Comments on: OPINION PIECE - HOW DOES GAMING AFFECT US?

By: ITFC andy

ITFC andy — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:25:24 +0000

personally i think gaming has positive and negative effects on me. positive wise, i get a sense of accomplishment when i achieve something. it also akes me think ahead, think of consequences and i believe games such as ghost recon and the like aid problem solving skils.

negatively, i can sense my frustration and sever annoyance when playing my friend and getting thrashed, lol. i dont want to say angry because that isnt right, but im sure gtting yourself worked up isnt good for you!

i have one main concern, and that is online gaming. the article above is correct, people are out to spoil it for others whether it be swearing, intimidation or just bugging everyone. whilst in a resistance game last week, 12 of 16 players were just swearing at each other and spoiling it for all.

with the release of ‘home’ this autumn, i think sony and microsoft for that matter, must really look seriously at how to deal with those who are intent on spoiling whats meant to be a comunity.

any suggestions would be welcome…

By: nalum

nalum — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:33:46 +0000

Great piece. I think that gamers need to take these things more seriously and get a lot more involved in rating games. The current man hunt 2 debacle I find very annoying. Whether it be game, movie, book or music it shouldn’t be banned. It should be given an appropriate rating and that rating enforced!

I enjoy my little bits of evil doing in games because it only affects me, it doesn’t affect anyone else (MMO’s being the exception, but I don’t play them).

I don’t let games run my life and I don’t let it affect my life. The day that AI becomes ‘life’ (life being self aware and a growing intellect) I’ll stop my evil doings in games that have such AI unless it is required of the story.

I would like to see Peters challenge brought to life. But I think ratings need to be enforced more, particularly by parents. I know not all parents do it but a lot of parents will give their kid a game to shut them up.

By: Terry

Terry — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:07:31 +0000

I dont see how games affect people, it is the education that these people have that determines whether one person plays a violent game and moves on or someone who plays the same game and then goes onto commit a crime.

I’ve always thought that media in general is an easy target for people to blame when nasty things do happen in this world. Game ratings were not invented for the fun of it and therefore games like GTA are intended for mature audiences only who, it is assumed by the age asked, are intelligent enough to know the difference between both right and wrong & real and virtual.

Fact of the matter is that in this age of polical correctness there will always be someone who is not happy and willing to voice their opinion. As democracy this is encouraged but sense must prevail if we are to not end up living in a sterile world.;

Thats my opinion anyhow…

By: Three Speech

Three Speech — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:24:54 +0000

Yep, we agree it makes sense for us to run this again post-E3 kerfuffle.

By: reakt

reakt — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:21:44 +0000

Yes, it’s a great article, the timing of posting it to three speech is a little unfortunate though. Obviously all the readers are excited about E3 and all the news that is generating. Perhaps this article needs to be re-linked from the front page, when things have settled down a bit on the news front. I would be interested in reading other people’s responses to the article.

By: Anthony Hanses

Anthony Hanses — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:56:45 +0000

Thank you for the comment. As always, please feel free to also comment over at EMagLive.com

You can also Digg the article over there if interested in doing so.

Peter spent a lot of time on this and we consider it to be one of our best editorials to date.

By: reakt

reakt — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:44:42 +0000

Nice opinion piece. Very well written. Have you read this months Edge magazine? In the article “Army Moves” mentioned on the front cover and in the intro editorial, the magazine writers wonder whether playing games can prepare people for real-life warfare.

Like you I avoid certain kinds of games. Also, whilst I’ve enjoyed the GTA games, there were certain missions I didn’t feel comfortable with so I skipped them. In GTA III there is a particularly nasty killing spree where you can just go berserk with a machine gun and you get extra props for killing as many people as possible with a short time limit. This I skipped.

For me, the positive way in which gaming can affect me is by lifting my mood. I look forward to playing a new game - this anticipation can lift my mood for the days leading up to the launch of an upcoming game! Also, I’m given a boost if I have achieved something difficult in a game. A negative impact gaming has had on me is that the frustration of failing in a task has made me irritable and disappointed. This disappointment can sometimes linger even after the game is switched off! Also, some arguments at home have been started after playing two player games together. My partner and I don’t often argue otherwise.