Survey: Violence and videogames. Created 17 years ago2007-11-13 16:24:59 UTC by Blitzkrieg

Ok guys, it's term paper time. If anyone would be so kind as to take five or ten minutes out of their day to answer a couple questions I'd really appreciate it! Please answer whatever you can:

Age (you can be vague if you wish)
Number of children, and ages if you have any.
Country(and state/province if you wish) of residence.

Second, answer:

What type of videogames do you play, and approximately how many hours a week.

Other hobbies, you can include occupation here if you wish.

Are you a violent person? In other words, are you aggressive or do you get in fights?

Do you agree with the current ESRB rating system? Does it work?

If you have, or if you will eventually have, children: how do you feel about them playing videogames with violent themes? At what age would you allow them to play T or M rated games? How would you determine when they were allowed to play these games?

If you do not have children, do/did your parents/guardians ever monitor or regulate what games you played? Were you not allow to play certain games until certain ages?

And lastly, do you believe that in cases of teen violence the media should be held liable as an influence?

Thanks fellas! If you don't want to answer, then don't. If you do, thanks again!

Age: 15
Children: No srsly
Country: Sweden

1. Action games and shooters.

2. Far too much. Maybe like 21, around 3 hours every day.

3. Playing the piano, Martial arts (spell plox)

4. I'm not an agressive person, no. I rarely get into fights.

5. Oh come on, no one follows it anyway. And it does NOT work. I bought 16 rated games when I was 13 from the store.
And over all, I think it's up to the parents to decide what's appropriate for their children.

6. That's a really hard question. I will raise my children to resist violence and stuff like that, and if I can make sure that they are not in anyway affected by the videogames then I guess they can keep on playing them.
I would still not allow any of my children to play violent games untill they are over 13.

7. My father told me that what happens in games, is in the games, not in reality.
When I had that clear for myself, I could start playing mildly violent games such as warcraft 2 and AOE, this was when I was around 5-6 years old. when I was 10 years old I started playing more violent games such as Half-life where you shot people.

8. Err.. no.
It's all the parents.
If you can't handle having kids, then DONT HAVE ANY.
Use a god damn condom

Thanks, Madcow.

Note to others: By answering you are letting me quote anything you say, not that it fucking matters to you anyways, and I probably will regardless.

1) Age 19

Number of children: 0!
Spain, Barcelona

2) What type of videogames do you play. FPS multiplayer, racing games (GT), stealth games (MGS saga), some classic games like Zelda for N64, or super mario world. About 1:30/ 2 hours day.

3) Surfing, skating, valvehammering xD, downloading films, oh yes, and some cool anime series (well you TWHL community like them a lot xD :nuts:), and I'll do some martial art soon (jeet kune do).

4) No, I haven't been on a fight since I were 14.

5) No. It is ridiculous how a game with some blood have +18 rating, and lots of shity films with more blood and violence have +16 rating or less(here in Spain). No one follows it anyway.

6) I don't think I'm going to have children soon but if I'ld had I'll let them play all games they wanted to play. I remember when I was 15 I loved Metal Gear 2 and I wanted to have it, but my "idiot" parents didn't want me to play that game, because it was +18, so I bought it the next year and play it when my parents wasn't at home or hidden in a room (lol stealth gaming xD).

7)Not always, but sometimes yes, when the shitty and stupid TV talks about games and violence.

8)Not the videogames. I think some TV idols or music idols have influence on kids and they want to be like them and violence is the result (well and idiot parents too).

Age 16
Number of children, none
Country(and state/province if you wish) of residence. Scotland

Second, answer:

What type of videogames do you play, and approximately how many hours a week. FPS, RTS, Racing, over 10.

Other hobbies, you can include occupation here if you wish. Sports. Lots of them.

Are you a violent person? In other words, are you aggressive or do you get in fights? Not to extremes, and no.

Do you agree with the current ESRB rating system? Does it work? I agree sometimes and no it doesnt, ive been playing 16+ games for years and years.

