"Sex, Violence and Video Games"

Sex, Violence and Video games: Reconciling the irreconcilable <-Link

Great article on how us gamers backlash on others who criticize the games we play. We've seen Mass Effect get criticized on Fox News and we all know about Jack Thompson. But are they sometimes right? Are we too quick on lashing out towards them without actually thinking about what they said first and seeing if they do have a point?

I think this following quote sums it up well:

But just because they’re wrong doesn’t mean that anything we do in response is right.

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What do you guys think?

I think there's a line you can draw between just plain whining because it's there and actually needing to point it out, and maybe news people have yet to find it.

In a perfect world, telling developers what we want with our wallets, telling lawmakers how we think with our votes and turning a deaf ear to idiots such as Jack Thompson would work every time. But it's not that simple. The mentality of a gamer when issues such as this arise is not rooted in irrationality. It's rooted in frustration because people who have no clue what they are talking about are attempting to further their careers at the expense of our hobbies.

Jack Thompson is an activist. When his name is used, he gets free publicity and his pay goes up. The best way to deal with him is not to respond to his mindless banter. The best way is to meet him in court.

Hillary Clintoon is a politician. She, like every other politician, needs a cause to get people to notice her. Saving the cute little seals and battling communism don't work anymore. So she goes after an unguarded part of the entertainment industry. The best way to deal with her and her cohorts is to vote her out of office. When they are gone, they will realize that they have rattled the wrong cage.

The self-proclaimed "experts" who criticize games and openly admit to never playing them in the first place are just the same. They want their names in lights and in the media to promote their books. The best way to deal with them is to tactfully tell the world that they are not what they say they are. They, like all the others, will eventually fade away.

We as gamers to have a political voice, but for some reason we don't use it and favor personal attacks. The gaming industry has deep pockets and is fully capable of dealing with the legal side. They know their role. We should know ours.

CreepinDeth said:

Great article on how us gamers backlash on others who criticize the games we play. We've seen Mass Effect get criticized on Fox News and we all know about Jack Thompson. But are they sometimes right? Are we too quick on lashing out towards them without actually thinking about what they said first and seeing if they do have a point?

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Yes. And yes. But no.

The reason why I hate people like Jack Thompson so much is because they resist open dialogue on the issue that would actually provide solutions to the problems they are so determined to prove the existence of. As Dart very eloquently pointed out, these people aren't interested in understanding the relationship between video games and a person's mind. They do not care about scientific study and careful observation. They care about blowing a horn so loud that everyone hears them, only them, and no one else.

Whenever these topics come up on the site I always say that gamers really do need to think about what current gen graphics and games can do to impressionable minds. And when I say impressionable I don't just mean children, I mean unstable adults, sociopaths, trauma victims, and the like. I think it is wrong that people enjoy killing, even in video games. I do it too, and I'd be more interested in determining why that is, but in the mean time I function in society and produce to it the same as everyone else. So it disgusts me to hear someone like Jack Thompson get on his high horse and point the finger at games and the industry as though they aren't concerned with these issues as well. They impede any actual resolution that might be obtained through co-operation by pointing the finger at the very people who are trying to implement solutions.

The problem with these people is not their message, it's their delivery. Its a hot button that gets their names in the press. It has nothing to do with addressing the issue, and everything to do with making headlines by having an extreme opinion on it.