Videogames and violence?

[seawasp]

One of my LJfriends, count_zeroor, discussed the recent appearance of John Davidson of 1up on TV and the way in which he was set up to be the screwed fall guy.

I'd thought this idiocy was long over. What happened to the idea that people have some actual responsibility for their actions? No, no, we have to blame a video game. We have to blame them and LIE about them, too. It's too much to actually think that maybe the behavior of the kids has to do with, oh, maybe THEM? And their PARENTS, possibly? Naaah, must be videogames and TV shows.

Of course, we can't discuss the fact that the TV shows themselves are deliberately designed to be divisive. Or that the very rhetoric being used in "discussing" the issues is divisive - BAD game writers/players versus GOOD "non-geeky" people. KIDS versus ADULTS.

Bah. Humbug.

Comments

[james8bitstar.livejournal.com]

It reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Marge wanted to have Itchy and Scratchy censored. I remember that one guy talking about the Crusades was a really good arguement about the entire subject.

You know what I would love to see? a video game based on the Bible--with all the violence and sexuality perfectly intact. And I mean the ENTIRE BOOK, not just specific bits and pieces.

I could just see the kind of ruckus that would cause. On one hand it would be the old "OMG we have to censor it!" But I'm sure somebody would come up and say "You can't censor the BIBLE! That's just WRONG!"

And if they somehow let it pass, it would give other games a leg-up. "Hey waitaminute, why are you telling us to censor 'Big Bad Machine Gun Men?' I mean, that Bible game is even more violent and you're letting IT pass!"

Of course, I'm almost done trying to solve this problem. The bottom line is that Robert E. Howard is right--Society, Civilization, those are abominations. They were never meant to happen. The best way to solve the problem of these divisive television shows and these creative lies is to just ignore them and go on playing your games regardless. After all, as long as people are trying to put the blame somewhere else, the problem will never be solved--meaning that the scapegoaters will eventually all die violent, horrible deaths at the hands of those they "failed to protect," leaving the wiser of the species free to enjoy whatever the hell they want. I mean yea, in the meantime games may end up being censored to the point that they're no longer any good, but many games today suck regardless, so I'm not too upset.

And hell, there's always imports.