Abstract
This essay has looked into the possible implications that being exposed to violence within video games can have on the player. The aim of this report was to evaluate whether or not violent video games effect the player’s behavior and if violent video games are the only or main factor that cause violent crime. Video games seem to be an easy target for blame when talking about violence in society, especially youth violence, so this essay aims to disprove the hypothesis that violence in video games causes violent and aggressive behavior. The essay exclusively used secondary research from the United Sates of American that looked into the impacts on behavior from independent studies on the players of violent video games as well as sales and the popularity of violent video games. I want readers to use the unbiased information that is gathered within the essay to form their own opinions and views on the topic. As well as advocating for Less censorship and government intervention in what developers are allowed to create and players the ability to freely choose what type of content they consume. As an avid gamer myself, who’s gaming library consist of mainly violent games, I have never experienced any feeling towards acting in a violent way after playing violent video games for short and prolonged periods of time; combined with the research that I have made I personally see a lack of conclusive evidence supporting the idea that violent video games cause violent behavior.
Introduction
It seems that after any major release of a game which see’s millions of copies sold the conversation about violence within video games arises. The controversy over violent video games feels like a scape goat for some media outlets and politicians to identify a factor causing violent crime rates.Although visual violent media has almost been around for a century and violent literature and art for as long as humanity can remember for some reason violence in games is still a controversial and debated subject of the real implications it can have on the mentality of the player.
But why were people so resentful about violence in games? The essay aims to explore wither or not violence in video games contributes to violence in real life by looking at research that has been done on the same subject and if there is a correlation between crime rates and game date; my hypothesis being; “people who partake in the playing of violent video games experience violent and aggressive behaviour in the real world”.
The essay will be focusing on data from the United States of America as the nation offers a large amount on data from gamers, their buying habits and what types of games they are buying as well as having data on crime rates that are accessible but most importantly accurate. This date and the quality as well as quantity is exclusive to the united states and would have made the essay less reliable if sourced from any other country. Within the essay any person who plays video games on any play form, violent or non-violent, will be included within the research and conclusion. As the effects, if any, would hinder anyone who consumes this media and not just a particular age group, gender, financial health or any other factor.
Background
The controversy over violent video games has been an issue since the early days of video games being around. With the first arcade cadet being manufactured in 1971 and pong being released the following year it was not long until people saw the potential of this new medium. Consoles first entered millions of homes in 1977 with the Atari 2600 selling over 30 million consoles in its lifetime, turning a small pass time into an industry; followed by the NES (Nintendo entertainment System) in 1985 which revitalized the industry and love for games after the 1983 game crash.
Yet with the 8th console generation fully in swing and the 9th beginning with the launch of the Nintendo switch the industry has never been in a stronger position. With the PS4 and Xbox One selling a combined 110 million consoles since there release in November 2013 to the start of 2017, becoming one of the fastest selling generations in all time at a point when critics thought that console gaming was dying (sourced https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles 26 March 2017, at 22:45 ) The source is the only public source that I could find with data that matches to my own knowledge. With some of the most popular franchises including Call of Duty, Battlefield, Fallout, GTA and Assassins Creed each selling hundreds of millions of copies worldwide there is a clear yet not exclusive demand for games that contain a level of violence.
Though just like film, television and even books before, controversy and critics were not far behind the rapid growth. Examples date back to early arcade titles such as death race in 1976 which lead to the cadets that the games were stored in being burned on the streets due to the content of players running over “gremlins” that looked like humans on a black and white screen. (sourced http://gamestudies.org/1201/articles/carly_kocurek published on September 2012 by Carly A. Kocurek) Then came mortal kombat in 1992 that was shunned for the graphic “finishing moves” to Modern warfare 2’s skiable “no Russian” mission where you partake in a terrorist attack on an airport killing hundreds in 2009 with comments saying “If you are in that role, which is a terrorist in a game killing other people…and [you’re getting a] thrill from that, I think that’s actually sick. We need to sort that out”; to one of the most up to date example of GTA 5’s torture scene. (sourced http://kotaku.com/that-time-call-of-duty-let-you-shoot-up-an-airport-1738376241 published by Patrick Klepek on 10/23/15 7:30pm)
As games moved into the public eye and became a desirable pastime for millions of people, the capability of games grew too. With each console innervation came improved graphics and more ambitious games followed. This allowed developers to craft worlds and environments with hundreds of hours of gameplay for the player to conquer while also more realistic animations with expert voice acting creating relatable characters to explore complex emotions, themes and issues in relation to the narrative.
