All the World's Wrongs: Games At Fault!

[dvdx2]

off course most of us can separate the game from reality, but i think its wrong to totally dismiss that violent video games (or excessive video game playing), may have no bearing on a young persons development/actions. Some young people can be incredibly influential; mix excessive gameplay/videogame addiction in with low social/communication skills, poor mental health, lack of social contact etc, who knows what runs through their minds. Its bound to lead to some very un-savoury or bizarre behavior.

[wakka]

Yeah, the truth as always lies somewhere in the middle. Videogames are a bogeyman for the press though, like videos or rap music were in the past.

[Dogg Thang]

Only some press and not as often as they used to be. There are many positive game stories these days, some of which I have linked to in this thread.

[toythatkills]

off course most of us can separate the game from reality, but i think its wrong to totally dismiss that violent video games (or excessive video game playing), may have no bearing on a young persons development/actions. Some young people can be incredibly influential; mix excessive gameplay/videogame addiction in with low social/communication skills, poor mental health, lack of social contact etc, who knows what runs through their minds. Its bound to lead to some very un-savoury or bizarre behavior.

I don't think anyone sensible has ever tried to argue against that, although I'd say in this case it's difficult to see a link between being **** at Call of Duty, and hacking the website of a major telecommunications firm.

[Dogg Thang]

No link at all. That's just poor journalism.

[wakka]

Only some press and not as often as they used to be. There are many positive game stories these days, some of which I have linked to in this thread.

Of course mate. I'm not speaking in absolutes, but they are a bogeyman that tends to be brought out regularly. This is a thread about negative stories about games so I didn't feel like I had to qualify that by saying 'but of course there are positive stories too'.

[Dogg Thang]

Sure, I totally get that. I guess the reason I bring it up is that we sometimes miss the balance that exists, just as journalists do when it comes to pointing the finger at games out of habit more than anything else.

I wonder about the negative reinforcement sometimes. Not talking about you here or even this board but beyond that the good news game stories barely generate a peep from gamers and yet the negative ones bring out the pitchforks and torches and I can't help wondering if that level of engagement is one reason some papers and sites keep on writing the negative stories even when the connections are tenuous or non-existent. It's all hits at the end of the day.

[charlesr]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...alktalk-hacker

Another story and another case of papers blaming gaming as they lay the fault at CoD, GTA and Resi for the 15yr old hacking TalkTalk.

Its almost obscene how lazy the journalism is now. The gaming industry should be able to sue for slander.

What about blaming TalkTalk for not bothering with basic level security, so that a 15 year old can download a script off the Internet and aim it at TalkTalk and wait for data to appear. No decent hacker would have been caught so easily.

[wakka]

It's all part of of that rather insecure defensiveness the gaming community does tend to have, like with Gamergate. Someone is criticising games! Quick, send a swat team to their house!

[charlesr]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11997976/Paris-attacks-Terrorists-could-have-used-PlayStation4-to-plot.html

Paris terror attacks orchestrated on PS4 says Telegraph....

[BaronSqwelch]

I hope I don't get taken in by Mi5....firing bullets aimlessly into walls is how I always play CoD!

[Dogg Thang]

Here's a hilarious part: "terrorists could “spell out an attack plan in Super Mario Maker’s coins and share it privately with a friend""

[wakka]

This could have been going on for years. I can imagine the spooks in MI5 sitting there with a SNES now, trying to work out what 'YOU ARE A SUPER PLAYER' could mean.

If they did use Super Mario Maker, it should be easy to find them among the half dozen WiiU owners right?

[Solar]

Love this bit.

Spies from America’s NSA and the UK’s sister electronic eavesdropping agency GCHQ stalked online games like “World of Warcraft” and “Second Life,” fearing that terrorist or criminal networks could use the virtual worlds to communicate secretly.

That can't be for real surely?
If it is then I am placing bets that their employees just got bored of data collecting and decided to have a game, then lied to their superiors when they were caught.

[charlesr]

There's a messaging app called "Telegram" that encrypts all your stuff and has self deleting messages, Mission Impossible style. Pretty sure any terrorist with half a brain would be using that. Not mucking about in CoD.