Yesterday, we ran a piece exposing the scare tactics media like to use when discussing video games and violence. Flashy edits, buzzwords, complete ignorance, that sort of thing. Today Katie Couric, the host of the particular segment we analysed, reached out to her Twitter followers to ask for the “positive side” of violent games.
When I noticed her tweet, I went to look at the replies. Some were decent! Others… not so much. I decided it had to do with her particular brand of audience. She wasn’t getting the full scope of the gamer audience, and that wouldn’t be fair. So I retweeted her on Kotaku‘s official Twitter account. And boy, you guys did not disappoint.
But first let’s look at the disappointing replies:
@katiecouric It keeps millions of morons out of contact with the general public for hours at a time
— William Toner (@pithyopine) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Movies aren’t the same. Nobody spends 6 hours a day at a movie like people immerse themselves in games.
— Diana (@diana_ellsworth) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Positive side? Sorry, can’t include positive & violent in the same sentence. To Answer the ?… None.Cant wait to read answers
— Michelle (@mlunamart) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Positive side? Sorry, can’t include positive & violent in the same sentence. To Answer the ?… None.Cant wait to read answers
— Michelle (@mlunamart) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric nothing ok about violent games. I would Love to see what they write as a positive. Idiots! My friend died because of a gamer.
— Cindy Harcar (@GrandmaHarcar) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Sorry there is none!!!Violence of any type is never good!!!!!
— Karen DerMargosian (@Karenlynn0423) May 3, 2013
I’m happy to say these… misguided responses were few and far between after Kotaku‘s community (and gamers in general) got there. Good job, guys! Here are some insightful, supporting comments:
@katiecouric I’m a 40 YO college professor & dad. I play all games for mental stimulation and good stories. Violence is part of our world.
— Caspar Neickel (@casparnic) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Games, violent or not, are something my son and can share. We have just as much fun w/ Gears of War as we do w/ Wii Sports.
— Jennifer Amlie (@jenniferamlie) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric @kotaku imagination, creativity, friendship, accomplishment, wonder, passion, romance, escape, learning, emotion, sportsmanship
— Silver Fox (@PatrickFlorio1) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Games can make the players engage with highly creative and abstract forms of thinking again and again across the many genres.
— Jonny Wick (@spookyview) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Games can offer deeper human introspective+commentary through story+theme. Like books+film, not all do that, but many games do.
— Russell Lee (@RJ_Lee) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Studies have shown that certain games can help establish quicker reflexes, better vision, and also think faster.
— Bruce Banner (@SidtheKid323) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Friendship and Comradery. The people I played those games with as a child remain some of my closest friends.
— Kyle Harrison (@DeathbyHappy) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric A lot of them involve a good deal of strategy; teamwork in multiplayer mode. And they’re fun. Clean way to relieve stress.
— Kara Renee (@UVaKareBear) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric the worlds I inhabit in games/books/movies/tv are my passion. They give me balance and enhance enjoyment of my daily life.
— ZephyrSP (@ZephyrSP) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric You know what is the greatest factor in whether or not a person is violent? Their parents. Or the lack of parental guidance.
— Brity (@BrityBytes) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Many excellent stories do involve death and pain to add to the realism and emotional drama – why should games be any different?
— PixelBlock (@TinyPixelBlock) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Games are rated for content more clearly and descriptively on the package than movies. Its up to parents to monitor for content
— Matt Mosher (@mtmosher) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Look at the pictures of actors on your twitter profile. Did you quiz them on what’s positive about the violent films they make?
— James Filus (@Syph79) May 3, 2013
@katiecouricBoth of my kids play violent video games. They’re 15, 13, both staight a honour students with no history of violence =PARENTING
— derrickgott (@derrickgott007) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Some games explore really deep themes that make you think about your morals and ethics. If you look deep enough and think.
— Kayla McHale (@AH_Kayla) May 3, 2013
.@katiecouric conflict drives story, violent-ish experiences in safe environment are stress relief, violent images create intense emotion.