Games series such as GTA, Mortal Kombat and man hunt have all been attracted forms of controversy for the amount of gratuitous violence visible within the game. The controversy stems from the player being allocated the freedom to perform violent acts such as murder and robbery to earn in game currency or points. With the ever increasing capabilities of gaming hardware these acts are becoming more realistic combined with the accessibility of which these games can be accessed by anyone of any age creates the debate of their effect on society and if violent content within a video game can effect a player’s violent behavior in the real world.
Methodology
Within the report there is exclusive use of secondary research mainly due to the lack of ability to perform an arcuate scientific experiment. While also finding it hard to collect primary information about crime rates and video game sales in the US. Instead a combination of secondary research from the ‘FBI’, ‘The American Psychological Association’ and many other sources have been used to come to an unbiased conclusion that is firmly backed up with reason, statistics and facts.
A primary research questionnaire was created and was to be handed out within year twelve sixth form but due to an insufficient number of response as well as reply’s being minimal in answering the question there was no statement that could have been used accurately within the essay, so decided to discard this form of primary research.
Do crime violent crime rates and Popularity of games have any correlation?
The concern with people playing violent video games is that it causes the players to become aggressive and violent in real life. The idea that by exposing people to violence and allowing them to have control over actions could make people become desensitized to such acts and may even carry them out in real life.
However, through research it shows that this may not be the case, although violence around the world seem to be common headlines; we in fact are living in one of the least violent period in history.
| (source: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/427758/careful-panic-violent-crime-and-gun-crime-are-both-dropping-charles-c-w-cooke published on November 30th, 2015) The National review is a conservative magazine which you could soon argue that they stand behind the idea of limited government control and personal responsibility; which could defend the ability of freedom of expression allowing people to play what they want when they want. Though the article is solely speaking on the topic of gun crime and inherently the long argued issue of gun control there is no link to video game violence within the article. However, the reason that the article is useful in terms of studying the data as it is well informed with reliable secondary sources that backs the premise of the article with solid facts and statistics. |
In 2015 the United states crime rate was around half of what the violent crime statistics were at their peak in 1991. Violent crime in the country has decreased by 51 percent in the last 24 years combined with the fact that in 2013 violent crime was at its lowest point since 1970; in addition, these numbers take into account unreported crimes providing an even more accurate statement.
If you look at the graph to the right that was produced by the US governments ‘National crime Victimization Survey’ you can clearly see the rise and fall of people becoming subjected to violent crime; at its pinnacle point in 1991 with 79.8 people out of 1000 united states citizens were effected which translates to just under 8 percent of the population. This statistic is then contrasted with the 2015 figures with only 23.3 per 1000 citizens were victimized by violent translating to just over 2.3 percent of the population. However, this clear demonstration that crime rates are decreasing is not widely known. A Gallup poll in 2014 presented bitter sweet new statistics with the lowest recorded number of US citizens saying the crime is up yet still equating to 61%. What can be taken from this research is that although crime is clearly down and these statistics public, people still feel unsafe and that crime is still rife.
With violent crime at its lowest point in 40 years, soon followed a decrease in number of violent crime offenses from 2009 to 2013 from around 1,325,000 to around 1,160,000. (sourced: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/violent-crime/violent-crime-topic-page/violentcrimemain_finalpublished in 2014) The FBI are a reliable source as they can use real time, authentic primary data yet they are estimated statistics so could. Furthermore, you need to take into consideration that these statistics work off the Hierarchy Rule meaning only the most serious crimes that “involve force or threat of force such as murder and no negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assaults” so all the information is broken into segments making it harder to draw a firm conclusion and skewing the validity of the information. When interpreting this information, in 2013, an estimated 1,163,146 violent crimes occurred nationwide while around 316.5 million people were living in the united states in 2013. That means that 0.335% of Americans were directly affected by violent crime, you could argue that each crime committed doesn’t just affect one person but any family or friend who either have to look after the victim or deal with the emotional pain while mooning a loved one. For example, a mass shooting would only be one crime but can have a high level of casualties. However, it does show that only 0.37% of the US population is committing these crimes. (sourced: https://www.google.co.uk/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=country:US&hl=en&dl=en published Oct 11, 2016). This data was gathered from Googles main site and shared similar data to other sources that was researched.
But it is interesting to also look at the video games industry data in terms of sales and what people are commonly playing. In 2015 there were 155 million regular gamers which translates to 48% of Americans play games with 42% of them playing for an average of three hours a day according to a report produced by ‘The Entertainment Software Association’. ( source http://www.polygon.com/2015/4/14/8415611/gaming-stats-2015published Apr 14, 2015, 5:30pm). Polygon being one of the most trusted gaming outlets, this statistic can be misleading as it covers all types of gaming from console to PC to mobile that all include violent and non-violent games but there is no data for the public to view that break down the genres of game sales that could be accurate.
You can translate the information to even if every violent crime is committed by a gamer it is still a very small demographic with only 0.37% of Americans committing violent crime. This of course is still too many people committing violent crime and the amount of people who would be affected by these crimes are significantly higher; but it can help put the information into perspective that violent video games cannot be the only factor converting people in to murderers. Killing and violence has been imbedded into human history from the start of early Homosapien far before video games were conceivable.
furthermore, if we relate back to the ‘National Crime Victimization Survey’ on page 3 the most violent point in recent American history was in 1991 at around 79.8 people per 1000 were being victimized by violent crime some argue that the rise in violence was directly linked with the popular systems that were in circulation at the time which included the NES, SNES and the Saga Mega Drive and the respective violent games that ensued. But if this was true with the enhancement in technology and the ever-increasing capabilities of developers produces realistic video games that may contain violence surly; combined with the increase of people playing violent video games would result in violent crime increasing throughout the 21st century. This idea is contradicted by the fact that the opposite actually true with a decrease in US citizens being victimized by serious violent crime even when violent video game sales are at an all-time high. With the knowledge that violent crime is going down in the US while sales of video games that are becoming increasingly more realistic and containing violence are flourishing, there is very little correlation to determine that violent games actively contribute in violent behavior in the real world.
What effects do violent video games have?
One of the main arguments that surrounds the controversy of violence in games is that by inhabiting a violent character and carrying out the actions in a virtual world; could create a player who is more susceptible to becoming more aggressive. The argument made is that compared to other forms of media, gaming requires active participation from the player consequently forming more violent people. Specifically talking about film and television where you can be exposed to violence as the viewer, there is a lack of control over the actions taken by a character or group simulating violent acts. Therefore, the augment that if someone watches a fictional violent act doesn’t mean that they agree with proceedings, while allowing the viewer to condemn any actions that may not follow their moral guidelines.
Contrasted with the intentional input that the player has to make while gaming; there could be a more questionable moral stance that someone playing a violent game can make. Of course to progress to the end of the game and access all of the content available the player has to follow a guided path that has been programed and developed. Though as a consumer of the media a gamer still has every chance to put down the controller and stop playing if they are offended by a certain scene or subject matter of a game, just as you could when be watching a violent film.
However, a decade long study conducted by the British Medical Journal on the effect of exposure to video games stated that that there was no effect on behavior, attention or emotions as a result from being exposed to video games. Although the report does state that video games do not cause a “small increase in conduct problems” the study was also conducted with television exposure. There was a lower number of children who spent as long-playing video games as they did watching TV within the study as well as the study not being clear of the child’s age or the content within the games they were playing. Now with the understanding, it is interesting to take away the idea that games do not cause any recognizable behavioral affects.
