160°

Study finds no links between videogames and violence – Just in time for Hatred?

MWEB GameZone Writes: "A long-term US based study into violent videogames, has been conducted by a group led by psychologist Christopher Ferguson. The study found no links between violent games and behavior. Just in time for Hatred.

The study also questions the methodology of previous research that suggested the two were related."

HanCilliers3420d ago (Edited 3420d ago )

I don't think that playing violent video can cause violent behavior, but I do wonder if extreme violent games like Hatred can tap into the disturbed psyche of a person who has shown violent tendencies and push that into action.

Mutant-Spud3420d ago

Violent criminals probably don't spend a lot of time playing video games and any time they do spend indoors on the couch instead of out on the streets is a bonus for society.
In my country prisoners are allowed to have gaming consoles in their cells as a reward if they behave themselves, one mass murderer even tried to take the department of corrections to court because they wouldn't update his PS2 to a PS3.
It seems a tad askew that the corrections department (who you'd assume know what they're doing) see gaming as a part of rehabilitation of prisoners and hysterical pastors and sundry other nitwits like Jack Thompson see them as causal factors in criminality.

HanCilliers3420d ago

Thanks for the feedback dude, interesting stuff. I do believe games can act as a catalyst to say reduce stress. I've written a couple of articles about it. I've just been wondering if EXTREMELY violent games, like Hatred could act as a trigger for a person that already shows violent undercurrents.

XBLSkull3420d ago (Edited 3420d ago )

A game like this has no reason to exist. What next? SimConcentration-Camp where you get to build your dream genocide factory and attempt to rid entire races of people? Is RapeLay coming to Steam anytime soon?

I'm against censorship but a game like this speaks volumes of it's creators, and they don't deserve any kind of publicity or make any profit on this.

360ICE3420d ago

@XBLSkull
Hell no, Rapelay isn't coming to Steam. In fact, apparently dating simulation games are having a hard time being published on Steam. If only you brutally murdered the people you date, then maybe they'd stand a chance.

ABizzel13420d ago (Edited 3420d ago )

Video Games don't make good people commit violent acts.

Video Games can be a catalyst for troubled people commiting violent acts.

Video Games don't turn kids into sociopaths.

Video Games can be a catalyst for de-synthesizing kids over time, especially those with sociopathic traits.

Long story short, violent video games don't make good-hearted people violent, or kids that have positive influences such as parents who actually parent instead of letting video games babysit 24/7.

Violent Video games; however, can encourage evil-natured people to commit crimes and acts of violence, and it can blur the moral compass of children who don't have positive influences in their lives, and who aren't taught responsibility, empathy, and consequences of their actions by loving parents, just like violent movies can, just like violent music can, and just like violent books can.

A violent person has had those tendencies develop over years. If you tell your kids turn off the game, and they go into a rage, you need to correct that behavior the first time it happens, because when little Billy turns 16 his rage is that of a young man, not a child and Billy is now a threat. Ongoing, and unpunished bad behavior allows kids to think their actions are okay, and that sticks with them through adulthood where they become a danger to society. So at the end of the day it all starts with parenting.

kingdip903420d ago

And who bares the responsibility when violent criminals commit crimes? Is the the criminals themselves or the violent media on TV and in games?

Are those troubles people for whom violent media has been a catalyst simply victims of violent media? Should we forgive them a treat them for their media exposure?

Perhaps we could put them in a room and show them images to condition their behavior to that of an upstanding citizen a LA a clockwork orange

Metallox3420d ago (Edited 3420d ago )

Pretty much this, parents can do so much but since it isn't the case for the most part, we have these studies.

ABizzel13420d ago

@kingdip90

Ultimately it depends on the age in many of those cases. Ignorance is no excuse for violence after a certain age (in most states that's 17 where you're legally an adult). When it's youth 16 and younger then it's time to hit the parents with fines.

You always see the parents on TV saying we never knew, he was such as good kid, but many times it's just because no parent wants to believe their child is capable/willing to commit such a crime and they overlook all the signs such as disrespect, cruelty, troubled school life, lack of friends / troubled friends, etc... If you see you kid struggling or having these issues it's time to have a talk, or get help if you can't deal with it. When a young kid has these kind of issues and the parents fail to get help, they should be held responsible.

I'm all for a bit of censorship (and I mean MINOR), because there is just too much violence and too much trash that's easily accessible to kids. TV is utter trash these days, with reality TV taking over with trashy women fighting 24/7 over men and other petty things, and men acting like they pimpin' hoes and slangin'. We have to get rid of trash TV and bring back good TV (TV series are at an all time best, but reality TV has to go).

