All About Games: “They Cause Murder & Make You Illiterate”

Its a trap. We're reading this article and that constitutes as reading.

Ya know, the Bible contains a lot of violence.

I think that we should ban it next.

'An infographic for parents who know nothing about television has recently been causing waves with its assertions that television “turns children into impulsive murderers” and “makes them into illiterates.”'

Fix'd, Ye Olde Whining style.

Those statistics are hilarious. They're constructed to tell exactly what the maker wants them to.

What's with the "800 hours" statistic? "May contain"? If it's referring to one game in specific, I would love to play this game. If it's talking about every violent game ever, than it's completely pointless.

Some of the points in the last section are just blatantly untrue, and the others are misleading. 30 minutes of what games? Many games have shown an increase in frontal lobe activity, as the gamer plans out strategies, etc...

And that last point... LOL~

Also, some somewhat unrelated food for thought:
http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2008/04/15/does-gaming-promote-reading.html

Lets ban reality TV. It has just as much violence and it doesn't have any sort of redeeming quality to it. At least with video games some of them help to train your brain or your senses

Video games have also been known to cause severe cases of USI and denial. :P

MOTAL KOMBAAAAAT!

that doesn't include eroge.

Feel the pain of us german gamers!

But at least they dont censor games because of nudity here. :P Actually in the states some sexy outfits are already too much. ^^

PS: I want to see a singleplayer game that contains 800 hours of "footage". Even 80h are far to many for 99% of all games...

As much as I don't like the tone of this shit, at least this will prevent little kids from fagging up online FPSes with their fights over chocolate milk :3

Labeling issues with given information:

1. So if they appeal to emos, sadists, and psychos,
they can't be sold to minors? And before this,
anybody who believes this garbage is NOT a
reasonable person, therefore making this point
relatively moot. Last note, difficult to discern?
Ummm, either let them play or ban them for life.
Either way, they'll get around to playing them
behind your back anyways...

2. I believe minors not only CANNOT rent 'M' games,
but they also CANNOT buy the 'M' games in stores
for themselves here in the US. Simple fix, get
said person who hasn't bought into the 'scare
fagtics' of violent game propoganda to get the game
for the minor. Who would know the difference? Who
would care if it caused profits for the store?

3. FPS was only violent back then? What happened to
swinging swords and other various weapons to kill
creatures in other games before this? And even if
'defending oneself' was used as an excuse, the same
could be used to defend Wolfenstein. Gah.

4. 2003? Maybe some more recent info? And 800 hours
of footage in a game? If Kojima couldn't do it, no
one can. In that same note, the only games that
could push 800 hours are WKC and other online FPS
and MMOs. And most violent content saved for last?
Uhh, no. Most games give access to most content thru
one single-player playthrough.

5. It's been said but most games have dialogue to
read, therefore NOT impairing reading time. More time
on video games = bad? In excessive amounts, it can
be. But overall, bullshit is the name of the ad here.

Oh, and be sure to thank your insurance company for NOT being this retarded...

the hell? even though california is a good place but the laws there sheesh. i have learned alot from video games. vocabulary, heck i begin to understand violence more and it made me more mature than ever. now i don't rage quit when playing games unlike some people. still today people are being an ass and giving video games a bad name. it didn't happen during SNES days why now?

lol... dumb kids surely get influenced..
in any case, they forgot to add violence on TV

illiterate? if anything, you do a lot more reading gaming than watching movies =P

Wait, this is recent? This looks like what they use to publish back 10+ years ago.

The information is provided by a travel insurance company it seems, why would they be a reliable source regarding these sorts of things?

http://gamepolitics.com/2010/06/07/treasure-trove-game-research-psychology-publication

Nuff said.

There is a movie out called Moral Kombat. I found it on Hulu.com. It talks about this whole issue. Look it up if you like.

oh please >>
do this kind of research on serious problems

What a bunch of bullcrap.

I've played GTA, where the prime theme of the game is all about mafia, gangs, etc. but it did not, in any way, let across my mind of murdering a person.

Citing computer games as a cause of murder is really too much. I've read some novels (forgot the titles) and they are way more gruesome than games.

800 hours? There have been a lot of games that I've played and replayed over the years, but I'm pretty sure I haven't accumulated 33 full days worth of playing from one game. If you are going to make up numbers and statistics they should at least be somewhat realistic and feasible.

I was 8 years old when I got mine MK4
I haven't killed nobody yet

26% Over 50... Way to go old people. Ill inherit a lot of violent games when mine die ^ω^

I thought not reading made you illiterate.

I thought actually killing someone made you a murderer.

The more ya know!

No wayyy!!! I play video games hours everyday, am top of my class, and have NEVER killed anyone! Gamers spend more time reading in a fully voiced game than their parents probably do.

OH GOD! What is wrong with the freaking government?! Can't they just realize that just because playing violent video games doesn't mean they would make them murderers?! Make it stop, for crying out loud!

WAKE UP!!!

Why don't they do something about that horrid series of movies- Saw? It's just pointless gore and it's real people killing in a movie.

