If you happen to have an independent game shop nearby, some will break street date and sell as soon as they receive them, especially if you’re a regular.
Aszurom
2875
Seriously, 4 hours long? Wow. I might actually finish that.
So yeah, that’s super weird. Steam when I looked last night said “Release: Nov 13th” and now it says “12:00 EST”
Hardcore Call of Duty guys are zipping through it at 4/5 hours. Normal folks are taking up to 7/8 from what I can see. I think “casual” CoD players are taking the time to fool around with suit abilities and going back and forth between MP and SP. Hardcore players just cram through it to get Achievements and go straight to MP.
Bateau
2877
Hardcore players don’t even download the singleplayer, just mp.
Correct.
That would put them 4 hours behind their progress towards their first Prestige and subject them to suffering shame when their name displays on the scoreboard without the little icon. It is quite an embarrassment.
-Todd
LMN8R
2879
The reviews I’ve read of Advanced Warfare suggest it’s significantly longer than GHOSTS (6-7 hours instead of 4-ish), but that there was enough variety and interesting situations that it didn’t feel like it.
Violent video games can not be responsible for violent behaviours:
‘No correlation between game violence and real-world violence, says new study’:
RickH
2881
Col. Grossman, call your office.
Aszurom
2882
If video games don’t cause violence, why does my buddy Mike have a drawer full of broken gamepads?
magnet
2883
While I don’t believe that real-world violence is caused by games, you are misrepresenting the conclusions of the study.
The study actually found no direct relationship between violent video games and violent crime. Negative findings should always be interpreted with caution. It’s sort of like trying to interpret the statement “I can’t find my keys”. Maybe they’re gone. Or maybe you’re just not trying hard enough, because they are sitting in the foyer like they always are.
When it comes to science, you can formally address the question “How hard were you really trying to find whatever you were looking for?”. That involves calculating the power of the study. In practice, scientists often just take a look at the sample size and guesstimate the power.
In this case, the sample size was 16 (one data point for each year from 1996-2011). That’s bad. I can say with 95% certainty that most scientists would guesstimate that this study was pretty half-assed in design.
And the guy who ran the study knew that it was half-assed, because there was an actual significant finding regarding games - which he dismisses as meaningless because of multiple study design flaws. I mean, if you don’t believe what your own study tells you, why should your audience believe what you tell them?
RickH
2884
Lack of correlation is necessarily lack of causation, isn’t it?
CraigM
2885
These things are so noisy, lined with so many other socioeconomic factors, that it is hard to make that clear statement. That said I haven’t read up on the study linked, so perhaps it does present evidence there is no correlation, but failure to show correlation != there is no correlation. So caution is the appropriate response.
That said if you take the general sense of studies on violence and games, the current theory would probably have to look something like this: Video games, especially competitive ones, can be shown to increase short term aggressive thoughts, but there is no evidence to point to a change in long term behavior. I.e. when playing a game that hit of competition and adrenaline can make you more wound up, and prone to things like ‘trash talking’, in the immediate term. Over the long term it doesn’t link to behavioral changes re: aggression.
RickH
2886
My theory has always been that sitting on your ass playing a videogame is pretty much the opposite of going out on the streets and kicking someone else’s ass.
Funny thing is that it’s always the same researchers who keep coming on the same sides in this issue, and the way they design their studies dictates their findings more than anything else. I talked to them both about it a few years back (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/games-day-in-court-science-violence-and-the-law/1100-6314963/) and found the whole thing a bit dismaying since it boiled down to a couple of academics trading petty barbs. Not that I believe there is any sort of connection between gaming violence and real-world violence, but I would still take this study with a grain of salt.
Nesrie
2889
I am kind of curious if there are any studies on individuals with existing violent tendencies and video games. I’ve never seen anything that suggests there is a causality with the general public, but I am wondering if it exposures to a lot of violence, games or otherwise, makes a little killer in the making worse.
ShivaX
2890
Possibly, but that’s true of any media. Look at Hinckley. I wouldn’t blame Jodie Foster or Scorsese for it. If it wasn’t Taxi Driver it would’ve been something else. As far as studies, I swear I read something along those lines years back, but I couldn’t say where I read/heard it. It’s also possible that the same things might be an outlet that avoids real violence for some people.
Aszurom
2891
For Hinckley, I blame Greatest American Hero. Clearly sent him over the edge.
What about violent games as a healing tool?
Old but relevant: http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-hero-project/articles/2013/09/26/virtual-reality-video-games-may-be-the-best-treatment-for-ptsd.html
Nesrie
2892
I guess what I mean is, if there was a study like that, then maybe when someone shoots up a school and also happens to play games, the conversation can shift away from whether or not video games caused anything and focus more on the fact this person was troubled. You know every time there is a violent incident the same questions about violent video games comes up.
I don’t think this focuses on the violence so much as the virtual part of it.
Aszurom
2893
Since this be the journalism thread, I thought I’d bring a journalism thing up here.
This thread is 95,000 pages long, so pardon if I missed it being already present.
Section 255.5: Disclosure of Material Connections
Wow. Didn’t realize the FTC code was so specific. I’ve heard a lot of back and forth about Youtubers getting paid to play stuff and this is a direct statement from clear back in 2009 about it. Surprised it wasn’t made prominent in part of those other discussions elsewhere recently.
Clearly from the example the FTC gives, the “I’m not a journalist, I’m a video maker” is zero defense against that.
