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Katie Couric asks to tweet the positives of violent games.
- Thread starter VeryGooster
- Start date
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I didn't say she was proven right. She is just giving people a method to present the other side, and you guys are getting pissy about it. I don't get it. Grasp the moment and give her your ideas of the positive aspects.
Or drinking a double xl cup of coffee every morning.
drhankmccoyphd
Member
@katiecouric please tweet positive side of you eating shit.
Anton Sugar
Member
Yeah, this thread is embarrassing. I love how GAF immediately goes for personal attacks.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Sounds like a good study to run.
Oh yeah, I'm sure this will help the public's perception of gamers.
The other side of an arbitrary line she created out of thin air. Burden of proof is not something that can just be swept away. What if I asked you out of the blue to prove to me you're not a murderer? Do it Plinko. You're a murderer until you prove to me you're not.
I can't make that accusation unless I have some sort of basis from which to make it.
SturokBGD
Member
Nah, I think I'll just ignore this horrible media troll. I hate to sound like Kotaku but video game addiction, like any other addiction, is something that absolutely deserves a considerably more serious and respectful discussion than this imbecile could ever offer. She does more damage to people desperate for help in a one hour TV show than any violent video game could ever do.
since 1993- the year prior to the release of the Sony PlayStation
Murder rate committed by teens has dropped 77% as of 2010
forcible rape has dropped 62% since 1991
robbery has dropped 60% since 1994
weapons violations dropped 33% since 1994
total crimes has dropped 55% since 1994
that total crime number includes the fact of Drug related arrests have gone up by 71%
Murder rate committed by teens has dropped 77% as of 2010
forcible rape has dropped 62% since 1991
robbery has dropped 60% since 1994
weapons violations dropped 33% since 1994
total crimes has dropped 55% since 1994
that total crime number includes the fact of Drug related arrests have gone up by 71%
CambriaRising
Member
You're part of the problem.
She wants people to try and boil down a complex issue into a quick 140 character blurb. The nuances of violent consumption of media cannot be expressed in 140 characters. The best we have is 'YAY IT'S FUN XD!'
DragonSworne
Banned
so if we keep releasing consoles, eventually murders will cease to exist?
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
There are like 2 personal attacks in this thread and they've been called out.
She isn't though. The question she asked is absolutely, totally, completely irrelevant to the reporting that she said gamers were unhappy with. This is not the other side, this is a totally different topic.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
It has been proven that those who watch the news have a worse opinion of the current state of affairs than those who don't. Even worse News has been shown to cause copy cat cases. Crime has decreased year over year for 2 decades, http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm, yet the coverage has increased. Violent crime was actually higher in the Pong era of videogames. News does a "better" job at painting a warped reality than any other form of media could ever do.
It really is. I've never understood the reactionary and juvenile defensiveness when someone calls you out on your enjoyment of putting virtual bullets into virtual people's extremities or whatever, regardless of where it comes from. Certainly this particular conversation is not earnest since it's being prompted by the media, but it's conversation worth having reasonably.
Ol No Bones
Banned
They are entertainment. Why doesn't the media go after movies? Because they like movies. I like my guns, video games and movies and I will never shoot anyone unless I'm defending myself. Back the hell off.
Masterful. Every tweeted response should be like this.
The problem with mainstream media members who don't play games but understand other media and have problems with violent games in particular is that they don't realize the unique nature of the medium. Generally, one can determine a lot from the surface representation of other media, whether it be a trailer for a movie, a sound clip from a song, a blurb summarizing the premise of a novel, etc. but in gaming, the subject matter is window dressing. It's paint. The game, the real substance is beneath. Nobody would say Chess is a terrible influence yet it is just as much about war and violence as today's games. The "paint" with which we paint the abstract mechanics of today- violence- is a natural evolution from the violence used as a medium in the past, as with chess. Violence is simply a better fit for dynamic gameplay than say, conversations or exploration, which, up till this point, have traditionally lacked depth in their implementation. (Conversation consisting of simple branching dialogue trees, exploration generally consisting of nothing but wondering around environments, which isn't particularly gamey at all)
I would say those focusing on the violence on the surface of games are missing the point. They're seeing 1%- the pawns, kings, and knights killing each other in chess- and not the medium itself at all.
I would say those focusing on the violence on the surface of games are missing the point. They're seeing 1%- the pawns, kings, and knights killing each other in chess- and not the medium itself at all.
^^^
I agree with you. It isn't a black & white issue and while pop media is totally free to discuss whatever they want, any worthwhile discussion and analysis of the influence of games on behaviour deserves a far more mature and scientifically-based platform.
SlowRevolution
Member
I guess you missed out on the Django Unchained controversy. It happens with movies too.
BlackGoku03
Member
Violent games lead to aggression. Which may lead to violence. It's a lot like sports... There's a lot of aggression and violence can occur but its rare.
It's also rare to see violence occur as a direct result of video games. Chances are, if you picked a random person on the street, they've played a violent game. If they commit a crime, is it because of the games?
It's also rare to see violence occur as a direct result of video games. Chances are, if you picked a random person on the street, they've played a violent game. If they commit a crime, is it because of the games?
Conciliator
Banned
that's shady, katie lady
Brilliant.
