Do computer games affect driving standards/attitudes?

[waynne]

Taking the latest release GTA 4 as an example would you say that a game like this encourages drink/drug driving and reckless driving? What sort of people, if any, do you think could be affected by the portrayal of driving in videogames?

Do driving games have any impact on a drivers skills/attitudes? Can computer games improve driving? Does street racing games mean that people no longer need to street race as they have an outlet in the game?

It'll be interesting to see where this thread leads.

[Izo Azlion]

Games do not induce violence, poor driving, theft, crime or murder.

If they did, so do movies, and after Gone in Sixty Seconds, we'd have seen a huge spike in car thefts. After Saw, we'd have seen more murders, and after the Matrix, we'd have seen more deaths from people trying to jump buildings.

It may give an outlet, but a game is a game, is a game, its there for enjoyment... It allows people to escape a little.

"Sims," along the lines of GT5 and such, do teach the basics of how a car handles, and similar games do the same, but you're not going to learn much more than basic car handling types and lines on a game.

[Massive]

I agree thats a load of rubish, however when i got NFS Carbon, after playing it i wanted to go race round like a looney, and then i learnt my lesson :s

[blacklineninja]

Just because you can drive well on the road or on a track in reality does not translate into a video game and vice versa, and just because slicing a Mexican drug pusher up with a chainsaw is amusing in Vice City, you wouldn't really want the mess on your Quiksilver jeans unless you had those sorts of tendencies in the first place.

If someone would be tempted to drive drunk/stoned as a result of playing GTA then damn, man, why is everyone growing up stupid?

Games have replaced movies as the new hate target of the horrified mothers brigade, a quick fix solution for pointing blame at for the state of society, rather than tackling the fact that criminals are not dissuaded or punished anymore.

There are some things you can do in games that are more fun in real life, you can't feel the surge of acceleration and the thrill of speed on your PlayStation. But street racing was going on in real life long before the games companies bought it to a console near you. Hey, it's somewhat safer than a pistol duel which was the old fashioned way of going out on the pull!

It's illegal and it's dangerous and I don't condone it, but people still want an outlet in real life for driving their cars competitively, despite the government/horrified mothers brigade whinging about how depraved it all is.

I recommend going to run what ya brung events and buying the available insurance when you get there and I feel there should be a lot more of them in more locations which would make an impact, but like anything you'll never completely eradicate illegal road racing, that's just the way it is.

Now if one more person tells me a car is just a means from getting from A to B I'm gonna fire a rocket propelled grenade up their ar...

[Massive]

A car is just a means of getting from A to B

[Shao]

LOL!!

Yeah after playing GTA San Andreas for a long time (a very long time skydiving out of of a hijacked plane was a bit cool!!) did find myself, telling myself this is not GTA when driving straight after! But as we all know the difference from right and wrong....... The problem is apparently up until 18 years of age the human brain is more likely to be suggestive to PC games/films etc. and yes GTA is an 18. So tbh I blame the parents for buying the game in the first place for their son or daughter, or if they dont buy it for them have a look periodically what they have installed on their PC PS3 Xbox etc and yes before someone jumps up and down spy on their kids!

[Massive]

Realistically only a sick wierdo would do anything so stupid, normal people know the difference between real life and fiction, there has to be some underlying thing to make someone act out something from a game or even a film. Also it is the parents responsibility to stop there underage kids from playing the game, its 18 for a reason

[DaveyL]

The game can never match the thrill of driving fast on roads, but with the law the way it is, if you have a decent car you'll struggle to have fun legally. Thats why go karts(or mini's) are the way forward in my opinion. a 60mph road in a mini is the dogs bullocks...

Dave

[StevieDB9]

haha, horrified mothers brigade! i hate these women, they start whinging cause their 10 year old son is playing a computer game where you steal cars and shoot prostitutes. honestly, they are from the generation of pong, do they ran back and forward going "bip.....bip.....bip" no, get a life

back to the question in hand,mmmmmmmm, maybe to some degree "colin mcrae rally" is pretty realistic in terms of slide control but thats all very well in the comfort of your bedroom, if you went into a slide at 60 mph on a greasy country road would you be able to think straight and keep your foot down and apply opposite lock?

[DaveyL]

Opposite lock is obvious i'd say, whoever heard of someone turning out of the slide? On front wheel cars, say you managed to hand the back end out, should you keep the foot planted? I've had the back end out once and I dunno how I corrected it(natural talent I hear you cry....)but pretty sure I didn't keep my right planted.

Dave