Young fragger

I was working this weekend in the hospital, and one of my patients spent the entire day fragging with his twelve-year-old brother. He's only six.

Of course, he got pwnd most of the times, but he's able to hold his own occassionally. I was actually quite impressed by his deathmatch skills. They were playing Golden-Eye multiplayer on a console.

Do you think someone this young should be playing deathmatch games? Personally, I have no problem with that. In fact, I almost joined them for a round, but I just thought it might not be too professional of me to be fragging with patients while on duty. So I politely declined the offer.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I don't think there's any problem with that unless that's all they do. My parents were giving me some weird looks when I was playing Doom at 7, but they never said I should stop playing those evil, violent videogames.

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One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

Heh remember the murder due to GTA :wink:

Blame parents and I think it is fine provided they are sensible and don't get stressed easily at the thought of losing :/

I would have said it was fine before reading
this
article. Its about a boy who dies from a stroke after playing video
games for 12 hours.

That article you posted has no credibility whatsoever. In fact, any doctor who uses the phrase "totally destroyed" is a complete idiot in my opinion.

What "pathology" were they referring to? What is the pathogenesis of the outcome? How can it trigger a stroke? It makes no medical sense.

Video games can indeed modify neurons and synapses in the brain, but only for the better. It enhances reflexes and encourages the development of spatial comprehension. In fact, mapping could be one of the best tools for learning geometry, physics, art, and computer science.

I hope you weren't being serious when you posted that link, Quaver.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Video games can indeed modify neurons and synapses in the brain, but only for the better.

Computer games create addiction, especially to impressionable
youngsters. It is the case of a run-away boy who was found half-dead in
an I-cafe after having played (guess what) counter-strike for
about 50 hours non-stop. Other than that, addicted kids end up with sleep
disorder, nausea, bad eyesight and, as a long-term
effect, social behaviour disorders.

well i first got started when i was introduced to time crisis on the
ps...i was 14-15..after that it was medal of honour and i was hooked.
As for kids playin cs i think its halarious when ur able to frag them n
they get enoued i think this is where the i pwned joo status comes into
kids they play vs their friends and think there v good. I just pity
squirts like that..as for console games i have no problem with that. In
games like css u have to accept that there will always be someone
better than u and partially thats what is what makes the game
challenging...

Well im not the best at health etc so i tend to believe what i read in
things like this, but what you said make sence so me goes back to
playing games.

Whats the longest anyone heres played a game, mine was proberly about
12 hours when i got hl2. Ii usually only spend an hour at a time, then
watch tv :razz: .

I don't really have any problems with a 6 year old playing a deathmatch game, or a violent game for the matter. Heh, I was playing watching my mom play Doom when I was 3 :biggrin:

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Breaking the laws of mapping since 2003 and doing a damn fine job at it

Computer games create addiction, especially to impressionable
youngsters. It is the case of a run-away boy who was found half-dead in
an I-cafe after having played (guess what) counter-strike for
about 50 hours non-stop. Other than that, addicted kids end up with sleep
disorder, nausea, bad eyesight and, as a long-term
effect, social behaviour disorders.

Some people will take anything to the extreme though; the same could be
said of films, tv, gyms, etc... More often than not it seems to be
grown adults that are killing themselves by playing too long anyway,
not kids.

I think its very much a case by case scenario. For the most part, there
is probably nothing with letting kids play games. I've played games,
without any real restrictions on type or content, since owning a C64 as
a young child. I wouldn't say its had any real negative effects, though
it could probably be given as a reason for my crappy eyesight :biggrin: I feel
I've turned out to be a pleasant, sociable and well rounded person - so
what if my main pastimes are based around gaming? I'm not saying
everyone should be playing a huge amount of games as some people, like
your example Andrei, will take things too far. Parent's should, as with
all activities, try and take an interest and at least monitor their
kids (while young at any rate) to ensure they aren't going down this
route.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I don't have a problem with kids playing even the most violent games.
My niece used to enjoy playing vice city and she was bloody good at
carjacking! But my sister always limits her to an hour of play, then
she has to go and do something else. Its only a problem when computer
games are ALL a kid does, and thats quite sad.

Some people will take anything to the extreme though

Exactly. It's not just gaming. I am sure if you pick your nose for fifty hours straight, you're bond to get some serious health problem too.

I have always been a gamer, starting with Wolfenstein 3D. But I made it through high school, college, medical school with stellar grades, and it gives me a benign outlet after I get home from work.

I'll probably have to debate this with my soon-to-be wife. We've already talked about this in passing. She might be hesitant to allow our kids to play shooter games before they're ten years old.

But boy, I can already dream of the day when I play deathmatch with my son in a custom map he made for Half-Life 14.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I'm not saying they shouldn't play games at
all, all i'm saying is that the parents should keep an eye on them
cause, if left alone, most of them are capable of playing until their
brains come out their noses and ears (tested theory).

