings? No, as long as doing so does not cross the line between being informative and being restrictive, or censorship. Again, we get back to my original point - it is all about personal responsibility. Some people are just "wired differently" than the rest of us, and there is no way to stop it from happening with our current level of technology and maturity.
We must join together to not allow these trespasses into our freedom of choice and speech, under the disguise of "law enforcement". Once we open the tin of worms, it is hard to turn back. If violent games were banned, what's next? Violent televison? Violent films? Violent books? Soon, there won't be anything left to ban, in our attempt to distort anything that might be controversial (although controversy can be a blessing of sorts) or unpopular.
There has been a lot of talk on these forums of the ultra-violent game Grand Theft Auto 3 and it's affects on society in general. Grand Theft Auto was banned in many residential states of America, due to it's content, but Rockstar Ltd still manage to keep plugging the game (in a good way), and making more updated versions. Had many people had their way, we would all be sitting here talking about the games of yesteryear. Violent games are fun to most of us, nobody can deny that, but does everyone enjoy them in the same way? I think not!
Thanks for reading.
Gaming Guy.
In my opinion, there has to be something already incredibly wrong with an individual to act out something because of violent images they see in our society, whether it be films or games. What people tend to forget is that a very small fraction of people fall into this category, yet people want to class, in one fell swoop, something which may not be the case at all. Society has been intertwined with violence for hundreds of years. The human story has always been one of glory and sacrifice, crime and passion, war and peace. Computer games are no more responsible for the violent acts of people nowadays as film and television, culture, or religion in general.
In fact, let me make a point many will think is strange and even racist in nature; Far more people have been killed because of religion in our entire human history than video games. Under the cloak of religious dabbles, millions have died over the centuries because they were not the "correct" race, color or religion. Shall we ban religion then? Of course not, and video games are in the same situation, be it to a far lesser extent than religion. Do I have a problem with video game ratings? No, as long as doing so does not cross the line between being informative and being restrictive, or censorship. Again, we get back to my original point - it is all about personal responsibility. Some people are just "wired differently" than the rest of us, and there is no way to stop it from happening with our current level of technology and maturity.
We must join together to not allow these trespasses into our freedom of choice and speech, under the disguise of "law enforcement". Once we open the tin of worms, it is hard to turn back. If violent games were banned, what's next? Violent televison? Violent films? Violent books? Soon, there won't be anything left to ban, in our attempt to distort anything that might be controversial (although controversy can be a blessing of sorts) or unpopular.
There has been a lot of talk on these forums of the ultra-violent game Grand Theft Auto 3 and it's affects on society in general. Grand Theft Auto was banned in many residential states of America, due to it's content, but Rockstar Ltd still manage to keep plugging the game (in a good way), and making more updated versions. Had many people had their way, we would all be sitting here talking about the games of yesteryear. Violent games are fun to most of us, nobody can deny that, but does everyone enjoy them in the same way? I think not!
Thanks for reading.
Gaming Guy.
As with all things in life, one's responsibility is the very esense of it all. Violence in gaming is one of those many-sided issues in our society, yet it is just one of many excuses people try to use in an effort to understand why someone perpetrates a horrific act. There is no "why" about it and to try to give some "fault" for the act is just as stupid as carrying out the act itself. Violence is simply a misplaced sense of our resources and time. Punish the act, not the condition, I say.
In my opinion, there has to be something already incredibly wrong with an individual to act out something because of violent images they see in our society, whether it be films or games. What people tend to forget is that a very small fraction of people fall into this category, yet people want to class, in one fell swoop, something which may not be the case at all. Society has been intertwined with violence for hundreds of years. The human story has always been one of glory and sacrifice, crime and passion, war and peace. Computer games are no more responsible for the violent acts of people nowadays as film and television, culture, or religion in general.
In fact, let me make a point many will think is strange and even racist in nature; Far more people have been killed because of religion in our entire human history than video games. Under the cloak of religious dabbles, millions have died over the centuries because they were not the "correct" race, color or religion. Shall we ban religion then? Of course not, and video games are in the same situation, be it to a far lesser extent than religion. Do I have a problem with video game ratings? No, as long as doing so does not cross the line between being informative and being restrictive, or censorship. Again, we get back to my original point - it is all about personal responsibility. Some people are just "wired differently" than the rest of us, and there is no way to stop it from happening with our current level of technology and maturity.
We must join together to not allow these trespasses into our freedom of choice and speech, under the disguise of "law enforcement". Once we open the tin of worms, it is hard to turn back. If violent games were banned, what's next? Violent televison? Violent films? Violent books? Soon, there won't be anything left to ban, in our attempt to distort anything that might be controversial (although controversy can be a blessing of sorts) or unpopular.
There has been a lot of talk on these forums of the ultra-violent game Grand Theft Auto 3 and it's affects on society in general. Grand Theft Auto was banned in many residential states of America, due to it's content, but Rockstar Ltd still manage to keep plugging the game (in a good way), and making more updated versions. Had many people had their way, we would all be sitting here talking about the games of yesteryear. Violent games are fun to most of us, nobody can deny that, but does everyone enjoy them in the same way? I think not!
Thanks for reading.
Gaming Guy.
In my opinion, there has to be something already incredibly wrong with an individual to act out something because of violent images they see in our society, whether it be films or games. What people tend to forget is that a very small fraction of people fall into this category, yet people want to class, in one fell swoop, something which may not be the case at all. Society has been intertwined with violence for hundreds of years. The human story has always been one of glory and sacrifice, crime and passion, war and peace. Computer games are no more responsible for the violent acts of people nowadays as film and television, culture, or religion in general.
In fact, let me make a point many will think is strange and even racist in nature; Far more people have been killed because of religion in our entire human history than video games. Under the cloak of religious dabbles, millions have died over the centuries because they were not the "correct" race, color or religion. Shall we ban religion then? Of course not, and video games are in the same situation, be it to a far lesser extent than religion. Do I have a problem with video game ratings? No, as long as doing so does not cross the line between being informative and being restrictive, or censorship. Again, we get back to my original point - it is all about personal responsibility. Some people are just "wired differently" than the rest of us, and there is no way to stop it from happening with our current level of technology and maturity.
We must join together to not allow these trespasses into our freedom of choice and speech, under the disguise of "law enforcement". Once we open the tin of worms, it is hard to turn back. If violent games were banned, what's next? Violent televison? Violent films? Violent books? Soon, there won't be anything left to ban, in our attempt to distort anything that might be controversial (although controversy can be a blessing of sorts) or unpopular.
There has been a lot of talk on these forums of the ultra-violent game Grand Theft Auto 3 and it's affects on society in general. Grand Theft Auto was banned in many residential states of America, due to it's content, but Rockstar Ltd still manage to keep plugging the game (in a good way), and making more updated versions. Had many people had their way, we would all be sitting here talking about the games of yesteryear. Violent games are fun to most of us, nobody can deny that, but does everyone enjoy them in the same way? I think not!
Thanks for reading.
Gaming Guy.