Vargras Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Just something I was thinking about today. It disappoints me so much that all we ever see in the news are the horror stories about video games or the internet, and I know it's only because that's what gets views (and that's a huge issue with the media today, but a topic for another discussion). We get stories about how "GTA trains kids to be murderers", or how the internet is going to let creepy old men stalk your children. We never get stories about the people who meet online or over video games and form a real relationship, or the children who use video games to overcome a developmental problem. Son, I am disappoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercurial Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Actually we do get stories about children who play video games to help deal with or treat their problems. You're just incredibly negative. Pessimism isn't bad per se, but being blinded by it is. So is being blinded by optimism, but that is unrelated. Anyhow this isn't anything new the media loves to spin sensationalist bullshit with everything to get more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Yeah there's quite a few tales out there on Kinect helping disabled kids, and old people getting active with the Wii. It's just a case of not having blinders on. There is more of the "GTA kills people" stuff, but it's not all there is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Don't even get me started about people perception of folks from the internet. But yeah, negativity sells since that catches people's eyes most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vargras Posted September 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Actually we do get stories about children who play video games to help deal with or treat their problems. You're just incredibly negative. Pessimism isn't bad per se, but being blinded by it is. So is being blinded by optimism, but that is unrelated. Anyhow this isn't anything new the media loves to spin sensationalist bullshit with everything to get more money. I know we get good stories as well, but the negative stories woefully outnumber the positive ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercurial Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 We never get stories about the people who meet online or over video games and form a real relationship, or the children who use video games to overcome a developmental problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffles Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Anders-Behring-Breivik-Manifesto-Modern-Warfare-Call-of-Duty-WOW-Training-Simulator,news-11977.html Unfortunately, then there are guys like this guy who really don't help any of our arguments. He's an idiot, and he's obviously completely shitballs insane, but for some odd reason the average media outlets really aren't expected to know that Call of Duty is not a good "simulator". A game with guns is a game with guns to them, and all games with guns are a threat to your children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 negativity sells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorgiShinobi Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 This isn't uncommon for anything else. It's the common argument of how "news media is negative." I consider myself a pessimist, but if you take more time to filter through the "hard hitting tragedy" that make headlines, there are the positive (if not cheerful) or interesting stories in anything. If we're talking about video games, then I can think of articles about positive health benefits to dancing games, the Nintendo Wii energizing seniors, individuals overcoming phobias or physically limitations. It's there, but it's also in competition with the negative controversies with video game relations. Take the tragedy (Spork's link) of the gunman who personally believed that playing Call of Duty was giving him training for his eventual crimes against humanity. Still, it's not like any one thing is inherently positive, nor negative. It's what we do with our media (i.e. video games) that defines their nature. Extremist groups have made hateful video games, but at the same time there have been beautiful works that expand the mind and emotions of the user. Forgive my lack of cognitive callback, but does anyone remember the article (via Kotaku) of the rabbi who overcame his fear of Nazis through video games? That was a positive example, but not my point. Later in the Comments of the Week segment, an individual was noted for a comment of that article. To summarize, he said that if we accept any idea that video games can positively influence an individual's psyche, we must accept the opposite as well: that a negative effect is just as possible. Maybe that's not comforting to us, but that's the way media is: a blank slate that is written by our intentions. Fortunately for us, video games are a highly industrious form of entertainment with only a few examples of propaganda. It's only the perception that is widely negative, not the games themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr W Phallus Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 (edited) I don't know how popular Charlie Brooker is outside of the UK but his Newswipe series is a spot on analysis of how TV journalism in particular works. I don't think he ever mentions video games specifically on Newswipe but he uses Haiti as an example of how the news will dramatise everything, their main tools to do so being exaggeration and negativity. After all, a report on how video games are fine, wouldn't be very interesting. Also Mark Kermode makes a good point about the whole issue: Edited September 5, 2011 by Mr W Phallus 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Some interesting videos I'd not seen before. Funny that games do have this 'barrier to entry', even beyond being able to use a controller. I know he mentions that element of tropes/conventions but it just goes to show how different it really is to film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 We all get upset over videogame coverage in the media but I think the problem is just the media in general. You've got a bunch of uniformed people asking other uniformed people for opinions. I've never seen an interview about a violent videogame by someone who's actually played the game. The point is just that this isn't limited to videogames. Just watch any story and apply the same filter and you'll begin to realize that mostly local journalists know very very little about anything. For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_JtoW7GrdY&feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 An oldie but a goodie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 Bitter people are bitter. Really though, if you want to learn about a subject or political policy or whatever go read some oped articles from both sides and make up your own mind because there's no such thing as objective journalism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredEffinChopin Posted September 16, 2011 Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 Reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hhmn5VR7DY Ok now that I've referenced Hicks for like the 10th time on this forum.... I'd agree that when news talks about gaming it's usually negative. That in itself wouldn't be that much of a bother to me, as the nature of news reporting is such that many things are only worth mentioning if there is a negative quality to one aspect or other of a story. The problem when it comes to "stories" relating to games is that they are almost always inaccurate and negative. Nobody involved in the process of getting it from someone's ear to the public's TV seems to have a clue about anything to do with the game world, yet these stories go off half-cocked with incorrect or misused information trying to portray a situation as something much bigger (and always worse) than it is, if it's even a real situation at all. They spread their ignorance of the gaming world/community a little more every time they try to talk about it. It makes me wonder. I'm (ashamed to admit I am) generally ignorant about most things that don't have to do with art in some way, shape, or form. If I'm noticing how clueless the media seems to be about something like gaming, I wonder how badly they misrepresent other events and stories that relate to economics, (especially international) politics, science, and other actual important issues that people rely on news outlets for. Then again I suppose if I cared all that much I'd not be so ignorant about these issues myself... Still though, it doesn't seem right, and kind of concerns me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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