Should you have been banned from playing Cannon Fodder when you were the same age, or from Doom II a bit later? If there are swearing/obscenity filters, then fine, let them play :/

any problems that arise within children from playing computer games are, at the root, the parents fault. they should be able to make the right decsions about their child. i think it is really depressing when people blame the game for what a child has done or has been done to. like here in the uk there was an incident when a kid was stabbed by his friend and the mother blamed GTA. she should have known what the kid could mentally and emotionnally handle

older kids should be able to make their own decsions as well and if they cant then they shouldnt be treated maturely. like me my parents would never make me go to school, or shower, or stop playing CSS i make the descion to stop myself and all kids my age should have the maturity and capabiltity to do so as well.

I think that little children playing games is no problem at all. Like
said before its when they play to much. As a person addicted to CS :smile: I
know from experience that getting up at 6:30am and playing till 3:30am
the next day, well... that may be a problem if you do it too often. To
prevent this parents should monitor playing time, keep it to like a 5-6
hour max time a day. Also, it pisses me off when parents start f**king
flipping out when one dumbass kid screws up and brings a gun to school.
Its the parents of that child that really messed up for letting such a
ill minded kid play video games for 24 hours straight, and then having
an internet predator tell them to kill everyone. :smile: . Anyway, kids and
games are cool, just as long as if they dont own me at them.

HINT TO PARENTS: There is a ESRB rating system for a reason

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http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/8521/windows981dk.jpg

Nickelplate is my dad

I played quiet a lot of games when i was young, it started with c64.
And offcourse my parents also played games with me, though i never got
them to play a game of deathmatch.

Soon i got addicted to flightsimulator, and now even my dad enjoys flying from time to time.

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RUST Gamedesign
pepper design

The strength of the turbulence is directly proportional to the temperature of your coffee.

I don't see a problem. The issue really stems from how the parents raise the kids. Even in the situations where some kid went and shot up a school and the parents said, "we raised him fine", doesn't mean anything. The problem is: you'll never know, since you can't go back and monitor the previous events throughout the child's life and see what you can link their behavior to, if anything. I mean, think about this for a second, children really aren't the most moronic individuals around, adults are. All those signs, laws, and rules in society are there because someone tried it, most likely, more then once.

The violent events with children, in all actuality, are pretty infrequent. When something DOES happen though, it gets covered by the media like no tomorrow.

Anyway, the corralation between violent homes and violent children are probably higher then the corrilation between loving homes with violent video games and violent children. But then again, you can never know for sure, since there's no way to really conduct any kind of study environment.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I actually believe that violent games serve as an effective and harmless avenue for people to vent their violent tendencies. If you take out your anger on a Combine by shooting him in the head with a shotgun, the act just might prevent other acts of violence in the real world.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel terrible everytime one of the rebels perish in Half-Life 2. I feel it's my responsibility to protect them.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Your right there satchmo, but dont you think that those rebels are a
tab bit stupid? I always wonder how they could have survived so long
with only elia vance as a leader.

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RUST Gamedesign
pepper design

The strength of the turbulence is directly proportional to the temperature of your coffee.

I always wonder how they could have survived so long

It helps that they are spawned a few seconds before Gordon comes along. :smile:

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Maybe it's just me, but I feel terrible everytime one of the rebels
perish in Half-Life 2. I feel it's my responsibility to protect them.

I feel sorry for the combine :sad: .

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>I feel sorry for the combine </DIV></DIV>

Even after the Civil Protection Unit police knocked that can off in the trainstation and asked you to pick it up? I tried various ways to avoid doing what I was told, but I got beaten up most of the times. I threw the can at his face once, but he chased me and caught up to me and gave me a beating.

Man, I wish I had a crowbar back then.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I feel sorry for the combine

Even after the Civil Protection Unit police knocked that can off in the trainstation and asked you to pick it up?

That was so funny :biggrin: . I picked it up, put it in the bin and then, after
the combine turned around and started walking the other way , threw a
shoe at the back of his head :biggrin: .

I threw the can at his face once, but he chased me and caught up to me and gave me a beating.

LOL, everybody I've seen play the game, myself included, has done that exact same thing :biggrin:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

deleted my damn post.....havent done that for awhile.....grrr

it suffices to say, the parents are responsible......ya gotta know what yer kids are doing, and the only way to do that is make em talk to you.....hog-tie em if ya have to, but get it done.

my kingdom, my rules, and it aint a damn democracy....and they still love me... :heee:

Doc Brasso... :dodgy:

Communication is everything. Bad things happen when the parent(s) know nothing about their kids. Those Columbine kids? They got their guns from their parents.

Should I blame "Doom" for their murderous behavior, or should I blame the parents who allowed free access to weapons and ammos at home?

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Eh, the Columbine kids didn't get the guns from their parents, they got 'em from friends of theirs (one of whom was sent to jail for it, weirdly enough) and paid for with jobs that they had. Not to say that their parents weren't partially at fault, since one of them was grounded for bomb-making, but at least they didn't buy 'em the guns.

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One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

Personally I wouldn't let a child play any violent games until I
believe he or she is mature enough to handle it. For most kids,
I'd say 6 is way too young, and maybe 15-18 is an appropriate starting
age for MA+ rated games. But obviously that will vary a little
bit depending on the person.

As for the videogame / parents debate. I think if the kid turns violent its mostly the fault of his parents.