The Video Game Critic

[QUOTE=Vexer]I never felt like I was walking on eggshells at Gamefaqs, all the boards i've posted on there have generally been very friendly and receptive, I didn't get the same "elitist" feel that I got at places like "Rock Paper Shotgun" where it seems like almost every poster(and writer for that matter) is some pseudo-intellectual jackass trying to brag about how smart they are when it comes to games.[/QUOTE]

If you're visiting a site called "Rock Paper Shotgun" (really?), pseudo-intellectual snark is probably par for the course...

Yeah it's a pretty lousy site, one particularly terrible article was pretty much saying that violent video games can cause violence and completely dismissed the numerous scientific studies that produced evidence to the contrary, he was more or less saying that Jack Thompson was right all along.  The person who wrote the article(forgot his name) is a traitor to gamers everywhere, he's the Benedict Arnold of game journalism.

[QUOTE=Tron]Meh.... You guys aren't that great.[/QUOTE]

Tron is right. We are awesome. (Gives cyber hug to Tron).

I like these forums a lot. One of my first stops whenever I open my laptop.

[QUOTE=Vexer]I never felt like I was walking on eggshells at Gamefaqs, all the boards i've posted on there have generally been very friendly and receptive, I didn't get the same "elitist" feel that I got at places like "Rock Paper Shotgun" where it seems like almost every poster(and writer for that matter) is some pseudo-intellectual jackass trying to brag about how smart they are when it comes to games.[/QUOTE]

I don't feel like RPS is as bad as you make it out to be. They can be overly PC at times (the review of Skullgirls praised the game but wondered if some of the character designs went too far into sexualization, although it not like they're the only site that has expressed that opinion either) and you will get the occasional nasty fight in the comments, but the commenters are generally more intelligent and well-spoken than those on the average gaming website and they have some interesting interviews and guest articles from time to time. Also, their reviews never make me feel like someone's got a hand in their back pocket.

I can't comment on the "violence in games" article, but I don't know that, as an issue, it's the open-and-shut case you make it out to be; I've seen plenty of studies for both sides of the debate (although I admit that I just don't have the energy or expertise to sort the worthwhile studies from the chaff). While I have no interest in censoring games (I still think games are art, even if they're often trash art), I'm not going to act like I was totally comfortable watching my 10-year-old cousin playing GTA or Saint's Row 2, and it's difficult for me to believe that it couldn't have at least a subtle effect on him over an extended period of time (I admit this is pure conjecture and may have nothing to scientifically support it).

I guess pacguy & gleeberglobin aren't so bad, kinda sorta.

Not to further side-track, but I have yet to see a good study of a media/violence relationship, let alone a good one of games and violence. And I kind of do have the expertise to know the wheat and chaff apart there. Trust me, go dig into this and you'll find a horrible wasteland of poorly thought out "studies" and design that depends on the belief that, by default, violent media DOES lead to violence, so let's see how much it leads to!

My favourite is still one of the earliest that I've probably mentioned on here before. Kids were shown a violent film or, IIRC, an educational one. Then they were told to go play floor hockey, and it was observed that the ones who saw the violent film acted more violently. Yeah. OR, how about the ones who saw an exciting, violent film were more EXCITED than the ones bored with the other movie. They were more aggressive playing an aggressive game because they weren't just lulled half to sleep!

Dumb studies like that, with obvious and simple methodological errors, are what the whole field has to show for itself after decades of work.

I did a Masters course where I had to design a study (but unfortunately not do it) of my choosing and present it and my reasoning and literature review to the class. I did it on this very topic. My instructor (a Social Psychologist) really put this thing in perspective for me. When I had to explain how I would explain the results (pro tip, scientists always have the explanation ready for results in either direction or null before they start) I said "... and if the result show playing games leads to less violence than watching violent TV..." she jumped in and said "it wouldn't ever show that."

I found that funny, because I was so sure it could. Violent TV has no consequences. You watch the "hero" kill someone and he goes off and has sex with their sister or whatever the show wants to say. Even a very violent game might make that alert enemies and make your life immediately more difficult. And it happens to you, not to Jonny Heroman on the TV. She didn't consider that at all until I said it.

Hey Atari, ask Bobo if violence can be a learned behavior.