• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Video Game Rape Fest

my problem with the violent computer games make violent people thesis is that why has violent crime gone DOWN over the past few years?

And TragicMonkey, the bible also has it's own bits that are up there with Titus andronicus in sheer violence such as the Book of Revelation and The Old Testament (now i wonder why I was never taught about the violent bits of the Old Testament, such as Sodom and Gomorrah :rolleyes:)
 
Last edited:
My objection to "people are desensitised to violence" is that I have been an avid horror/gore fan since childhood and I love playing computer games that involve shooting and blowing stuff up. And yet I am still deeply disturbed by real world violence and I am in no way desensitised to real world injury/gore.

Of course, my study sample is very small (namely myself) but still...
 
A Laughing Baby said:
It can, but there are two weaknesses to that argument, in my opinion. First, the colloquial usage of this term is only prevalent within a very, very small subset of the population (not just gamers, but PC FPS gamers who play TF2, COD, or CS in the competitive setting, as far as I know), so it isn't really gaining any memetic momentum (mementum?).
Click to expand...

You're very wrong there. I've not played any of those games (well, I played TF2 once), but I see it all the time. It's absolutely standard in every MMO and FPS I've ever played online. I can't say whether it's gaining momentum or not, but it's certainly far more widespread than you seem to think.

Second, even if the usage transforms over time, it doesn't diminish the original meaning.
Click to expand...

Of course it does. Firstly, your experience of a single gay person does not imply that is the general attitude. I'd say about half of my gay friends not only don't care about it being used that way, but actually use it themselves. Secondly, "gay" is one of the worst examples you could have chosen, since it's a perfect example of usage transforming over time to the point where the original meaning is virtually forgotten.

Stray Cat said:
My objection to "people are desensitised to violence" is that I have been an avid horror/gore fan since childhood and I love playing computer games that involve shooting and blowing stuff up. And yet I am still deeply disturbed by real world violence and I am in no way desensitised to real world injury/gore.

Of course, my study sample is very small (namely myself) but still...
Click to expand...

Agreed completely. I think the problem with Gumboot's point is that it really just seems to show that the term "desensitisation" is meaningless. If people aren't any more likely to commit violence, and aren't any more accepting of it outside the context of games and TV, then how does it mean anything to say they're "desensitised"?

Am I desensitised to a particular kind of violence depicted in a particular way in a particular fictional context? Quite possible. Am I desensitised to violence in general? I see no evidence that that is the case. In fact, Gumboot's entire argument seems to be that there is actually no evidence that this happens, but some people believe it anyway so they need to add in extra ideas to explain why all this desensitisation has exactly no effect on people's behaviour.
 
I love the fact that people still get scandalized about these stupid things. I love the fact that people still try to catch other people's attention over these things by making a big fuss. I love the fact that not only we can enjoy the pleasure of bloody savage video games, vulgar comedy and dirty porn, but additionally, we can piss off a bunch of idiots and bigoted morons who have nothing better to do than to try to make us feel guilty, and try to project their own issues in an attempt to get everyone else to share their inner misery...... I guess what I'm saying is, as a good ol' friend of mine once said "I love the fact that there are Religions, because I love to sin".
 
Ron_Tomkins said:
I love the fact that people still get scandalized about these stupid things. I love the fact that people still try to catch other people's attention over these things by making a big fuss. I love the fact that not only we can enjoy the pleasure of bloody savage video games, vulgar comedy and dirty porn, but additionally, we can piss off a bunch of idiots and bigoted morons who have nothing better to do than to try to make us feel guilty, and try to project their own issues in an attempt to get everyone else to share their inner misery...... I guess what I'm saying is, as a good ol' friend of mine once said "I love the fact that there are Religions, because I love to sin".
Click to expand...

I love the fact that the offended people tend to be conservative...and hawkish.
 
Cuddles said:
You're very wrong there. I've not played any of those games (well, I played TF2 once), but I see it all the time. It's absolutely standard in every MMO and FPS I've ever played online. I can't say whether it's gaining momentum or not, but it's certainly far more widespread than you seem to think.
Click to expand...

I apologize for my lack of exposure to it, then. I really only have experience with one or two FPS games in the online setting, so I don't really know how widespread it is. I was absolutely wrong to have presumed that I do.

Cuddles said:
Of course it does. Firstly, your experience of a single gay person does not imply that is the general attitude. I'd say about half of my gay friends not only don't care about it being used that way, but actually use it themselves. Secondly, "gay" is one of the worst examples you could have chosen, since it's a perfect example of usage transforming over time to the point where the original meaning is virtually forgotten.
Click to expand...

You're right, and I suppose I shouldn't let myself be swayed so much by that single experience. I blame empathy. On the other hand, this is a somewhat unique scenario. The colloquial usage of "gay" has literally nothing to do with the insulting usage of it. The colloquial usage of "rape" in online gaming is pretty much unchanged from the original, excluding the sexual undertone. It still means violated/dominated/etc. This is a unique transformation in meaning since it's essentially just excising one portion of the original meaning. I'm not personally offended by it, but I do think that viewed by outsiders, it could be perceived as callous or what have you.

gumboot said:
A really good post about desensitization
Click to expand...

I agree with pretty much everything you say here. I'm really indifferent to the content of video games, and when people suggest that they influence behavior, I think it is almost insulting to human intelligence to suggest that we are that susceptible. If I watch a Western film, I don't magically think I can masterfully ride a horse.
 
MontagK505 said:
In Japan the word usually refers to a person who has weird sexual proclivities and is generally considered an insult. In the U.S it usually refers to amine or Manga "tentacle porn".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hentai
Click to expand...

It just means "perverse", and usually refers to any anime or manga porn, tentacles or none. In Japan they usually say h-game, h-manga, or ero-g, eromanga, etc.
 
I think the whole controversy hinges on the fact that some part of the population is incapable of distinguishing between fiction and reality, and they assume everyone else suffers from this same disability.


eta: And I bet they feel guilty about their dirtiest sex fantasies, too.
 
According to theNational Crime Victimization Survey Violent Crime Trends as reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics:

From 1973 (first year recorded) to 1984 there is not a single year that rape went under 2 victims per 1000. 1979 was the peak year at 2.8 victims per 1000.
The last year shown (2009) is 0.3 victims per thousand. Since 1996 (when Duke Nukem 3D was released) the rate has never risen to 1 per thousand.

If they're going to blame videogames for these trends, they should at least get direction right.
 
Irony said:
Since 1996 (when Duke Nukem 3D was released) the rate has never risen to 1 per thousand.

If they're going to blame videogames for these trends, they should at least get direction right.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah, who wants to go out and rape when you can stay at home and play Duke Nukem?!
 
IIRC, there were few complaints about Dungeon Keeper, even though it was worse than Duke Nukem (dudalb noted the Dark Mistress) in terms of you being encouraged to torture your enemies (either conversion, dying and turning into ghosts and/or passing information)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom