The Games Industry Reacts To The White House's Violent Games Showreel

It was video games that got Genghis Khan going.

Well this is a bit of a mess...

Well I wouldn't like to compare Duke Nukem to Shakespeare....

I could highlight a lot worse from real war footage and countless movies. Everyone needs to grow up be reasonable for yourself and familys viewing choices. Not to mention what games millitary uses to train.

Crosses arms and watches the events unfold Hmmm...

I’m almost impressed at the effort Trump et al. have gone to distract attention from guns.

Almost... not quite. Mostly still disgusted, in fact.

Also: MAJOR shout-out to the creators of the alternative video for using Celeste’s excellent soundtrack. That is a classy move.

I think they are part of a greater cultural problem. I think games have gone too far. It cannot be good for children.

As someone who plays video games, tabletop RPGs, reads fantasy novels and listened to heavy metal music as a teen... I'm sick and tired of various "moral guardians" sticking their noses into hobbies, shouting "think of the children!" (or recently "think of the women!"), calling them violent, sexist or satanist.

Politicians are baboons when they say video games lead to real life violence, no matter what

He's best off ignored.

Violent people will be violent with or without video games. Throughout history people have tried to blame popular media for all the evils in the world. TV, movies, even reading books have all come under fire at one time or another. History is filled with violent people predating everything that has ever been blamed for violence, and yet after all this time we're still trying to play the blame game.

Well, video games do have age ratings and descriptions. If its too hot, get out of the kitchen.

I think yall just derailling the issues here.

I wonder what people used to blame shootings back in the Wild West on? You are at salon and dissagree with someone,and next thing you know, time for a showdown.
Whose fault was it that gangs like “cowboys” existed?
I’d say we all need to grow up but we talking about video games here. It’s all the actual grown ups that don’t understand. I like that comment about death in the Bible or Shakespeare.

This reminds me on when that lady stated that Beavis and Butthead led her child to smoke (where even classic Disney and Looney tunes cartoons depicted characters smoking). Violence in movies, tv, games or music does not cause it, it's the warped people's minds that cause it. The school shootings prove this, as people just think it's funny. Forest Trump isn't looking at where they get the weapons, just looking for someone to blame. Period...get rid of the internet and there won't be as much crime...other than that, games, movies, tv and music have ratings...it's just that there are many parents that don't look at that and don't care about what their kids are actually doing, playing or seeing. Like what I said with the smoking thing, if I remembered, the child was only 13...Beavis and Butthead was rated for mature audiences at that time (which would be like a 17 or 21 year old), so why was that kid even watching it. Just amazing how people need something to blame.

@Donutman Next they'll blame the violence on the bible! It's always a blame game instead of thinking.

@SmaggTheSmug Don't lump social conservatives together with feminists. You're conflating rationales and tactics and misrepresenting everyone.

Here's a good post (topmost) by a game developer about how feminists have improved the industry and I agree. Read the whole thing...

https://www.quora.com/What-video-games-have-feminists-tried-to-get-banned-changed-and-why

Important bit: "[M]ost modern feminists are anti-censorship but pro-discussion - they don’t believe in banning anything, but they do believe that open discussion about the topic of what works and what doesn’t work can move the state of the art forward.... So what do feminists want? Simple: more variety. They don’t want to see sexy male-oriented games disappear. They do want to see more variety on the shelves."

I strongly recommend people watch the Jim Sterling video on this. I know Ninty fans hate him as he hated BOTW but honestly this video needs to trend

https://youtu.be/3LnsmSCkWUk

He had better get a showreel of violent movies then as well. And all on the same day he backtracks over his promises to tighten up gun control. If games and movies gave someone a blood lust to blow people away (which they don't) it wouldn't matter if they couldn't get hold of an automatic shotgun would it?

The issue is not with violent games, the same content has been in books and films. It is with the parents that ignore the age restrictions on the boxes and make it a socially acceptable for young kids to play inappropriate games.

I think it depends on the level of violence and how it is presented to the player... some games do portray excessive violence in far too much of a positive light.
However, Trump's video did seem to take some of those clips out of context, with the moments of violence seen actually having been presented negatively within the games themselves.

Man I got chills watching that video...

@Alex78 Yeah, but that doesn't actually go along with the actions they're taking. Anita Sarkeesian herself was highly critical of DOOM and general violence in games, although she also linked violent games to toxic masculinity (it was mainly on her twitter). And Hotline Miami 2 was banned in Australia. Who was crying about Hatred and accused the creators of being nazis? It wasn't Trump.
Modern feminists are definitely for censorship, compelled speech (Canadian bill C-16) and policing speech ("microagressions"). They tout inclusiveness, but all they do is tokenism and exclusivity. They're calling for diversity, but not diversity of ideas.
I see no difference between them and Jack Thompson or Pat Pulling.

If that’s the case, they should ban every war movie( which usually gets an Oscar ).

The hypocrisy is strong with this one.

I think there is too much realistic and glorified violence in all forms of media. I keep myself away from some of it and monitor what my children see and do.

But none of this is the cause of mass shootings and little more then a distraction from discussing the real issues, causes, and solutions.

That time when a violent, mentally ill warmonger who openly threatens his own citizens with violence, encourages his followers to commit violence on his behalf, threatens the world with nuclear war, threatens to carpet bomb countries with majority muslim population, kill the families of 'muslim radicals' - women and children - and has committed violence against women shows a trailer of polygons and pixels programmed to portray violence as part of a fictional narrative...

Yup.

Never thought I'd find myself agreeing with Randy Pitchford (even though I enjoy Borderlands). Yet here we are. Thanks Obama.

Kirby games are sure too violent, they should be forbidden to anyone under age of 21...

Surprised but not surprised to see Celeste in that reel by Games for Change. That game is so hard but the feeling of beating a level actually feels accomplishing.

Beautiful video!!!!

Ugh, America and gun control. Sort it out lads!

From what I can see myself, these mass shooters in the US are by people who have a few(lots) screw's loose, are 'destined' to do something like this, and total access to guns in their homes, via a family member or something which does NOT help the situation. Or somehow buy them themselves. With such a massive population, these things are bound to happen.

It's not the same in Europe, as we have VERY strict gun laws all over the place, but it does happen here too, but not as often.

Answer: Change your 'bear arms' 'rights' laws 🙄.

I've played violent video games even since I was a kid. I'm desensitised to a lot of things and sometimes I make violent or dark humour jokes. I might talk aggressively sometimes too. But I would never act on those words or thoughts of aggression. They're just an expression of anger. I'm a caring and honest person, and I enjoy puzzles, adventure, love and stories just as much as ripping and tearing apart demons in doom for example. I can see the beauty in all types of video games usually, even the ones that people don't really like. It is people that make the decisions to act on violent impulses, thoughts and words. The content in video games, movies and other forms of art might move people, but they never force you to make a decision. Blaming the content detracts from these people's responsibility for their own actions and it's a disgrace.

I play violent games and I'm not a gun toting homocidal maniac. There are lots of other factors to consider rather than blaming games. When are people going to start taking responsibility for their own actions rather than pass the buck with the blame game.

Don't get me started on the double standard that it's ok to have gratuitous blood and gore but if you have any panty shots, cleavage or risqué anything you get banned (I'm looking at you uk and Australia).

He has a point

Unfortunately, at this juncture, video games will be held as the scapegoat. Racial sentiment, Heavy Metal and Sexual deviants... Video games has now taken its firm place as the podium reason political imbeciles will use for declaring the war on gun violence. I agree that games that show shooting into helpless crowds and the unjustified glorification of violence show be put in check, BUT, Kids/People shoot Schools/Venues up because of mental illness, drugs and bad parenting. We need to fix those things instead of taking the outlets away that actually HELP people cope. The revolution of ignorance and stupidity in the United States Government is embarrassing.

Really getting sick of video games getting blamed for all the world's ills because idiots can't just accept that human beings have always had a bit of an ugly streak. Rather than focus on real ways to fix problems lets just complain about fake stuff 24/7. It's beyond pathetic at this point.

When it comes to video games, the responsibility I believe for this lies on the parents. I know several teens whose parents allow them to purchase various M rated games that can get pretty violent, and the've been all playing this stuff for years, although, at least most of them don't suffer of any sort of mood changes like people are trying to make it out to be.

I'm just so sick of video games being this scapegoat for people to push their problems onto

Guns don't kill people, video games do... won't somebody think of the children.

Here's my two cents:

Games don't cause violence. People do. Do I like or approve of violence and games? Sweet Marlene, no. Do I want it banned?Actually, no, not at all. However, would I personally like to see something done to perhaps decrease violence, if necessary? A little bit.

I have a similar position on gun control, which I feel makes an appropriate analogy: make tighter restrictions on guns, make it harder for the bad guys to get them, don't outlaw them altogether.

Games don't cause violence. People cause violence. Guns don't kill people. People kill people. I like Trump, I really do, but pinning school shootings on violent games is a hasty move.

@dew12333 So violent video game do encourage real world violence?

@RusevDay
I was going to mention this. This article should just be a link to his video really. His point about news media footage being too shocking to show on his channel was pretty upsetting considering it had to stop before showing the worst of it.

Video games don't kill people, rappers do.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VXzFp1lshBE

Video games don't kill people. People kill people.

With guns

@Deku-Scrub You are saying that parents are to blame because they let their kids have video games that make them violent. It sounds like you are blaming video games as well.

I actually play games so that I don't go out and kill a bunch of people, a bunch of us are, I'm sure. Those knuckleheads should hear that point of view too

Warren Spector is the kind of guy that's dangerous to a truly free and open society because he's far too fast to jump on these kinds of disingenuous and insidious bandwagons--movements that potential endanger the likes of free speech and open human expression--in order to come across like he's a "good guy". In this case Randy Pitchford is spot on.

