RLGaming.com

Ok these 2 guys form TomsHardware made a 5 min clip (they do a 5 min clip each week for the web site actuality) but this one focuses how people in the media are blaming video gaming for this act. they defend gaming itself and question the people saying that gaming had a part in this. As at this point we don't even know if this NUT was a gamer. I like what Hondo said the other night about how the media is blaming everything under the sun, in the end its relay just some crack pot moron who needs to be wiped 6 ways from Sunday.

Also I will note I have seen 2 different reports form 2 different scientist groups doing testing and they both found that gaming did not increase anger and violence levels and even lowered the average slightly. Again not 100% proof but so far ya all REAL evidence is not pointing to games leading to crack pots.

http://www.tomshardware.com/site/flash_ ... aming.html

this guy was 100% mentally ill, showed classic signs of death fantasy, a stalker mentallity, depression from a young age, and was deemed suicidal by both the school administration and the state mental health people......and still was allowed to remain in public. How in the hell did he pass a background check for a firearm (the dealer has to submit your name and info to the DEA for a background check...and the mental health issue should have flagged him). Someones head is going to roll over that...probably the poor dealer who from the looks of it followed the rules.

Counterstrike et. al. did not push this kid to this act......he has been there for a long time we are now learning. This kid wanted everyone dead, because they were different than what his twisted mind said was normal to him. This fucktard was going to go out....out in a big way and he wanted to take as many people with him as possable.

As yall know I'm a big fan of the 2nd amendment, I am a law abiding gun owner, and this summer will be applying for my CCW. Now, I'm not sure even I would be comfortable with 18 year olds carrying on campus, I remember how freaking irresponcible I was at that age.....mix school pressure and alcohol into the mix and nope...you mainline students should not be armed.....but I have zero problem with faculty and admin people being armed, because we all know and this tragity points out....the police are not always there to stop things like this....only clean up the mess.

Anyway, thats my 2 cents

it is actually movies and TV that increase the likelyhood that folks are going to consider doing things like this. horror films are especially bad. Two of Nidia's cousins are enthralled by SAW. I don't get it.

Gaming relieves stress...

My father actulay thinks video games are the best things since slived bread and even encuraged us kids to play

1: To play a decent game you need to think, develop stragities, even in a first person shooter, running out and just shooting gets you smoked.

2: hand eye coordination, playing games mean you have to be very persice which requires hand eye coordination, which is great to have.

This is so wide open to interpretation that its almost not even worth debating. Well before there were any video games, movies or tv shows, we had entire human civilizations who believed that things like slavery and racism were ok. There were incidents in war (Ancient China) where the surrendering army was completely executed and given no quarter. I can name many other examples but I wont.

Media at work

Getting people to talk who in all honesty don't have a freaking clue. Its all about the media trying to find someone/something to blame and video games are a easy target, so thye hit them even tho they have ZERO proof.

war atrocities are far different than civilian atrocities. there is no comparison. neither can culture wide beliefs be held in the same light (i.e. slavery or racism).

as far as tv or movies, things have to be pushed further and further to get the same level of "pop" or sensationalism. they have to outdo the previous example. therefore things are in a downward spiral as far as violence is concerned. we did have very isolated incidents of extreme/widescale viloence in the past within the civilian world - but it is much more common now. i believe this is due to the commonality and ordinality (word?) of seeing these things on the movie screen or TV. just do some looking around and you will read that this type of stuff is more and more common. why? we as a society let it leak into our childrens minds at an earlier and earlier age... sad.

That said, there is the argument that these things appear more common because we hear about them more, due to modern means of communication. Now a highschool shooting will echo around the world, but in times gone by, would anyone outside of the immediate community necessarily have known?
There can be no denying that some games can have an adverse effect. However, the cases that end up with tragedies like this one, almost always involve someone with mental health problems. The most high profile case in the UK was when a young guy stabbed his friend over an argument about a game (i think it was Manhunt or something like that), in a similar way to how you can do it in game - with a screwdriver or something like that. The media went nuts as expected, and the game was banned - not once was there a suggestion, let alone admission that maybe the kid had some problems to begin with.
The other thing that does get to me about societal reactions to games is how parents can act irresponsibly. A case in point is when me, my brother and some friends were playing Gears of War online (we had two tv's set up in the living room for some 4v4 vs randoms - we dubbed it 'Gears and Beers). So we're playing away and having a laugh...the language is as you'd expect from a bunch of beered up 20 somethings, then over XBox Live comes this dude's voice 'Can you moderate the language as my 10 year old son is playing'. In and of itself, a fair request, but when the game is a graphically violent 18 rating in the UK? Why in the hell was he letting his son play it? If he's not prepared to accept some bad language, then he shouldn't accept the violence in games either.

