# Don't we have an obligation as a society to look at ways to ban violent computer shooter games? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 16, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210 "2012-12-16T19:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/201 "2012-12-27T11:22:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Don’t we have an obligation as a society to ban FarmVille? You’re an active participant in the game. You’re actively stalking your corn. I can only imagine what disturbed people think of all this graphic agriculture. If you’re going to ban FarmVille, then you definitely have to also ban Harvest Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/202 "2012-12-27T13:16:35Z")
The term “casual gamer” **largely** depends on the company you’re keeping. On most gaming news sites “casual gamer” almost exclusively applies to people playing Farmville, Angry Birds, etc. When you hear about the “casual game market” or the “share of casual games” that’s what it’s referring to. However, it is absolutely common on gaming forums to refer to “Call of Duty and Madden” gamers as “fake gamers” and often as casuals (occasionally “casual in disguise” and often angrily compared with frat boys), occasionally this is also applied to those who only play Minecraft or dedicate all of their gaming to a single MMO. This is especially common in RPG and Nintendo-heavy (meaning Mario and Zelda, not Wii Fit) circles, but I’ve noticed it on general gaming forums as well. “Casual gamer” is terribly defined and very much depends on who you’re talking to. Personally I’d say for purposes of this discussion we’re more into the realm of “casual = Farmville and Popcap”, but I don’t think rogerbox is wrong, just out-of-context. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/203 "2012-12-27T16:53:01Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > You thinking I am confusing your industry-nerd jargon “casual gamer”=farmville, etc with something else, I am using the standard english language definition of a “casual” interest in gaming which means they play only the biggest mainstream titles and not for very long. No, I get that. I just think you’re incorrect. The phrase “caual gamer” doesn’t have any particular meaning except as a term of art. If you use it around people who aren’t into video games, they look at you funny. To them, all games are a casual enterprise. It’s only within the hobby that the term has any currency, and in that context, you’re using the term incorrectly. > [@](#): > > There is no way you can call a guy who picks up the latest madden so that he won’t get smoked when he plays at his buddy’s house (the VAST majority of people that purchase Madden roster update 2015 each year) a “Hardcore gamer”. No, but I don’t think “casual” and “hardcore” are the only options. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/204 "2012-12-27T18:41:05Z")
> [@gatorslap](#): > > The phrase “casual gamer” goes back at least to the early 90s, and probably to the 80s. Long before there was any such thing as Facebook or browser games. Exactly. The term has been around a looong time. It has always had a very broad usage. If there are subgroups of society that recently started using the term in a more focused way, that certainly doesn’t supersede the more general usage. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/205 "2012-12-27T18:44:37Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Exactly. The term has been around a looong time. I just looked on Google Scholar. The first usage is from 2000, describing a gamer who only plays the yearly Madden titles. So I concede the point. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/206 "2013-01-04T02:07:33Z")
I’ve already said my piece on this issue so pardon the lack of a detailed response to the articles, but my friend just linked 2 recent articles relevant to this thread: [An organization in CT is having a good ol’ fashioned [del]book[/del] game burning](http://www.gamespot.com/news/connecticut-town-collecting-and-destroying-games-6401982). As a bonus they imply that while video games don’t, _per se_, cause people to become aggressive violent psychopaths they kind of sort of totally do. [As most people here probably already know](http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/20/sandy-hook-shooting-video-games-blamed-again/) (did someone link something about this already and I missed it?) a Congressman has called for **another** study about the effects of violent video games. Which would be good, except I get the distinct feeling that the study is going to start with the desired results in mind. But hey, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/207 "2013-01-04T02:31:58Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Congressman … Senator ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/208 "2013-01-04T03:03:04Z")
A senator is a congressman. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210/209 "2013-01-04T03:09:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > A senator is a congressman. Common usage is that while both are **technically** congressmen, Congressman is usually only used for Representatives. ([Wikipedia agrees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressman)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-we-have-an-obligation-as-a-society-to-look-at-ways-to-ban-violent-computer-shooter-games/644210.md?page=10)