(source: http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2013/02/21/archdischild-2011-301508.full.pdf+htmlpublished on the 6thof October 2016) The BMJ is an international peer reviewed medical journal and is an owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association; which is the trade union and professional body for doctors in the UK. This of course makes it a reliable source as it has a reasonably solid reputation. The Report use 100% primary source as decade-long study of over 11,000 children in the UK was carried out. This also shows that there was evidence of long- and short-term effects of violent electronic games as well as observing a very large number of children as young as five years old; all combined to create a fair test to then base the report on.
On the other side of the argument ‘The American Psychological Association’ concluded while there was “no single risk factor” to blame for aggression, violent video games did contribute. Although another group of 230 academics from universities around the world wrote an open letter condemning the study (source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33960075published on 17 August 2015) . The reputation of the BBC is of cause very high. Due to it being a government run institution so it has to have a neutral opinion about topics and present facts with the for and against arguments fairly so that the article is not giving a biased stance about one side than the other allowing the reader to form their own judgment. However, this report is more of a factual piece than opinion allowing the writer to produce an objective piece of work. The problem with the APA study was that they took the results of lots of studies to look for patterns and correlations but by mixing and matching studies creates an unreliable result as the different factors within the studies are not correctly addressed. A study released by the Oxford Internet Institute in 2015 suggested that the frustration at being unable to play a game was more likely to bring out aggressive behavior than the content of the game itself. Although looking at both studies that contradict each other making the idea absurd to deny that exposure to games in general even if the game contains violence or not can cause short term effects such as being easier to aggravate showing violent content is not the only factor; instead a combination of competitiveness, ability to play and frustration of the challenge. There could be an argument that aggression and frustration that arises from playing sports such as football and playing competitive violent video games are similar yet doesn’t mean it causes anti-sociable behavior in day to day life.
Monitoring games
As we have looked into previously the act of actively participating within a violent game is where the concern comes from in this viewpoint. The Oxford dictionary’s definition of violence is ” behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something” which is the definitive answer from the oxford dictionary .(source https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/violence). This is of course an undeniable aspect of violent games, to progress you have to fight (which means intentionally hurting something) or even kill to get to the next stage. This is an act that can be repeated hundreds if nothing thousands of times within a single game to earn points, progress story and unlock in game bonuses that all contribute to rewarding the player for violent acts. It would be condescending to think that all gamers would recreate acts of violence in the real world thinking they were earning points or unaware of the repercussions of their actions which is proven by the increase game sales and decrease in violent crime; even if this was the case it would be hard to blame the median as the person could have found other influences through social interactions, propaganda or mental illnesses to cause them to commit a violent crime.
In 2015 seven out of the ten of the highest grossing games were contained violence within gameplay (classing Minecraft as violent due to the fact that you still have to “kill” enemies though it is in a non-graphic manner.) US computer and video game software sales increased 204% from 1994 to 2014, with US consumers spending $22.41 billion on video games in 2014. You can see how the video game industry is still beginning to grow out of it’s infancy as the average gamer is 35 years old with 26% being under 18, 30% between the ages of 18 and 35, 17% from 36 to 49 years old and 27% over 50 years old and with that of course comes a reduced amount of understanding of what games as an entertainment and art has on society. (source http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf published by the ESA 2015) All the information from the source is from the ESA which is a game publisher, runs global content protection, has good government relations and owns E3 meaning the data they have published is as close as the public are going to get.
Translating this information there are 40.3 million gamers under the age of 18 in 2014 with only 170 juvenile violent crimes being committed per 100,000 juveniles. While murders by juveniles acting alone fell 76% and violent crime rates all together dropped 37% during that same period of 1994 to 2014 in regard to juvenile crime rates. (source:http://videogames.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006520 published on June 3rd 2016 11:27:13 AM). The source illustrates professional data and concerns that have long followed the debate about video game violence. So with video games sales going up in junction with the popularity of games containing violence the idea that people playing violent games causes an increase in violent behavior in society is contradicted by the fact that violent crime is actually down.
