Front page poll 04/23/07 - Do you feel gaming has desensitized you to violence?

[Queue]

Do you feel gaming has desensitized you to violence?

A. Yes, very much so.
B. Yes, a bit, but no more then movies and television.
C. No, playing violent games has not affected me at all.
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[RangerRick]

C.

I recognize the difference between a game and real life. The 2 are not the same, and never will be.
The reason for that? My parents first and formost, second my morals, and third my religious upbringing. There is a right and wrong, and should be taught from an early age.

I never really felt I had to prove anything to anyone except myself, and realize life is not 'fair'. And I don't blame society for 'my' problems.

[NotSoFast]

C.

[Rob]

I am going to be more realistic and say B. Sorry guys, but I think there is some level of desensitizing when it comes to violence in games and the media. It doesn't mean I do not know the difference though. But where I once thought Subzero's spinal rip in Mortal Kombat was a bit much, stuff like that in gaming does not bother me anymore. When the decapitations happened in Iraq, it bothered me greatly.

[Kalbrecht]

I'm with you Rob - B.

With the amount of violence, and fairly graphic violence, that we see these days in all forms of media, I don't think we can help but be a bit desensitised. Sure, it can still offend, or shock, but we have little choice but to desensitise ourselves, or we spend our time being shocked/offended/disturbed continually. Also - by seeing the same variations of violence over and over again in movies and games, we kind of 'know' what to expect when it appears, so that already has less of an effect.

[Shoboy]

Awwwwwe...........ROB, I'm with you toooooooooooooo!!

Stuff I see in games and movies, it does not bother me anymore.

But in real life, I kind of get scared when I see two people fighting...... I dont like conflict or aggresion, and even when I'm not in it, it bothers me. Seeing one guy blast another guy in the face :hit2: will sicken me to my stomach(but not UFC stuff)...... but in a movie, I'm LOVING IT when someone gets there face ripped off by a bears claw or something.

I know the difference between reality and make believe. And knowing it's fake, NOTHING disturbs me.........

But back to my UFC comment. These guys are fighting for real, but it's not an angry fight, it's a compition fight, like boxing. Even though they are kicking each other's arse, it's not because one guy is drunk, or mad at his girlfriend, or something stupid like that. These guys respect each other, they back off when things get serious, they are out to win, not out to hurt the guy out of anger. It's just a more physical sport than it is a fight. They are not trying to break each others arm or leg, then stomp on thier face, take thier wallet and steal thier car or something. Since I understand that the "intention" is not out of anger, UFC stuff does not bother me...............

But a sick kick to the face will always make me reel back and cringe :scared2:

[Sno]

I don't think any of the answers accurately reflect the reality of the situation.

See, whether it's a violent game or a good horror movie, the gore does virtually nothing, right?

I know it isn't real, it just doesn't shock me anymore.

Now, i walk out the door, maybe i see some guy bleeding profusely? *

**** holy, that gets to me, because that is real.

* = (Why is a man bleeding profusely infront of my residence? Who knows!)

[Rob]

^ because he is probably the one that busted your 360.

[Cloudw4lker]

A.
Except for one thing, when I was watching Blood Diamond I was kinda mad at seeing kids toting AK47s, but apart from that, I've kinda become immune to the whole blood thing.

Couple months ago when I cut my finger at work I was completely calm about it even though other people were panicking, so it does have it's advantages.