Long read, but give me 5 minutes. I really want the opinion of my fellow Vgchartz members.

Just finished up a lengthy argument with my mom. She stands by her testament that video games are the main influence behind most of today's violence, including the recent school shootings at Sandy Hook elementary. She backs up that claim by reading to me several "intelligent" newspaper articles on the Columbine shootings. Apparently, a major reason for the tradgedy at Columbine was that the shooters played the video game Doom. My reaction to that statement is as follows. 

I asked her if she herself had ever played Doom. Of course not. BUT. It's in the newspaper so it much be legit right? Um, not really. See, back in the 90's, you had a better chance of being influenced by a tv show or movie than a pixated version of Doom. It's really quite sad that people such as my mother (God bless her heart) make these "bold" claims without any first hand knowledge of the game being accused. Another great example of this is the great Fox News vs Mass Effect debate of 2007 seen in the video below. Warning: the ignorance is strong in this one. 

It really saddens me that the mainstream media and overprotective parents still see the video game industry as nothing more than a violent and bloody medium of influencing young children. Especially when the movie, television, and music industry are arguably exponentially more violent than video games. For every Grand Theft Auto, I can name five movies or rap albums with the same amount of lanuage, drug use, theft, and cop killing. 

It's a shame. If they would get to know our passion for gaming firsthand, they would realize that video games can be a way to convey in-depth stories by use of player choice, as well as acting on par with the best that a movie has to offer. I wish every critic played games such as Mass Effect, Journey, Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid 4, Prince of Persia (2008), Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda (any of them), and The Walking Dead to see what our industry has to offer in terms of story and graphical art. (Tried to add a 360 exclusive in there but couldn't think of one, Bioshock and Mass Effect technically count). 

Anyway, excuse my ranting. I really hope you guys will read this and give me your input. Honestly, this has got to stop. I think that as technology evolves, so will the video game industry's ability to tell stories and provide experiences that rival novels and films. In the past 10 years, look at the leap from Halo 2 to Halo 4. Think about the next 10 years. Books have had thousands of years; films about a century; video games have less than 40 years of development. Those critics will eat those words and respect our industy eventually. 

Thoughts???

"SE"XBOX

MMmmm.. yes...

I agree video games arent the reason for violence... At least not a main reason. Video games alone will not drive a person to violence, a well balanced person can shoot all the fake people they want and still be extremely well adjusted.

The problem is that video games can help further distance a already mentally ill person from reality. Just as any other form of media. This is the destinction that all the news media fails to mention when they cite video games as a cause for violence.

I can't stand it when people bash on video games like this, it's just embarrassing really. They make themselve look like dumbasses.

I kind of remember the argument about Columbine being that they trained by playing Doom.....still questionable reasoning here. But yeah, the media seems to like using video games as a scapegoat.....it seems there's always one such article or news story every time these types of atrocities happen.

I agree that there are certain games that kids shouldn't be playing, and that's what ratings are for.

Violence is also not something I believe should be promoted. True, there comes a time when a person should distinguish between simulated violence and real violence, but still a culture of exposure to violence is not something I'm for personally.

I don't really like violent games either to be completely honest.

This is my thought as well, but I was kind of hesitant to post it. I think video games are more likely to influence real-world behavior when looking at impressionable individuals, such as young kids and mentally-ill individuals. I vaguely remember a study about this a while back.

I swear I read an article the other day that the shooters mother was a doomsday prepper. The guns were hers and from what I could gather the son didn't want his mother and her school kids to suffer when doomsday happend on the 20th.

However you can ojnly take what they report with a grian of salt. By that article, the mother was responsible for mentally fuckign up her son.

I have no problem with that report by Fox News and I'll tell you why. The anchor moderating doesn't make any claims. She says she watched some video about the game, didn't see anything graphic and asked general questions of the pundits about video games. The woman making all the claims isn't a Fox News employee and her views were countered by Geoff Keighley who does a very good job of setting the record straight. Then after the "experts" part of the report she talks in studio and says several times that you have to read the rating on the box. But at that point it wasn't a report. It was a discussion between parents. They agreed that there shouldn't be censorship but are concerned about what video games to give to their kids.

You have to look at this from the parents perspective. They think of video games as toys for kids. They don't want their 8 year old to play with a game with sex and violence. They understand that video games have ratings and some are for adults, but they still think of them as toys.

That Fox News report gets a lot of hate, but the truth is that Fox News didn't say anything negative about video games. Both sides were represented and the video game expert wiped the floor with the other.

I think too many people have too thin of skin when it comes to the topic of video games.

I have a demon fetish. I like Shin Megami Tensei. I now own a Nintendo DSi XL partially due to the Shin Megami Tensei series not counting the Shin Megami Tensei games on my PSP and PS2. I like twisted Survival Horror games such as Silent Hill, Siren, and Fatal Frame. I enjoy both JRPG's and WRPG's where magic and pagan deities play an important role. I admire quality games with strong female leads such as the Metroid series. With that said, the Fear Factor series was one of my favorite series with blatant sexual overtones. I loved playing Catherine. Yet, Jesus Christ is my Savior so, yes, I'm a Christian. Also, I'm a Deacon in the PCA (Presbyterian Church of America) which happens to be one of the more conservative branches of the Protestant denomination. It's no secret that I enjoy and play video games, and I'm not ashamed to express that to those around me, as well as fellow church members, my tastes in video games. In fact, I was asked by several church memebers to please accept the nomination to eldership of the church the next time officer nomination comes around.  Now, you go figure that one out given my love for "evil" video games.