Although there is no authentic statistics showing the amount of age inappropriate content that is being consumed due to the legality; there is no doubt that a large consumer base playing titles like Call of Duty are underage. There is an argument to be made that perhaps minors are being exposed to violent content that they are mature enough to handle, making them desensitized towards violence from a young age; Combined with the increasing technology and graphics becoming more lifelike with each console generational successors. This doesn’t automatically make this subsect of gamers and the up and coming youth violent in real life or make them unaware of their actions but the concern is that if put in an aggressive situation they may act with an impulse that has been subconsciously imbedded while playing violent video games.
One such article that supports the APA views was posted on a Christina monthly magazine called ‘Charisma news’ that lists fourteen mass murders linked to violent video games. The report that uses lose evidence and hobbies of each of the killers often indicate many of them were addicted to violent video games. Harper-Mercer was no exception to this trend. Once he had warned some of his friends on an online forum about his intent to kill, when news got out the response of some of the people in the thread included references to video game jargon such as “”That score, ouch. Not even double digits on current reports.” Due to the substance of the article and the religious stance it takes from the methodology of a Christian monthly magazine forms more of an opinion piece with some lose facts and evidence to support their point therefore coming across as uninformed. Although It would be ignorant to ignore the connection between Harper-Mercer horrific crimes to video games. Evan Ramsey claimed that a video game, Doom, distorted his version of reality: “I did not understand that if I pull out a gun and shoot you … you’re not getting back up. You shoot a guy in Doom, and he gets back up. You have got to shoot the things in Doom eight or nine times before it dies.” (http://www.charismanews.com/culture/52651-14-mass-murders-linked-to-violent-video-games published on 15/10/2015) This cases are tragic and need to take into consideration the obvious factors that violent games played in the perpetrators life, yet you cannot tarnish every gamer with the same destructive brush.
With the Columbine school shooting also being linked to violence in video games Dr. David Moore who is a licensed psychologist and chemical dependency professional suggested the Columbine perpetrators showed “classic signs of addiction… (they) were immersed in their violence-filled Doom video games.” Just as a Gallup showed 8.5% of minors playing video games also showed signs of addiction. Yet this percentage is far higher than the 0.17% of juveniles committing violent crimes per 100,000 juveniles; expressing the idea that playing and even being addicted to violent games still has little correlations to committing violent crimes. You also need to take into account that there was a small dose of anti-depressant drugs found in their autopsy toxicology screens as well as one of the shooters being called “Vodka” as he drank it so much. Although these factors would have not been present on the day of the tragic shooting to keep an unbiased judgment, these toxins have to be considered has much of an insinuator as violent video games. (Sourced http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/role-video-game-addiction-played-columbine-shootings-article-1.361104published by Dr. Dave and Bill on April 23, 2009, 3:28 PM)
Yet there is fault with the article because of the fact that it is trying to condemn violence in video games as the main cause of mass shootings which takes a reductionist stance by not considering other internal and external motives and factors that may have driven these teenagers to commit these crimes. It is also very damaging to anyone who plays these types of games as it singles out and condemns gamers that they are likely to show similar tendencies. This is of course a ridiculous stance to take and is more of an opinion piece with some lose facts and evidence to the support their point largely coming across as uninformed).
Many studies such as the US national library of medicine sated that children who experiences physical and sexual abuse causes violent behavior in later life and are more likely to be arrested as juveniles. In the same vain you could argue that children being exposed to violent games at a young age could contribute to violent behavior as they get older. This could be because people are becoming desensitized towards violence and could see it as a normal and plausible emotion to then carry out.(sourced https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771618/published by Jennifer E. Lansford, Shari Miller-Johnson, Lisa J. Berlin, Kenneth A. Dodge, John E. Bates, Gregory S. Pettit on August 1, 2007)
Although it is undeniable that video games were a factor within the motives behind the murders there is no concreate evidence that can determine these criminals were converted into a murder solely from playing violent games. There is a possibility that these murderers were not emotionally and mentally mature enough to play such games but doesn’t automatically mean that everyone their age with similar interests should be punished for one person’s actions. Instead they (just like all minors) should have been monitored what they were purchasing and playing by parents; but sadly the decision of a parent may actually be harmful or oblivious to the affects that their choices have on their child.