If you have, or if you will eventually have, children: how do you feel about them playing videogames with violent themes? At what age would you allow them to play T or M rated games? How would you determine when they were allowed to play these games? Children except maybe at a very young age where their idea's about teh world are still being formed I would let them play anything. The more violent would probably wait until they were older.

If you do not have children, do/did your parents/guardians ever monitor or regulate what games you played? Were you not allow to play certain games until certain ages? I was not allowed to play an 18+ game until I was about 14.

And lastly, do you believe that in cases of teen violence the media should be held liable as an influence? No. I have been playing games since Commander Keen. I dont go around killing people.

Age: 21
Number of children: None
Country: Shropshire, UK.

1. First Person Shooters for about 30 hours a week.

Otherwise its modding work and web design.

2. I have been involved in 2 fights in my life. That is all. I see no need for physical violence in the real world. It costs far to much financially and personally.

3. I would say the system is good but it needs to be enforced on a much greater scale such as with tobacco and alcohol sales.

4. I would let my children play any game that is suitable for their age group. I would probably let them play certain games before others.

5. I was allowed to play any videogames I wanted from the age of 7. However i was more into racing and such back then. However if an FPS game had an adult filter it was often applied and password protected.

6. No. I think the media depicts violance to the necessary degree. It doesn't TELL ANYONE to go out and join in. Its all down to the parents not having control over their children.

AGE : 19
CHILDREN - No
LOCATION: CT, USA

GAMES: I play First person shooters, adventure games (sonic adventure) Real time strategy games, solitaire occasionally. Total, approximately 12-18 hours a week.

OTHER HOBBIES: Most of the time i'm not writing a paper or working or playing video-games.. i'm playing guitar. I put about 22 hours a week on my Guitar.

AGGRESSIVE: When i have to be. I've been in a few fights, but that's out of defense. Overall i'm a pacifist, i try to avoid conflicts.

DO I AGREE WITH ESRB: No not really. If a 10 year old wants to play grand theft auto, he's gonna play it, and his parent, or older person, will just purchase the game for the kid. If anything it's hurting the Gaming Economy by preventing underage kids (who just want to shoot stuff virtually) from purchasing said games.

IF I HAVE A KID: I'll let him play whatever he wants because that's how i was brought up and i turned out fine. It's the kids upbringing, not video-games, that determine what happens to said child.

DID MY GUARDIANS REGULATE GAMING: As mentioned previously, no. I was allowed to play doom when i was 8. Scared the shit out of me, but i played it regardless.

Last note:

Fuck the media. It's hyped bullshit and nobody should actually heed any teen violence shit about video games. Jack Thompson can go suck a nut, and if kids wanna fight, light em fight. They're kids.

Once they get older, They (hopefully) mature and calm down.

---

Go ahead and quote me, My name's Brett for any references

---

Age: 15
Number of children: 0
Country: Sydney, Australia

Second, answer:

I play mainly first person shooters and racing games. I generally dont play rpg or third person games.

I like mapping and working on my half-life mod. I am very interested in the game development industry.

I am not a violent person, the only fights I get into are with my brother (13). I always win

I dont know to much about how the ESRB system works, in my oppion though, the games rating system seems to be very conservative. Games hat I have to be over 15 to play are not even violent. And everybody playes them anyway, no body really cares it they are to young.

I would let them play any game at any age unless if it was too violent. Games like Half-life 2 and Halo, I would let them play at any age.

I was allowed to play any games I want at any age. I do remember though, when I went to buy Grand theft Auto Sand Andreas, my mum was very reluctant of me getting the game (I was like 10 or 11) , and I had to be really good. But I got it that day.

No. Violent games and movies may cause like .0001% of this behaviour or encourage it, but they should not be at all responsible.

