Are computer games killing our children?

I am a respected 30yr Old civil engineer, Manage contracts by day and game by night. So far I have 7641 kills online in MW2 and love the thrill of killing people online, but does this mean I am going to become a real life mass murderer?? HELL NO because I know its just a game!! Micheal Laws needs to get out of his pyjama's because he is dreaming!!

Sean Longmore - less time in front of the games and more time on your spelling & grammar mate - just goes to show that you have been affected eh?
Jamin - we dont Need Every Word With Capitals To Understand Your Message - It Is Very Annoying

My solution is to buy Nintendo WII - the whole family can get involved TOGETHER with active fun games without sitting in a darkened room like a zombie. I will not allow my kids to grow up shut off from the real world in a make believe violent, sadistic, dehumanised world. There is so much else out there for them. And shame on those lazy parents who use the games as babysitters.

It grinds my(and other gamers Im presuming) gears to see the ignorance and attatude that non gamers have towards in terms of violent games. Games clearly state themselves with a recommended rating for audiences who are mature and mentally fit enough to decide what is right and what is wrong. Personally, playing this particular game I find that said level is unessecary due to its violence, but is there to create emotion and impact to the player. Studys(actually..) do show that gamers do not actually care about the violence, but more about the actuall gameplay.

I love the fact that someone came along several weeks after the show had finished and this conversation had closed and started marking down all the comments, that's more than a bit suspicious.

I have been a gamer for years since i was little and im not a mass murderer anyway the game asks you if the content will harm you this must of happened to mr laws and your older than me and you act more immature i think you would be the one who would become a mass murderer

atleast i know the difference between reality and a computer game

im sick of this country that slams people for having a past time activity that keeps them ocupied and this man mr laws full of rage and hatred towards so many people that he doesnt know slams us all as a community as mass murderers

he also hates homosexuals which makes me more discusted by him

everyone has to be so clean and pure to him when i guess he aint some little saint himself

go find something to do to get rid of your hatred become a actor after all you look shockingly a bit like the main mass murderer from the movie saw

TO BE FAIR, not that mr laws would know because he's never played the game, all players that have brought (I think he means "bought" - Ed) the game have the option to skip the level that has "killing of innocent people in an airport" which is one of the centre points of the arguements against this game. This just goes to show how ill-informed some people are about this game.

One of the first thoughts going through my head as i was listeniong to the radio broadcast was that Mr laws was starting to talk a lot about things he doesn't know much about, which seems to be prominate in the american media, and i for one dont want NZ media turning in this direction. Anyone else get this idea?

It's all about fear of the new, tolerance for homosexuals, these new fangled computer gadget things. There's a basic instinct built into humans that 'if you don't understand it, it's bad', unfortunately, Mr Laws is demonstrating that he is letting his primordial thoughts define the world around him, he doesn't understand, therefore, it must be bad. His comments regarding homosexuals are an excellent example of this, lacking actual knowledge he has chosen to base his opinion on a bunch of stereotypes and prejudices, he doesn't stop once to consider he may be ill-informed or ignorant, because that would simply cloud his world-view, and frighten him all the more.

Sounds like Mr. Laws has taken a page out of Jack Thompson's book, and thrown in some irrelevant homophobia to boot. Has he, or anyone else against this game, actually played it? I'm guessing no, because there is nothing which forces the player to actually shoot any civilians, so only really causes you to see these attrocities and be powerless to stop them. The realism of the graphics, rather than desensitising (which usually occurs when the viewer is able to remove the reality of the situation), actually helps make you feel for the victims. By the way, the retail price for this game is $148, so if kids are buying it, where are they getting the money? If parents stopped putting in as much research into their childrens passtimes as Michael Laws does into his rants, then these games would be unavailable to those that aren't meant to be playing them.

ML,
You're completely entitled to comment on the decision, but frankly your remark re the censor is disgusting. Comments like that lose listeners and, judging by the public perception of your (sadly) decreasing professional judgment, you need them now more than ever.

Let's leave aside for a moment the fact that Laws' comment about this game was based on ignorance and fear for a moment and look at the rest of it. In what possible way does the sexual orientation of the chief censor have anything to do with this? In what possible way is ignorance and homophobia adding to a discussion of this game? Now back to the games = violent people theory. There is no science to back this up. None. There is, however, a lot of flapping around by homophobic, ignorant fundamentalists who seem to believe that little children are being left to play violent videogames for hours on end... (again, little to no proof of this... ) oh well.. anything for ratings eh?