I guess it is time for me to reintroduce some of my older essays, op-eds, and opinion pieces. The subject of videogames and violence will not go away, and with developers increasingly pushing the envelope, we have Bulletstorm front and center on FoxNews.
“If a younger kid experiences Bulletstorm’s explicit language and violence, the damage could be significant,” Dr. Jerry Weichman, a clinical psychologist at the Hoag Neurosciences Institute in Southern California, told FoxNews.com.
“Violent video games like Bulletstorm have the potential to send the message that violence and insults with sexual innuendos are the way to handle disputes and problems,” Weichman said.
Carol Lieberman, a psychologist and book author, told FoxNews.com that sexual situations and acts in video games — highlighted so well in Bulletstorm — have led to real-world sexual violence.“The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games,” she said.
Really? Please cite some references. While some may argue that parents cannot monitor their kids 24-7, which is an entirely different post, I don’t see how “younger” kids would be able to purchase Bulletstorm, much less play the game without an assist from a parent (or adult).
I love how these “experts” come out in droves whenever a new game packed full of controversy is released, but they never cite references. For what it is worth, FoxNews did try to get some comments from the developers; however my problem with this article is that FoxNews should not blindly accept these “opinions” as facts without doing a little research first.
For all I know, I could be messed up in the head because as an impressionable youth, I got my hands on a strip poker game for the C-64. Mmmmm … that game was delicious. Ever since, I have gone through life wondering why every beautiful girl does not walk around in lingerie.
