Wouldn’t it be possible that the gun lobby pushes/influences the media to always point the finger at games when something like a school shooting happens?
I mean it always seems so knee-jerk and transparent.
Not a bad point.
Grr, I hate those articles that state, “But she was just a poor single mother, overwhelmed and unable to get help”. Due to the terms of the divorce, she didn’t have to work, and owned a 1.6 million dollar home. It’s not like she was some down on her luck mom, who couldn’t afford two very important things:
- A gun safe.
- Some professional help for her son. Hell, she could probably afford a full-time caretaker, in addition to being able to spend a huge swath of time with her son on her own.
Is it Edmonton? Cause its too late for Edmonton already. :-)
Damn you, Jerry Lee.
If I recall correctly, she was receiving approx. $300k/yr. in alimony, and I think she got the house (sans mortgage). Poverty stricken she was not. Overwhelmed? Yeah, probably.
“Newtown 7th Grader Starts Movement To Rid America Of Violent Video Games”
With his parents help he’s created a group called “Played Out” that uses the slogan “We choose not to play.”
I think its possible, “gun knowledge” was his Apergers “thing”. Most of them have a thing they need to do and research and end up knowing everything about. Mine’s is origami. So his detailed info seeking certainly fits.
Here’s the problem though. Asperger’s definitely does not make you violent. All the kids (even as adults) use their “thing” heavily, repetitively, to calm down! Not to get violent, not to get upset. It calms them. So if he was Asperger’s and using “researching guns” as his activity, he might have gotten upset then spent hours finding out the … oh say history and odd cocking mechanism of the WW2 era German Luger hand pistol. This would calm him down. So it really doesn’t explain much even if it was his Asperger’s fixation thing. And I assure you that exists: so far I can think of one with origami another with the history of door handles, two more are trains and legos respectively. Give me more time and I can remember many of the other kid’s “things”.
A violent game can overstimulate some kids (not from Aspergers or Autism) that are prone to that. The overstimulation is pretty real, and a lot of moms deal w/that (ADHD kids I know esp.). It is not good for the kids, but doesn’t cause any to become homicidal maniacs. Ironically, if the shooter had some underlying issue that caused overstimulation, he may have played CoD, gotten overstimulated then would have poured over gun history info in order to calm down. If it was his Asperger’s “thing” … it didn’t work for him this time. And it certainly doesn’t explain anything.
Not to make this into a P&R thread, but it seems strange to hear the people so quick to cast blame on lax gun control get defensive at the thought that their particular game, which glorifies killing, contributed to the problem. I’ve been gaming for decades and I have seen these same accusations over and over again, however this time it has given me pause. It is too easy to make a whipping boy out of any one particular aspect of the killers life, but in the wake of the shooting there are no sacred cows and I think we should at least examine ourselves and think about whether we have desensitized the more weak minded amongst us to the loss of human life.
Is it the sole problem? No. Is it even a problem? Maybe, but before I give a kneejerk reaction and dismiss it as some nutjob looking to curtail my pastime, I want to look at what our hobby has evolved into.
One question I thought of recently; as we come closer and closer to graphics which can emulate real life, does the enhanced capability come with moral responsibility? Do we treat violent video games differently than violent movies due to greater immersion and control by the end user?
No excuse for being overwhelmed when you can easily afford a full time caretaker to help.
As a kid I use to poor over books about historical weaponry, gun magazines, sporting catalogs and even those special issues of the Punisher comics that were just an examination of the weapons and equipment in his armory. I also filled pages and pages in my sketch books with fanciful weapons of my own devising, wicked looking swords, crazy armor, guns covered in attachments and so many lightsaber variations you wouldn’t believe it.
My understanding and forgive me as I can’t quote literature on a bus is that brain scans of children playing video games activates the lets pretend/fantasy portions while just watching violent games or shows activates a different part.
It is still amazing, considering that we must be aware of this single fact (being gamers), that many still refuse to see the explicit difference between passive entertainment and fully interactive entertainment.
It’s why i had access to a live computer interactive rifle range (game like thing) when the weather was too bad to use the actual range (or it was booked up by another unit etc). It’s why pilots and astronauts and doctors (insert many skilled professions) have as part of their ‘training’ computer simulations. They are just very, very good as learning tools.
I love games, i love people that love games, but the disingenuous (it has to be right?) hand-wringing that always comes out of the seeming majority of ‘game-fans’(games industry people), about this topic is pretty pathetic.
It’s simply a case of where 1+1 does not ALWAYS = 2. But it can and when it does, in this kind of horribly tragic situation, rather than all running for cover or sand to stick your collective heads in, why not see that yes these kind of games can have a negative effect on an impressionable mind. ‘Uncle Sams’ training psychology experts could talk to you about it at great length. I can talk to you about it great length, and this guy with a much better way with words can also:
http://www.thepointmag.com/2010/essays/call-of-duty
And this is a good article also:
http://nightmaremode.net/2012/11/what-games-teach-us-about-guns-vs-real-life-23661/
And there is this here thread full of handy stuff on the topic.
So grow a pair and understand, that yes it is entirely possible a sick mind can be further developed to kill via an interactive ‘training tool’, just as you can with a professional soldier. I know, i’ve been there and used the one your tax dollars pays the military for. Now go cry in your milk some more, ‘boo hoo! they might take my toy away!’ (or something). tsk.
Edit: And yes i WILL bring these kind of links up whenever we play this silly game of fear and denial.
It’s simply a case of where 1+1 does not ALWAYS = 2. But it can and when it does, in this kind of horribly tragic situation, rather than all running for cover or sand to stick your collective heads in…
What??
read the articles. And just a hint (as you’ve done it before), just posting ‘What??’ or some such does not make me feel like explaining what i’ve already written (in whatever out of context form you pick it etc) or make me feel that you invalidate anything i post. Just so you know i know this. (1,2,3…)
Here is a hint for you. When someone quotes a specific post you made and asks what?? It means please explain because you sound crazy and they are giving you the benefit of the doubt.
I don’t believe you in this case. Sorry about that, you give it away in the ‘because you sound crazy’ part.
If you can’t read or have troubles with a slight abstraction of thought process then i’m sorry for you. Tell you what, why don’t you take the time to tell me exactly what was causing you to think i was ‘crazy’ due to my post? That could be helpful? It also acts like a ‘troll barrier’.
Or alternatively don’t and stick to the topic at hand. It’s a truly interesting one that needs way more honest discussion than it normally gets amongst gamers and the games industry.
But it can and when it does in this…
Are you not intending to make a direct causation here?
On further note if you don’t want people to question you or ask for clarification start a blog. Despite what you might think you are not the wise man on the mountain dispensing wisdom and universal truths here.
Again, do we even really know if this guy played CoD and was as obsessed as that tabloid piece claims?
@ Wollf, I have no illusions that i am a ‘wise man’ on anything, my ego is secure and not threatened by your parlor games like this Wolff. I hope you enjoyed the depth around the topic in some of those articles i posted?
And no to your question (thanks for that), i was not making a direct causation, i was referring that what you practice in life can have an effect on you, negative and positive. If this ill (autistic) kid was fascinated by guns and video games that involved lots of fantasy gun use, then yes i can easily see the issue there.
For someone without a mental problem (your dispersions aside) i can inform you that the simulations used in military training make you a more effective killer, and that is their purpose, it is why they are used.
It’s not as good as actual range work in terms of weapon familiarization and all the actual sensory feedback familiarization of live fire, but in terms of aiding the psychological shift sane people (in general) need to be ‘comfortable’ with killing another human, yes it serves it’s purpose fully.