I think that some games are too violent for kids sure! But the main blame if it does effect kids (which i don't think it does!) Is the parents letting them play extremely violent games. It was the kids choices to do what they did and no one else's.

@Sharks You can't blame parents without blaming video games too.

Very cool--but where the hell was Journey is this video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os-MUNG17RY

Of all the games . . .

Also, I think all the YouTubers out there should now create their own take on the "Beauty in Videogames" video concept and post them for everyone to share.

Let's make a meme out of how amazingly awesome, beautiful, imaginative, creative, uplifting, joyful, wondrous, inspiriting, powerful, thought-provoking and magical videogames can be.

And on that general note, I'd like to share this:

"When I first applied for a job in videogames at Rare, I was asked to write a cover document detailing why I wanted to work in the industry and what it meant to me personally. I have provided a slightly updated version of that original document here because I feel it clearly sums up my passion for and commitment to video games, and the views expressed within still hold true to this day:

Over the years I have played many great video games, including all-time classics such as Super Mario World, Street Fighter II Turbo, Dungeon Keeper 2, Advance Wars, GoldenEye, Sega Rally Championship, Halo: CE, and Journey, to name a few of my favourites. And each time I experience a genuinely great video game it reminds me why I love them so much.

As a child there is a certain magic quality about many occasions: The night before Christmas, waiting for Santa to visit and deliver your presents, and the excitement, tension, and anticipation that something special is going to happen. On Christmas day when you open your presents, it is enchanting playing with your toys for the first time. When people grow up and as the world itself matures, this excitement is often lost, and along with it those childlike feelings of wonder and magic.

I want to recreate the magic I experienced as a child discovering the power of video games for the first time. I would like to work on video games that are so special that when a child, teenager, or adult plays them they are immediately inspired and their lives changed. I want to help inspire the next generation of game designers and enkindle the passion in people who had not previously been interested in video games to become a part of this amazing industry.

It is my ambition and desire to create exciting new worlds, characters, and experiences that allow people to escape from the daily routine for just a little while and travel to wondrous new places full of imagination and adventure. Some people do this by directing awe inspiring film epics or writing wonderfully enchanting fairy talesIt is my ambition and desire to create exciting new worlds, characters, and experiences that allow people to escape from the daily routine for just a little while and travel to wondrous new places full of imagination and adventure. Some people do this by directing awe inspiring film epics or writing wonderfully enchanting fairy tales, while others compose beautifully moving and uplifting melodies--I wish to realise it in video games."

Also, this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JikfXOJXgjs

@Cherkov With hands, with knives, with chemicals, with any item at their disposal. Stop blaming the gun.

The hearts and minds of our children and society has been corrupted and de-sensitized to death and violence. Many factors are to be blamed, lack of respect for authority, God, exposure to violence in TV, movies and video games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=443iS_p5Y24

I recently created this animation about violence and how it has always been a part of humans, long before this stupid "do video games cause violence?" discussion.

@Mainer82 And more than that, more and more people in our so-called "modern", "civilised" and "free" society are more and more feeling lonely, ignored, sad, confused, manipulated, trapped, unheard, frustrated, angry--and that's the kind of thing that leads to people doing stuff they would never normally do if they felt happy and content in life. Fix this kind of thing in our society and I wholeheartedly believe most of the other problems, which are really just symptoms of an insidious underlying disease rotting away at minds and hearts of humanity (at the hands of the all-powerful and highly destructive corporations, corrupt politicians, insidious bankers, twisted media moguls, a bunch of greedy and selfish rich elites and the like), would almost entirely disappear.

BREAKING STUDY - 100% of violent felons were exposed to dihydrogen monoxide as children!!!

My simple rules :
1. No rated 18 + allowed Whatsoever reasons.
2. Play appropriate games (CERO A & B / Everyone, Everyone 10+ & Teen / PEGI 3, 7, 12 )
3. Consider the Kids, women and other peoples.
4. Motivate younger generations to play Appropriate games.
5. Keep calm and peace.

Happy gaming, All !

The gun debate in a nutshell:

"Guns don't kill people, people kill people!"

"Okay then let's just get tighter gun control laws so the peo--"

"That won't work! It's a mental health issue!"

"Okay, then let's invest more in mental heal--"

"That won't work! Look at the video games!"

"But there's no correlation between acts of violence and vide--"

"VIDEO GAMES!!!!"

@SmaggTheSmug Eh, South Park: The Stick of Truth was also banned in Australia. They have different standards there. Again, I think you're conflating social conservatism with feminists. Hotline Miami 2 was banned for an implied rape scene. I promise you it wasn't just feminists complaining about it.

Well I guess Trump using video games as a deflection tactic because the NRA asked him to, is quite a success.

Well done to everyone involved.

And yet only Americans have issues with gun violence and games are available across the world. Then again, Donald Trump was always a massive idiot so it doesn't surprise me that it persisted into his baffling Presidency... Not that this blame game is anything new. Americans just want "muh guns!" and blame everything else instead of their own ineptitude

I thought comic books and the jazz music were corrupting the youth. Or maybe the marijuanas.

Dear Dumpf, your Nazi propagandist videos aren’t fooling anyone, Millennials are bulletproof to BS...

As for the Games for Change folks, nice counter! The Emperor knows nothing of our world, the world you depict is the side I love. I do have a soft spot for Overwatch, Doom, and soon maybe Fortnite, but that doesn’t make me a killer...

Just more distracting white noise from the Gasbag in Chief and his scumbag of an administration.

Are video games to blame for Mass shootings? Of course they aren't. But they do play a role, as @Mikemario stated, in a bigger cultural issue.

They featured BOTW? What a joke. They're only using it because it's popular, there are a million and one more violent games. Zelda is a fantasy game, where you slay mythical creatures, there's no blood, no profanity. I don't even consider it violent.

This comes up every generation it seems. In the 90s, gamers were a peripheral group and hobby. We existed, but not like it does today. It was looked at the same way people who read comics were viewed...outcasts wasting their time

Today, like comics, video games are main stream and part of our culture. We also have adopted ratings for games to determine age appropriate content, like movies. Not sure if stores still do this, but there was a time where stores wouldn't let you purchase a game if you were younger than the rating recommendation.

Video games can be violent or inappropriate in the same way that movies, tv, and music can be. These are all considered creative mediums and artists like to push boundaries. If the goal is to regulate games, than it's already being done through a rating system. If the goal is to impede on the artist and ban certain content, than why games and not the other media I mention above? Because gamers are still viewed by older generations as a peripheral group....but we are not. Where gamers once counted a couple million, today it's hundreds of millions, and we won't go quietly.

Side note: I don't advocate this, but if you really wanted a scapegoat, why not music? No age rating to play or listen to radio. Efforts to "censor" certain words are laughable at best, and music has been shown to support cultural revolutions, such as in the 60s, 70s, and you could argue 80s and 90s. Point being, it's an artistic medium less regulated and more influential, yet doesn't get the same scapegoating as games, tv, or movies

I respect Warren Specter immensenly, so I'd advice him to be careful in his choice of shaming all the creators highlighted in the white house video.

Much of the violence on display is indeed as optional as that of his own games.

@Alex78 It was exactly feminists complaining about it. Same as with D&D, comics, now even Warhammer 40,000 for some oddball reason. Modern feminist are the new puritans, they want to ban everything that could "trigger" anyone or be considered "problematic".

@Crono1973 I wasn’t trying to make my post sound like that, although if that is how it came off as, that was not what I meant.

Really what I meant was that video games don’t cause violent behavior, nearly all people who play video games that contain violence aren’t crazy maniacs that are planning to go on a real life killing rampage. I did mention that parents should be responsible for what their kids play, but in a way that is still true, I just don’t think kids will act out in violent ways if exposed to violent games. Violent games don’t cause violence essentially no matter what age.

@Anti-Matter Curious, do games magically become evil once they are rated at 18+? Are you not allowed any room to us your own judgement? There are plenty of extremely violent games rated Teen, and not all Mature/18+ games feature extreme violence. Do do you have so little faith in your own judgement, that you trust someone else's rating of a game (A great guideline) in all cases, with no room for deviation? Point 2 is a fair point, but that may differ from child to child. Points 3-5 aren't really points at all as it pertains to this topic, just general statements.

@RusevDay In his defence, he said he liked it and gave it a 7/10, i.e. a good game.

@Dezzy Of course this entire side show is just a distraction of the real problem. It's an easy tactic. Now everyone's talking about video games, whether you agree with it or not. We both know this happens to distract us from the real issue. Real life click bait.

The showreel was pretty gruesome - even as someone who has played (and enjoyed) a variety of different adult-themed games in the past, it was enough to turn my stomach...

However - a couple of points:

1) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that every cutscene shown was taken from games with adult ESRB ratings (it's the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children are only exposed to age-appropriate content)

2) It'd be relatively straightforward to make a 90 second montage apparently 'showcasing' pretty much anything you'd want it to - in no way was it a reflection of the games industry as a whole, or even a fair representation of violence in video games...it was exaggerated for shock value

Don't get me wrong, I was appalled to see a cutscene showing a violent massacre of unarmed civilians - whatever game that was taken from, it was horrifying and the developers should be ashamed of themselves...but if a parent bought that game for their child, the finger of blame should be pointed firmly at that parent - and that parent alone.

Every game is given an ESRB rating for a reason - if a parent is exposing their child to inappropriate content, it's negligent on their part. It's no different to the age rating system for movies and other media - the contents and areas of potential concern of any game are clearly labelled and any responsible adult should consider and review them at point of purchase.

Oh, gosh.... 🙄
Arguments keep rolling and rolling....

