One of the main concepts of the game was to violently murder innocent civilians. One of the craziest parts of the game was that the player could just walk up to a cop and violently murder them with knives, guns, spears, etc.
My later thoughts were that these games must subconsciously get into people's heads. I wonder if people feel like the things that they do in video games translate into real life. Sometimes I think that American's brutal video games have a lot to do with why our country is so violent.
I think that there should be some sort of restriction on video games. I understand that there are ratings and stuff on them, but I think that is inadequate. Like movies, I think the purchase of video games should be restricted content wise. I don't think it's a good idea to fill kid's heads with violent ideas from these games.
I agree that there could be more limits on video games and their violence but I think it would be hard to enforce these limitations. Kids today already have a ton of access to video games through the ones they already have, and through other media like YouTube and TV. If we really want to keep kids from thinking extreme violence is always the answer, we would have to put limitations on these forms of media too.
ReplyDeleteI defiantly agree with you that these restrictions should be put on other forms of media too. Do I necessarily think this will happen? No. That's where we run into the whole free speech and people wanting to express themselves however they want things. The fact that brutally killing someone for their car is horrifying to me, even if it is just in a video game.
DeleteI definitely agree that media and violence have a symbiotic relationship. Each one supports the other. The sad truth is that people love violence. They love blood, they love gore, they love to kill people with the impunity they cannot have in real life. I'm not sure the solution, however, is better restrictions. Look at the prohibition era-- the more unavailable you make something, the more people want it. Regulations would lead to unsatisfied customers with a bigger lust for violence than real-life can fulfill. Yes, video games promote violence and cult-like bloodlust, but it's because of this that we can't simply take violence away. America needs to stop promoting a culture that favors violence, that measures masculinity with strength. This change must start on a real-world level. Gun laws, that's what I'm getting at. Sexual violence and rape culture need to stop being promoted as well. The end to violence culture needs to start in the real-world.
ReplyDeleteI like what you are saying but I disagree. I think that these games are very violent but, I think that these won't really have an effect on how these people/gamers live their lives. I mean other than wasting time on a game all day. However, I don't think that kids are going to actually going to go out and shoot someone because of a video game. I don't think that there should be many limitations.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that everyone who plays video games is going to go out and kill someone with a cub, but I'm saying that some people might have violent tendencies like that. The more they participate in these violent acts (even if it is online) the more they get it in their head that they are normal.
DeleteI will admit that I am a fan of the Grand Theft Auto games. It is extremely violent and also sexist. Why do I play it? I am in a way addicted.
ReplyDeletePersonally I do not think that this game will lead to me becoming a violent killer or a total sexist. But, I do think that in certain cases, violent video games can feed people that do have a violent, hateful, and/or angry side to them and in certain cases this could eventually cause them to go out into the real world and perform these acts.
I remember growing up on video games, especially with my older brother playing violent ones, including Grand Theft Auto. I was exposed to this violence pretty early on, probably only being in early elementary school, and I remember being so scared of the police catching me so I often freaked out. Do I think that violence in media will affect our behavior? No, perhaps not in a way that we can tell for certain. I do think it affects our daily conduct on a subconscious level. I believe the violence that is shown to us in media downplays on the grave problems associated with violent acts in general. So as violence in the media becomes a normal thing, we start to get more comfortable with the idea of violence around us. I can say that I won't be becoming a serial killer any time soon. But maybe in the next decade.
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