Naw, it's not child abuse or poverty or lead poisoning or mental disease, it's video games.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Meh... there's no universal good, different games may or may not offer different things. Violence is just one element. It might offer simple entertainment, demand strategy or quick reflexes or both, allow human competition, have a thought provoking or inspiring or eye opening storyline, or whatever else. It's not just violence that makes up a game, just as it's not just violence that makes up a book or a movie that may include much of it. Every kind of game could be with or without graphic violence. I suppose you could just say entertainment (which means different things for different people, from venting to relaxing) is the universal good but that just sells it short. Of course a violent game could be shit nobody even wants. People should perhaps pick one favorite game each and tell her what's great about it, if they can even fit anything much within the twitter character limit.
Goldenroad
Member
Too bad something being fun doesn't end in a net result of societal positivity all the time. It should, but as soon as people start taking games "seriously" instead of having fun with them, that argument gets thrown out the window.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Katie, what are your feelings on your parent company employer contributing to an industry that creates violent videogames?
flyinpiranha
Member
I couldn't answer that in 140 characters. It has nothing to do with your personal stereotypes. I enjoy them because it's a break from my reality, whether it's shooting people or jumping through rings, it's a release and a challenge. There are many mediums outside of videogames that push vulgarity and violence and some are considered "art" in the highest form. There is shock value, entertainment, and a realization that what I'm doing isn't representative of what I 'would do, had I the means'.
Games that are overly violent or focused on because of that are usually there for shock value (Manhunt, Dead Space, etc ... ). They have a focus on being violent and such. Other games that she speaks of where you're a "serial killer" is just an extension of what surrounds our reality, war, gangs, crime, etc ... it's like asking why on a sunny day in San Francisco are so many novice painters painting the Golden Gate Bridge.
Most of the times the games that they focus on like GTA or Saints Row, the extreme hooker-beating violence isn't the point of the game. If I look at Michelango's David I could say it's nothing but a buff guy with his dick hanging out. What is this? Erotica? Porn? It's missing the point.
There are literally THOUSANDS of games that don't have violence, but there is always a focus on the few that involve it. Is it because of these being the best sellers? I thought Mario and Angry Birds were that?
It basically comes down to wanting to enjoy something that steps out of my everyday life. Whether that is violence, flying, using superpowers to move a a train, or jumping from platform to platform isn't the focus, it's the enjoyment I get from them. Postal is an extremely violent game but almost never brought up in the media. Why? It sucks. Nobody really plays nor enjoys it. So it's not a topic that you can run with in the mainstream media. But kids play COD, even though we send out kids to do this in real life, playing it as a game will have 'societal issues'.
So sure, you can say we dance around the subject because there IS NO STRAIGHT ANSWER. I play driving games as much as I play Halo, I play Monster Hunter as much as I've played Uncharted or Killzone. I think God of War was awesome as it was over the top gore and action just like campy horror movies I used to enjoy. Why? I don't know. I can't tell you why some people like Lasagna and some don't. I can't tell you why some people hate GTA and some people don't.
Jawmuncher
Member
Definitely a very good point to bring up.
To bad you can't really fit that on twitter.
We are discussing it. Ironically, you two are the ones coming into the thread with unnecessary attacks and condescension.
Ol No Bones
Banned
Well that was a more race oriented thing i think. Believe me video games will be censored or banned long before they touch movies. Video games are harder to defend because less people play them and they associate them with a different audience. People will get rid of others rights or privileges before they realize theirs are on the line too.
The media goes after the movie industry when it suits their purposes like someone else in here said. But certainly a reactionary 'keep off my lawn, hands off my games/guns' tone doesn't help things either.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
She, by virtue of simply asking the question, is part of the problem though. She is funneling in a conversation about Video Game violence because that is a hot button topic right now and will get ratings. When really the conversation should be moved to news coverage and parents inability to read and follow an ESRB rating that is printed on the front of every box. She has an audience of mostly women, who are of age to have children, so why not spend her time teaching her audience to be responsible parents instead. I have seen moms buy Call of Duty for 8 year olds against the recommendation of a clerk and they don't care.....until a shooting happens and Katie Couric and others make a deal out of it.
Hamlet Machine
Member
One word : Catharsis
toddhunter
Member
That doesn't mean anything though. Perhaps without as many violent video games those figures would have dropped by much more?
The way I look at it, I have no doubt that violent video games contribute to violent behaviour. I also have no doubt that if there were no video games, violent movies would fill exactly the same role. If all of that was removed? People would draw violent pictures in the dirt.
Fudgepuppy
Banned
That wasn't a "convo", it was a sensationalist monologue accompanied with ominous music and visuals.
Ace Harding
Member
Same positives of violent video games - entertainment.
It's a dumb question though. What are the positives of ALL violent video games? Even really shitty ones? What are the positives of the fact that a certain game includes violence? Or is the question "what are the positives of violence in video games?"
As a blanket statement that would apply to all games, there isn't a positive thing about the violence in them. Same as movies, TV, and books.
Shitty question Katie. She should have asked "what are the positives of video games?" Then maybe explore whether violence in certain games is necessary and whether it adds anything. That's a far more interesting series of questions, but obviously she's not interested in thoughtful discussion.
Haunted
Member
Oh you're laughing now, but I've seen what
ChosenPredator
Banned
This is what I am saying, comments like this will be focused on most likely ... hopefully more intelligent comments are made.