@Zetona No kidding! Our mental healthcare in this country is too expensive, not to mention that some companies don't even cover it.
Its all a symptom of a much bigger problem. There is no need for the general population to be able to use automatic weapons. There's no need for them at all.
I am 100% in support of them testing the effects of ultra violent video games on the development of children and teenagers. In fact, I highly encourage it, because I am willing to bet that the amount of people who actually become violent or show violent tendencies were the ones who had it in them in the first place.
(Warning: Incoming napkin math)
There are 7 billion people on this planet, and around 60 to 70% of those people have or frequently play video games, including casual games such as Farmville. So, let's just isolate people who play more violent video games. We're probably looking at around 25% of that population, so that's roughly 1.255 billion "violent" video game players. This includes silly games like Orcs Must Die and Fat Princess.
Of these 1.255 billion, approximately (according to some studies) 135 million (one third) of the U.S. population play video games, with about 80% of those playing free-to-play and casual games as noted earlier. When you consider around 11 million players play a violent game like League of Legends, let's assume our percentage of violent video game players is 30%, making our sample population a mere 40.5 million players of violent video games. This is probably an extremely small population and not reflective of the true population, but, for argument's sake, we'll use this number (the true population is most likely much larger, but for the benefit of the people in congress, I'll use this).
In the last 14 years, in which video games have become exceptionally prominent and increasing in popularity among a wider group of people, there have been 10 school shootings in the United States, with a total of 12 (sick) individuals carrying out these acts of mass murder. So, what percentage of 40.5 million is 12 people? Well, math tells us that it is (rounded) 3x10^-7, or .0000003% of the U.S. population that plays violent video games and goes on violent rampages at schools (specifically schools). Again, bear in mind that this is only a percentage of people who play violent video games.
I could call the argument here and say, "Well, the evidence is clearly not conclusive towards this one type of violence." But I have a final point to make. Seeing as I don't know much about football, I'll use this prominent example of the pro American Football player who offed himself and his girlfriend. We'll use this as the only example.
Each NFL team in the United States is allowed to have a total of 53 players, making for a total of 1,696 (53x32). Using these totals, the math comes out to .0005%. Using the logic that the idiots in congress, the NRA, and other moronic beings that walk the earth, this dictates that the NFL inspires people to shoot and murder their girlfriends and themselves in random acts of violence, because the sport inspires violent behavior.
Final note and TL;DR: Correlation does not imply causation. Too many people in the world play violent video games to officially state that they cause an enormous amount of lost life.
@xsonicchaos No, I can't ignore childish crabbing because it puts a negative cloud over these developers' heads. You also fail to realise that, not just the ending, but the whole game of Mass Effect 3 was an end to the series. They did not lie about it, nor did they twist their words - you got exactly what you paid for by playing the game. The hundreds of variables that came from your decisions can be seen in save editors, and they do make a difference. I have heard tons of different ways Mass Effect 3 has ended, widely different than mine (e.g.; characters offing themselves). What you, and other nay-sayers/boycotters/hipsters/whatever else you want to call yourselves, are ignoring. Who cares about the cutscene? They know you think it sucks, so you can stop complaining now - they're clarifying a work of art, which are subjective just in case you didn't realize, even though they really don't have to. I can't respect a point of view that ignores everything that everyone else has been saying.
Gamers as a whole are spoiled brats these days. We expect x and when we get slightly less than x, we throw a fit, scream, open lawsuits, etc. Just look at the League of Legends General Discussion forums - everyone has an entitlement complex, and its ruining the industry. Enough is enough. Coming onto these websites and spamming hate about the games isn't productive.
People really are overreacting about the ending. Boycotting BioWare, EA, and any of their subsidiaries doesn't help the gaming community as a whole, and BioWare consistently puts out quality product. Going as far as to try and open a lawsuit against BioWare is absolutely ridiculous. I don't care how much you claimed to love Mass Effect (as a whole) - you can get over it, and enjoy the rest of the game as opposed to having the rest of the spectacular game ruined by a five minute cutscene. That's just immature and stupid.
My boyfriend and I spent the whole night playing the Co-Op mode. We finished all the test chambers in about five hours or so. Best five hours I've had. :]
gamespot is actually a tremendously unbiased reviewer. most of you should be a tiny bit more respectful, especially the die-hard sony fans. quit already. it's a fair comparison between the two.
Quite personally, I'm more than thrilled about the upcoming three titles. I'll be busy hacking and slashing away in Diablo 3, madly building bases in StarCraft 2, AND racing to Level 80 on Wrath of the Lich King. I figure that'll hold me over, I don't know... maybe two years? Haha. I absolutely love Blizzard. Everything they've touched and created has turned to gold faster than you can say "shiny." They're an amazing developer that has created innovative games that have actually paved the way for other games. Think about it. A lot of the dungeon crawlers we play with today are based off of Diablo, or the strategy games we play have had designs similar to that of StarCraft. Even a lot of new MMO's are copying the style that WoW uses to enhance their games because Blizzard used them so effectively. Even though Age of Conan is pretty, it's also very expensive and isn't quite as fun as WoW. Great work, Blizzard. Keep it up.
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