I remember about ten or so years back attending a dinner party where I walked into a conversation about violence in video games affecting society in a few negative ways. Asking around, I found that no one in the group had any actual current video game experience (this was before mobile and tablet gaming became the nickel and dime juggernaut it is now), so it was interesting watching the debate flop and flail around like a fresh fish that’s landed in a boat with the hook still in its mouth. I also remember shutting the conversation down entirely by asking if anyone in the vicinity was a contact spots fan and reminded them that more REAL people have been injured and died from participating (and spectating) in all sports than from playing video games, PERIOD.

That said, are there plenty of truly disturbed people in this world who use what they see or play in modern games as some sort of template? Sure there are. But throughout every era, there have been many more very unbalanced people who’ve maimed or killed using what they’ve interpreted in their own minds and sometimes from media of their own time as springboards for violence. Murder as a means of handling things incorrectly has been around before any media, so trying to argue that we’re more violent today despite proof otherwise is a rather extreme case of denial. Additionally, misinterpreting and misappropriating fiction into one’s own reality and twisted world view seems to be a common trait amongst those who think killing is a “solution” to a particular “problem” (and it’s something that predates video games by many thousands of years).

Anyway, back to fiction for a bit. Bobby Thompson (played by Tim O’Kelly) the main character in Peter Bogdanovich’s debut film, TARGETS, certainly wasn’t influenced by video games, as they weren’t commercially available until a few years after the film was shot. He seems to be a Vietnam veteran, but this doesn’t seen to play into his madness at all. In fact, the film is fascinating because it doesn’t even attempt to explain what’s happening inside Bobby’s damaged mind at all and while hard to watch at times, it’s a compelling viewing experience right from the beginning… Continue reading →