Gamers and Video Game Violence Claims

I learned of a man in Norway the other night. Bombed a government building and went on a killing spree, murdering children, the body count eventually ending at 77, I think. He did all this for an organization he claims to be in called the Knights Templar. I'm sure the Illuminati will be watching the trials closely. The man's name is Anders Behring Breivik, and he seems to have an issue with Muslims. Look him up if you want to, I read two articles and skimmed a third to get the gist of it and it made me angry. The man's insane.

I learned this from IGN. Breivik mentioned in a long-ass manifesto that he used Modern Warfare to train and played WoW while planning, and IGN was trying to do what most gamers do, myself included. They were trying saying how the media vilifies the games when the man's clearly insane. I went from there and read an official article on the incident, even put video game in my search to find something hostile towards the games. Modern Warfare and WoW were mentioned at the beginning then ignored while the facts were laid out.

Now, there are a few storied about Captain America after he was defrosted in the modern age that have him fighting because he's used to the fight. Assassin's Creed Revelations has this theme to a certain extent. It's a fairly common story thread, and while I read this article I realized just what has happened to gamers. We're so used to fighting that we go through the motions automatically. We don't know that the fight's ending.

I'm not trying to say this as fact. I read two articles and skimmed a third. But this is going to be a serious issue coming up. We're going to need to know when to back down, so when we have an actual reason to fight we have the energy and effect we want.

Like I said, the fight is ending. Video Games have been accepted as an art form, at least so far as movies, with only a few people saying nay. I think the fact that it's few is being lost because those few are loud, but we've got to look forward here. The fight is calming down, more people are coming into power who have played games most of their lives or have children who play video games. This is a fight we can't lose, but we're so used to fighting it that we can't stop.

I'm not saying ignore these fights. I'm saying don't be so quick to react. Gamers have a negative image, one of a bunch of temperamental children. Reacting immediately to news that might be construed as negative wont help that. If we can find a real argument against gaming and then throw our voices against it, that will help. A lone psychopath who's attracted to violence isn't an argument against gaming.

My condolences to the families of the victims and the family of the murderer.