No problem

age: 18
children: 12 (wait, no, sorry - 0)
Brisbane, Australia

first person shooters generally, with the occasional third person shooter or platformer. probably about 2 hours a day, 3 on weekends. (2*5+3*2=16)

full time university student (BSc, planned major(s) maths & programming)

no

there's no ESRB in australia (i think) but i disagree with the ESRB rating AO, simply because that rating means the game wont sell anywhere. in australia, we don't even have an R18+ rating, meaning games such as manhunt and postal are simply banned. not that i'm very interested in them.

children need to be controlled to only a little extent with videogames. i was playing M rated games when i was 12. thats probably the approach i'd take with kids (except keep them away from games like WoW and counterstrike that turn them into little shits)

my parents dont know the first thing about computers, let alone games. so, no.

definately not. games are entertainment. seriously - "now that you've played the game, go shoot people in real life!" - what a silly idea. "the media" just need a scapegoat to blame, because theres no way at all people could be psychotic! /sarcasm

Age: 15
Number of children: 0
Country: United States of America

When I play games, it's mostly first person shooters, but really anything that I'm interested in at the time I'll pick up and play. I don't actually play games that often, probably five hours a week at most these days (unless Valve has just released a game or something.)

My hobbies include mapping, and computers in general. Really, anything with technical aspects to it I can pick up on and get into.

I am not a violent person at all. I have never been in a fight, or even come close to being in a fight. I stand my ground when I have to, but that's not common. Some would say I have anger issues, but that never manifests itself in me blowing up at somebody, so outwardly I'm pretty calm.

I believe that it's a very good thing the ESRB is in place. I think it works very well for what it's intended to do: inform parents of the content in games. It's a good device for parents or anyone else to judge the overall content of a game by, but it shouldn't overrule a parent's good judgment. If they feel their child is old enough to play a certain game, that's their choice. Hey, it doesn't get in my way, so I have no problem with it.

I can't see myself even considering having children, but if I did, it would be up to me and my discretion what games they would play. Certainly anything rated T or lower would be fine if they were 8 or younger. Certain M rated games would be acceptable too. By age 10, I was able to handle most any M rated game, and was already playing Vice City when I was 11, so I think the same would apply to most children unless they were brought up in a very sheltered family, and didn't know how to handle fake violence.

I don't think my parents really kept me from playing violent games when I was younger, but I suppose I didn't really have much interest in them. When I was little, I was too caught up in Pokemon to care about more serious games. As I said before, I started playing a lot of M rated games when I was about 10 or 11, and by that time I think my parents trusted I was mature enough to handle them.

Game companies/developers/publishers should definitely not be held liable for teen violence today, in any way. If parents can't tell that their kids are too screwed up to handle make believe worlds with a bit of blood and guts in them without acting them out in real life, then it's completely their fault for allowing them to play those games in the first place. End of story.

Oh wow, thank you all! This is excellent. Great great responses, not a single flame.

That might change.

Penguinboy, I have a small question for you here:

there's no ESRB in australia (i think) but i disagree with the ESRB rating AO, simply because that rating means the game wont sell anywhere. in australia, we don't even have an R18+ rating, meaning games such as manhunt and postal are simply banned. not that i'm very interested in them.

Are you trying to say that you in fact promote the banning of games such as those? That, instead of not being allowed to sell them in retail stores, have them just not exist at all? Seems a bit contradictory to me.

I don't think that's what he meant. He said he disagreed with AO rating because it means the game won't sell anywhere.

I think the part you're reading is where he said he's not very interested in those games anyways.

^yes. i meant that here we should have an R18+ rating, but we don't, which is silly. and when GTA:SA got the AO rating for hot coffee, nearly every store (so i heard) in america (such as walmart and best buy) pulled it off their shelves because they don't sell "those kind of games". that was when it was banned in australia.

Age: 21 (I feel old with you guys now..... except for Urb)
Children: None thankfully.
Country: United States of Whatever.

I mostly play adventure games like zelda or metroid, the occasional RPG and if you count HL, hellz yeah for HL.