Well, it will not stop me to enjoy my Relax time with my beloved 3DS & Switch games.
You know, peaceful games feels better after you had dinner.

Didn't the shooter in Florida have swastikas etched into his ammunition? That seems like something we shou-

...oh, but he played video games? Yeah, it was probably that.

It seems like a segment of the american population are so terrified of the world around them they can not cope with the idea they may meet someone who does not look/think/sound like they need guns to give them the courage to face each day. So instead of facing up to their owns fears they look for scapegoats to reassure themselves that they are not cowards. Enter Video games, the perfect patsy

@Zuljaras
I have Reason to Ban rated 18+ completely.
That's my Right.
It just only in my gaming area.
I made a Rule to create Healthy gaming habit.
Gaming will feel healthy without 18+ contents.
And pardon of my persistent comments.

@MrGawain Now I want a Shakespearean adaptation of Duke Nukem.

Weird that, here in Europe, there's no school shooting although we play the same video games ?
Perhaps that's the US uniqueness, an example for all !

@Zuljaras Anti-Matter's grasp on English is not perfect, he just means he doesn't like 18+ games for some personal reason and doesn't want them in his house. I don't know what his reason is, but it's none of my business.

@NaviAndMii I think one if your points is the crux of this - context. Yes, there are games that include violence that I would deem inappropriate. Not just for my kids, but for myself. However, without context, we have no idea what was going on in many of those games. Like you, I don't know what the scene is from where the crowd of civilians in gunned down - but what if for a brief moment in time, the game simply allowed for you to control the terrorists? Maybe there was a very moving & compelling cutscene before or after that condemned the situation. Perhaps it was even trying to humanize the terrorists a bit, allowing you to play as them to gain a better understanding of why they performed extreme acts of violence. That's not to condone the behavior, but this type of media allows for a great amount of flexibility in how a message is conveyed. And of course, yes, you do have games that are just violent for violence' sake, and that's up to you to decide what to play.

Why is America's obsession with guns and the ridiculous ease of access to them never brought up as a potential reason as to why an average of 25 people every day and murdered there. We can't even blame Trump for this as these things happened before his presidency and will happen long afterwards because Americans don't want there precious guns taken away from them

Trump should banned all games except Nintendo ones. Problem solved.

@Crono1973
Are you saying I am off topic!
Well, in a way any kind of violence could influence people in some way, so I guess yes. And if you look at games like Manhunt, mortal kombat, GTA they have gone out of their way to depict things in the worst imaginable way. Going back to my point ,which I do think is relevant, the fact that it seems socially acceptable to allow young kids play inappropriate games does not do the industry any good.

But they are not totally to blame for one second.

@markie7235 Are you serious with the music comment? Rock and roll has been accused of satanism and degenerating youth at least since The Beatles! And the entire metal genre, brrr! Just eeeeeviiil.
Music albums have that "parental advisory" stickers on them, much like games with PEGI/ESRB.

@carlos82 Perhaps it's not immediately apparent to those outside the US, but trust me - that exact point is brought up all the time. It's a never ending debate here.

@carlos82 Let them trade in their guns for water pistols, trade in their copy of CoD for Splatoon. Problem solved.

@roadrunner343
"Curious, do games magically become evil once they are rated at 18+? Are you not allowed any room to us your own judgement? There are plenty of extremely violent games rated Teen, and not all Mature/18+ games feature extreme violence. Do do you have so little faith in your own judgement, that you trust someone else's rating of a game (A great guideline) in all cases, with no room for deviation? Point 2 is a fair point, but that may differ from child to child. "

Okay, i will explain.
Before i accept any games, my first rules :
1. It rated what ? Is it Safe for Kids ?
2. What is the theme ?
3. What is the genre ?

I will Completely Allowed any rated Everyone / CERO A / PEGI 3 & 7 games.

If the games rated Everyone 10+ / PEGI 12, i will take a look again, observe what contents inside. If appealing enough, i will allowed, But if not, i will look for another games.

For Teen rating / PEGI 12 also / CERO B, i will observe the games carefully, even stricter than rated Everyone or Everyone 10+ games. I noticed Not all Teen games are acceptable for me. I found some of them are simply rejected due to untolerable contents. Once again, i have to deliberate first before i decide to accept Teen games.

Rated 18+ games magically become evil ?
99% Yes !
All those games just exposed about Evil attitudes.
Those contents i WILL Not allowed in my gaming area.
My gaming area is something Peaceful, Calm, Colorful, Cute, Sporty, Tidy and Interesting.
Btw, have you ever seen my gaming shelf on other thread when i posted about my games collection ?
Even my games shelf just contain Approprite things to see.
That's my Mission and Vision to create Healthy gaming experience.

@Anti-Matter
People dont try understand your point. But is the best point, for sure.
Culture is what do people pull trigger of guns. Games is part of culture. And even the vast majority of people dont will be easily influenced, exist the ones wich will.

To all those wondering about the gunning down civilians scene: it comes from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The level was called "No Russian" and it raised quite a stink back in 2009.
The player is not actually required to kill any civilians and the level can be skipped at no penalty.

@NaviAndMii Half of those games looked like shovelware Steam games. Of course it's taken out of context. It's the same when PETA accused the Mario franchise of promoting animal cruelty. Like you said, there are already age ratings. This doesn't even represent 90% of the games. And on top of that, nobody complains about films, and I've seen a lot worse in films.

@gurtifus There's not enough guns in Europe, they use knives and acid.

@Anti-Matter Good for you - and I mean that seriously. However, that is a personal choice. Much like you deliberate over a game rated Teen/PEGI 12, I deliberate over M games. Grow up, my parents had the blanket rule of no M games ever, and they would review T games before I could by them. That's not a bad thing. But to suggest it is the only way is a bit disingenuous. Treating all M games as equals by saying they are all evil and no one should play them is no different than saying all T games are evil and no one should play them. Just because some are inappropriate does not mean they all will be. However, if you general rule is just to ignore an M/18+ games, that's a perfectly fine decision. The reason you are getting so much push back from folks is that you tend to imply that is the only correct decision, for all games, for all people.

@Zuljaras
"Also that is your view on the Castlevania series since they have fantasy violence in more cartoonish form (NOT Lords of Shadow series) but they are still rated as T (teen)?"

For Teen games, i have evaluate and observe first before i accept them.
Fantasy Violences (Also on Kingdom Hearts series) / Cartoon violences (LEGO, Portal Knights) are acceptable for me as long i don't find something disturbing.
Remember, i still allowed Street Fighter series (Teen/ CERO B/ PEGI 12) with just only "Violence" instead of "Fantasy violence" or "Cartoon violence".

@roadrunner343 Yeah, good point

That scene may very well have been taken out of context for all I know (and I guess, if that was the case, I just fell in to the 'trap' of looking at the snapshot without considering the wider picture - **slaps own wrist!**)

I don't like to see gratuitous violence for violence's sake - but that often isn't the case - and, in any case, to draw any conclusions off of the back of one 90 second montage would be short-sighted.

@Octane Yeah, definitely - I do recall one scene (not shown in the showreel) from GTAV where I (the player, as Trevor) was forced to torture someone for no good reason...it was unpleasant, uncomfortable and felt unnecessary (and probably should've been cut from the final game IMO) - but it is an adult-rated game and the ESRB made reference to that specific scene on the box...if such things were being overlooked by the ESRB (or other ratings agencies), there'd be a problem - but so long as we're all clear on what the content is and retailers adhere to the rules regarding selling said games to minors, we should be free to make our own choices.

@Jayvir Mind not throwing me under the bus with the rest of those idiots? I'm one of those Americans who actually thinks we don't need guns.

@Smaggthesmug sorry if unclear, I was actually referring to music played on the radio specifically, not albums purchased which you are correct would contain that warning.

Also not indicating music is not or has not been a target in the past. My point, which maybe I didn't connect it very well to my argument, is government tends to scape goat and choose mediums viewed as weaker and with smaller groups of enthusiasts to resist. In the case of music, you're talking about targeting basically every American and major wealthy organizations....in other words, a losing battle. The government views video games, wrongly, as an easy place to target. I don't think Trump understands that gaming is no longer a Japanese inspired hobby maintained by cave dwelling social outcasts, like it was portrayed in the 80s and early 90s. It's a multi billion dollar industry with hundreds of millions of gamers and massive corporation support and sponsorship.

Overall my point was targeting gaming may have been an easier target in the 90s after Columbine, but today it is not...plus all studies done have shown zero psychological evidence that games turn a normal person and make them violent.

I’ve lost respect Warren Spector. Denouncing game designers because they worked on a game with violence is despicable.

@Anti-Matter you should try and analyse street fighter 2 again. When ken does a dragon punch on balrog, balrog vommits blood. BANNED

@Mainer82 shut up

@premko1 they teach that culture appropriation is a good thing. Kirby games are despicable. /s

@1UP_MARIO
I did little search, it said MILD Blood.
MILD.
Mild Blood content also i found from Final Fantasy III NDS, Final Fantasy XII PS2 / PS4.
I still allowed them.

@samuelvictor I am an American and I agree with your point. I actually used the same point in an argument last week. My friend was throwing violent movies, games, and shows under the bus and I pointed out the fact that the Japanese watch and play more violent content than we traditionally do yet you don't hear about mass shootings coming out of that country.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Yes, the "Beauty in Videogames" counterpoint video, which shows the imagination and soul-stirring visual beauty in many video games, shows off BotW several times. The one about video game violence does not, of course.

@SanderEvers
That's why my First Rules has to work.
No 18+ Whatsoever. Doesn't matter the theme.
I see the Age rating first before accepting games.

I just want to pop in and thank 99% of the people here.