Should we rely on governments and laws for control
The ESRB being the ‘Entertainment Software Rating Board’ assigns the correct age rating to a game which is determined by the content of which is included. Violence, bad language, sex, gambling, fear and online gameplay can all be factors on what age rating a specific game gets. The idea of the ESRB is to protect people from content that they are not age appropriate for, while also protecting freedom of expression; allowing creators to produce the games that they in vision without restrictions and gamers to experience what has been developed. Although, it is not illegal to play a game that are above your current age but a retailer is not legally allowed to sell a game that is not age appropriate. This results in 91% of parents being present when games are purchased or rented and 90% require their children to get permission before buying or renting a video game as most games that are purchased usually contain content that has been deemed inappropriate for anyone younger than the specific age given. This allows parents to monitor what their child is playing and whether or not they are mature enough to handle the themes, issues and content which is included within the game. With as many as 97% of US minors age 12-17 play video games monitoring what the younger generation is subjected to within entertainment is an important issue , making sure they are not being exposed to the wrong content which could according to the APA “influence violent behavior in later life” (source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33960075 published on 17 August 2015)
However, with the rise in internet shopping and digital downloads becoming more popular and will be the prominent over buying physical copies just how the music industry has turned too. You could argue that this could lead to less control on who can buy the games but more importantly if they are responsible enough to play a specific game. Moreover, with the ever encroaching digitally only future may also lead to lower prices in games as it cuts out retailers such as Amazon and GameStop as the video games are being purchased directly off of the console. This could lead to more people being exposed to violent video games as there is a cheaper asking price and less regulation and checking on who is buying the games?
| Year ( 2005-2015) | Violent crime rates in the US | Total game sales in the US (units) | ||
| 2005 | 1,390,745 | 20,150,786 | ||
| 2006 | 1,435,123 | 59,954,203 | ||
| 2007 | 1,422,970 | 140,636,603 | ||
| 2008 | 1,394,461 | 262,666,178 | ||
| 2009 | 1,325,896 | 274,291,432 | ||
| 2010 | 1,251,248 | 299,322,202 | ||
| 2011 | 1,206,005 | 292,245,656 | ||
| 2012 | 1,214,462 | 211,362,476 | ||
| 2013 | 1,199,684 | 187,504,817 | ||
| 2014 | 1,186,185 | 164,122,987 | ||
| 2015 | 1,231,566 | 171,258,560 | ||
| Number of pair | 10 | |||
| Pearson’s Coefficient | 0.083 | |||
| Significant a 0.05 | No (0.521) | |||
| Significant at 0.01 | No (0.658) | |||
This is mainly because there is no authorization needed to purchase products apart from parent controls which has to be manually set up again. Therefore, relying on mature and responsible guardians but there is no guarantee or prof that they will use this feature. However, in the US parents seem to have a positive outlook on their children playing video games with 63% of parents who took part in the study say that gaming is a positive part of their child’s life. While 59% of parents whose children are gamers play computer and video games with their children at least weekly. This does show that parents aren’t as naive as the media makes them out to be, showing that parents are aware and monitored what content and activities their child is participating in within the virtual world while also that we should give younger gamers more credit as they openly talk about their activities and rarely disobey parent’s rules.
The Pearson correlation coefficient is used to measure the strength of a linear association between two variables ( source http://www.socscistatistics.com/tests/pearson/by the ‘Social Science Statistics web site’ ). Due to the fact that the Pearson’s Coefficient being smaller than both significant shows that there is a relationship between the two forms of data making a Positive correlation. However due to the fact that the Pearson’s Coefficient is 0.083 the relationship is so small that there is no way to directly say that the amount of game sales negatively affects the amount of violent crime within the US.
You can further see that even if there was a correlation between the amount of video games purchased and the violent crime rates within the US is so minuscule that no significant conclusion could be made about the data. Therefore disproving the idea that more video games purchased results in an increase in violent crime .