So, to summarise my mini-essay (:)) 1) I think people are slightly naive when assessing how responsible games are for violent incidents.
2) Often these same people have little or no idea about appropriate things for kids - games etc are rated for a reason, and if the parents can't control their kids, they shouldn't complain to censorship bodies/the games industry.

parenting is highly to blame...you got that right. oh, i mean lack of parenting.

Nidia's counsins are allowed to do some things I would not allow any child of mine to do at their age - and they are a bit miffed when they are not allowed to watch a certain movie when they stay at our house...

wolrd communications does have something to do with it, but again it is the same thing. tell me what type of news the media concentrates on? what gets the the most advertising dollar in the network's pocket? sensationalism.

how many of you already heard about the johnson space center shooting today? most of you probably.

how many of you have heard about this?

"Adrian Flores Saucedo and his mother flew by jet from San Antonio, where he been at Methodist Children's Hospital of South Texas. Residents of the Texas city raised about $500,000 for the boy, who suffers a viral infection that is eating away at his heart tissue."

my guess is just me because I had to search for good news.

most times i too use games to get rid of stress from the day. on some bad days a good shootem up game comes in handy, i remember carmagedon very helpfull do to traffic issues

i agree that TV and movies can contribute to current attitudes. it seems the sensitivity and understanding of ppl now days is far less then before. its almost like everyone around them are non-people. the person across the street or next door. the fellow in the car ahead or behind em. they are not REAL people. just something thats there to deal with. seriously think about it. how often do you actualy think the people you pass each day as a REAL person. with all the same feelings, hopes and dreams and fears you have. ive watched myself do this. its startling when you realize they are real too.

its a habit i think when you live in a city where you come across alot of people each day. for some people though it goes a little further, especialy on the internet. some times people are so involved in what they like or dislike and its so easy now days to disregard others wants etc. that they think their very whim should be fullfilled. to the point, where it oversteps others wishes.

this VT guy, is clearly a nutcase. i think in some ways this explains why some ppl who do this sort of thing just plain kill themsleves and while others, like a fruitcake, takes out other people. this guy was so into himself, that not only did he not regard the people who he killed ( or their families) but used those people to become a "somebody" in his own eyes.

to tie this togather, in the end it was about HIS wants and needs. nothing to do with the people who fell victim. the bull about his having problems with rich snobby kids was crap. if it was a fact, he would of been more selective of his targets and taken out those who offronted him first. instead he went on a rampage. who knows how many of the victims worked their ass off to get there, and had very little hand outs doing it.

you computer geeks now the term GIGO ( garbage in and garbage out) thats what the meadia is claiming here. but in a way its insulting, a computer dosnt have free will, to chose what to ignore and what not to. we do! the choices we make are the standard we are judge by. by others, the court, a divine being. his choices led him to where he went. it was his fault all the way. no movie, video game, or person made him do anything. i wish someday the media would realize that we should own our choices instead of pointing the finger to anything but.

I don't know, I think you could blame the media also. I remember them saying he was wanting attention. Well, how much attention has he gotten now? Also, how many other people who think like him are more apt to take action now, Wow, I can get my name all over the news. Instead of just covering the story, leave his name out of it, we have to have all these evaluations and information on him and what made him do this. Just leave it all out.

How do you find the motivations of a crazy person?

You can't.

tell that to CNN

That's because there's an industry called "big head speculation" that some people seem to enjoy.

unfortunately this is to my point:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... =1770&ct=5

at least it is a console game...

they would have to ask Keith Vaz (my old MP)...what a nobber..that said, probably not the best way to advertise/promote the game either.

http://www.twitchguru.com/2007/05/01/vi ... _shooting/

this is a interview with a guy from VT about the shooting. Knew the guy and crap, and he even says this guy did not play video games from what he could see. Its a interesting read.