Even though there are opposing views here it hasn't dissolved into name calling or hate spewing. This community should be proud. Just imagine how ign would be on this article.

@Mikemario that's what rating systems are for you functionally illiterate person. Violent videogames are not to be blamed because they're played by children, blame the parents that let it happen instead when there's a clear 18+ mark on the box

@Ralizah Which means Nintendo clearly has to step up their game with the Zelda series. I hope the next installment adapts Chivalry's dismemberment system and the legendary weapon becomes Master Chainsword

"Now how about them scary comic books with their violence and Batman and Robin. They will turn our children gay and turn them into hoodlums" 50s moron.

"That DND game will turn our kids into satanics" 80s Moron

"That terrible rap songs will make our children into killers" another 80s moron.

"That Heavy metal is SATANIC!" one more 80s moron.

"Violent video games made those poor innocent kids into mass murderers in coloumbine" 90s moron.

"Sony is committing a 2nd Pearl Harbor by letting these violent games being sold" Jack Thompson...moron. oh and he actually said it.

As long as their is a scape goat, morons will use it.

Clearly trump is Looking for someone to blame for gun crime!

Result: Nintendo knee jerk reaction.....and pull all Mature R rated games.

Sad times!

@Lord glad I got Bayonetta 1 and 2 when I did then 😉

Nothing's going to happen to games in this country.

Trump will blab about it and the whole thing about violent games will fade away and life will go on.

Why are we still talking about this deranged Cheeto and his sideshow?

Nice to see a response video to that. Sure, video games have too much violence nowadays, but saying that's the cause of shootings is just stupid, in my opinion. I could agree about games like Mortal Kombat, though.

Problem is that both videos are totally unbalanced. This is exactly the division of America right now: No one is meeting in the middle, where true reality lies. Do video games offer great opportunities for beautiful exploration, like the video above? Yes! Do video games offer horrific depictions of violence and gore like the video shown before? Yes! BOTH are accurate, and BOTH need addressed at the same time. When we're too busy defending our own opinions and skewing the information shown, we stay on opposite sides of the battle field and we'll never get anywhere.

BOTH sides of this are doing a poor job. And that is not popular, but it is accurate.

Ah yes the classic blame video games for everything mentality

As I said before, all forms of media do have impact on the people who consume them, even if those people don't realize it. Of course, different people are affected to different levels; some more, than others.

If we didn't have guns, people would still murder. They would simply use other means of murder, or a firearm they are illegally in possession of; perhaps even a homemade firearm. Laws wouldn't stop someone determined-enough from murder, or violence.

There are outside influencing issues that need tending to, for sure. The core issue, however, is that a person with an evil desire, decides to act on that evil desire.

Violence is in nature. Hiding it in art won't stop it.

I am from Venezuela. A country where a populist president banned violent video games. It did not change anything. It just made it a bit harder to find games.

Censorship amd prohibition have never stopped anything from happening.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, and I want you all to know that it doesn't necessarily dictate what my opinion is.

Now that that is said, does anyone remember when the show "Jackass" became a thing? Once it was out more teens and pre-teens started acting like idiots and tried to do similar things (key word "more". some kids acted this way before the show). Kids were influenced by the show. What about wrestling like nWo? Kids and teens watched this and would try to imitate those moves with friends cause injuries which sometimes would be fatal.

So what is my point? Kids and teens are influenced by different mediums. We can't sit here and say 100% that violent games won't or don't influence these peoples in a negative or destructive way. Even though I don't agree with @Anti-Matter all the way, parents need to take his approach and do research. On top of that when their kids do play games, parents need to find time to watch and talk about these games with their children and make sure they understand what is going on and how that translates to real life.

That being said, I hate censorship of medias. In my opinion video games aren't what cause mass shooting. I live in the states. I'm actually from Southern Arkansas and grew up around guns used for hunting. I don't like the phrase "guns don't kill people, people kill people." I wan't you to understand. Guns were created to kill. Whether it be people or animals, that is what they are created for. This country has a gun problem that is spilling into countries to the south of us and effecting them as well. I'm not for getting rid of guns completely. Like I said, I grew up hunting which put food on the table and saved money long term for a lower class family I was a part of. We had pump action shotguns and bolt action rifles. In my opinion there is no point in semi-automatic weapons for people. If you are a hunter that thinks they need a semi, all I can say is get good because if you miss a shot on a deer then most of the time they'll start to run. If you can't hit something static then you sure can't hit a moving target.

However, I think this country is already to far in its problem with guns. There are too many illegal guns floating around now to do something about. If we started cracking down it would be another war on drugs and continue to push more illegal guns to other places. If we create hard laws on guns I truly believe it would just be another war on drugs. Sure it has done "some" good, but there will be a lot of wasted time and efforts. This country is going to have to slowly take laws from other countries and put them in place, but this country is all about "black and white" and "right and wrong". You are either against or for, you can't partially do anything. This is what is crippling this country, no one wants to compromise and meet in the middle.

Wow, I really started chasing rabbits. Sorry everyone.

Edit to point out @JKRiki comment. Something I feel strongly about.

When people start killing people by beating them to death with consoles you can blame games. Till then I'll politely request for better gun regulation. You should not have to be afraid to go to school for crying outloud.

@carlos82 Trust me. It's not a point lost on some of us.

Sometimes I have felt myself that there was too much violence and not enough joy in videogames, but what the White house tried to imply is completely wrong and I totally disagree. Games like Mortal Kombat X or Quake 4 are a bit too much for me and I think it is just bad taste when games reaches that point mindlessly but I just don't buy them and I don't think they can do any damage as long as they are played and viewed only by their own appropriate audience. When games like those "becomes dangerous" people and/or society are to blame, not the games, because adult people should know how to deal with games like those and to keep their children away from them

@SmaggTheSmug "@markie7235 Are you serious with the music comment? Rock and roll has been accused of satanism and degenerating youth at least since The Beatles! And the entire metal genre, brrr! Just eeeeeviiil.
Music albums have that "parental advisory" stickers on them, much like games with PEGI/ESRB."

Quite. Music videos in particular have been very much under fire from feminists during the last decade. I'm still waiting for the next Call On Me!

@SonOfVon, Agreeable

@SLIGEACH_EIRE That video wasn’t the white house video, it was a developer response to the video.

@samuelvictor To be fair, though, I think the gun industry is as much a "blame something else" target as video games. I'm not a gun owner or NRA member, but I respect those who are, and the so called "gun culture" all the same. Most of the gun violence in statistics is gang/drug culture related, much with illegal guns, and on the rare occasion it's done with all "legal" guns, most of the time it's someone ELSES legal guns that weren't properly stored (parents' etc) or someone like the FL shooter where he was considered problematic enough that the Feds were visiting him regularly....was reported for threatening to do precisely what he actually did do, and......they just ignored it. I.E. Gun control does nothing if they're not even addressing the people they already know are dangers, and moreover, while everyone talks "sensible gun control" etc....we already have "sensible gun control" that's not enforced, no new laws required, and it's often used as just "baby steps" by the crowd that "wants the bad things to go away" and things eliminating the tools used entirely, over time, will make that happen.

Ultimately, video games and films don't make people kill people, and neither do guns. Guns provide tools to do it with.....lots of other tools exist and are used regularly. Guns aren't even the #1 tools used in the US for killing....it's a few points down on the list. (Like our knife and hammer Tetris story here yesterday...hammers remain #1 on the list! Home Depot, you're next!! #NoLongerHammerTime")

The US has a KILLING problem, far beyond guns games movies and rock & roll. But nobody at the top wants to address the killing problem. Because the killing problem is a culture problem. A stress problem. A way of life and financial/business/economic structure problem. Much easier to blame guns, hammers, the NRA, and Borderlands than to recognize that the entire socio-economic system on which the people making such decisions retain their elite way of life is the actual problem making any of the above a problem. And until that problem is solved, we can replace Quake with canasta and melt all the guns into peace sign statues, but we're still going to be terrified sending Little Timmy to school with a backpack and daddy's missing hammer, knowing there's bleach and ammonia in the janitorial closet and a bunch of very big buses outside..... People are inventive. Take away their tools, and they'll forge new ones....sometimes more effective ones.

This epidemic is not the fault of the video game industry, but if you don't think violent games are not part of the problem, listen to this . . .

At a KINDERGARTEN birthday/halloween party, I watched one of my kids' good friends come as Agent 47 (Hitman). At one point, he went around and pretended to shoot each kid point blank in the head. I am still horrified at what he was pretending to do . . . .

@bluedogrulez
What the ....??!!
How could he ....?!
Gosh.....
I'm sorry to hear your experience when you were kids.

@Anti-Matter
I had been waiting for you to write something on this subject as I often see a lot of sense it what you are saying. I'm not sure complete censorship is right for everybody but I definitely lean more to your way of thinking.

@dew12333
You know ?
Actually i have 1 student that addicted with Adult shooting games.
And he is Still Grade 1 Primary School !
How horrible to see that !
And that's why i forbade him to draw any kind of weapons on his drawing when i taught Drawing lesson on last Semester.
I also taught him to control his emotional feeling as he tends to get angry easily and say cursed words (not the very vulgar words, but still....) to his friends.
He really needs supervision in gaming time as matter of fact one day, i had caught him with His Daddy play together, that adult shooting games on PC Gaming Rental Centre at Mall. I was pretending not seeing him when i knew about that.

Fun fact: much of the violence in video games is a virtual depiction of the very real violence the very same American government spreads around the world. American terrorism, or as they call it themselves: "the war on terror"... But hey, keep bringing that "freedom" and "democracy" under a rain of bombs and bullets (and of course in exchange for power, resources, and infinite debt), then be offended with virtual violence.

