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The State of Play - Violence and Videogames
mozen writes "The BBC has an article up discussing the effects of videogames on the mind and how the media are reluctant to talk more openly about violent games. From the article: 'People who've grown up with Mario see him keeping pace, running and jumping along the building tops that streak by on a train journey. At best, it's a pleasant daydream — a happy reminder of a pastime you enjoy, and at worst, it's a mild distraction. Until, that is, you swap the games around. What if my screen dreams aren't of something so patently harmless as Puzzle Quest? What if they're of the stealth kills in Manhunt?'"
The media DOESN'T like talking about violence in video games? What news sources do they use?
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
I'd post more, but I've gotta go to a rave tonight.
my first memory of this phenomenon is after playing Lode Runner on the C64 for hours, then trying to read a book. the letters would drop off the end of the line as I read.
when I played Katamari for too long I would see everything in terms of "can I roll it up", which could be dangerous when driving.
I still find myself strafing around corners in office building, entering elevators backwards, and being very aware that landing a plane is just a controlled crash.
None of that, however, has made me more likely to shoot someone when the elevator door opens or run my car over a pedestrian to hit my 10m goal.
I've had many (nighttime) dreams set in video games, but the weirdest by far were the Nethack dreams.
"I know that, if I've spent an entire weekend playing Halo and you stick me behind a crowd of slow-moving tourists, there's a split second when I wish I had my pistol "
Personally, I find after a weekend that features gaming heavily that when I'm waiting at the bus stop on Monday morning I sometimes find myself trying to press my brain's "z" button to toggle telescopic zoom, hoping I'll spot the bus coming down the long, straight road.
I'm not just daydreaming, for a split second I really think that some sort of inbuilt binoculars will activate and its actually a real disappointment when I realise I don't have such capabilities.
I guess it's a good thing I'm not usually holding an M-16 when waiting at the bus stop!
"Okay, and speaking of impossible, Jane from Cedar Grove is on the line, and she wants to talk about how difficult it is being a parent today. Hello Jane."
"Hi Lazlow, I love the show, I'm a first time caller. I wanted to say something about these videogames, they are warping our kids minds. My sons dog, Bugle, got hit by a truck, and he says, 'Mummy, mummy, where's the reset button?' Kids these days, they think life is a game. Well it's not a game Lazlow. It is very, very serious. I let my kid play video games, and now, he runs around the house looking for gold coins. This is teaching our children to go chase money. My eldest has been playing this new videogame, called Pogo the Monkey."
"Yeah, I've heard of that one."
"The shop teacher called me today, and Sam made a home-made banana cannon in shop class, and was lobbing them across the street at a fast-food restaurant. And it's all because of videogames. Lazlow, life does not have a reset button."
"Right, but this show does."
[dial tone]
"I love that button."
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?