"Violent" is a very broad term and I'm not sure minors would be able to play much if the law goes into act. Isn't this why we have ratings in the first place? Minors would probably manage to buy it other ways, like by using the internet, and banning them would only make them want to play them more. I do have a thing against kids playing excessively violent games because personally, I feel that kids can be stupid and easy to influence. That said, I still feel like parents should take more responsibility instead.

Of course you are going to read less if you play video games a lot. If I had to choose between a good game or a book it wouldn't matter.(Unless it was Starcraft 2)

As a kid I spent nearly all of my free time playing video games. I was a straight A student too.

Video games do no make you dumb.

Speaking of illiterate, sitting here at home in Taipei, EVEN I NOTICED that half of Michigan, what they call in USA the Upper Peninsula or U.P. was not correctly colored when the map said Michigan.

Is that some kind of California thing?

Also, when I first saw California Game Law, the first thing that I thought of was hunting and fishing. Maybe my English is just not good, but did anyone else thing the same thing?

Fictional media doesn't create murderers, society does. How many times have I wanted to go on a rampage from an all-nighter in TF 2? None. How many times have I wanted to do the same because of the jackasses & drooling morons out there? I've lost count.

I hate the fact that they try to stop "violent video games" to be sold to young kids, when as a matter of fact they SHOULDNT be sold already, its something called ESRB. Just parents and stores dont obey it, and instead of paying attention they blame vide games.

God they put Wolfenstein 3D as an example and its rated M:Mature (17+).

If your kids plays a game non suitable for him, its YOUR fault.

Yes. 49% of the top games contain violence, but 51% don't. Because balance TOTALLY ISN'T A GOOD THING.

Also, the last one isn't proven. Failsauce.

Heh, glad I don't live in the fucked up place called America.

I swear, who the fuck is allowing these things? I assume that this was in a newspaper? If it was, I want to know which editor wasn't doing their job, things like this are not supposed to be approved for print in most newspapers outside of the Daily World News.... and calling that a 'newspaper' is a severe stretch.

I play video games all the time, and I'm unaffected. Now if you'll excuse me, i need to go murder my cat.

The lot of people who play jRPGs, often spend about as much time readings as "playing" games, while just only playing their video game. And people call Visual Novels games, but all you're really doing is reading.

Video Games have really become a hodgepodge of different media formats of the past. Along with variations of different board game systems such as the tabletop RPG, you also get the movie in the form of the cutscene and the book/novel in the form unvocal messages. And let's not forget music, like movies, video games contain a lot of music.

Everything Bad is Good for You By Steven Johnson <3

great read if anyone has read it ^.^

I'm relieved. I thought that I played video games too much. But, since I could read the article and haven't committed any recent homicides, I'm OK.

Instead of playing violent video games that promote fighting and friendship, like pokemon (super violent), we should all go see the super PC movie "The Expendables", with all our favorite childhood stars on Aug.13!

“turn children into impulsive murderers"

But 30 minutes of playing reduces your impulsive behaviour :O

What they forget to tell you is that players of violent video games have a statistically significantly lower rate of violent crime, compared to those who do not play video games.

Retards.

Violent video games are directly linked to violent behavior as are violent movies. I like how people like to say they played violent video games and they haven't killed anyone as some sort of proof that violent media doesn't cause violence.

taking away our violent games or even heavily censoring it is just like saying to a very stressed person to "go fuck himself and see if i care"

moral fag should be retaught of a more modern approach rather than using this old broken down and completely false info that they are trying to turn in a fact

You know, people who grew up with NES start turning 30. We seem to still be fine.

Funny how in America the government hates games but in south Korea they actively support game esport tournaments.

I must disagree with this stupid poster. i am 20 years old. i started playing games at the age of 2 when i was given a cheap 5 dollar hand held game. i started reading at the age of 3 when i owned my first nintendo system. i played a lot of rpg's. when i was in elementary school, i was already reading at a college level. and i think it was all thanks to video games.

You need to be able to read to play most games in the first place...

Also, I somehow get the feeling that they are just assuming all gamers speak in "1337" speak or game slang. With MMOs I can understand that most young players will start to shape their vocabulary on slang that their peers use, or won't bother correcting typos for convenience, but that doesn't mean kids are going to be using slang on school essays and things... at least not the smart ones.

In fact I think most games encourage people to research things about the game or its settings, so for example, if you have a young person playing a game based on mythology or history, they'd become more interested in those subjects and might do research on it.

I often find myself browsing for information, only to find myself unable to stop reading various articles from subject to subject.

I think most of the smart young people in the world are or were probably gamers at some point in their life.

Lazy America, looking for a scapegoat.[/end]

I call soooo much B.S. with this crap.

OK so as all of us already can tell, this report is complete horse shit.

I'd like share something I've read about video games and aggressive behavior. I've read that violent games actually reduce violent behavior and it's the racing games that increases it.

Consider: Hard day's work, on the drive home someone cuts you off, you get home, start up Gears or what have you, CHAINSAW THE LIVING FUCK OUT OF EVERYONE (we all knows what happens when you try that shit IRL), ACHIEVEMENT: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE (don't know if that's an actual achievement or not =P).

