I'm a gamer, and thus a drug addic...wait...WHAT?!

New Member
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
4,765
Best answers
0
Location
The Netherlands
Study: Violent games lead to drug, alcohol abuse
Researchers conclude "violent" games foster more "permissive attitudes" toward drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Anti-game activists got another bit of ammunition today, courtesy of a study published in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The study, which was jointly conducted by San Francisco- and Pittsburgh-based researchers, came to the conclusion that playing violent video games leads to "permissive attitudes toward violence, alcohol use, marijuana use, and sexual activity without condom use."

The study, titled "Effects of Media Violence on Health-Related Outcomes Among Young Men," was based on a sampling of 100 male undergraduate students aged 18 to 21 years. It randomly assigned the subjects to play one of two video games--VU Games' The Simpsons: Hit & Run and Grand Theft Auto III. Subjects were selected so that the test group would have "differing amounts of lifetime home and community violence."

The study's conclusions? "Men randomly assigned to play Grand Theft Auto III exhibited greater increases in diastolic blood pressure from a baseline rest period to game play, greater negative affect, more permissive attitudes toward using alcohol and marijuana, and more uncooperative behavior in comparison with men randomly assigned to play The Simpsons," read the report.

It stated that specifically "only among participants with greater exposure to home and community violence, play of Grand Theft Auto III led to elevated systolic blood pressure in comparison with play of The Simpsons." The report continuted, "Although youth growing up in violent homes and communities may become more physiologically aroused by media violence exposure, all youth appear to be at risk for potentially negative outcomes."

The report ran in the same issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine as an article that assesed the rating scheme of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). Titled "Content and Ratings of Mature-Rated Video Games," the study gave a mixed report card to the ESRB.

"Although the Entertainment Software Rating Board content descriptors for violence and blood provide a good indication of such content in the game, we identified 45 observations of content that could warrant a content descriptor in 29 games (81 percent) that lacked these content descriptors," read the report.
By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot
Why are they giving Jack Thompson more weapons for his war against games?! Seriously, Games leading to drug and alcohol addiction? How ridiculous is this gonna get: Games leading to the end of the world? I play Grand Theft Auto as well, and I don't use drugs, I can't stand smoke, and I refuse to drink...so do [most] of my friends, and those that do smoke or drink (none of them use drugs) haven't even started smoking or drinking because of games, but because of influence by friends.
 
Super Moderator
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
3,125
Best answers
0
Wow, a sample of 100, that's a conclusive study if I've ever seen one.
 
New Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Messages
397
Best answers
0
It stated that specifically "only among participants with greater exposure to home and community violence, play of Grand Theft Auto III led to elevated systolic blood pressure in comparison with play of The Simpsons."
something tells me anti video game peopel are going to conveniently forget that part

edit: and what optimus said
 
New Member
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
4,022
Best answers
0
Like what Optimus said - a 100 people isn't generalizable to the whole public, so the study doesn't mean jack ****.

100 people is laughable.
 

sub

Active Member
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jun 18, 2003
Messages
5,961
Best answers
0
Location
New York
This happens every time there is a new form of media - The older generations hate it / view it as evil. It happened with T.V., Rock and Roll, Music, you name it. In due time, they'll leave games alone and it'll be an established and accepted media form, just like T.V.
 
Pwns Mastasurf at TF2
Retired Forum Staff
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
5,115
Best answers
0
Playing any game worth its salt will start messing with a person's dopamine levels and raise blood pressure, heart rate, adrenaline, etc. Just like any activity, physical or otherwise, that a person enjoys. So of course the physical effects are to be expected. GTA3 is a much more involved game with a hell of a lot more stimulus than Simpsons Hit and Run. GTA3 also more closely represents realistic situations, whereas the Simpsons are blatantly comicly unrealistic. So basically it's like trying to compare cliff diving to jumping on a moon walk (bouncy castle). They're ocncluding that based on physical evidence, that these games cause these behaviors without qualifying how people responded about "permisive" attitudes. Furthermore, tiny fricking study, they'd be shot by any scientist or statistician for using such a small pool of candidates. What was their control? What about other games or activities? From their phsyical data, you could draw the same conclusions from Doom 3.

To summarize: They did everything wrong and had a particular outcome in mind before they conducted said experiment it would seem. At the best, their methodology was poorly constructed.
 