You know Trump had his own brand of steaks, right? How's that for senseless violence and mass-murder?

I'll be writing my own book on this matter in a later post here provided that the comments aren't closed by then. I just wanted to pop in for now and thank most of the commenters here for keeping things civil. That's an increasingly rare occurrence on the internet.

Didn't expect to see such stupid comments from someone who actually makes videogames

'Winners don't use guns.'

@subpopz: Our safety nets constantly fail. Background checks, mental health screenings, rating systems, parental responsibility. I value my kids' right to survive the school day above the "right" to have these poisons (guns, gratuitously violent games) in our society. Do you know that young kids, as early as kindergarten, have to practice "active shooter" drills at school? The kids have no idea why they are asked to hide during these drills, but the fact they are necessary ought to sicken every one of us.

A bit disappointing the route that spector took. I'm surprised. Pitchford is right. Almost anything out of context can be made to look bad.

Go look at Japan's gun deaths statistics and later look at their media. Everything from movies, comics, animation and games.

More smoke and mirrors from politicians and the clown that is Trump. This is a bigger issue that has little to do with these 2 nonsensical videos.

Wonder if anyone has considered that a lot of us humans are murderous bastards? Why do we keep blaming inanimate objects to justify some people’s behavior?

@theberrage agreed, and it's not just humans, it's nature.

@samuelvictor I think that's more about the broader culture issues I was talking about though. As you say, the UK used to allow unlicensed ownership...and a major incident was rare enough to prompt them to change it. Meanwhile in the US major incidents aren't rare yet the existing gun laws aren't nearly as lax as the media likes to portray it to be whenever the debates come up. We don't need magic rigorous lifetime investigations to uncover whole classes of people who shouldn't be allowed to buy. In each of these incidents the shooters were either already ineligible but the existing law wasn't enforced (new gun laws won't help if the problem is we're ignoring the old ones. That's just political posturing and making everyone unqualified unless selected by their betters), or were so squeaky clean none of the always proposed new laws would have stopped them anyway, not even the UK laws.

When the goal is to feel safer at the end of the day, those with power would certainly feel safer without an armed public that "keeps them [more] honest", but for the public, if every gun ever made magically vanished, I certainly wouldn't feel a wink safer heading into the city.... (Nor would I feel terribly safe in the 'tube' in South London, regardless how many guns I saw around.... )

If you support Trump you need to seriously reevaluate your life and your decisions because something obviously went terribly terribly wrong

I thought Trump loves killergames.

Kids get bullied in school, it carries over to social media. The schools seem to do very little to help bullied kids and what may have resulted in a suicide at worst a decade or two ago is now a mass shooting and suicide.

You can blame guns, parents, video games or television/movies but in the end you are going to have to deal with bullying in an effective way. If a person is being bullied it shouldn't be hard to get proof, especially if it's happening on social media.

Trump did good. After all it's the reason why I, and I expect many people here, play Nintendo.

Where’s Wolfenstein and Call of Duty? Lol

So are they going to do the same with Movies and Series then?

Game of Thrones glorifies rape of woman, blood and gore galore with plenty decapitations and bloody murders.

Or what about Trueblood? etc, etc.

Games, movies, series don't make people violent. People become violent, because they are sick in their head and suffer a mental illness.

But of course mental illness will never be Politically accepted, since that would cost the government money. Putting the blame on games is much easier. Textbook example of Political deflection!

@Jeronan "Games, movies, series don't make people violent. People become violent, because they are sick in their head and suffer a mental illness."

The violence they witness, whether through a display or real life, contributes to that. I wish the world would again focus on making wholesome entertainment.

Also wish parents wouldn't be so ignorant about which games they allow their kids to play. Problem though is, even if the parents are diligent, one friend with sicko entertainment and it can all come crashing down.

The industry wants to sell their stuff so of course they will call it art or something.
I am not sure if there is a direct correlation between vg and violence, but one thing is certain if you are exposed to violent scenes, frequently and over a longer period of time your brain will adjust, I think its called desensitization.

Did some tests on myself the other way round. Played only family friendly nintendo games for some time. After that I had a hard time playing a violent game. Next step was to just watch anime (no tv, etc). Had a similar effect. Didnt like normal movies shows no more.

Has an ongoing effect on me - still dont play violent games and just watch anime. Believe it or not.

Recent example: bought devils third for my collection at a bargain - the violence didnt suit me - not sure if I am gonna continue playing

@full_metal_opera You turned Japanese.

@LemonSlice

Just happenstance they produce the good stuff

This attack on gaming has been tried before by our beloved SJW crowd.They failed dismally to assert their naturally assumed superiority over us gamers. I believe that If you dont like then it dont play it. Over and out.

Yawn, yet another news piece on the crusade violent games. Looks like the cure for insomnia has been found.

I just hope this comment can confirm to US spelling standards.

"I don't believe games cause violent behavior. Not for one second. However, the videogame reel shown at the White House on Thursday is simply disgusting. Every shot is in colossally bad taste and everyone associated with those games should be ashamed of themselves. They hurt us."

Ironic coming from the director of Deus Ex.....

Sweet, now when are they going to ban the Bible, classic literature and movies for the same thing? Oh yes video games are the scapegoat here.

I don’t think they are saying these games cause ALL violence, this stems from school shootings where young people were the killers, these killers were found to have gamed a lot on some of the games you saw. There is truth on both sides of this argument, so why are people posting stupid apples and oranges comments like “were games to blame for the war” e.t.c As I said this come about because of what I mentioned not because Isis are killing people and not because there are civil wars all over the world, this is one tiny talk they had on trying to understand why these mass shootings and some mindless killings by the youths are happening more then ever. I always said it is not one medium to blame but a whole range of errors in society and culture that are being overlooked, it’s like at school they teach you maths, English and science e.t.c yet the most important tool for curing many of these ills, and giving people real power and understanding is NOT being taught, and that is emotional Intelligence. It’s scary that so many parents are not fit themselves for making kids understand their own and hence others emotions, this is the root of the problem and where they need to start, yet it seems that it almost purposely overlooked.

@LemonSlice No it doesn't. Even my 6 year old son knows the difference between right and wrong, what is fiction and what is real. We didn't even need to teach him that. Every mental healthy person is hardwired that way when they are born.

He loves playing Minecraft mini games and Splatoon 2.
Ofcourse he is not allowed to see any games rated 16-18, which all violent games are rated at. So yes we use parental controls on everything.

The fact is, time and again it has been proven that violent games and movies, series were not the cause of these mass shootings!

I live in Norway and that Brevik guy who murdered over 70 kids on that island several years ago. He was a fanatic World of Warcraft player. So not exactly a violent shooter.
He was just sick in his head. He lacks any form of empathy and can't distinguish between fiction and reality. He is an ultra right fanatic that just hated this centrum left political party and spend years methodically preparing for these acts of terror ( acquiring ingredients for building the bomb that was used under the party's building in Oslo, acquiring illegal rifles, etc ).

Back to the US, all these mass shootings at schools were done by teenagers that were clearly mentally ill, a walking ticking time bomb that just needed to be triggered.
This was either due to excessive bullying or a girlfriend that suddenly broke up with them. Emotional distress is what triggered them to commit such horrible act.
Couple that with how incredibly easy it is to get an assault rifle in the US and you got a recipe for disaster.

@bluedogrulez This is not the fault of the video game companies, this is the fault of the parents for not bothering to learn what a rating system means.

The ESRB has existed for over 20 years, the content descriptors are very clear on games as to what content a game features. Why don't I pull off a couple of games on my shelve and see what they say?

Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is rated Teen and includes the following content on the ESRB label

"Animated Blood"

"Fantasy Violence"

"Suggestive Themes."

What about an M rated game? Well, I pulled my copy of God of War III off the shelve as well.

Well, here is what is says for content accroding to the ESRB

"Blood and Gore"

"Intense Violence"

"Nudity"

"Strong Language"

"Strong Sexual Content"

These ratings and content descriptors are clear as day and are very easy to understand. If a kindergartener is running around playing Hitman and acting like the main character, then the parents, guardians, or whoever bought them the game have failed to keep content like this out of that child's hands.

A kindergardner should not even be playing a game like Fire Emblem, much less Hitman.

When I was a child, my mother never allowed me or my brother to play violent games that were above our age groups. She knew what games were, and even to this day, she still keeps on top of it.

Blaming violent video games is like blaming guns and acting like they should be banned. A violent video game should never make it into the hands of a child. If such a game does, then there was a breakdown somewhere and a parent needs to figure out what it was.

I've been in stores and seen parents buy Halo and Call of Duty for their kids. This is not a failure of the media itself, its a failure and neglect of your duty to keep this content out of the hands of children. Tell me, how is it Ed Boon's fault if Mortal Kombat ends up in the hands of a child?

No, I don't think violent video games are the problem, and even if they were, why do they get blamed alone when you have TV shows and movies that are easier to access due to many of them being on broadcast networks and streaming services?

Or how about the fact that you have porn and violent videos at your fingertips often with no ratings oversight? I love AVGN, but a kid could access it easily on Youtube and watch a show that features curse words, crap flying everywhere, dirty humor, and other content not for kids.

My point is this, people want to point the finger at video games and the White House wants to trot out videos showcasing violence in games, but other media seems to fine. Some of which is easier to access and often have no ratings system!

@SanderEvers
The theme / genre of the game is also one of my consideration.
I HATE Horror, so when i know the genre is Horror, it will be INSTANT Banned.
I don't even care what is inside because i don't want feed my brain with that cursed contents.
Like i said from beginning, i Do care with Age Rating.
I don't want to feed my brain with Inappropriate contents like that.
When i see 18+, Banned, doesn't care or doesn't matter what is inside. I don't need to appreciate something cursed like that.

