surf dtoid with 
Rising (10+)
People you follow
@OneRed, you be doing good thinking. It's just not about black and white. We seem to polarise every issue every issue we come across, and I'm not sure whether that's an internet thing or a gaming culture thing. Like, either he learnt how to kill through CoD, or CoD had absolutely nothing to do with anything because fuck off.
I think I've heard Jim say (and correct me if I'm wrong) that a messed up individual is messed up before he/she picks up the controller. But that's not to say that playing CoD doesn't influence your thinking in that, or even your actions. Most great literature I read changes the way I think, and they way I see the world, even just for a few days. It's the ideas explored by the author that stay in my mind, in a way that videogames haven't quite done for me yet. But if I found the ideas in CoD regarding war compelling enough, I can totally see how playing it day in, day out, would change my thought patterns a bit.
Just my thoughts, I guess.
I think I've heard Jim say (and correct me if I'm wrong) that a messed up individual is messed up before he/she picks up the controller. But that's not to say that playing CoD doesn't influence your thinking in that, or even your actions. Most great literature I read changes the way I think, and they way I see the world, even just for a few days. It's the ideas explored by the author that stay in my mind, in a way that videogames haven't quite done for me yet. But if I found the ideas in CoD regarding war compelling enough, I can totally see how playing it day in, day out, would change my thought patterns a bit.
Just my thoughts, I guess.
How the fuck are you assholes going to leave a bro like Breivik hanging like this?
I got you Anders:
Oh, and for those saying he's insane, he cleared two psych evals and was declared legally sane and competent.
I got you Anders:
Oh, and for those saying he's insane, he cleared two psych evals and was declared legally sane and competent.
@onered
The problem is that that isn't how any of the articles on this put it. The ones I've read are "CoD taught him how to use a gun" but there are zero gun training exercises in those games. So to continue the trend of this thread, Mario Galaxy taught me how to be an astronaut.
The problem is that that isn't how any of the articles on this put it. The ones I've read are "CoD taught him how to use a gun" but there are zero gun training exercises in those games. So to continue the trend of this thread, Mario Galaxy taught me how to be an astronaut.
I think the way the game angle is being played up in most mainstream media is farcical, honestly, but the truth is that Breivik did make effective use of CoD to practice aiming and otherwise train for his massacre, after a fashion. It's just that you don't hear why this particular episode of OMG VIDYA DID 9/11 is less ridiculous than past entries in the series, because when CNN goes to write an article on this shit, their eyes don't make it past "Call of Duty" before they sort of glaze over and roll around in their sockets.
Breivik was actually able to get some measure of training out of his time with CoD, because he had purchased a ludicrously expensive holographic aiming system (and no, I don't know how it works or where you'd even buy one) to use instead of a controller, and CoD was simply the sim he chose to use this product with. And that's the actually significant part of this story: Breivik had an actual virtual firearm simulator that was useful for training purposes, that just happened to essentially have a Call of Duty skin. Whether this actually constitutes truly effective training is questionable, but it's certainly more instructive than the Columbine or V-Tech shooters playing Doom and Counter-Strike.
The terrifyingly sane Breivik took great pains to explain this distinction to the court in his testimony, but it's no surprise that CNN apparently lacked the mental acuity to understand. They employ Wolf Blitzer, after all.
Breivik was actually able to get some measure of training out of his time with CoD, because he had purchased a ludicrously expensive holographic aiming system (and no, I don't know how it works or where you'd even buy one) to use instead of a controller, and CoD was simply the sim he chose to use this product with. And that's the actually significant part of this story: Breivik had an actual virtual firearm simulator that was useful for training purposes, that just happened to essentially have a Call of Duty skin. Whether this actually constitutes truly effective training is questionable, but it's certainly more instructive than the Columbine or V-Tech shooters playing Doom and Counter-Strike.
The terrifyingly sane Breivik took great pains to explain this distinction to the court in his testimony, but it's no surprise that CNN apparently lacked the mental acuity to understand. They employ Wolf Blitzer, after all.
@usedtabe
Murdering 69 human beings voids your sanity club membership; regardless of how "sub-human" you may personally deem the victims. I really can't believe shit like this doesn't constitute either racism or trolling...
Murdering 69 human beings voids your sanity club membership; regardless of how "sub-human" you may personally deem the victims. I really can't believe shit like this doesn't constitute either racism or trolling...
@Dynamic Sheep
You can do terrifying and evil things without being insane. Sometimes insanity's almost a copout excuse. It's chilling how sane he is, tbh.
You can do terrifying and evil things without being insane. Sometimes insanity's almost a copout excuse. It's chilling how sane he is, tbh.
@Dynamic: Breivik is an unspeakably vile human being, racist, nativist, nationalist, and extremist. He turned to mass murder to further his goals, and everything about the choices he has made is completely unacceptable and unforgivable. He's a narcissistic prick, as well, for the way he is so assured of his worldview. He undoubtedly deserves the death penalty, and his hate screed needs to be mocked for the farce it is.