In your traditional racing game what exactly can you do if you've memorized the course, are already driving as fast as possible, can't win, and you can't take your aggression out on the person or NPC that constantly keeps beating you? Eventually you become less of a person and more of a powder keg willing to blow up at the slightest stimulant. Personally, I think this applies to anything that's on a time limit. You can't very well beat up the track, y'know?

Why... Are we trying to make such a perfect world. Nobody realizes that nothing will become perfect.. rules are made to become broken... They sure do make us conform to the idiots who make them though, "Hey, I got a wild hair up my @$$ today.. it doesn't matter if they are human... I am going to tell you what to do." Always.. Always and forever rules where meant to be brokeN. . . . crax!~!

Gotta love the comprehensive and rational "history of the videogames" section and how it relates to the topic. Also, if they are going to use the ridiculous "- per household" statistic they should be counting consoles not games.

My mom was always supportive of me playing video games, especially the long ass RPGs. Plenty of reading in those...

They could just explain to inexperienced parents not to buy mature games for their children, instead they decide to portray all video games and all gamers as evil. Fucking Bastards.

...Damn it California! Makes me disappointed to be a citizen of the state. And I don't see where they get off saying that video games make people illiterate. I play video games all the time and I still maintain above average grades.

this is fucking stupid.

I did a report on video game violence during my senior year of high school, and right now, crime is at an all time low, the lowest it has ever been.

Yes, some crimes have been caused by video game related events, but crimes have been done because of other things as well, and we don't grab a pitchfork to take those down.

The BIGGEST factor for teen violence is simply being male.

And this is just another copout for parents to not have to pay attention to what their kids are playing.
Maybe if parents spent a little more time watching their kids, shit like this wouldn't happen. Instead, parents are still under the illusion that video games are still a thing for children, when the truth is that the average gamer is now in their 30s.

This will be sad if this gets passed.

Is this game "god of war" violent? I dont know its so hard to tell. would it be appropriate for my children? it says "rated M for mature" on the box, but what does mature mean?? I am apparently a complete moron.

There should be a campaign questioning the intelligence of these people who are against video games.

Im surprised no kids have died yet let alone have any traumatic head injuries after repeatedly hittin their heads on stacks of bricks after a long session of playing Super Mario Bros. lol

"Not to mention 360 players with headsets suffer an instantaneous drop in intelligence, comprehension, and social etiquette as soon as they find reason to badmouth other players."

I hate my state (Texas) with a passion sometimes. We're not as "laid back" as the rest of the US thinks we are. We're a police state with 50 million different laws that's full of moralfags. But at least it's not hard to find a good Mexican/Chinese/Japanese/steak restaurant. I guess that has to count for something? I don't see why we shouldn't ban sales of violent games to "underage" customers though... those tags on the game say "17+" for a reason o.x Won't make me shed any tears, I'm 23.

FUCK THIS IS SO BASELESS. YOU DON'T GET VIOLENT JUST BY PLAYING VIDEO GAMES.

NOW EXCUSE ME AS I HAVE TO GO STEAL CARS NOW.

Germanfag here: I would laugh at your misfortune, but then again you still have the right to view and create virtual child porn.

When will those people stop?
Games will really cause violence if they stop its production!
Hell would break loose

I like how all this is coming from the state that also elected The Terminator as their governor.

i'm in video games (play and work), roleplaying games, airsoft, anime and even had significant military training... with all those hobbies that makes you violent, how come i have not killed anyone ?

Unless, unbeknownst to me, i've a split personnality, hunting at night for excessive fog-censors, power-hungry moralcrusaders and zealous lolibanners...

*sigh* california.

Well, in any case, this particular law isn't too bad. It's just enforcing something that most stores do themselves.

I hold the view that my state has multiple personality disorder. No one ever comes to an agreement, hardly anyone tries to compromise, and we get the short end of the stick. It seems the laws that get passed here are all based on who's the loudest/most organized/has the most money.

State issues aside, whoever made that infographic needs to just burn. That's just all kinds of stupid.

ITP, we laugh at how ignorant these people are.

Oh please, that picture had me facepalming.

What made me really lol was the history of games. 1970's, games invented. 1990's violent games invented. They must not know how frighteningly violent space invaders and pac man were.

this graphic is so true, my xbox controllr broke recently and since then i have almost finished reading the odyssey and 2 other books.

Urge to murder travel insurance owners rising.....

Excessive reading is detrimental to learning.

Translation:

1. We think games are bad!
2. Some other idiots agree with us!
3. Look! Violent games exist!
4. People play games! Some of them contain violence!
5. We let our children spend twelve hours straight every day on games, and now they're retards!

Basically, only the last point has any real point; extended playing can be damaging - but that should teach "don't let children spend excessive amounts of time on games" not "GET AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER! IT'S DANGEROUS!"

Oh come on, video games also teach us something in real life too you know.

This is all bullshit.

I am not against this for a very simple reason, when nothing changes (which it either won't or will get worse when people have nothing fake to vent on) then we can all point and laugh at these idiots.

Besides it is not like it will really be enforced any way, only if some dumb fuck does something and the cops go after the seller after the fact.

Lulz. Although, there have been many studies that show various adverse affects in people who game too much.