Non-gamers should generally avoid sticking their nose where it doesn't belong when it comes to this issue. They almost never know what they're talking about, and completely ignore the side of games that's beautiful.

Do video games have the ability to cause violent behavior? Before even coming up with a hypothesis for such a question you'd have to, at the very least, admit that each individual person is a unique case, and then you'd have to know, like definitively know, how easily that person is molded by media.

That brings up whole other questions about nature vs nurture, of which there is no definite answer.

So to me, it seems pointless to debate such topics. What you can do is hold people accountable for their actions, which is what the law in most developed countries already does. In the United States though, getting a firearm isn't too difficult, which is maybe a more reasonable place to start investigating rather than video games and psychology. But unfortunately, and I say this as a US citizen, it seems few people in leadership positions are willing to go that route.

If you're not willing to look at guns as the source of the problem with gun violence, you shouldn't be able to get away with trying to look somewhere else to theorycraft.

@Balladeer Which part of the Celeste soundtrack is this? I've put 20 some hours into that game and cannot think of where that piece is.

Edit: found it

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Look again or maybe read the article. The WH video had the violent games. The response video featured BotW and many other nonviolent, art-y games.

ive been trying to rip peoples hearts out ever since I seen Kano do it in 1993 but I cant seem to break through the skin

@Lemonslice Somehow, you manage to be more annoying than @anti-matter. You literally say that Trump is right, while I do prefer him over Hillary, this is one thing about him I WOULDN'T support, and you also said that all people should play Nintendo. That's f**king stupid. What about the people that never play Nintendo? Would they have to learn to accept it? What about those who want more than Nintendo? They would get bored because that's all they have. And by only Nintendo, do you strictly mean first-party games? I'm asking that because games like DOOM have switch ports.

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, I'm 13 and have all the classic Doom games. As far as I can tell, I'm fine. And I've got a question for you, @anti-matter. If 18+ games are automatically evil by your logic no matter the content, then does this mean sex games are evil too?

The White House and Trump morons have no basis in reality with their position. They are the perfect example of the real problem in America. People who cannot grasp the difference between reality and fiction. That problem is not the fault of games, it is the fault of people.

As to these responses made by the industry, they are playing politics and trying to take a middle ground by condemning violence while defending their own games and it comes off as a wet noodle effort. The entire industry should condemn Trump and any politicians WORLD WIDE who make their baseless, irrational attacks on gaming.

@Sgt-Jack-V
"If 18+ games are automatically evil by your logic no matter the content, then does this mean sex games are evil too?"

Simple answer : Yes.

But, for The Sims case, i still allowed that game, it rated Teen for acceptable Sexual theme ,with age at least 13 years old.

I saw the video reel being mentioned in the article and it certainly sends a really explicit message on how violent video games have become.

Honestly, I don't support censorship, but watching that reel was almost as shocking as watching a snuff film. It should really cause quite a stir.

@anti-matter The idea of sex being evil is completely stupid. If the first humans who thought it was evil spread their ideas to everyone else and they held that case, the human race would've gone extinct a long time ago.

With so many of today's games made in Canada, what's Trump going to do, slap a 25% tariff on them? Also I don't see a lot of Canadian teens running around killing people in mass murders - so wouldn't that disrupt the video game violence theory? The USA isn't the only country that makes and plays video games.

If the government ever took away my violent video games, I'd do the next best thing...get some real guns!

Obviously I'm less likely to do anything if I owned a bunch of guns and was proficient at using them. Yes...obviously the problem is alternatively playing violent video games on my couch every now and again. /s

@stuie1234 It's crazy how completely obvious parents are to the ratings on games, haha. I still remember selling Dead Space 2 and Call of Duty WAW to a 5 year old and his dad at a garage sale even after explaining the ratings and just thinking, "Kid, you are in for some GNARLY $#!%, like you don't even know...."

I'm finally off work, so here's the promised book. I don't have a direct answer to this difficult issue, but here are some of my thoughts on it. And no, I'm not expecting a ton of people to read this by this point.

First of all, the video for the gamers and developers was excellent. The White House reel, which I haven't watched until now, did seem to be quite cherry-picked. However, I feel that while both provide different perspectives on the "issue" (more on that in a moment) with video games, they don't quite meet in the middle. Then again, that seems to be a common occurrence with most issues these days, at least in the good ol' US of A. It's only one thing or the other. To our political system, there's only black and white. To many, there is no gray, no meeting in the middle. It's either "your group's way" or the highway. Personally, that thinking makes me ill. I'll stop there before I derail too much.

I don't believe that video games, or any other form of media or literature, cause violence in and of themselves; they're the newest thing, so therefore they're the newest scapegoat. However, I do believe that the intake of violence over time, regardless of the form it is presented in, can have an impact on the human mind. Everyone is wired just a little differently, so what may not affect one person may well subtly affect another. (I, for one, avoid shooters since I'm not a fan of the gameplay, and I also feel that war games and so on are a little too close to reality for my tastes. I'm not going to condemn anyone for playing them, however.) Children are very impressionable, especially in their early years.

This is where the ESRB rating system and others like it come in. Like movies and TV shows, there's a system that details what is and is not suitable for viewers and highlights the intended target audience. Personally, I don't feel that anything with the ratings systems currently needs changed. The problem is, what good are these systems if someone doesn't follow them? Some parents are either ignorant, or they believe "A game is just a game" or "A movie is just a movie" and will let their kids watch or play whatever they please. Unfortunately, it's difficult if not impossible to police every single family out there. A game may be bought by an age-appropriate parent and may be given to their underage child, for example. There are loopholes to nearly every system, if not every single one.

As for the debate that this stems from, the gun debate....This is a toughie for me. I've been around guns my whole life, and in fact grew up in a pocket of "redneck country", so to speak. I personally don't care for the things (the most dangerous thing I've fired is a paintball gun), but I do know many responsible gun owners. I AM in favor of some tighter gun laws in light of recent events (and why this is even a discussion), but I ultimately am unsure how much good they will do.

One accidental shooting that rocked a nearby community a little while back was caused by a minor who had stolen a gun; the weapon had been stolen from a truck he had broken into. When messing around with it in a vehicle, he accidentally shot a friend of his in the lower back; he had thought the chamber was empty. She didn't recover. Now he's spending the rest of his time in a juvenile facility until he turns 21. Would it have happened if the gun had been more securely stowed? Maybe, maybe not. The point is, he had knowingly stolen a gun that didn't belong to him. If someone wants an illegal something bad enough, they're going to get it somehow.

There are many museums in this country that have left a profound impact on my psyche, in one way or another. Two in particular are in my top two. The museum on top, as the reader has probably guessed, is the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The second was the Oklahoma City Bombing Museum. That tragedy, on the whole, was caused by a homemade bomb in a rented truck.

So, sure, we can further restrict guns, and I'm in favor of it. But, sadly, there are so many other ways to commit murder.

From what I understand about the Florida shooter, he was a very disturbed person who should not have had access to firearms. Yet the authorities were alerted to his behavior many times, and little, if anything, was done until it was too late. I know that most mentally ill people are nonviolent, but a small percentage are; I wish mental illness was better addressed in this country. Too, I wish that the stigmas, costs, and funding associated with getting treatment weren't barriers to the patients, families, and those who provide help.

Bullying, as is so often the case in these situations, also seems to be a factor. What all entices a fellow human to torment another is beyond me. While I support the many walk-outs that will be happening in schools across the country tomorrow, I also support this: when the students walk back into the school, they should go to the kids who are normally outsiders, outcasts, etc. and get to know them. Talk with them. Don't judge them. Perhaps they're more like you than you think. Take this from someone who used to deal with the problem firsthand.

In summary, I don't believe that any individual thing is the problem here. It's a whole mishmash of problems that needs to be better addressed by our society and culture. Let's look towards the REAL problems and not use any particularly single thing as a scapegoat. I'm personally tired of the finger-pointing. But please, stop hating each other for slight differences in opinion, appearance, interests, etc. Frankly, this world is filled with enough anger, violence, and hate already.

Trump and his White House administration probably haven't touched a video game in his life, much like most politicians in America (and across the world).

@impurekind journey was in the first second of the video...

Ironically, their answer is to put more guns in people's hands. These delusions of grandeur are part of the problem, thinking that they will be the big hero stepping in to save the day. That's as bad as blaming video games and media.

I think a big problem we have to tackle is bullying. All too often, we hear how these people that caused these acts of violence were "outsiders" or "bullied". Maybe we should start there, and look at ways we can be better citizens rather than placing blame on the media or putting more guns in people's hands.

@smelly_jr So you think that video games are to blame?

The existence of a rating system is a statement that some games are not appropriate for all ages. Why not though, why are some games not appropriate? What do we fear will happen if kids see violence or nudity?

Going further and blaming parents for ignoring ratings straight up admits that some games cause kids to be violent. You cannot blame parents for ignoring ratings and also claim that video games don't cause violence.

I'd be interested to hear what the publishers of these games think. For example, Call of Duty is very popular with young children and it is advertised during hours when they could be watching. If the children stopped getting the game then it would certainly reduce their sales; so does Activision care about this?

Why do people keep rehashing the same stuff over and over again. From immigration, to violent video games to race relations. I mean, I get it, but good grief! I’m so tired of this current administration. And it’s only been a little over a year. I wonder where do they find the energy to keep the ridiculousness up. They are so unbelievably transparent, yet people buy what their selling. After the rise of sandbox GTA, and all that came with it, I thought these types of discussions were done by the close of the last decade. At this point, I feel like the Trump administration has shown that this country will forever be about taking small steps forward, then taking big steps back due to fear. I wonder if that guy (who’s name escapes me at the moment, but he was very vocal about violent games last decade), will come out of hiding and try, yet again, to get the public to go against violent games.