But to call him insane in the face of several very thorough mental evaluations is just an attempt to separate him from the rest of the human race. People want to paint him as some sort of psychopathic monster so they can pretend that they and their family and friends would never even consider anything like this. Nobody wants to think that they are capable of atrocity, but the truth is that WW2-era Germany was not a nation populated chiefly by psychopaths. Like them, Breivik is just a testament to the atrocities that everyday human beings are capable of committing and even rationalizing. It is perfectly possible to be in one's right mind and still be spectacularly wrong about everything.
But to call him insane in the face of several very thorough mental evaluations is just an attempt to separate him from the rest of the human race. People want to paint him as some sort of psychopathic monster so they can pretend that they and their family and friends would never even consider anything like this. Nobody wants to think that they are capable of atrocity, but the truth is that WW2-era Germany was not a nation populated chiefly by psychopaths. Like them, Breivik is just a testament to the atrocities that everyday human beings are capable of committing and even rationalizing. It is perfectly possible to be in one's right mind and still be spectacularly wrong about everything.
Shadow of the Colossus taught me how to beat up fuckers who are bigger than me. Also, three hours into Super Mario 3D Land and I'm ready to tackle the blockage in our drains.
On a serious note, this fuckbag is NOT insane. The vg thing is fucking bullshit and anyone who has/does shoot guns knows that. Finally: Fuck you media. This is what he wants and you fucks are giving it to him (not you Jim). Cut him off from cameras and throw him the fuck away. Even better, send him to Texas. As a father is gladly drive there and pull the trigger myself. I don't believe in reform for sociopathic murderers.
I hate the fact that this potentially gives fuel to anti-gaming activists. Jack Johnson must be masturbating furiously while watching the news!
Funny you say that Jim, because back in the day Sonic inspired me to pick up cross country. True story
But wait, it gets even worse:
"He also went through a period of playing the online fantasy game "World of Warcraft" up to 16 hours a day, he testified."
You know what this means? WOW is full of murderers! [/FOX NEWS SPIN]
"He also went through a period of playing the online fantasy game "World of Warcraft" up to 16 hours a day, he testified."
You know what this means? WOW is full of murderers! [/FOX NEWS SPIN]
Ok you all talked about how games might do "something" to a person who is psychologically instable. Good job? I mean what do you want to happen from this? This kinda thinking always ends with labels being thrown around and content being edited and that's why people are quick to jump to the "games do no evil" route.
You can't protect all people from all things, kids. You are going to have to let people be free even if there is a slight chance that they end up being crazy. Of course once found to be crazy then put them in the appropriate place but if we start doing it before how do we draw the line. When does a game become too violent? This is how freedoms are stripped away. With an "open" mind.
You can't protect all people from all things, kids. You are going to have to let people be free even if there is a slight chance that they end up being crazy. Of course once found to be crazy then put them in the appropriate place but if we start doing it before how do we draw the line. When does a game become too violent? This is how freedoms are stripped away. With an "open" mind.
I think I'll stick with the "games can do no evil" argument. After all, it wasn't the game that killed all those people.
I think in many cases it can be important to show all angles of an argument, but in this matter I think it's unnecessary. Sure, it is entirely possible that anyone who plays the game might think they are being trained to kill real people. It may enhance some of the skills required. But actually going and committing the crime is a different thing altogether.
If he went to a gun instructor who let him fire off a few rounds in a shooting range, would we say that the instructor trained him to be a killer? No, because Breivik had to breach that moral boundary by himself.
If he thought he was being trained to kill, that was his own interpretation of a piece of entertainment software. I think it's rather silly to suggest that his interpretation reflects on Modern Warfare or any other games because he was one man who gleaned something extremist from it. And I don't even like MW2.
I think in many cases it can be important to show all angles of an argument, but in this matter I think it's unnecessary. Sure, it is entirely possible that anyone who plays the game might think they are being trained to kill real people. It may enhance some of the skills required. But actually going and committing the crime is a different thing altogether.
If he went to a gun instructor who let him fire off a few rounds in a shooting range, would we say that the instructor trained him to be a killer? No, because Breivik had to breach that moral boundary by himself.
If he thought he was being trained to kill, that was his own interpretation of a piece of entertainment software. I think it's rather silly to suggest that his interpretation reflects on Modern Warfare or any other games because he was one man who gleaned something extremist from it. And I don't even like MW2.
Pfft, yea well, MW2 taught me how to dress classy when I want to go on an airport massacre. I'll be the sharpest looking man there.
Usedtabe: Actually, he failed the first psych evaluation. But too many people were convinced that this was the wrong conclusion so they did it again, but with a new team of experts, who concluded that he is certainly sane enough to go to trial.
He did play video games like COD, but he also went to the firing range for some actual shooting. I guess he used the game to get used to the idea of shooting at people and then going to the range to learn to actually handle the weapons.
Or, like a gazillion other people, he played it to have fun.
He did play video games like COD, but he also went to the firing range for some actual shooting. I guess he used the game to get used to the idea of shooting at people and then going to the range to learn to actually handle the weapons.
Or, like a gazillion other people, he played it to have fun.
He used meditation as well. Ban meditation! But I wish people would stop calling him insane. He is a nationalist and a fascist and he had the psyche to follow his convictions - that is, kill who he perceived as his enemies. Calling him insane is in some ways to ignore how dangerous (and fucked up) his ideology is.
follow
