Kids with Guns

As many of you may have realised by now...I'm a loser with no real friends. But why is it that I have no real friends? This is because I live my life on Xbox live...and the people on there are my friends, I don't need physical contact or real social interaction! ;) I'm kidding of course, but it is true that I love my games. I thrive on shooting the shit out of Zombies, or passing a virtual ball around beautifully. I can feel like I'm really skilled at something...and in fact, video games popularity has grown considerably. I have already touched on this briefly in 'cool confusion' but I want to expand on a point by justifying why video games are so good. Yes, they can waste hours of your life, yes they can be unhealthy if you play them too much and yes, discussing them in real life will immediately turn people off from being your friend...


However, video games have their good points. They are, to put it simply, very fun. They've advanced so much in the last twenty years, and more and more people enjoy them. I'll be talking about why I think they're so great, but firstly I want to address one constant battle video games face. This battle is against modern media. Each time a game like Grand Theft Auto is released, the media jizz in their pants at the opportunity to complain about how violent it is, how sexual the game is. The media need to learn that video games aren't that bad and kids will do wacky things regardless. 


The title is a Gorillaz song, and is about how, apparently, kids will play violent games and then go get a gun and kill a bunch of 'fools'. I'm sure there's something in what the media have to argue... if there wasn't they'd have given up. Yes, there are some morons out there. But why ban the game, just because of a few that have no sense? The game may cause a problem, but surely we should educate the few and culture them rather than saying DON'T VIRTUALLY KILL PEOPLE! 


I want to reference an article I once read about violence in video games. Unfortunately, I don't have the article to hand, but I can tell you about the point it made. The gentleman told of how he let his five year old child play Grand Theft Auto. This would shock most people, but not if you hear how the child played the game. He didn't steal any cars, he found an empty one outside his house, which he assumed was his. He drove at the speed limit, stopped at traffic lights, and when he accidentally ran someone over, he was very apologetic. The ambulance came to rescue them, and the child asked if he could drive it. His father said yes, and showed him how to save people in the ambulance, which the child promptly did. 


Hang on, the child is doing good? Yup, Grand Theft Auto allows you to save people and take them to a hospital, put out fires and even catch criminals... None of this is mentioned on the news...funny that. The point the guy was making is that, although Grand Theft Auto is violent, for the majority, the people who will be aware of how to do all the bad things are those who are old enough to understand it's just a game. The child in the story doesn't even consider murder or sex with prostitutes.  I'm not saying you should let all children or young adolescents play violent games, but if they've been raised properly...I don't think it should have an effect on them. I've been raised pretty well, and I first played Grand Theft Auto at fifteen. Have I gone off and punched someone and stolen his car and then run over an old lady? No. Have I held up a liqueur store? No. Even if I did these horrendous acts, or knew someone who had...I wouldn't point the finger of blame at video games. That's just ludicrous! 


I think I've said enough about why the media is mostly wrong, and should shut up when crying each time a game is released that makes baby Jesus cry. Yes, there are the odd cases of thick kids going around and beating each other up, because of video games, but for the most part I would say it's the environment they'd raised in and their social background. Video games are pretty fun, and banning them would just let the cultured, smart ones of us suffer...We'd get angry and kill people anyway...so why ban them in the first place? 


Personally, video games relax me. I enjoy a couple of hours shooting virtual enemies, or scoring a fantastic goal that my loser self could never accomplish. In fact, they are social...especially with inventions like the Wii. It sounds corny, but they can be a good family activity. Last boxing day, my uncle, aunt and cousin came round and we played a round of Wii Sports. It was a lot of fun, we had some good laughs, and it made us happy! Yes, Wii Sports is not the game they complain about in the media, but games in general are getting a bad rep. Leave them alone okay? 


Another example, if you still aren't convinced. When I was younger, my dad would play games with me...and he even beat Metal Gear Solid before me. It bought us closer together, and was something we'd bond over! What's the problem with that? Talking of childhood, I also fondly remember some of the games I played as a kid...and sometimes watch videos of people playing them on youtube. It makes me feel warm inside for a moment, and modern video games are just a nice escape from some of the shit in this world... None of that sounds like a reason to ban them? We should start embracing them! This is such a nerdy blog, but I don't care. I like video games, and sure, sometimes I think why bother? But they're enjoyable and for a little while I can just be content! And as every idiot out there wanks over the latest Halo or Call of Duty, I think I can say video games are getting rid of there nerd image. If you think they're cool, then I must be, as I've been playing them way longer than you pal... but then, we already knew I was cool. ;) To prove it, I'm off to play Dead Rising 2, which is fun and the only people I'm tempted to kill are Zombies, and who doesn't want them taken out? 


Now go away.