Play war games? You're a war criminal.

[Lookingglassman]

I fought in a real war and killed a bunch of people in real life so doing it in video games isn't a big deal for me. Unlike real life, I can start the level over and the "people" I killed will be back again ready to be killed all over again.

 

[Rii]

Yes, video games should be rife with heavy moral lessons and character building. That's escapism right there.

Why not? I'm suspicious of the increasing emphasis on narrative in games myself, but they can certainly be enjoyable and affecting experiences.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I look good in a black uniform, so I'm sticking with my fave games.

 

[Crewman47]

I don't understand why people play video games and get ideas to become criminals. If that's the case, no one should be able to play them unless they pass some sort of sociopath test. I play GTAIV a lot these days, which is basically a criminal simulator.... yet in reality I've never ever had the urge to steal a sportscar and drive around the sidewalks capping people out the window and ramming hot dog stands. It used to be in fashion to go on a rampage and blame GTA for it, but it's fallen out of favor these days.

I was thinking of GTA when I saw the title and thought that if you're a war criminal for playing war games then would you have Terroristic tendencies for playing GTA as in there you can walk around with a large aresenal of weapons from a hand gun to a rocket launcher and kill and blow up things left, right and center.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

. . . and wantonly destroy homes and buildings.

It seems odd that this constitutes a war crime, particularly given the abhorrent nature of the other crimes listed. Are soldiers considered less worth protecting than inanimate structures?

The problem isn't so much the buildings but rather the people (read: civilians) contained within them. Civilian lives are worth more than soldiers. That comes with the territory of being a soldier--you are there to lay down your life so a non-combatant doesn't have to, if it comes to that.

Read that: "young males are less valuable and important than anyone else".

 

[Hartzilla2007]

When I play war games, I go to war so that my enemies may live in burnt hacked up pieces surrounded by the rubble of their destroyed civilization.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

When I play war games, I go to war so that my enemies may live in burnt hacked up pieces surrounded by the rubble of their destroyed civilization.

 

[JonathonWally]

The whole airport scene in COD:MW2 got me thinking about this very topic in connection to strategy games. Had the same thought as Robert Maxwell that it would be an interesting addition to give these actions real in-game consequences.

Spoiler: COD:MW2 Spoilers

It did have in-game consequences, because of your actions at the airport, you were killed and Russia invaded the US. You're responsible for the ensuing war.

 

[captcalhoun]

i killed a civilian in DF Black Hawk Down once because they threw a stone at me and i thought i'd been shot. it as rather unnerving as i felt very immersed and i could see how easy it was to have done that in real life.

most games i play however, don't have many civvies running around in them.

i should be locked up for speeding, dangerous driving, ramming police cars, property damage, driving off the road, ignoring stop signs and red lights and a variety of others in Test Drive 5, Need for Speed 2, NFS: Underground, NFS: Most Wanted and Driver though...