The data that was used ( sourced http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htmpublished by the FBI CS Annual Crime Reports ) for the US crime rate statistics from 2005 to 2015 are FBI sourced and do match with other crime rate data that was researched. Combined with ( sourced http://www.vgchartz.com/yearly/2015/USA/by VGchartz) that gave me the information on amount of software sales from 2005 to 2015 are a combination of all game sales over every console that will include violent and non-violent games making the information not as arcuate but the best that was at my disposal yet further enforcing how insignificant the correlation is as even if every game that was brought was violent (which is not the case) violent games surly cannot be a major factor in the amount of violent crimes committed in the US.
Censorship laws and freedom of expression
| (sourced: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/ESRB_2013_Adults_Only.svg/150px-ESRB_2013_Adults_Only.svg.png by the ESRB ) |
But why would anyone want to develop or play violent video games? Why isn’t there laws enforcing the content developers are allowed to include. One of the most famous controversies that I have already referenced is the “no Russian” mission in Modern Warfare 2 game designer Mohammad Alavi stated “It isn’t really relevant whether that makes you enjoy the entertainment experience even more because you’re being naughty or it engrosses you further into the story and makes you resent your actions. What’s relevant is that the level managed to make the player feel anything at all.” It shows that he is not advocating such acts but enforcing the idea of what art is meant to do; and that’s to evoke emotion even if their bad ones such as disgust and hate. (sourced http://kotaku.com/that-time-call-of-duty-let-you-shoot-up-an-airport-1738376241 published by Patrick Klepek on 10/23/15 7:30pm)
Within the US there is not set list of what games would be banned and what would be published in the country. Most games that have been censored have been done so by companies such as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo making it self-censorship with a desired outcome of a positive societal perception of the content. When Man Hunt was first released in 2003 it was allocated an adult only rating (meaning that it should only be played by over 18’s). Although it was not banned legally, Sony and Nintendo refused to publish the game for their console due to its amount of violence and gore it contained therefore retailers such as game stop would not stock the product as policy.
A lot of games from Japanese developers through the 80’s and 90’s removed or limited the amount of gore and nudity shown to cater to a perceived stereotype of a conservative, highly sensitive American audience. This was at the same time as some of the goriest Hollywood films to be produced, yet for some reason red pixels on a screen seems to send the media and citizens with self-righteous “family and moral values” into a condescending and invasive frenzy who self-appointed themselves to govern what content other people can view. Gamers and developers do not need to worry about the government or ESRB censorship but groups of people who treat the median and those who enjoy it as immoral and incapable of taking any responsibility for themselves, instead leading censorship to babysitting legislations taking away the ability of free expression and speech from developers and consumers who support them.
An indicative example of this kind of ignorance in practice is the Mass Effect “sex scandal” where the player can choose a character to have heterosexual or homosexual intercourse that leads to a tasteful scene that would not push a film rating higher than a PG-13. People need to stop making assumptions and going on a hate crusade on subjects that they are not correctly or fully informed about.
In the case of one of the most controversial games in recent history, Hatred, it raised the question of how far freedom of expression can go in the name of art. Hatred was subject to scrutiny and controversy due to the fact that the player takes control of an unnamed character who has become fed up in the world that he lives in therefor drawing the conclusion to go on a suicidal rampage trying to rid the world of as many innocent people as he can, with gameplay taking an isometric approach. With Hatred becoming the second game in the ESRB history to be given an adult only rating (after man hunt 2) and some countries such as Australia continuing their valet fight against moral degeneracy by having the game banned and the PC digital distributor Steam removing the game but later republishing. Yet this did not stop the game going straight to the top of the sales charts the day it came out. Knowing full well that its sales were not attributed to its innovative gameplay or heartwarming story but the controversy over the banned game makes people more interested than if it was realized without an uproar of complaints. Maybe if this anti-hero had an ounce of humanity to make him relatable the game may have been disturbing.
