What other purpose can any of these accoutrements serve aside from preparing these vehicles to race? No one is going to put foils on a car so they can sedately drive the speed limit to take the car grocery shopping or go to the Laundromat. Yet we still act shocked and dismayed when we hear about incidents like the accident last week.
It's become easier and easier to blame the entertainment industry for anything that happens. It used to be violence on television that was the cause of societies ills, then it was popular music with its salacious lyrics, and now the new kids on the block are the video games.
Sure some of them are violent, and some of them involve high speed car driving, but so does almost every movie or television show in the theatres or on the air. But, the argument goes, in video games people are active participants and are encouraged in that behaviour. Why should playing a video game encourage behaviour of any kind, they're obviously not real.
A game isn't going to make you do anything that you were not inclined to do in the first place. Toronto Police Service Detective Paul Lobsinger was quoted in the Toronto Sun article, buried near the bottom of the piece, as saying: "There is a small percentage who have difficulty separating reality and simulation, fantasy. It's a very, very small percentage… This was not the game's fault. There are millions who play this game and don't go out and do this."
If these games truly did influence behaviour wouldn't there be much more widespread behaviour of the kind depicted in them? In some ways games are probably the least likely to have the effect of pushing people into the streets to race their cars, as they do allow them to experience the thrill and the difficulty of driving a car at high speeds.
Any of the racing games I have had experience with have told me how hard it is to control a vehicle when driving at accelerated speeds. They have also made me realize I probably have no business being behind the wheel of any vehicle, but that's another story.
Article comments
1 - steve
this totally reminded me! I have to pick up the new need for speed for XBOX! Thanks!
2 - Duane
Gee, I don't feel guilty about owning and driving a car. I admire nice cars, and I wish I could afford to have something swankier than my Dodge. But I don't worship cars, as you seem to imply when you say "we are all guilty..." And I have never scored any coolness points by having a slick car. I don't care what people think about my status. I know what it is. My car gets me from A to B when I need to go from A to B. That's it. I drive about 20,000 miles per year. What do you suggest as an alternative? I feel about as guilty about this incident as I would about some kids going on a GTA-inspired shooting spree on account of me owning a copy of Civ III.
Interesting article.
3 - Ken Edwards
Great article gypsyman. The cop did say it was ironic. At least he has his head on strait.
Steve - NFS: Most Wanted is so worth the purchase.
4 - Matt Paprocki
It's like blaming the video game, not the gun company, when someone shoots up a classroom. Apparently, the item that killed someone has no bearing on the events.
Fun read Gypsyman.
5 - JimW
Odd - I just finished Quake4, but don't feel the slightest inclination to pack up my arsenal and start blowing people away. Could it be that only a 24 karat doofus carries what he did in a game into the real world?
6 - Maxray
I've heard stories from parents who won't let their teens ride in another teens car. Why? Because that teens parents thought it would be cool to buy them a. Teens already have the highest fatality rate among drivers. Why tempt their fates with the keys to the latest testorone enducing vehicle?
To quote a friend of mine who when asked about the game Dungeons and Dragons being a devil worshipping game - "I almost never kill my parents."
7 - Rikk
Just wait till Dungeons and Dragons online hits. Some kid will cast a fireball spell at some other and wipe out a McDonalds. I can see the headlines already! Unfortunately the culprit behind most of these tragedies (imho) is just plain poor parenting. "I make 150k a year and can afford to buy my kid a fast car and every new toy he wants." well thats great but do you spend time with them? And I don't mean on the couch at the same time watchin a movie! I mean do you KNOW them...as a person? who are they... what do they like...DO THEY HAVE A FIRM GRASP ON REALITY! Admittedly sometimes it's not bad parenting but a simple "slipped through the cracks" thing but... I guess what i'm saying (long-windedly) is that parents need to step up and take some responsibility for the minds their action or inaction help form. Kid killed himself? Must've been rock/games/movies. Just once I'd like to see someone stand up and say "I guess I should have been more involved...noticed more...or just plain paid attention!" Sorry for the rant.
8 - Ace McCloud
Well, what if you do spend time with your kid and find the answer to your question, "DO THEY HAVE A FIRM GRASP ON REALITY", is "No"? What do you suggest then? What do you do when you learn your 15yo son is a wacko?
I don't know if "spending time" with your kid helps keep him from being a lunatic -- some people are just born to be crazy. But if you do spend time with them, then at least you'll know he's a nutcase before it comes as a complete surprise.