Occupational: I attend college for media arts and animation. My hobbies are game developement, mosty level design, modelling, texture photography, composing music, and drawing.

Violent person? FUCK YOU i'm not violent. I never get into any fights anyhow. Probably would get my ass kicked realistically.

Well the ESRB works to some extent. For some games, you are required to show your ID if the place is a legitimate one, like somewhere in a mall. But this doesn't stop parents from picking the game up for the kid.

I wouldn't engorge my kids with video games. But this is similar to movies as well. If I allow my kids to watch Star Wars, I would open up the availability of games of similar levels of violence. This query also depends on the child. They can always 'earn' things like how I was raised, or perhaps they could be dumb as rocks in which I would let them play Myst or something.

Violence in the media is not to blame for this. The geniuses who develop such crap have blamed the same things for similar cases. Like High School Dropouts, Gangs, college flunks, general laziness and procrastination, etc. The increase in this subject is very lightly influenced by violent games and movies. If anything, violent games and movies are a big catharsis for our frustration caused by the demanding nature of business, school, parents, and applying too much pressure on people when they can't handle it or are too young to understand. The idea of age and all that tacked to a rating is to simulate that the person would be mature enough to understand the responsibilities and consequences by the time of the stated age. The big mistake is the fact that not everyone is the same, and many how underlying cases of abuse or hidden tensions that cause them to act the way they do.

There's an inherent bias if you ask game players about games.

Perhaps that's taken into account, Dave?

Penguinboy: They quickly put the game back up after the content was locked and it regained its status as an M game.

Age: 20
Kids: Nope
Location: Sweden

Games: I play Shooters and RPG's mostly. I'm also quite partial to Horror games.
I play at least a few hours a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm gonna go with 2 hours/day = 14 hours/week.

Other Hobbies: I play guitar and handle the vocals in two bands, I'd say music is my other hobby.

I'm not an aggressive person at all, don't think I've been in a real fight ever. Most situations can be resolved without resorting to beating one another senseless.

I don't give a rat's ass about ESRB, I play whatever I want. Last thing I need is someome else making moral decisions for me. So no, I guess I don't think it works.

I've been playing violent games since I was like 5-6 years old, and it had no effect on me. If I would ever get a kid (doubtful), I'd let him/her play videogames, even violent ones. I see no harm in it if the child has a healthy relationship with his/her parents. The troubles begin when videogames (or anything really) become a substitute for the parents.

I played violent games at my dad's house, because he didn't give a fuck about me or what I played. My mom told me about these things, what's right and wrong etc. As long as you have an adult to teach you stuff like that, you'll be fine imo. Besides, when I grew up, games looked so shitty there was no way to mistake them for real.

There is in my opinion no single thing to cast blame on. The world in general is a scary place to live in, and all that's going on is contributing to the increase in violence we see daily.

[EDIT] for spelling failure.

I want satchmo to reply :>

Me too. I was thinking how great his reply would be when I wrote it.

Age:
between the age of 10 and 25

Number of children, and ages if you have any.
none

Country(and state/province if you wish) of residence.
Ireland(shudder)

Second, answer:

What type of videogames do you play, and approximately how many hours a week.
FPS's & Action games. roughly 25 hours a week.

Other hobbies, you can include occupation here if you wish.
Mapping.

Are you a violent person? In other words, are you aggressive or do you get in fights?
No.

Do you agree with the current ESRB rating system? Does it work?
I couldn't care less, If I see a game, I play it.
I suppose the ages for the games are a bit too high - everyone's kind of decensitised to violence now.

If you have, or if you will eventually have, children:

how do you feel about them playing videogames with violent themes?
I've never noticed any ill effects from playing games, so I'd let them play games.

At what age would you allow them to play T or M rated games?
Any age above 13.

How would you determine when they were allowed to play these games?
I would let them play a 18's rated game when they're 16, 16's games when they're 12, etc.

If you do not have children, do/did your parents/guardians ever monitor or regulate what games you played?
I wasn't allowed to play Goldeneye 007 for a while, and that's about it.

