Well, this does explain my desire to sell balaclavas to goblins in derelict stately homes.

Ya don't know abaht the chuffin' orkzes, fightin' against aw those squishy canned 'umies wif their 'uge 40k warhammers? Pity!

That, that, that was really funny.

I do that too. That would actually explain all the pedestrians that I've been running over. They're ghosts! Well, they are now.

Just http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4OjDcDlzAw, man.

If this story had any truth to it, surely the Korean gamers would've immediately started constructing additional pylons to get the power back on...

sooo, what happens if you play tetris a whole lot?

Anyway, it seems credible that games can affect people's behavior, but I don't really agree with their conclusions. I do not believe games will make me violent, that's just too extreme. However games should be more influential than movies or books by logic, you are after all having an direct influence in the story.
If you think about it, one thing that humans have always done is telling stories in one way or another. Whether it be in a cave around a fire or through media like books, teather, movies and videogames. In many cultures storytelling is very important; they tell us how to think and how to live our lives. But the most important part isn't the level of violence or anything like that, it's the characters in the story that affect us the most. I'm sure all of you have been inspired by people you've seen or read about. I've personally been inspired by Indiana Jones and recently Commander Shepard of Mass Effect. These people inspires us and makes us want to live by their values, it's not because we are brainwashed it's because those values are also very important to ourselves. As with Indiana Jones, he didn't influence me to go kill a bunch of Nazis (I could do that as Nazis are legally allowed in my country), but he did inspire me to be more adventureous. Shepard was a little different, because I basically shaped him myself. But when I started making choices I would like to see myself do, rather than the choices I would make right now, Shepard became an inspiration. Mass Effect is a shooter, but what it really did was inspire me to be more responsible and a leader. And how could that possibly be a bad thing?

So when a mother says:"My son is playing a lot of Gears of War, should I worry about him turning into a violent manic?" I would say that she should be glad as her son is learning more about being a good comrade and learns about having a responsibility towards a unit.

Not all games are like that though. Some don't have a story (counter-strike) and some have you play as the bad guy (Grand Theft Auto) - while I can see why Counterstrike could turn you into a kind of a gunnut, but I guess those games are just passtime and won't really affect us, yet there have been reports of people playing lots and lots of counterstrike and then one day go on a killing spree. As for that I don't really formed an opinion on it. But I don't think there's enough evidence to blame the violence on videogames.

Same thing for the games that have you play as the bad guy. In most of these games, while you are the bad guy you are still displaying some positive values, alltough they are overshadowed by your actions. A good counter example could be Clint Eastwoods western characters, he's often an anti-hero and clearly a bad guy, but you can't help but like him, he's just cool.

To end this, I'll say that I'm bloody tired of this witchhunt on videogames. People need to be rational and not let their funny ideas get to them.

I've been playing Heavy Rain recently. Does that mean I'll get a four-way split personality?

I'm looking forward to complaining about the newest thing corrupting youths as an old geezer.

"Virtual Reality? Bah, back in my day we had HDTVs with crystal clear image, and we all the better for it!" :hehe:

wa...? no punch?

So after all the games I've played I should be a God slaying, crack Top Gun pilot/Special Force Operitive, Dunmer Swordsman...basicly a super SUPER Soldier lol :ninja: .

Well, I had to FIND the reporter first. Where did you think I was going? >.>
Also I needed to run to the plant place. I have to be ready for when the zombies show up! :U

...

into the center of a giant star cluster?

Hey, hey, hey, I only did that ONCE.











psh, like you guys never played with with the galaxy map. >.>

Oh, man I so hope this is true! Then I can run around on my black Clydesdale stallion killing trolls and minotaurs with fireballs and enchanted weapons! Awesome!

I've been playing Final Fantasy XIII, lately, and have subsequently turned into a perky girl with pink hair. :unsure:

This would explain why I can't open doors any more. I use CoD4 to crash my computer every day.

Been playing Star Ocean Till the end of Time.... Does this mean I can destroy the Moon?.