War is okay, but violence in video games, oh hell no!

Anyone who throws their fellow video game developers under a bus like this doesn't even deserve to be in the business at all!

I am tired of watching this become a scapegoat for people who don't want to face the facts of reality. This isn't the 1990's anymore, in a world where you can watch real people being tortured on a streaming site, video games are very far from the most violent thing kids can access.

I remember reading a statistic that said how 80% of school shooters had zero interest in video games, while the majority of them were on SSRI's and experiencing bad side effects of the drugs.

@Anti-Matter @bluedogrulez Has neither of you played cops and robbers or cowboys as kids? Boys have mock fights all the time, sometimes with toy guns. It's how they let their energy out and learn how not to harm each other and tell real violence from play.

Anyone with a little common sense knows that whatever you glorify and sensationalize you are also encouraging, especially to children. At best, you are not contributing to positive and healthy growth by these types of games. The reason for all the differences of opinion and so-called "facts",is because of the same thing that's a major driving force for a majority of problems - money, to be more accurate, the love of it. People can justify or find seemingly "scientific evidence" to support just about any opinion you have.

GTA VI the game where you get a job, pay your taxes, raise a loving family, and eat healthily.

Also ironic that apparently playing with video game guns makes you an evil murderer but playing with real ones is cool.

@SmaggTheSmug
I never played as robber or cops.
But i knew about Boxing when i was 4 years old from Rocky III Opening intro.(with song Eyes of Tiger, sung by Survivor)
Well, actually my Mom had a VHS Betahifi with several video samples from movies, one of them was Rocky III Opening intro (And that was the beginning of my First Love about Boxing and muscular guys).

I was bullied during Primary school by my friends.
I had bullied by called me Mr. Bean due to my quirky behaviour.
I don't have many friends, almost always alone. But i don't mind, i realized i was a Loner type person.

"Video games are the cause of all violence in the world" - The media/politicians since the early nineties

@boop22 Yeah, it was so quick I actually missed it the first time the video loaded up because I was busy trying to maximise the window.

@VinnieMii Maybe you are too young or have been living under a rock?

There have always been violent video games every since the first games were created!
Maybe you should check out NeoGeo's game catalog from the 80's!
Ever seen those big Entertainment halls with those NeoGeo game cabinents with replica guns to make it more "real" ?

Back then age ratings were much less strict as they were now.
Except for the most extreme horror movies, almost all violent movies were rated at age 12. Movies containing explicit sex scenes even had age 12 at that time.
A lot of violent games back then had age 12 rating.

I saw plenty of violent movies (I especially liked war movies) as a teenager and played games like Doom, Hexen, Unreal (Tournament '99), Quake, etc. I also played a lot of those NeoGeo games in entertainment halls. (was about 12-15 years of age at that time).

I haven't become violent, nor a mass murderer.
And if I recall US history correct, there were far less Mass shootings at schools back then, as they are today.

So take that for what you will.

The real problem is, that these people who commit these horrible acts, are mentally ill! But people don't like to talk about Mental illness. Politicians don't like to talk about mental illness. Since they can't deflect with mental illness. Putting blame on something like video games is more tangible and easier to Politically deflect on.

That is the problem!

I like how no one mentions just like violent films video games are age rated, also video games are the number one form of entertainment for both adults & children. Scapegoating video games will not lower mass shooting or shooting in general in the us, but what ever makes them feel better until the next mass shooting.

@Averagewriter It doesn't matter what Trump says, everyone will be mad at him. Either for what he did say or did not. Some critics call it Trump Derangement Syndrome. So many people got brainwashed into thinking that he's literally Hitler (or worse) that they cannot perceive reality well as soon as he's in the picture. Remember when that one talk show host ruffled his hair and people got mad at him for "humanizing Trump"? In their eyes Trump is no longer human, he's an embodiment of vaguely defined evil.
I don't particularly like him myself, but the Trump hysteria is a head-scratcher for me as an outsider.

I'm not violent, I was playing Doom, Quake, GTA London, Street fighter when I very young back in mid 90s lol they rocked, video games don't make folk violent, that's the White House for ya, spilling crap about nothing

@SmaggTheSmug If there is such a thing, he did it to himself. For over a year and a half now, and well into his campaign also, every time the man has opened his mouth something terrible comes out. Every week, 2 or 3 times, he does or says something that would ruin any former President. Nothing he has done since in office has been good.

If you beat a dog enough, eventually it's going to assume your intentions are bad when you go to pet it.

@SmaggTheSmug The problem is, Trump truly is evil incarnated.

He is a terrible person. Incredibly narsistic, egoistic and has literally no empathy at all! Zip! Nada! He is dangerous and incapable of understanding the damage his doing to the US (and outside) every day with his behavior.
I don't even live in the US (live in Northern Europe) and can even see this.

If Kim Jong Un from North Korea would have attacked his manly hood between Trump legs long enough, this idiot would honestly be capable of pushing that red button, just to unload his frustration in defense of his manly hood.

@Jeronan Exactly.

And, from everything I've learned and read about in the last handful of years, this "mental illness" is actually often just a symptom of a whole load of underlying and very insidious issues in our so-called "modern", "fair", "equal" and "free" society, rather than any kind of genetic predisposition to some kind of mental instability or whatever, and it's the root-disease(s) in society that I think we actually need to treat before this kind of thing is realistically going to stop--that would be the mass indifference and apathy, lack of decent and meaningful education, a focus on greed and materialism and selfishness, a huge wealth gap, insidious pop-culture brainwashing that makes people obsess over largely overblown nonsense and sheep-think via "social" media and the like, widespread intolerance and contempt towards others, and a whole load of people just feeling ignored and unheard, lonely, sad, frustrated and angry--else it's just going to get worse from what I can see.

Violence in games is most certainly not one of the root-causes of the problems in our world, and neither are guns in and of themselves for that matter. It's all the stuff rotting away at the core of our society that is just a little more illusive obvious that is the problem, and that's the stuff the corrupt politicians and the CEOs of insidious corporations and the heads of the major banking families and the twisted media moguls and the greedy and materialistic and selfish rich elites don't want anyone to think or talk about, else the people might actually decide it's time to do something about it and cure the cancers in/of our world once and for all.

We need to fix the disease(s) or else the symptoms aren't going to go anywhere. But if we do fix the disease(s) then I genuinely believe the vast majority of the problems in our society will largely disappear--although that's a much harder task than most of us can even imagine.

@Crono1973 true. I was just saying IF video games were to blame than the parents who got them the game are just as big to blame. Moral of the story, stick to Nintendo kids!

@impurekind
Something still in my mind.
When talking about mass media, from art, music, movies, games, the artist defend their creations are something artistic, expressing their freedom, and might be vulgar for some peoples but Not for them. When other peoples try to critique, they (the artists) don't want to get critiqued because they created whatever they want, doesn't matter vulgar or not.

So, i compare Two different peoples from different perception.
Let's say a picture of Naked woman with covered boobs with her hands.
From artist side, they said it was a Masterpiece, an Art. But from other peoples, especially peoples who lives in very strict rules (Non Liberal) they said it was Inappropriate to draw Naked woman because it violate the Norm of Decency. When the artist got critique like that, they said that picture doesn't violate anything, but at the same time that picture disturbing for peoples who still obey the Norm of Decency. And that create an Endless Debates, arguing about which is right or wrong about being so Liberal in expressing ideas.

Same case with Violence in video games. Some gamers defend their thought that Video games doesn't make people so violent, even from rated 18+ . But for some other peoples, who are really dislike rated 18+ due to Inappropriate contents, voicing their disagreement, saying Violence from video games can make people go violent. And then the Debates keep going, nobody want to get blamed, they keep argue which is wrong or right. I'm so tired to hear those Arguments.
....
....
....
So, in my mind, as a Indonesian people who lives in country that still care about Norm of Decency, with my logic and sense of Appropriate, i will definetely reject the inappropriate contents from rated 18+. If we know those games are very Inappropriate to see, why do we still defend in the name of Art ? And what is Norm of Decency created for ? Why does those inappropriate contents has to be defended in the name of being adult ? Just because we are in the Adult stage, it DOESN'T mean we HAVE to smoke / play or watch very vulgar entertainments / drink Alcoholic beverages until get drunk / saying bad words / do Vandalism / consume Drugs , etc just to Expressing the Freedom to become Adult. In my opinion, that Freedom was TOO FAR ! Violate the Norm of Decency. I feel Sick to become an Adult like that.

Btw, sorry for my poor English. My English was not really good enough to share my thought to you.

@Anti-Matter Not everything that is immoral should also be illegal. In Western/post-Christian culture a man of virtue should be resisting temptation of his own free will, not due to laws imposing morality on him. Might be a cultural difference, I don't know much about Indonesia (other than your flag is like ours but upside down ).

We had puritan Christians imposing similar laws on society in the West and USA still follows many of the puritan norms. You're free to reject anything 18+, but just because you don't like something doesn't mean you should stop others from enjoying it. Well, aside from restricting minors from accessing such media, as it is not made for them.

I can care less about Trump; because his real life issues that's undeniable is worse than any animated violence from a game. Nobody actually got hurt in a game. How many lives has Trump ruined from his personal disrespect towards anyone who doesn't agree with him? Every time a new true accusation is out in the open about him, and his cabinet knows about it but chooses not to defend his evil habits and intentions, Trump fires them... How about he fires himself? I'm not political, but one needs to remove the speck out of his or her own eye before trying to remove a speck from the eye of the next guy.

@Mikemario Maybe, i for on still think it is the job of parents to either educate their children on what violence is and how to deal with it or at least prevent them from playing games /seeing movies that are clearly marked as not appropriate for children below a certain age.

