I just watched a documentary done by CTV and some random dude who's angry cuz his 16 yr old lives in a world of CS and can't escape.
he goes pretty far, interviewing professors, E3 adminstrators, the creator of Counter Strike, and even army lieutenents.
his main arguement is that teenagers spend way too much time on them, and it could have a negative effect on kids and teenagers. To contradict himself, he says that psychological professors and doctors say that teenage violence rarely has any relation to video games.
the US army, back in the late 90's, used games like Quake and Doom and CS to train marines, SWAT, Seals, and SpecOps. Now, as an even more realistic training tool, the US army came up with America's Army, one of the most realistic online fps in the world. originally used in combat training and tactics, the game has been released a few years ago for free downloading
here's my opinions:
games like this are not addictive, nor are they harmful. yes, they are addictive to a younger audience, and can fill their minds with garbage. but form my experiences with these games, i've realized that they actually function the same way as dreams. they take u to a world that we don't see. the world is so peaceful for most of us, that there's no excitement in our lives. most of us have never touched a gun, and our lives are boring and monotonous. these games provide a world where we can express some of our dreams. in order to fulfill these desires to live out our dreams, games have evolved from mindless killing to games like the Sims or games that allow us to live a life we can only see in our dreams. the sims is far from violent, but it allows us to immerse ourselves in a virtual world that most of us don't have.
this is the exact same reason y harry potter is so popular around the world. most teenagers around the world have a very stable and boring life, doing the same things every day, without any change or excitment. harry potter, just like these video games, provide a separate world of solace and comfort for us to live as distinct people, away from our boring and busy lives.
yes, some fps are extremely violent, and are used in combat training. one game that strikes me the most as informative and dangerous is Splinter Cell. by playing that game, i've learned stealth skills that i never knew before. with the right equipment, could all the players of splinter cell sneak into high security facilities and reak havok? no, not really, but it certainly gives us a visual training that no text book could possibly provide.
we live in a peaceful world that is so peaceful that our lives have nothing exciting happening in them. movies in the past few decades show a lot of surreal situations (harry potter, star wars, sci fi stuff, the matrix, lotr, etc). situations that we would never be able to experience in real life. this is the sole reason y fantasy worlds and worlds that can never exist are so popular. we can immerse ourselves into these fake worlds and toss away the boredom and sometimes depression of real life. it's like an unaddictive safe version of drugs.
the 1st video game i've played was super mario back in 1994. i was like 6, and i couldn't get mario to jump across the ledge without falling. during my most vulnerable time (7-13 ish), i was not involved in video games. this is the age group that can be easily addicted to games and begin a endless cycle of procrastination and neglect for life. i began playing for entertainment after this period. i'm 16 now, and i see games as nothing more than a way to escape reality. a way to draw myself away from homework, the rigours of school and competition, family disputes, and other problems and to be in a world all my own. i'm not addicted. i don't play more than 1 hr a day usually. but this 1hr is like a realistic dream that completely draws u from the troubles of real life. it's not a threat, it's an escape, a place to release ur angers and ur problems on virtual things. so i got lucky i guess. i look upon video games with a mature angle. it's not an addiction, more like a performance stimulant.
what are u opinions?
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Or ignoring works too. 
Originally Posted by abu_has_the_power
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