Were you not allow to play certain games until certain ages?
[see above]

And lastly, do you believe that in cases of teen violence the media should be held liable as an influence?
Yes.

Thanks fellas! If you don't want to answer, then don't. If you do, thanks again!

1. Age: 13
Children: None Duh
Country: From Latvia, in Uk.

2. Video games:
Well i atcually like strategy games better than fps, but my friends started playing em so i joined, and now i mostly play em. I also sometimes play finalfantasy xii on ps2. finished it and now waiting for ffxiii. 30-35hours maybe.

3. Hobbies:
None really. All i do is go to school, play pc or go outside.

4. Violent:
Not really. im more of a silent person. They dont affect me i guess.

5. ESRB
Doesnt work at all. My parents let me buy any games i want (ofcourse if i've go the money).

7. Games :/
No. One of my parents even bought me a 18+ zombie horror shooter when i was 11. got freaked out lol.

8. violence again.
I dont know. Your questions are confusing

Age: 16
Number of children: Eleventy eleven.
Country: Lithuania

What type of videogames do you play, and approximately how many hours a week.
FPS, Action, Strategy, SP RPGs ~15-25 hrs a week.

Other hobbies: Art, some sports.

Are you a violent person?
Not really. I try react to irratating things as calm as possible, though there are exceptions. Though I don't remember the last time I got into a fight.

Do you agree with the current ESRB rating system? Does it work?

Kids can download anything they want for free, if they can't buy it without their parents stopping them. Since when does anyone give a shit about ESRB anyway? It's just there. Not that anyone cares.

If you have, or if you will eventually have, children: how do you feel about them playing videogames with violent themes? At what age would you allow them to play T or M rated games? How would you determine when they were allowed to play these games?

It'd depend on how well I'd raise them, realy. If they were mature enough to play M-rated games by 12 - I'd let them.

If you do not have children, do/did your parents/guardians ever monitor or regulate what games you played? Were you not allow to play certain games until certain ages?

I'm sure almost everyone here has heard that familliar "Oh dear! You're playing that disgusting game with the crowbar again!!" from their parents.

And lastly, do you believe that in cases of teen violence the media should be held liable as an influence?

Not with normal people it shouldn't. Unless you're talking about chavs/wiggas/10-yr-olds. Hide/cut the wires, or watch your kids act like 50 cent.

I think the answers you get at this forum may be somewhat biased.

Everyone here are gamers who love violent games (i.e. Half-Life series).

If you ask some fifty year olds, then you might get a complete different set of answers.

I am aware, and I have.

Age: 17
Children: No
Country: Sweden, Stockholm

1. Types, hours? FPS, Strategy, RPG, Adventure, Action... anything. And second, around 1-2hours a day (~11 a week)? I spend a lot more than that using the computer, just not playing games.

2. Hobbies? Does web design count?

3. Violent? No. Not at all.

4. ESRB? Age ratings suck, et all. I think it should be up to responsible parents to decide which games their kids should play. Recommended ages are fine, but in some cases they're too high. You don't need to be 18 to pretend to shoot people in the face.
Simply banning games like in Germany or Australia because of violence is ridiculous and nothing more than censorship.

5. Children? I'd let them play whatever they wanted and observe the effects. If suddenly, my kid would start acting out GTA I'd probably be concerned. But as long as they displayed a healthy mental state, I'd be fine with whatever.

6. Parents monitored? Not really. I did have time-limitations and stuff, but nothing because it was too violent. My dad bought me Red Alert (with a Mature-rating) when I was 7.

7. Media held liable? No. It's up to the parents. We can't go around censoring the media unless there's firm, solid evidence that it causes brainfuck in kids. As far as I know, such evidence is pretty rare.

I spend a lot more than that using the computer, just not playing games.

Yah same here.
I use the computer for faaar longer then 3 hours.

