I am not opposed to violent games, because i do not view violence as being bad by itself. It's all about how you use violence .
And when it comes to how it affects people, the entire north american culture is enamoured with violence, but in the most reactionary and gory way possible. It's not just video games that cause this, but film, television, and the news, all exploit bleed and lead narratives. Do i judge people for playing these games? Most of the time no, depending on the game. Call of Duty is reactionary schlock, but it's effectively a triple aaa movie with a controller. You buy it because your friends buy it, because they've been playing them for years, and so on and so on. No different than getting the new Madden game every year (even though Call of Duty is inherently political, but this is not my focus at the moment).
But, if you were to play a game like Hearts of Iron IV, and immediately try a Hitler any% speedrun, i'm definitely going to raise my eyebrow. These types of games come with historical baggage, and your choice of luggage does show a little bit of how you think.
All in all, this is coming from a mostly North American cultural perspective, but the inherent desensitization of violence in ideology is definitely gross, and is therefore easily exploited. While a person who plays violent video games might not themselves be violent, they are more likely to view the acts that occur in real life as entertainment. The venn diagram of someone who prefers violence in their videogames, and the type of person to show you a war crime or cartel videogame on their phone out of the blue, is a circle. This, of course, is something i absolutely despise and have told off people before.
I hate the act of violence, but to throw off the chains of the oppressor cannot be done peacefully, as violence is needed to combat violence. These people, however, view it little more as a passive treat, knowing that living in their comfy home, far away from where violence is happening, they can sit there in their laz-e-boy chair and watch the latest news
I am not opposed to violent games, because i do not view violence as being bad by itself. It's all about how you use violence
.
And when it comes to how it affects people, the entire north american culture is enamoured with violence, but in the most reactionary and gory way possible. It's not just video games that cause this, but film, television, and the news, all exploit bleed and lead narratives. Do i judge people for playing these games? Most of the time no, depending on the game. Call of Duty is reactionary schlock, but it's effectively a triple aaa movie with a controller. You buy it because your friends buy it, because they've been playing them for years, and so on and so on. No different than getting the new Madden game every year (even though Call of Duty is inherently political, but this is not my focus at the moment).
But, if you were to play a game like Hearts of Iron IV, and immediately try a Hitler any% speedrun, i'm definitely going to raise my eyebrow. These types of games come with historical baggage, and your choice of luggage does show a little bit of how you think.
All in all, this is coming from a mostly North American cultural perspective, but the inherent desensitization of violence in ideology is definitely gross, and is therefore easily exploited. While a person who plays violent video games might not themselves be violent, they are more likely to view the acts that occur in real life as entertainment. The venn diagram of someone who prefers violence in their videogames, and the type of person to show you a war crime or cartel videogame on their phone out of the blue, is a circle. This, of course, is something i absolutely despise and have told off people before.
I hate the act of violence, but to throw off the chains of the oppressor cannot be done peacefully, as violence is needed to combat violence. These people, however, view it little more as a passive treat, knowing that living in their comfy home, far away from where violence is happening, they can sit there in their laz-e-boy chair and watch the latest news