I don't believe video games are a direct cause of violence.

However I strongly believe that all the media we absorb affects us both in positive and negative ways. We become who we are through interactions with the world around us. To say that games and movies don't influence us at all is ridiculous.

Like the video showing the good of games, there is also toxicity. And that goes for every single medium of entertainment out there.

We should stop pretending we are somehow impervious to corruption by the things we take in. If you eat junk food all day and have an imbalanced diet, your body will be unhealthy. If you absorb too much negative and violent imagery and music, it can cause an imbalance your mind.

I'm not saying bad content makes us violent. But it does affect us in all sorts of ways, and we should be aware of that.

@SmaggTheSmug Nah dude. Twitter calls him Hitler all the time so it has to be true! I swear, people are acting like Trump meeting with delevopers is the end of the world. At least he hasn’t spend millions on researching unlike Obama, who spent millions to research the violence of video games. Want to guess what their conclusion was?

So that means more mario games? Mario party, mario kart, mario bros, mario soccer, mario, mario, mario, mario, mariooooo..... Lol
Oh no he stomps on mushrooms... Blasts turtles, burns his enemies with firebals. And in mario on switch he is a demon who posesses people and things and makes them do things against their will.
Mario is also too violent, according to the white house? But wait didnt trump treathen North korea? He seems violent to me, i bet he got inspired by GTA lol, just kidding.
just let the game industry be, its nice to blow some steam when shooting online.

Ok Nintendo Life. We know you’re still upset about the President’s meeting. But please, we all get it: video games don’t cause violence. I also love the hypocrisy here. It’s not video games’ it’s America’s and the NRA’s.

Violence is natural.
But it’s not natural to have a gun to solve it with.
Don’t blame games, blame the reasons causing people to act violently in extreme ways.
Most people can solve their urge to be violent without actually hurting a living being!
I’m a gamer and I’m mentally ill, but I still don’t have any problems with avoiding to physically hurt people or animals around me!

@JLPick
The Scriptures have already been used for blame. There are religious wars everyday. More recently the media is pointing fingers at Isis and video games (of course video games has always been an off/on topic since the early 90's).

@Mikemario If the level of violence in the video is depicted in a game, then that game almost certainly holds an ESRB rating indicating it's not for children. If a kid gets a hold of a violent game like that, then someone else (like their parents maybe?) aren't doing their job.

Instead of blaming "violent" video games, simply assume the only place school shootings happen so frequently is the US and think what is the difference between them and the rest of the world.

I dislike games like Call of Duty, but going from dislike to implying that games like that will make you a psychopath is on another scale!

Bottom line? Violent video games are a problem.

Everything whether good or bad that people consume over time will impact their lives. That's just the way people are wired.
There will always be a portion of the population that converts violence from video to real life. That's the way life works. Evil people do exist. Don't feed evil people by glorifying violence & gore in games. Rather, all extreme violence & gore in video games should be censored in my opinion.

Great video games were made in the past, and are still made today that don't glorify gore and violence. So if violence and gore is not the criteria for success in making video games, game Developers should go back to the basics and exclude all the unnecessary gore and violence.

If extreme violence and gore is what is considered to be art nowadays, we have lost our way as people; with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Everything matters.

@Anti-Matter funny how someone so against violent/adult video games is only a fan of one of the most violent sports and one that has killed many in real life.

Irony at its finest lol.

On topic, while I do play shooters and M rated games, some having kids I don't play as many as I used to and certainly not in front of them. Video games are absolutely not the problem in America. There are other issues that Im not gonna write an essay on here but games are definitely not the root cause of the violence in this country

@RusevDay
Although he didn't hate Breath of The Wild, 7 is still a good score and didn't deserve the reaction it got.

Also, Happy Rusev Day.

Excessive exposure to violence creates desensitization to violent acts. It doesn't cause them.
I try to make choices in games that are what I would do in that situation. That means that I don't play many that are too realistic. Excessive violence isn't needed for a great game.
People can play what they choose, but I don't have to like their choices.

Eh, they're just blaming media because they don't wanna take time to properly address the underlying sources. Same old song and dance.

@roadrunner343

Its no use arguing with Anti-Matter. They believe that they magically know what's best for everybody and can't conceive that everybody can in fact make their own decisions.

@Tempestryke He comes off as just a very conservative, religious person who has trouble getting his point across due to English being a foreign language to him (English is a very difficult language, it took me 10 years to become as proficient with it as I am today) who also wants to shelter himself from anything "adult" because it's "inappropriate".
There's a ton of them all over the world. At least he's not salty over the Wii U

@SmaggTheSmug
Yo !
I still care with my Wii U for playing Wii games mostly. Of course, my Wii U games also.

people nowdays are a bunch of pansies, miss the good old days of the 90s

In a world where we've burned people alive because we thought they were witches, and lynched people for drinking from the same water fountains as us, you'd think that people maybe would have figured out that humans can just be pieces of crap on their own.

Let's blame McDonald's for making us fat while we're at it. Smh.

While violent video games don't directly cause violent behavior, they have been proven to desensitize people to violence and create hormones linked to agrresive behavior. With enough repeated exposure, this will cause a shift in someone's agressive tendencies. I personally don't play any M rated games, and most (although not all) M rated games could theoretically be censored down to a T rated level without affecting the context of the game, anyway.

That being said, the various age rating systems are a good enough solution. It's not the government's place to interfere any further than that.

@SmaggTheSmug

He comes off as pushy and preachy.

How hypocritical of the pro-gun crowd, I'm a Trump supporter but the whole Republican slogan "guns don't kill people, people kill people" completely contradicts their claim that video games cause or increase gun violence.

Games Journalists are strategically posting very opposed articles to this, as it fits in with their anti-Trump narrative.

However, those exact same journalists were the same ones promoting the rhetoric of Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist critic who claimed games promoted both sexism and violence.

@impurekind

"Let's make a meme out of how amazingly awesome, beautiful, imaginative, creative, uplifting, joyful, wondrous, inspiriting, powerful, thought-provoking and magical videogames can be."

Even before this, I've been seeing a MAJOR lack of video game montages like this...that or my search results is getting sloppy. Let's see if we can fix that!

@Jeronan "Even my 6 year old son knows the difference between right and wrong, what is fiction and what is real. We didn't even need to teach him that. Every mental healthy person is hardwired that way when they are born."

Sorry for the late reply, but I'd rather say that every person is wired that way at birth, it's just that with enough strain, those wires can snap. I prefer to look at it that way as I like to think of people as inherently good.

Violent video games can certainly play a part in the snapping of wires. Because, truth be told, anything that can cause large amount of negative emotions can. The saving grace of video games is that it is generally a medium where violent impulses are released, which can have a relaxing effect, and not something that causes them to build up and ferment. The WoW link with that monster is interesting, as perhaps such a competitive game with a lot of indirect social interaction (likely very hard on a sociopath), is more likely to cause to latter.

I think it's very important to have the right attitude when interacting with a game. The most important factor is not taking things seriously. WoW can be a fun game I suppose, and was Breivik f***ed up before he even touched the game? Sure. But it's probably not the game someone like him should have been playing.

Thanks for reading. (:

@Sgt-Jack-V I never said that all people should play only Nintendo. Here's what I said:

"Trump did good. After all it's the reason why I, and I expect many people here, play Nintendo."

Trump isn't planning to ban or restrict every form of interactive video entertainment except Nintendo so how did you extrapolate that? I meant to imply that people play Nintendo because they like their games beautiful, meaningful, emotional, and deriving fun from finely crafted gameplay and audiovisual design instead of relying on the player's primal instincts. There are such games on all systems, but Nintendo has always been above and beyond everyone else in those aspects. And besides, I own PlayStation 1 through 4. (;

@LemonSlice You are completely wrong! I don’t know what to say really. Are you really that naive?

Some people are litterally born evil!
They are mean to others, extreme bullies, killing animals for fun, etc.
These need a lot of guidance and mental help right from the beginning.
Sadly, a lot of parents are not willing to see that kind of behavior in their kids ( or are just ashamed of it and try to hide it ) and just think it will go away.

Of course not all of them become serial killers, those are the extreme cases ( like serious mental illness, extreme violent abuse by parent in childhood, etc ).

And have you actually tried World of Warcraft? It’s no different than Zelda Breath of the Wild lol! /shrug

I am not going to respond more. Some people can’t be argued with and this is now such an old article anyway.

@Jeronan Who cares if this is an old article? We're having a discussion, if you want an audience get yourself on TV or radio.

And I still disagree. A lot can happen to a person in their earliest years, and those are when the mind is particularly sensitive and receptive.

@samuelvictor As a good, patriotic American teenager... I second this wholeheartedly.

@SmaggTheSmug Exactly. One of my female friend is a mega-fan of Skyrim - a VERY violent game - and she's doing just fine.

@MH4 Neither liberal nor conservative... just decent. Why can't everybody be like you?

Oh, sure, let's ban ALL video games, regardless of content, just because there's a few that could make someone snap!

Alright, fine... but where will it stop?

Will we smash Michelangelo's David due to full frontal nudity? Ban Saving Private Ryan for excessive violence? Yank The Handmaid's Tale from Hulu and burn Fire and Fury because "they make us feel bad?"

To quote from South Park: "Either it's all okay, or none of it is."

@MarioFan02 I appreciate that, deeply! 😃 Thank you! The only thing keeping me from hearting your comment is the fact that I don’t want to be a narcissist.

I’m a Christian, so my views fall closer to the right. But I try to take into account other people’s points of view, all the while staying steadfast in what I believe to be true.

@MH4 Amen, brother. Amen indeed.