Age: 15
Number of children: None at all
Country: United States of America

Second, answer:

What type of videogames do you play, and approximately how many hours a week.

FPS, RPG, War Strategy, Platfofmers, Third Person Shooters, card games. On an average week I'll play about twenty to twenty five hours. (way too much free time, I know.)

Other hobbies, you can include occupation here if you wish.

Music, Game Design, Poetry, Tae Kwon Do. (second degree black belt)

Are you a violent person? In other words, are you aggressive or do you get in fights?

I've only been in one fight before, and it was in self defense. I'm generally one of the more mellow and carefree people in the room, actually.

Do you agree with the current ESRB rating system? Does it work?

Maybe not as well as it should, but I think the problem is with the consumers rather than the actual rating system.

If you have, or if you will eventually have, children: how do you feel about them playing videogames with violent themes? At what age would you allow them to play T or M rated games? How would you determine when they were allowed to play these games?

I wouldn't be very strict here. My 11 year old brother has played a few M rated games and he's turning out fine.

If you do not have children, do/did your parents/guardians ever monitor or regulate what games you played? Were you not allow to play certain games until certain ages?

I wasn't allowed a Playstation until I was 11, and I didn't play an M rated game until I was 13. Even then it was Halo 2, and it's rating is arguable at best. Even now there's a few games I wouldn't get due to the content, but more in protection of my brother than myself.

And lastly, do you believe that in cases of teen violence the media should be held liable as an influence?

Only if the kid was a complete nut. Any sane human has a line between what's wrong and what's not, and a game isn't going to break it.

Age 15
Number of children, and ages if you have any.
Country of residence: Sweden.

What type of videogames do you play, and approximately how many hours a week.
I play Half-Life, Sven Co-op, Counter-Strike, and... minesweeper. 38 hours a week. That includes writing in forums and making maps etc. I play 1/3 of that time.

Other hobbies, you can include occupation here if you wish.
Mapping, scripting and everything else that's nerdy.

Are you a violent person? In other words, are you aggressive or do you get in fights?
Absolutly not. I have not been in a fight in over a year actually. And that lasted 5 minutes.

Do you agree with the current ESRB rating system? Does it work?
Absolutly not. Absolutly not.

If you have, or if you will eventually have, children: how do you feel about them playing videogames with violent themes? At what age would you allow them to play T or M rated games? How would you determine when they were allowed to play these games?

If you do not have children, do/did your parents/guardians ever monitor or regulate what games you played? Were you not allow to play certain games until certain ages?
Yes. No, they did not allow me to play real games (games with a lot of blood) until I was 9. But I did it anyway of corse.

And lastly, do you believe that in cases of teen violence the media should be held liable as an influence?
Yes. But just because they could not handle it that dont mean other can't.

Age: 19
Cildren: None
Country: Sweden.

1. Games that allow me to express my sadistic and violent side, by making life bad for sims and killing Zombies. Also games that make me think and practice my patience.
I play for about 1 - 4 hours a week.

2. Music, movies, art and food.

3. No, Im not violent. Im a talker, not a fighter.

4. No, I don't. The ratings are way off. The age limits are too high, and as many have said before, this should be up to the parents. They'll know when the kid is old enough to distance themselves from what goes on, on the screen.

5. I would let them play the violent games when they feel that they want to and when I think that they are mature enough. When they have stopped punching eatchother and start to talk insted.

6. No, no. I was allowed to play what I wanted to play. Although, when I was a kid I wasn't allowed to play with toy-guns, wich lead to me being jealous of all the other kids toy-guns, so I was very 'gun-focused' untill I was allowed to play with toy-guns and then it wasn't fun anymore. So playing with guns and violent video-games made me a non-voilent person!

7. No, I most sertanly do not. Violence is not inspired by TV or videogames, it's the other way around! Games and TV is inspired by real-life violence. If there was no violence in real-life then there would be no pretend-violence either. I belive that societies greater acceptance for real-life violence is the cause, it's somehow OK to go to war.