— Anjin Anhut (@anjinanhut) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric To the people who say “video games perpetuate violence”; please tell me what video games were being played 500 years ago.
— Dave Jewitt (@IrregularDave) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric they’ve been proven to help treat PTSD, especially among our nation’s troops
— Corey (@FiascoKnowsNYC) May 3, 2013
It warms my heart to see so many people rally against the inexcusable ignorance in the media’s coverage of video games. This will continue to be a thing if we don’t speak up, so good on all of you who did.
And, of course, there were some jokes, snarky replies and, er, maybe some questionable ones too!
@katiecouric The positive side is that gamers don’t destroy their bodies the way football, baseball, and basketball players do. #esports
— Roy Isaac Johnson (@toastymow) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric it keeps creepy gamer people sequestered in their parents’ basements until their 30’s
— SWOLE WRESTLING BRO (@DogFlotilla) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Do you know how cool clockwork guns look, bro? That’s also a reason I like violent games.
— Roo Stark (@BehindTheHorns) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric I can use swords in violent video games
— Roo Stark (@BehindTheHorns) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric If you play through #xenogears and you don’t cry at the end u have no #soul Lost #otaku scene
— Old Black Nerd (@OldBlackNerd) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric @kotaku I play violent games and, despite your absurd, irresponsible sensationalism, I have no urge to hurt you. So, there.
— Moshe Siegel (@moshesiegel) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric RE: Video games: Misanthropic, college educated, unemployed southern male seeks socially acceptable outlet for frustration.
— Ned Lesesne (@DrNed) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric what are the positives of bad talk shows?
— Joe Howard (@JoeHoward17) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric if you have never played super smash bros with friends (where u battle to the death) then u will never know joy and bonding
— Michael Harley (@pwrlftrHarley) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric @redbullgaming I get to own nerds lol
— Rhys Farnhill (@rhysizm) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric blood looks cool!
— Saleem Noorali (@bingbangboom) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric it’s not the video games, it’s the lag.
— Ben Jahnke (@FA_Jahnks) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric one positive is Ive mastered killing mass amounts of thugs & pimps & shooting down helicopters and getting away with it in GTA
— Cody (@ForceRumbly) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric people dont drive over the walkways at 80 miles an hour after playing need for speed
— lazors just for U (@Ewout_TurboSwim) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric or start hitting trees with their bare hands after playing minecraft
— lazors just for U (@Ewout_TurboSwim) May 3, 2013
.@katiecouric Video games, vis a vis violence, enable mentally cripple white males to *FART NOISE*
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric I think you meant to say Thanks! Not Thanx! Easy mistake to make.
— toddhunter (@toddhunter) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric I get to stab up bitches
— James Humphries (@Humpy1988) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric Helps me improve my aim for greater killing efficiency.
— Roland (@rabelford) May 3, 2013
@katiecouric @kotaku i don’t want to beat u up in real life because i can super impose ur face into a violent game and beat u up virtually.
— TEef (@teefonline) May 3, 2013
.@katiecouric they are the only thing suppressing my urge to hunt Matt Lauer and take his skin for my own
— Griffin McElroy (@griffinmcelroy) May 3, 2013
Lastly, let’s all remember to bring this up when people try to make a correlation between violent games and real-life violence. Because I’m honestly sick of people thinking they can ignore the facts we do have.
Comments
21 responses to “Katie Couric Gets Schooled On The Benefits Of Violent Video Games”
meh, people were violent before video games. Pretty much shreds any sort of argument those people make.
Playing Devil’s advocate for a moment, that argument doesn’t necessarily mean that video games are more likely to cause violent behaviour.
As an example:
Meh, people have been murdering and stealing before gangs.
“nothing ok about violent games. I would Love to see what they write as a positive. Idiots! My friend died because of a gamer”
*Does a one man tactical face palm.*
Truth be told, this is finger pointing is getting rediculously old. In fact there is nothing new here.
