Game critics snipe, but +2 is aim true?

Oct 20, 2002

​

Game critics snipe, but +2 is aim true?
MCGREGOR MCCANCE
TECH NOTES

​

Contact McGregor McCance at (804) 649-6348 or mmccance@timesdispatch.com

​

The first time my young nephew boasted that he scored a head shot in "Counter-Strike," my stomach twisted up like a pretzel.

​

Does this kid know the difference between a video game and real life, I wondered? Would he squeeze off a headshot on good old Uncle Mac just as easily?

​

But then I woke up. It's just a game. Plus, that's why he has a mom and a dad - to teach him these kinds of obvious differences. Right?

​

Despite that one uneasy thought, I remain convinced that video games can't push people into acts of violence. That sometimes seems like a lonely opinion.

​

Predictably, some are determined to establish a link between video-game violence and the real-world sniper attacks. At the least, they're eager to suggest one.

​

Can video games induce people into violent acts? Click the link to speak up in the business forum.

​

This seems ridiculous. Unless the actual sniper's weapon has a computer mouse and keyboard connected to it, how could clicking a mouse button translate into the actual skill?

​

Plenty of people think they have an answer for that. So blaming video games is not an uncommon reaction to any kind of unusual violence.

​

It happened three years ago during the Columbine, Colo., school shootings. Remember, the killers were students who devoted hours to playing "Doom," one of the original "first-person shooters."

​

These are video games, typically violent, that give the player a first-person perspective. A player with a sniper rifle, for example, can zoom in on his target.

​

As personal computer hardware and software continue to advance, the games supposedly get more "realistic."

​

I'm still trying to figure out why and how looking at a computer monitor is realistic.

​

I love playing the games, but they look like cartoons.

​

An episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" is much more "realistic." Reading "Silence of the Lambs" or any of Patricia Cornwell's novels is more realistic than "Doom" or "Counter-Strike" any day.

​

These games are getting prettier and much more violent. The 3-D graphics make them more engaging and challenging, more fun. But many aren't for kids. Parents need to step up if they don't want their children playing "Counter-Strike" or watching movies like "Pulp Fiction."

​

The games may not train killers, some suggest, but they desensitize people to violence. I don't challenge the idea that the constant promotion and images of violence, sex, alcohol and the like on TV and in other media reduces the content's shock value.

​

Does this mean someone who yawns at another person getting blown up in the latest movie - or the latest news on CNN from the Middle East - eventually thinks it's OK to blow people up? Or worse, does it mean that person would actually blow up his neighbor as a result?

​

That's incredible.

​

A husband who beats his wife or a teenager who guns down his classmates has problems far more serious than anything a video game can induce.

​

Pulling the trigger on a real sniper rifle and killing someone is an individual decision. Put the blame where it belongs - on the person who commits the act.

​

Contact McGregor McCance at (804) 649-6348 or mmccance@timesdispatch.comThis story can be found at: File not found

quote:

---

Originally posted by Andya Primanda:
As a personal opinion, I hate CounterStrike. The players shout and curse each other--in stereo where available. (Here counterstrike is usually played in Net cafes)

---

I've only seen it played, I haven't played it myself. I'm more into RPGs like Morrowind. Maybe I'm a devil worshipper?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Andya Primanda:
CS is like a live-action movie. Maybe like...Black Hawk Down (without the surrounding civilians). Sport-management gamer (Championship Manager,etc.), I am. Anyway if you worship the devil then you cannot be an atheist/agnostic no more

---

Well, those who assert than violent video games cause people to go out and kill others also assert that role playing games (D&D) are devil worship as well. Plus, didn't you know that not believing in god is the same as being a devil worshipper as well? [This message has been edited by nos482, 10-28-2002]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mammuthus:Morrowind is awesome...well after it was patched and the mouse crash bug and slide show graphics were improved (note Dagoth Ur was a moronic nemesis..kept falling into lava)I loved Morrowind, it took me a couple months to play it since I don't have a life. But nothing can up the adrenaline like a few good rounds of Unreal Tournament I just got UT 2003. It's good, but I find that the levels are smaller than the older ones.[This message has been edited by nos482, 10-28-2002]
{10/28/02 - Moved topic to "Coffee House" - Adminnemooseus[This message has been edited by Adminnemooseus, 10-28-2002]