The developers have every right to produce such a game under freedom of expression as the United Nations declared that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and is part of the first amendment in the United States of America constitution. In 2011 the supreme court ruled that video games are protected by the first amendment and that “disgust is not a valid basis for restricting expression,” going on to say that games including violent ones “are entitled to the protection of free speech as the best of literature.” (sourced http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=2539by Martha L. Arias, Attorney at Law; IBLS Editor). No matter how much you disagree with a piece of medias content, themes or issues and are within legal rights they can express these thoughts or content. As anyone is allowed to be offended by something, they may see in a video game and speak out about those feelings so too are developers to make content that they see fit. By society becoming less fragile and more willing to change and debate their ideas in a less aggressive equates to a more open minded and positive world to live in.
Though Hatred is just another incarnation of “the game” which seems to show itself whenever concerns about video game content enters the public discourse. With the ability of mass communication an attempt of any verbal debate turns into two sides blocked by a wall of unmoving ignorance and unwilling open-mindedness. Hatred stands as a pillar for those who wish to defy the cultural standards of which are always being push. Resulting in two sides of affluent middle-class people blindly shouting at each other while Hatred makes millions of dollars and the world carries on rotating with no consequence of these actions.
Conclusion
The impact of violent video games will always be a controversial topic due to the fact that the gamer takes personal control over the character’s actions, the argument being that the player had chosen to “pull the trigger”; entering debate around morality and ability to reenact the same action in the real world. Combined with the enhancing technology which improves possibilities of what video games can achieve and the implementation of virtual reality will create a whole new argument on the debate in the near future. The aim of this essay was to compile all of the relevant information including opinions and studies by a range of sources to then produce an open-minded, unbiased and hopefully eye opening report on whether or not violent video games effects the aggression shown by a person. My hypothesis began as “people who partake in the playing of violent video games experience violent and aggressive behavior in the real world”. The intention of the essay wasn’t on forming a conclusive report to finally and indefinably answering the question due to the fact that the essay exclusively used secondary research from the US; but to add an objective analysis on the subject for the reader to then form their own opinions from the information provided.
From the secondary research that had been gathered, combined with the data and statistics that have been compared, contrasted and interpreted will hopefully further reinforce peoples understanding, knowledge and opinions on this topic. During researching, a lot of articles that were looked at were either based on opinions reinforced by uneducated judgements. It was also difficult to find articles and options that had not already been explored. This is where the ability to identify when an article was stating a fact or just an opinion on the subject was important to craft a reliable conclusion on this topic. Overall the sources that have been used are reliable and support my final conclusion combined with a correct analysis and judgment why one argument is stronger than another.
This is not surprising as the abstract states that the essay aims to disprove the hypothesis due to the information already gathered becoming starting this essay. However, it is clear that further long term independent primary surveys still need to be conducted on the ability to manipulate behavior but even on health such as eyesight and effect on the brain. Furthermore, addiction to video games should also be an area of research to find out if this is a possibility and if so its symptoms and effects.
Although it would be ludicrous to out rightly state that video game violence has absolutely no effect on the behavior and state of mind of the players. However, through the research conducted the conclusion that there are only slight increases in agitated behavior for a short amount of time during gameplay and after turning the game off due to the stimulation and competitive nature yet no more so than any other form of visual media shown by the British Medical Journal. There is little to know concrete evidence or studies that support the idea that the reason for the amount of violent crime is correlated to the amount of people playing violent video games, but actually found data supporting the opposite idea. Research found that violent video game sales are going up while violent crime is declining within the US presented by FBI statistics and the ‘National crime Victimization Survey. This information and realization have disproved the hypothesis of the essay and actually concluded that there Is little to no effect on the amount of violent crimes committed within American society in relation to the proportion of citizens that play violent video games.
It is hard to believe that violent video games can have any great effect on someone’s ability to partake in a violent act, just like any motivation in people’s lives there are always multiple factors of why they choose to do or act in a certain way and violent criminals are no difference. It would be ignorant and close-minded to blame a nations violent crime rates on one form of media especially when most of the conclusive date shows that violent video games do not out rightly cause any violent behavior from the player. Overall, I think that the myth that violent video games create violent people. From the millions of good, kindhearted people who play games containing violence there may be one person who exerts violence, yet you cannot but blame on a media when there are so many examples showing otherwise.
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Lousy Scene 