Second you have to start with kids at a very young age, teaching them empathy. If you can't feel sorry for someone else, then you don't care what happens to anyone besides what you deem one of your own, and as you age that circle usually gets smaller, which means you value the life of someone else less, and when that happens on a mass scale, murders being to happen on a mass scale. The problem with this is that no matter how much you teach the kids empathy, if they're going home to a dysfunctional family then the skills they learn in school are constantly being challenged by their family, which is why it's going to take several generations to reap those benefits.

There's just so much wrong, so much that needs to be moderated "for kids especially", and so much that needs to change for a major shift in behavior occurs. A child can get online and watch a murder in seconds, and that kind of de-synthesizing is a catalyst for this kind of behavior.

Like Netflix has a kids only menu, there needs to be a Kid search menu for the internet, TV, and more, to make parental controls easier to learn and understand, because many kinds are more technological savvy than their parents. So again it's going to take a lot, and personally I don't think the majority of people care until it's too late. The best you can do is raise your kids to be righteous, honest, able to defend themselves.

acekaze3420d ago

Totally agree with you, unfortunatly its also not only about having videogames babysitting their kids 24/7 but also allowing them to have wichever games they want, I fail to understand why do parents buy games of 18+ age for their 10 year old kids

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3420d ago
SaveFerris3420d ago

Maybe, but you could also say that about books, TV and movies, now and before videogames existed.

madjedi3420d ago (Edited 3420d ago )

So why restrict it to extremely violent video games, why not movies or books, or overly aggressive or harsh coaches in sports.

What video games did hitler or stalin, play that tapped into their disturbed psyche that pushed them into action.

Focus on the mentally unstable individual that has displayed violent tendencies and not an asinine scapegoat to blame it on.

The violence begins with the person and ends with them, if the intention is to actually minimize or eliminate the violence, focus on the blindingly obvious solution.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3420d ago
Walker3420d ago

Videogames and violence are blood brothers .

Sillicur3420d ago

No i really dont think they are. Why do you think so?

3420d ago
Relientk773420d ago

Duh, playing violent video games actually helps relieve stress.

Sillicur3420d ago

Exactly. Videogames actually do the opposite. People think violence in video games and films cause real life-voilence should really read this!

Thank you for your intelligent response

Relientk773420d ago

They just want to be so quick to judge and blame video games

plut0nash3420d ago

This topic. Ugh. It's all media hype at the end of the day.

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520°

Controversial "Adults Only" Murder Simulator Hatred Is Coming To Nintendo Switch

A game about killing people.

Read Full Story >>
nintendolife.com
NecrumOddBoy1495d ago (Edited 1495d ago )

This game was just gratuitous violence. I don't know why it was rated AO. It's no worse than a GTA killing spree, Hotline Miami, or even the 'No Russian' COD mission. Reminded my of a weaker Dead Nation except no zombies.

FlyingFoxy1495d ago

And we have highly sexualised Japanese games like Senran Kagura which are often either borderline, or practically straight up soft core.. and not even rated AO, some even rated lower age than GTA!

Makes you wonder what's wrong with the ratings systems overall tbh, potentially exposing kids to all kinds of nasty stuff.. but then that's more the parents fault anyways, and the upper age ratings are definitely nowhere near kid friendly, yet you still get little kids playing certain things they shouldn't be.

StormSnooper1494d ago (Edited 1494d ago )

Sex should not even be an issue. Violence, on the other hand, should have restricted access. I don’t know anything about this particular game, but sounds like the difference between this and GTA is that GTA is a game about mafia, so violence itself isn’t the lure of the game. It’s telling a story. But a game about murder, is a game centered on murder as the selling point. I Don’t know, I see a difference here.

1494d ago
StormSnooper1493d ago (Edited 1493d ago )

@genericgamer01
We are confusing a number of issues here:

1) I think we all agree that any outright censorship is bad.
2) violence does in fact have negative impact on young kids.
3) as a matter of public welfare, some things are not better left to the unchecked discretion of people, in this case parents. This is why we all obey traffic laws.
4) while the right to raise your children how you see fit is a fundamental right, not all parents know how/are able to raise their children in a proper way, and the rights of the child and society should also be considered. Unfortunately, while we get a manual with everything, and attend classes for things like driving, a child does not come with a manual and no classes are offered to parents about how to raise a child.
5) there is a strong interest in protecting those in our society who do not have a means of protecting themselves. This includes children who cannot protect themselves from bad parenting.
6) we do in fact have experts in every field, both inside and outside government, who have dedicated their lives to specific fields, and DO know more in that subject than the general public. (To argue otherwise is called anti-intellectualism, which is a major problem in our society today, i.e. flat earthers)

Therefore, we should have regulations that guide parents, and also prohibit them from allowing their young to engage in activities that are either damaging, or have the propensity to derail their development into functioning positive members of society.