The Viking
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
4,803
Best answers
0
As soon as Virtual Reality becomes the real thing, they will leave computes alone and pick on VR :(
 
New Member
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
4,022
Best answers
0
Cold Steel said:
As soon as Virtual Reality becomes the real thing, they will leave computes alone and pick on VR :(
VR Hot Coffee Mod FTW o/
 
New Member
Retired Forum Staff
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Apr 7, 2003
Messages
1,478
Best answers
0
I think VR is due for a comeback. They tried it when technology couldn't be as miniaturized as it can be today. If any of you tried it (as I did), you probably found it unwieldly, cumbersome, and dizzying. The sets made my eyes water pretty badly, plus they were using it with games with visual quality of about Quake 1/2, and games which weren't designed with VR in mind.

But if you had a set today, light and comfortable, with a game like Oblivion.. You'd probably lose people forever. :p

In any case, you have nothing to fear from people like Jack Thompson using these "studies." Five (or is it six, now?) judges have struck down laws even trying to restrict the sale of violent games to minors, much less prevent them from being created and distributed to adults.
 
New Member
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
4,765
Best answers
0
Location
The Netherlands
More hilarious stuff:

During his emotional testimony, Strickland lashed out at games' impact on society. "As I gather more information on the games and the people who call themselves 'gamers,' I could see how someone like Devin, who at one minute did not put up any resistance ... [could take] my brother's gun from him in the police station, shooting him and then killing two other men in a matter of less than two minutes," said Strickland. "A game such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City could and did teach him how to do this."
Strickland also heaped praise on his attorney, anti-game activist Jack Thompson. "As a minister, I deal with a lot of different issues and try to stay up and become educated on them, but Jack opened up a whole other world to me that I did not even know existed," he said. "This is the violent video game world--a world that, as far as I am concerned, is straight from the pits of hell."
(Stupid JT lover!)

Entire story can be found here: [Warning, Huge amount of text, only read when you have nothing else to do! (Which I can hardly imagine if you have Oblivion :p)] http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146902.html

Now that I'm talking about Oblivion, do you think JT would have a rant against Oblivion to? I mean, once you get a fan, you can go up the large tower in the center of Imperial City, use a paralyze spell and make your fan drop from a 300 feet long building. (If you don't know what I mean: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4720748546419377494&q=oblivion+fan&pl=true)
 
New Member
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Oct 2, 2002
Messages
1,043
Best answers
0
Wow... that's got to be the most hilarious, biggest joke of a "scientific" study I've ever heard. There are too many things wrong with their method for me to even begin...
 
Member
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
🌟 Senior Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2001
Messages
351
Best answers
0
Those games make me want to have unprotected sex with women.

What man DOESN"T? Game or no? I don't think it makes a difference.
 
Cunning as Zeus
Banned
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Nov 23, 2003
Messages
6,079
Best answers
0
Growing up, I wasn't allowed to play violent video games and look at me now. I hate pretty much everything and I want to destroy everyone. If only I had had access to Mortal Kombat as a child.
 
Active Member
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Nov 6, 2004
Messages
3,055
Best answers
0
Location
Round Rock, TX
Wow, that article is completely 100% true. Ever since I played Metal Gear Solid, I've been out raping women and drunk driving.
 
New Member
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
4,022
Best answers
0
One might argue that your lack of violent video games (a means to vent) during your younger days has been (one of) the cause(s) of your current desire to destroy. :p

But that's a while different debate. ;o~
 
New Member
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
4,765
Best answers
0
Location
The Netherlands
Zeonix said:
If only I had had access to Mortal Kombat as a child.
Imagine that....heck...imagine Zeonix-the-uber-cute-bunny-lover due to influence of...jazzjack rabbit...AH! Games do lead to the ending of the world!
 
Cunning as Zeus
Banned
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Nov 23, 2003
Messages
6,079
Best answers
0
Shiyojin Rommyu said:
One might argue that your lack of violent video games (a means to vent) during your younger days has been (one of) the cause(s) of your current desire to destroy. :p

But that's a while different debate. ;o~
....thats what I was getting at by saying "If only I had had Mortal Kombat." Meaning had I played the game as I child, I wouldn't feel like killing everyone. Not that I ever would. Don't tell the authorities please o_O.
 
New Member
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
4,022
Best answers
0
:p I thought you meant to say that, had you played Mortal Kombat in your younger days, you would have been much more violent/destructive than you are now, in a sarcastic way so as to insult the aforementioned 100-man study.
 
Pwns Mastasurf at TF2
Retired Forum Staff
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
5,115
Best answers
0
SailorAlea said:
In any case, you have nothing to fear from people like Jack Thompson using these "studies." Five (or is it six, now?) judges have struck down laws even trying to restrict the sale of violent games to minors, much less prevent them from being created and distributed to adults.
I'm actually happy that Minnesota is making a law to restrict sales to minors of M and AO games. If more places did this we might actually see more titles aimed at adults. Though it'd also increase the number of the "playboy mansion" type games x.x;
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom