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Games Lead To Violence and Drugs?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the unlikely dept.

A joint University of California, SFO/University of Pittsburgh study has been released which finds "playing violent videogames can lead young men to believe it is acceptable to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol", Gamasutra reports. Reuters is also carrying the story, with some information about methodology available in that piece. From the article: "Brady and Matthews had a group of 100 male undergraduates aged 18 to 21 play either Grand Theft Auto III or The Simpsons: Hit and Run. In the Simpsons game, players took the role of Homer Simpson and their task was to deliver daughter Lisa's science project to school before it could be marked late. In Grand Theft Auto III, players took the role of a criminal, and were instructed by the Mafia to beat up a drug dealer with a baseball bat."

7 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. We used to get wasted by nb+caffeine · · Score: 4, Funny

    and play Kirbys Avalanche. OH NOES, puzzle games lead to selling yourself for smack. Totally.

    --

    "Something's wrong with you...and I hope we never do meet again." - Deftones When Girls Telephone Boys
  2. Atari Adventure by GutSh0t · · Score: 5, Funny

    Adventure turned me into the depraved shell of a man that I am today. But the colors...

    --
    I started with nothing and have most of it left.
  3. Re:Other way around? by vertinox · · Score: 3, Funny

    GTA resulted in the worse-off outcome.

    So did scientists provide the booze and pot aftwards?

    Or did the test subjects have to fend for themselves?

    --
    "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
    -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
  4. Re:Mark article "redundant" by Psmylie · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is true, and I don't blame my dad for being concerned. Parents need to know what their kids are into, if only to provide proper context for them. I blame the irresponsible people in the media who put out frantic warnings about cults, suicides and violence, which led my father into thinking that this game might be seriously messing me up. As we all know, it's not the game itself that has these effects... it's the Cheetos and Mountain Dew.

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    psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

  5. It's true! by Jelizabug · · Score: 2, Funny
    It all started with Tetris, the gateway game... that led to Final Fantasy, but it just wasn't enough. Before I knew it, I was playing Halo every night. Then I took up kickboxing (hitting those pads - what a rush!), and most recently I have had to overcome an addiction to Tylenol.

    Thanks, Tetris.

  6. Re:Other way around? by nb+caffeine · · Score: 2, Funny

    Smoking stops you from doing dangerous things like "jogging". Remember, it is joggers who find the dead bodies on the side of the road. Nobody finds a dead body sitting at home and playing GTA

    Apologies to dave attell

    --

    "Something's wrong with you...and I hope we never do meet again." - Deftones When Girls Telephone Boys
  7. Duke Nukem Forever by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't think it's made me more violent, but Duke Nukem Forever has certainly made me procrastinate more.

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    It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.