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An Australian news report claims that the connection between videogames and violence is "greater than the connection between smoking and lung cancer."

The public consultation about an R18+ videogame rating for Australia is now over, but clearly that doesn't mean that reasoned and rational debate over the topic can't continue in other forums. Such as on Ten News, for instance, which aired a report last night claiming, "The explosion in youth crimes in inextricably linked to violent videogames."

Yes, inextricably: Apparently, while we weren't paying attention – probably playing videogames or something – science went ahead and proved that games do in fact cause violent behavior in children. And it's a very dramatic effect indeed: According to Dr. Wayne Warburton of the Australian Council on Children and the Media, "It's much greater than the effect of smoking on lung cancer." The ACCM, by the way, is the group that rebutted the point that the average age of gamers in Australia is 30 during the recent R18+ consultation by noting on its website, "So what?"

Still, at least Warburton was willing to go on record; in fact, while the report refers to numerous "studies," "experts" and "psychologists," he's the only source who was actually cited. "Experts say the gaming industry has much to account for," the report claims in one such anonymous, near-hysterical and woefully misinformed statement. "In Modern Warfare: Call of Duty 2 (sic), the highest selling media product of all time, gamers plot terror attacks against civilians."

"Psychologists say regular exposure to games like these actually rewires a child's brain, making them more amenable to violence," the report adds. "Such is the level of concern now, the world's leading researchers have been summoned to Sydney for a conference later this month."

Who these psychologists and researchers are, what studies they've conducted or which conference they're being "summoned to," as if Australia's Imperial Mage clapped his hands and sent forth his drakes to call the wizards of the council to his dark tower, is never mentioned. It's an astonishingly concentrated dose of misinformation, sensationalism and hilarity; at least, it would be hilarious if it wasn't also just about guaranteed to make a big impact on at least some of the parents and R18+ naysayers in Australia. The public consultation may be over but the fight for a proper game rating system, I think, is far from finished.

Source: http://gamers-underground.com/content/387-gaming-causes-more-harm-than-smoking.html

Ugh. I hate these so called experts that try to blame everything wrong with society on games.

Ha, we are Americans(or at least I am), we started the racial hatred fad.

“In Modern Warfare: Call of Duty 2 (sic), the highest selling media product of all time, gamers plot terror attacks against civilians.”

I hate everyone who hates video games because the news tells them to.

^^ Agrred

I thought this was ridiculous that's the only reason I posted it…

Saying games with guns are causing violence is like saying Mario causes drug use and stomping on people's heads.
And I lol'd at the CoD:MW2 accusation. The only thing that could be remotely terrorist related is the terminal mission.

Every generation has a few crass, ignorant, judgmental sayings about the youth of that era.

In the 50's it was Satanic Rock and Roll, the 60's had drugged-up lazy pansies, the 70's had what, liberationist superiorist terrorists? (I wouldn't know, I was too busy undergoing srs mitosis…)

You know, it's funny – it's almost as if part of each earlier generation wishes these paranoid beliefs would come true just to justify the 'truth' of their own early-adulthood rebellion – a sort of 'I told you all we were right' point of view…

Anyway, give it another 10 years and HOPEFULLY it'll fade away as youth counterculture history repeats itself once a-freaking-gain.

tl;dr – Elder luddites can be afraid of youth culture. In the meantime, we can have a good laugh! :D

This is Quite Hilariously Ridiculous, I got a laugh out of how Ridiculous the Entire thing Was.

^What's with the random capitalization?

Is it me or is Australia pretty often extreme on some Geek themes ?

OH HAY GUIZ, POKEMANS ARE EVIL CUZ THEY TEACH KIDS TO RUN AWAY FROM HOME AN' MAKE ANIMALZ FIGHGT EACH UTHER, BLAH BLAH BLAH

Don't you just love ignorant people?

^I was actually told pokemon was satanic by my church when I was five.

It's Australian officials. What do you expect?
They banned tits, so of course something like this will happen.

I thought we were done with that whole "games leads to violence" fiasco…

Every country has their Jack Thompson.

You can make Care Bears look like Nazis if people are bias enough.

And this, my friends, is why Australia is a laughing stock.

Fuck you McCarthy, you evil bastard, you had to go and start the trend.

Well you gota admit, we( as humanity) have improved quite a bit on violence, and to be honest, so what if some people plan terrorist attacks, I mean the founding fathers would be considered terrorist if they did not win the war.

On top of that, we need people to fight the government a it, or else we might as well all be communist.

Also terrorist are not always murders, there is also corporate terrorism( hint not many people like Wal-marts ethnics.)

thats the deepest, most sophisticated thing i've heard you say sweatie!

lol irony

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=116338

Guess what! This idiot was funded by none other than Australia's no R18+ campaign.

@ Watcher

You think some one was being bias?

Hell yes he was biased. That study was just about as reliable as Sarah Palin is intelligent.

"I hate everyone who hates video games because the news tells them to."

I hate anyone who does stuff because the news said so.

No. Just no.

>>Hell yes he was biased. That study was just about as reliable as Sarah Palin is intelligent.

YOU MAD YOU MAD YOU MAD

Lets see here…
-Woefully misinformed attention-seeking individual
-Gratuitous usage of fallacious reasoning coupled with principles of social engineering
-Blatant ignorance toward the subject being argued

I'd say it's safe to ignore this. Still worth a chuckle, but nothing to rage about.

These guys are stupid. Violent video games may have a slight possibility of influencing kids to do violent (key words: may, slight), but the link isn't nearly as severe or common as these so called "researchers" are trying to make it. The thing is that kids actually know the consequence of killing someone is that they die. They know that you don't respawn in real life. I hate it when "scientists" and "researchers" think that kids are mindless, stupid slaves who will anything a screen tells them to.

We gotta blow up these consoles, with some high explosives, hurry lets stop the terrorism!!
(sarcastic)

Maybe the Guys who play Counter-Strike can help us with the Counter-Terrorism.

Maybe they should make everyone play Robot Unicorn Attack, then world peace will ensue.

I think it's hard to take the bias out of science when quantitative research trumps qualitative. And from the looks of it in this case, there's very little of quality in this research:
"Still, at least Warburton was willing to go on record; in fact, while the report refers to numerous “studies,” “experts” and “psychologists,” he’s the only source who was actually cited." (Skankin, above).

friggin Australia…..

Didn't this happen with Rock N' Roll a decade or two ago? People are fighting video games because they're popular. Just like they fought Rock N' Roll when it first came about. Did they win? No. Video Games will quite simply never be stopped, because too many god damn people love them.