Violence and weekly games

Posted by Zyzyx66 on Dec. 1, 2010, 4:53 p.m.

A note on violence in videogames:

Any competitive activity will, in the short term, rewire the brain to become more aggressive. It's human nature, has been proven, and is not limited to video games. I would expect as many people have kicked over a monopoly board than have hurled a nintendo controller in disgust.

What's more, it's extremely insulting to say that video games cause undue levels of violence when time and again sporting events are plagued by riots, beatings, stabbings, and onfield shenanigans.

So fuck you, and fuck your studies regardless of what they say. We all know it's narrow, opportunistic and media-driven politics.

Now that that's out of the way, Savage Sun has had an update - more weapons and enemies, better wave progression, lives (good luck) and a bunch of other changes. It's been really refreshing jumping back into Game Maker and doing a nice simple project. I think I've spent far too long designing complex games, and lost sight of the easier, faster and fun games that could be made.

I think, in fact, that I might devote one night a week to the creation of a new game, from start to finish. Small games that are refreshing and fun, made for no other purpose than to make fun games. No limits on originality or quality.

Anyone who feels like joining me feel free (and I'd love to see some results).

I think a project like this willl need a few things to work though, primarily graphical assets and reusable code. So perhaps for the first few weeks I will work on these things. Having things like menus completed and ready to go will certainly save time!

Well, thoughts and ideas of course always welcome.

Comments

Kenon 13 years, 11 months ago

Actually video games do cause violence. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE I WENT OUTSIDE AND STABBED A HOOKER ABOUT 4 MINUTES AGO AFTER LOSING AN EPIC GAME IN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS.

Cesar 13 years, 11 months ago

…there are hookers 4 minutes away from your dorm room?

Kenon 13 years, 11 months ago

There are if you don't take the stairs or the elevator and move really fast.

flashback 13 years, 11 months ago

"All your evidence must be wrong because it contradicts my personal beliefs"?

JID 13 years, 11 months ago

*Loses a match of Gears of War and is called a two-piecing newb.*

FUCK GEARS OF WAR. FUCK LIFE.

*Runs outside, kills a bus driver and then drives bus filled with orphans, off a cliff.*

Killing and robbing people in real life is fun.

^.^

Castypher 13 years, 11 months ago

You should see my brother after League of Legends. He really gets into the game. And I swear to god he hyperventilates when he thinks he's going to get a kill.

Scratch that, he hyperventilates when fighting minions.

The Avatrol 13 years, 11 months ago

I do believe it's true, but it's sort of like, "well duh" true. You're brain is obviously stimulated and responds to different things.

- A song can move you to tears

- A hard day at work can make you feel stressed

- A violent video game can increase your adrenaline and violent tendencies.

This all seems obvious to me. Now, a scientific study behind ANYTHING can never be bad, it's just in the way it's presented. I agree with Zyzyx66 to an extent in that the media plays a big role in blowing this stuff out of proportion, trying to make big news out of something that, when you really think about it anyways, seems like common sense.

I mean, were talking about a simulation of shooting people.

Zyzyx66 13 years, 11 months ago

Sorry Flashback, I should have mentioned - this rant was in response to this article:

http://delimiter.com.au/2010/12/01/video-game-violence-link-inconclusive-finds-govt/

The rant hasn't got anything to do with my beliefs in games and violence, rather my opinion on the scope of the various studies. We're all allowed to use hyperbolic language sometimes right :P

You'll notice I didn't say they DON'T, what I'm saying is that competitive activity, regardless of the specific activity, will cause violent tendencies IN THE SHORT TERM. That is why studies show Mario Kart has the same effect on a person's aggression as Grand Theft Auto or Gears of War.

And "regardless of what they say" wasn't intended to mean I disregard their results. It was intended to mean the scope of all of these studies are obviously skewed in one direction or another, and therefore I disregard the intent behind them. "We all know it's narrow, opportunistic and media-driven politics."

flashback 13 years, 11 months ago

Quote:
Sorry Flashback, I should have mentioned - this rant was in response to this article:
Doesn't change your statement.

All you're saying even with just saying that the "scope" of the studies is "skewed" (Whatever that's supposed to mean: do you mean that the design of the experiments is skewed? If so, how do you know this?) by appealing to "everyone knowing" that it's skewed is as good as saying "Well the magical desk fairy who lives in my closet is real and no amount of evidence can say it doesn't because anything against what I believe is obviously skewed against me."

What motivation does, (for instance) a Harvard study have to "skew" its "scope" in order to be anti-gaming? Better yet, if all these studies are biased, how do YOU have data about Mario Kart having the same effects as GTA?

mazimadu 13 years, 11 months ago

Nice to see someone in this community taking a different approach to game design (I know there are others, but can't mention them from the top of my head).

I think the reason we have seen so many game projects get abandoned is because everyone for the longest time was trying to copy seiklus. Myself included.