Lastly, the issue of politicians using video games as a means to seem tough, is an altogether separate problem as these individuals should not be allowed to take the reigns from experts on matters of public policy without scientific support.

PurpHerbison1494d ago

I guess the biggest difference here is the goal of Hatred is to murder where as GTA isn't all about killing sprees, Hotline Miami is too cute to be taken seriously, and COD isn't all about wiping out Russians. Best comparison is probably Dead by Daylight where 50% of the game is being a serial killer trying to kill survivors in gruesome ways and it is only rated M.

Kostche1493d ago

shooting and killing people is shooting and killing... dont matter what form it is

1494d ago
CptDville1493d ago

Have you ever tried Manhunt? It was quite disturbing when launched.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1493d ago
Tetsujin1495d ago

I'm surprised Switch is getting this and PlayStation/Xbox isn't. The game was basically Postal with better graphics and more realism.

LOGICWINS1494d ago

I'm not. Sonys the one that's been caught censoring anime bikini girls. Nintendo has been vocal about being against censorship.

https://www.google.com/amp/...

https://www.exclusivelygame...

REALAS1494d ago

Haha. Only with the switch, because money. Nintendo has censored more games than anyone.

Segata1494d ago

Nintendo will censor their games but not 3rd parties. That's what tey said since few will click any links.

MadLad1493d ago

@reals

So only with either company's most recent consoles? The ones most relevant here in 2020?

REALAS1493d ago

@ Ted
I just find it funny that people make it seem like Nintendo has always championed non censorship. They have only relaxed their stance to deliver to their shareholders. Good for them, I guess.

MadLad1492d ago

@reals

What I think you're noticing is people going at Sony, because they have been the censorship kings of this generation.

I've never seen people voicing Nintendo's anti-censorship stance, because they've obviously been bad with that in the past. But we're talking about now, and Sony is the one always seen censoring content nowadays.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1492d ago
Activemessiah1495d ago

Brace yourselves for the incoming bitching about this by journalists.

NecrumOddBoy1494d ago (Edited 1494d ago )

Or more likely: "Best on Switch - 10/10"

QuePasa871494d ago

Hmm I wonder if some retail outlets will refuse to sell it

Kabaneri1494d ago

Every open world sandbox game is Hatred for me.

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290°

5 Titles That Critics Hated but Gamers Loved

A look at five games that gamers loved but most critics hated.

Read Full Story >>
8bitdigi.com
iofhua2341d ago

Advent Rising is another good example. It got panned by critics but it has a good story and I enjoyed playing it. The graphics are dated, the enemies all look the same, but it was made in 2005 so what do you expect? I wish they made the sequel so I could finish the story but I think the critics killed it off.

2341d ago Replies(1)
Aaroncls72340d ago

I don't trust critics.
I'd value more the feedback from a random user.

nommers2340d ago

I seldom trust gamers or critics anymore. A lot of times high scores just mean how likely you are to enjoy something from the game, but rarely anything about how much you would enjoy said things, or whether the highly preferred type of qualities in a game you’re looking for are even in it. My initial gut feeling of the premise of a game is usually all I need.

quent2340d ago

Silent Hill: downpour another example

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130°

Shock Value Alone Won't Sell Sh*tty Games

Joanna Mueller writes: "Since the 1980's, video game advocates have been arguing for the protection of games as a medium of free speech. Frankly, I consider myself in that camp, but just because a game can push against the boundaries of common decency doesn't mean it should. Especially if the developer is just hoping to ride the wave of pearl clutching controversy to the bank."

Read Full Story >>
newnormative.com
garyanderson2809d ago

Nothing wrong with pushing for controversy, but the game still has to be worthwhile. Lots of games in the 90s showed that.

ShaunCameron2809d ago

Because the novelty will eventually wear off and the audience will eventually wise up.

2809d ago
Cy2809d ago

So what? If there's a market for something then why should anyone care if it gets filled, as long as it's not something illegal? You can dislike so-called "edge lord" games all you want (in fact, you can like or dislike whatever you want, full stop) but even if games like Hatred are just trying to take advantage of anti-SJW backlash to make a quick buck, the fact that they exist at all is important in a culture that's becoming increasingly puritan and censorship orientated. Art is supposed to push the envelope. It's supposed to make you think. And even if all a game makes you do is think about why certain people are so desperate to ban it.

Enigma_20992809d ago

Yeah, it makes me think WTF is this s***?

Skankinruby2809d ago

Sure seems to be working for gta

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