I'm not making this thread to prove any sort of point; I legitimately want to hear what you guys think.

I always hear the argument that violent games with guns in them do not teach us to be murderers. They don't teach us to be evil, short tempered, or aggressive towards other people.

Yet at the same time I hear people say that games can be used to teach us the importance of friendship, to improve our social ability, and to teach us all sorts of wonderful things that help us become better people.

How is it that these two arguments can co-exist? How can games teach us to be better, but not to be worse? 

There's also the recent topic of sexism in games. Are games sexist? Are they teaching us to be misogynistic? Do we have less respect for women because of the games we play?

So what is it? Do games affect us, or do they not? Are they mere expressions of art, or do they have an impact on our behavior (or both?). Or is there something else underneath all of these arguments that make some of them true and others not? (I.E. games don't make us aggressive but they can educate us positively or can reinforce our misogynistic ways. How does that work?).

Yes, they do. Not only games, but, in fact, everything we come in contact with affects us in one way or another.

I've felt happy, sad , angry, like I've accomplished something and probably more through video games. The feelings usually don't last too long, unless it can relate to a real life experience.

Can video games make us murderers? It's a broad question that would have to be handled case by case. I think if you played really gory and/or violent games from a very young age, then yes. Convicted rapists have been known to be interested in the opposite sex at a younger age and looked at porn at a younger age than the norm in some cases. You're easily molded when young.

I think a lot of people apply the logic "I play games. I don't want to kill people. Therefore games don't make people want to kill people." It's probably accurate for 99.9% of the population, but that tiny minority who will be influenced to do awful things shouldn't be ignored.

Games definitely have the ability to effect the values and behaviour of individuals.

Yes. They most definitely affect all of us to different degrees, depending on the person. Just like everything else that our senses are exposed to. Children in particular are obviously more impressionable.


That's not a reason to ban violent video games though. Just like we can't ban demon images because some sensitive people might get horrible nightmares and eventually go mentally insane for watching them. It's not that simple.

Violence, sexism, and morals are taught to us by our role models. My role models were my parents, hulk hogan, conan, batman, and other 80s stuff like rodger rabbit. I was not influenced by joker, darth vader, freddy kruger, jason vorhees or ronald reagan.

I think this applies to modern video games and children who grow up with them. Yes games are an influence if the child finds a role model in the story. Luckily games which contain story are always given a hero. Except grand theft auto. I met a five year old that recognized the gta iv disc at my house then instantly and gleefully shouted "THE BADGUY GAME!!". I let him play red dead instead because 1. John Marshton is a good role model. 2. Kids can distinguish fantasy role play and life like reality.


my point can be summed up like this.. fantasy role models only. It takes active parenting.

Yes, ever since video games were invented people started killing, rapping and teabagging each other.

If people can get emotionally moved and claim that games can "change their lives", there's no reason it can't do that negatively either.

So my answer is yes. But can be both a positive or a negative influence.

They definitely do not, not in any significant or measureable way whatsoever.

There are thousands of factors that influence our personalities and decisions, but 99.9% of those factors come from real life, not from fiction.