by Bragatyr » Sun Mar 9, '14, 9:44 pm
I think, unfortunately, there's some validity to the idea that video games contribute to a culture of violence, as much as I hate to admit it, I mean, this country at least certainly has a significant level of violent crime and a prevalent gun culture, and having a bunch of kids running around mowing each other down in Call of Duty or whatever all day is certainly going to desensitize some people and that sort of thing, but the most hilarious thing to me about media reporting on video game violence is the sheer lack of understanding on the subject and the almost complete absence of any kind of real causal relationship in the reporting. I remember when they first reported on Adam Lanza's habits after Newtown, and indicated that he played Dance Dance Revolution, as if playing Dance Dance Revolution, or I guess any video game whatsoever, was a predicator of mass murder.
It just really gets me when analysts report on video games and seem to have no context on genre, the general purpose of video games, or have an assumption that only Satanists and people who resemble Bill Gates play video games. I mean, it's not exactly a niche thing anymore, people play games, and yet it seems like the media can't go out and do a little research on what they're actually about. I get that news stations can't devote a lot of time to studying Final Fantasy, there are more important things in the world, but you'd think that they'd devote a little time to the things they were discussing.