Australian report on videogaming violence

[Major Banter]

So in yet another chapter of the epic R18 issue in Australia, we see this woeful little article.

An Australian news report claims that the connection between videogames and violence is "greater than the connection between smoking and lung cancer."

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.178208-Report-Effects-of-Gaming-Worse-Than-Smoking-on-Lung-Cancer

Oh dear.

I won't summarise the article, you can read it yourselves, but there's the rather incredible quote of:

"In Modern Warfare: Call of Duty 2 (sic), the highest selling media product of all time, gamers plot terror attacks against civilians."

that made me simply raise the question: Are these idiots serious? I mean, really? What the hell?!

[MayheM]

Wow, this kind of thing is crazy...

I grew up watching horror movies and playing violent games and I am one of the least violent people you could imagine. In fact I think one reason I am so calm is because when I have a bad day I take it out on the bad guys in games and not on other people. This honestly breaks down to parents wanting to pass the blame for bad parenting onto someone else. If you raise you kids to know right from wrong no video game is going to effect them in a negative way. Parents need to maybe look at themselves and see they should be more involved in their kids lives. I'm not talking about being hard asses and not letting their kids have fun, I am just talking about having a bit more interaction with them and make sure they are happy...

[Dionysos]

It's simple math. Gaming has become so mainstream that we should be having serious trouble catching all the mad killers out there by now.

[Spike]

Common sense claims that the connection between Australia media/goverment and mental retardation is "greater than the connection between smoking and lung cancer."

[Smurftyours]

Heh...... *Chuckles*.....

[coder0xff]

With this kinda stuff I tend to just go, "oh well." What the fuck are we gonna do about it? Not a god damn thing. 9/11? Oh well. Religion? Oh well. Etc.

[nub]

LOL one of the users in the escapist thread said this:

Playing videogames makes my clothes and house stink like smoke, cause health problems for people around me, and give me a hacking cough that kills me when I'm thirty-five? Shocking news indeed!

Although I suppose a lack of showering could do about the same, so maybe there is a correlation...

Too good.

[Biological-Bum]

I guess there isn't much we can really do about it. Perhaps after another generation or two we won't hear much more of this sort of stuff.

[Serever]

bit of a zombie topic here but im passionately against just about everything the Australian government does these days (apart from fork out $900 to everybody). my girlfriend explained it pretty well: as a nation were a bunch of lazy, impressionable optimists, so the media essentially runs the place and we cant be assed to do anything about it.

media: smoking is bad!
us: oh. really?
government: (fuck)
media: yea we should do something about it
us: ok. how?
government: hey guys! theres now an extra %25 tax on tobacco products! not that they werent hugely overpriced already anyway! and that anyone actually gave a crap about smoking in the first place! fuck your lifestyle choices! heh.

etc, etc. im not actually a smoker (except when tequila is involved) but its the latest on the list of 'why the fuck are you doing that?' decisions that our government has made.

on a slightly different topic, does anyone who lives in a country with a logical (america is out), respectable (italy is out) government thats willing to host me and my girlfriend till we get jobs etc? im an award winning barista so should be easy enough in anywhere in western europe, right?

oh and yes i havent been to these forums in like 4 years, but im getting back into mapping (HL1 ) so expect something sometime in the nearish future, though with the workload engineering students get dont hold your breath.

[Gary]

Off topic comment @ Serever:
Smoking is bad and kinda a stupid choice... it's basically expensive lung cancer, that also gives you a horrid oder.

[cz_squishy]

http://www.modsonair.com/2009/07/19/mod ... e-special/
Kind of long but it's worth watching

[MáØ]

Sigh... Maybe we can trick 4chan into knocking out a couple more Aus. government servers for us or something...

[dewkl]

Why is this person given any attention? I see no references of any studies. Why is there an article about this at all? Oh, I know why. Because journalism has become a joke of a profession, devoid of the most vital aspects of journalism; investigation and truth. It's just sad for those who take the profession seriously to be associated with these people. The source article is an example of that evil circle, stupid journalists giving stupid people attention.

"In Modern Warfare: Call of Duty 2 (sic), the highest selling media product of all time, gamers plot terror attacks against civilians."

There goes his integrity as a scientist.