I once saw these exact same unfounded arguements when I was a kid back in the 1990s. And what was the target then? Power Rangers.
All that has happened is those spinning this illusion of violent behavoir and media realised no-one was paying attention anymore about the link between violence and TV and decided to look for a new scape goat. That is why it is now on video games.
$5 says that in 20 years time (assuming it is invented and commercialised by then), these same people would be blaming holographic technology because everyone is tired of the video game excuse.
At the end of the day this old rule of common sense stands true: “It is not the media or the instrument, it is the individual”.
Now THAT is crazy. Power Rangers teaches kids an important life lesson: Your enemy will become giant every single time you defeat them, so be ready for that.
Pearls of wisdom that have served me well in life, I’ll tell you.
Just last week that bitch Natasha pulled it on me at the water cooler.
My friend died because of a gamer.
No, your friend died because of an individual who happened to play games.
By extension, it means a person killed their friend, so we should hate all people. Works for me really. Well, except for people who make games. I like games so I like people who make games. I also like people who play games because I like games and therefore I probably like the people that work in the shops that sell games and oh my glob, it’s an infinite cycle of positivity borne from a cycle of negativity! Help, before it consumes us all!!
My friend died because of a drunk driver.
OMG ban cars and alcohol.
I don’t mean to be rude, but wasn’t that very idea tried already in the past?
His name was Robert Paulson.
When a country bans Kinder Surprises, but makes guns for kids – “My First Rifle” http://goo.gl/A4B87 – there’s far more concerning fundamental problems with the society.
By the way, you have one of the “unfavourable” responses listed twice.
See I have a huge hatred for this whole debate. Reason being is that it shouldn’t exist. American media for years has always played the blame game when they’re reporting on real issues. Reason being is 2-fold, 1. when they’re supposed to actually be doing research on a report, they are given too short a timeframe to do it in and so they shift it onto something they blame without any backing evidence, and 2. Since 9/11, scare tactic reporting was what made American audiences stay glued to the news, creating more viewership and thus making more revenue through advertising, so they’ve reporting like this for years.
Now it is truly devastating when somebody is murdered, let alone a mass shooting. And what makes matters worse is the people that head up all these right wing conservative parties that actually have power. These men and women have no ounce of critical thinking in there brains. It will take a long time until all these people are phased out of power through retirement.
What needs to happen for the American people is an unbiased research paper into violence, and all the key contributions to it, on a global scale. They need to take into consideration what the crime was (shooting, stabbing, rape etc), what tools were used (knife, gun), how often these occurred and what area of that particular country, whether the criminal was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and finally gun laws and the state of mental health support in that country. This way they’ll have a legitimate look at every country and see how fucked up the state of own one is. It’s a long long look at how shit will get done, it’ll be costly, but in the end they’ll have there research and proof.
Notice I didn’t mention video games, it’s because no other country looks at video games as the cause except for America.
Do I think this will happen? nope, it’s just my wishful thinking.
How many people can you shoot with a controller?
I can shoot at lots of people with a controller.
In fact, sometimes I sit there holding my xbox controller, aiming it at people and yelling ‘pew, pew’.
Nobody has died yet though, so clearly I’m doing something wrong with my videogames.
Kay, that was funny.
Video games are the new 80’s metal and dungeons and dragons.
I wonder if these puritanical types have read the bible they profess to love so much. The first half is nothing but God being a dick on a massive scale.
Games are just the current generational scapegoat
In my great grandfathers time, it was certain books
In my grandfathers time it was rock n roll music
In my fathers time it was violent TV and movies
In my time it has been heavy metal music (80’s) and now games
Imagine what could be achieved if the actual cause was investigated and not just pinned on the current flavour of the scape goat month
Paging the ghost of Bill Hicks. We need you!
Nobody ever takes into consideration that the USA’s mental health care is woeful, but whatever, IT’S THE VIDA GAMESSES.