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It's honestly no worse then watching an action movie or something. As long as kids know right from wrong, they will usually be fine. You can look at places where there is probably alot more people playing video games compared to where there is not. Canada for example probably has just as many gamers who play violent games as the U.S. There crime rate is much lower then the US. I read somewhere this is the case for Japan also. Now look at places where many people probably aren't playing as many violent video games Mexico, Haiti, places in Africa, the middle east ect. and the violence there is outrageous in those areas. There were people being violent in America long before GTA or COD. Look at some of the crime rates for cities in the 70's and 80's. Hell, it was gang warfare in the 90's. Look at inner cities vs suburbs for example. I'm willing to bet suburban kids are the main people playing violent video games while the same kids their age just a few miles into the city are playing COD for REAL out on the streets.
Video games play a VERY tiny part in the way kids lives end up. What plays a huge part in how they end up is the way they are raised, who their role models are, and who they hang around. I guarantee many of you parents would much rather have your kids at home playing an M rated game minding his own business then out on the streets secretly doing God knows what with the wrong crowd who can influence your child's mind MUCH MUCH more. Being too strict on kids will cause them to be more hardheaded and do things behind your back. Not saying that parents shouldn't have rules for their child but giving kids more freedom helps them mature. I know this from experience. My parents used to be pretty strict, and I would always have to hide things from them and be hardheaded. It took me a while to mature because of how strict my parents were being compared to other kids my age. But once my parents started being less and less strict, I felt more like a grown up and started acting like one. I also felt alot more comfortable around them, started not hiding things from them and realized many things on my own about how to make smart decisions.
I always hear little kids on COD all the time and they are annoying as SH*T. They talk crap and cuss the most. I doubt they get that type of mentality from video games. It's from their surrounding no matter where they live. They will be exposed to things like it or not. You can try to hide it as much as you possibly can and all that will do is make them more and more fascinated in it once they are exposed to it. But if they are taught things, what to do and what not to do and why like for example drugs, violent lifestyles they may have seen on a game or TV, or even some pervert approaching them they will be more prepared for unexpecting things because they know what the outcome could be.
I'd argue that it is a little different. In a movie, the audience is watching a character but in the game it is more like you are the one doing it.
Bottom line is some kids are more impressionable than others and it is really up to the parents to decide what they should be exposed to. Of course, some parents have always been more persmissive than others. I remember when the first Porky's came out, my friends in school all went to see it but I would have gotten my head ripped off if I went.
To say video games play a tiny part in kids' lives and then see them on Prestige 4 and closing in on the 5th in a short time after release means you and I probably have very different versions of tiny. I've Prestiged and it took a lot of time. Certainly more than a tiny part of my day. (referencing COD Black Ops 2)
Perhaps mom and dad could make a little time in their day to keep their child off of the Xbox? And I certainly am not known for shying away from foul language, but when I get on Live and hear these kids, it blows my mind. It's not the games alone. It's the way each generation seemingly one-ups the last in extreme behavior. Add to that the relative anonymity of video game communications and some children's desire to be as shocking and outlandish as possible and you have a recipe for an unruly group of kids. This does not stop when the console gets turned off. I see this on a daily basis and it really worries me.
I do not blame video games by themselves. I place partial blame on media in totality and the idea that it is acceptable to be shocking or rude. The rest of the blame I place squarely on the parents.
As for my son, he will be allowed to play M games as soon as I am satisfied that he can separate fantasy from real life and he will not act or speak the way video game characters do.
To say video games play a tiny part in kids' lives and then see them on Prestige 4 and closing in on the 5th in a short time after release means you and I probably have very different versions of tiny. I've Prestiged and it took a lot of time. Certainly more than a tiny part of my day. (referencing COD Black Ops 2)
Doesn't it depend on how good you are? Those little bastards are pretty good or I just flat out stink. Probably more the latter than the former.
Doesn't it depend on how good you are? Those little bastards are pretty good or I just flat out stink. Probably more the latter than the former.
One's skill certainly plays a part in how fast you can advance through the ranks but you cannot get through the ranks without a substantial amount of time being spent in game. There is just no way to avoid spending hours upon hours if you want to hit Master or whatever rank, depending on title. I'll have my kicks where I play a lot of games (mainly wintertime because the water is too cold) and I will look at the clock and see 9pm and say to myself, "Oh, just another round" and then the next thing I know it is 3am and I have to be getting up for work in a few hours.
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