Video Games Are Not Bad By Daodos

January 05, 2007

"Guns don't kill people, video games kill people." This is a rising statement from many outraged politicians, lawyers and parents. The statement is a growing response to violence, rapes, suicides and addictions stemming from electronic games. Video games like any popular media of the time are under attack, because of content that radically changes the way we think and push the envelope on controversy. Even through the stress of the law, electronic games still made $12.5 billion in 2006, making it more popular than movies and music. (Press 2007) To attack games because they are popular and feature violence and crude themes sometimes, is wrong because they feature the same or less controversy than music and movies.

The less potential dangerous threat of videogames is that they make people anti-social. This is a subject that is very new and misunderstood. Gamers have a more social experience through the playing of games than those who play sports or are involved in real world activities, especially because of the emphasis on playing with others in today's games. Of course to say that video games don't seclude players away from the real world is not true. Electronic games take a lot of time and devotion to play in one's spare time. Playing of a game excessively has lead to younger kids being more involved in a fantasy world than real world. Gamers gather anti-coping skills in the real world because it does not interact and change as it does in a video game. In truth, today's videogames are based on cooperative play with each other and give the player a learning experience from dealing with others. (Venkatesh pg.4) Emails at one time were not considered a social experience because of how distant you are, but now it's considered to be more social because of the mass ability of sharing. With multiplayer games like World of Warcraft, where there is a whole online fantasy world you play in, you meet and play with strangers who could be thousands of miles away, in a realm that is distant to earth. The ability to make friends you don't even know or can really see shows that games nowadays are all about the sociality experience, not the seclusion from the real world. (Venkatesh pg.4)

The videogame industry is one ruled by mostly men, and because of that more games are made to cater to men. (Bowers 2007)There are a lot of feminist movements who are in protest over many games that feature sexist themes and don't feature a positive role model of women. The gaming industry doesn't do it purposefully and it really doesn't hinder any equality. Lots of Mothers are critical over games like "Tomb Raider" which features a busty heroin. Some Mothers and Politicians say that she portrays an unhealthy standard of beauty. Its true many games feature an unrealistic depiction of a female. And almost all games have the woman in secondary roles to support the game, such as a damsel in distress or a helpless victim. Some could look at it as strengthens gender stereotypes and use it to keep females in an inferior place. Although toy companies and other products do this, it's just normal for a female to be portrayed that way in our society. Videogames don't go out of there way to create equal parts for men and woman all the time, not because they are trying to hinder the playing of girls, but to sell more games to the male audience. Not all games have this applied though, as many games feature non-offensive images. Surprisingly, even because of these stereotypes, 40% of gamers all ages are female. (Novak pg.50) This shows that there are more normal games that woman like to play and that the games themselves do nothing to discriminate in terms of audience all that often. There are lots of damsels in distress scenarios but they are fewer now so many games have lead females that are strong and heroic instead of a man. Videogames promote no less gender discrimination then any other Barbie, or Disney movie, as it's just trying to sell to its audience, men. (Bowers 2007)

Recent studies from the past 3 years are turning up that video games addiction is a problem. Why these problems are surfacing now and whether that is a bad thing or the game developers fault is the topic of much discussion, "Should it be the responsibility of the game developer to make games less addictive and warn players?" This problem obviously exists, whether it is the gamers' fault or the game makers fault though is a complicated situation. One of the biggest compliments a game developer can get is that there game is addictive and that people want to just keep playing. The term "addictive" here though is used to describe a game you could play again though. (Novak Pg.40) A game is no more addictive then anything else, as you could potentially become addicted to anything. With game makers turning out games like War of Worldcraft, its no wonder though that it's happening now. Games that take place online or are endless are the ones gamers seem to get addicted to. These games have players endlessly playing a game that will only end when they want it to end. You could get addicted to anything, but with a game you are more involved with it as it takes up more brain power and less awareness than doing any other activity, making you're mind open to influence, making gaming as addictive as gambling. The "Tetris Effect" which has positive aspects like increasing reflexes contributes to this because the person can become deeply involved and obsessed while playing a game. Those are true facts, but do not relate to the addiction gained playing games. You can play a game for a long period of time and still not get addicted to it because to become addicted, you become dependent off of the game and need it to progress with everyday life. People addicted to video games can suffer from a withdrawal very similar to those who are addicted to cocaine and alcohol, making it a serious problem. To get addicted to a game though, is because a person is feeding off a joy from rewards on a virtual world, as well as already having addictive tendencies. People would rather achieve in this virtual world then real world because they can escape the pain of the real world. People drawn to game addiction themselves usually have problems and are outcasts of society that need interaction, and receive that from video games. The "Tetris Effect" does nothing to support the addictive qualities as the Tetris Effect can only apply to small games with little reward and short play, unlike the more addictive MMORPG, (Massivly Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), genre. (Smith & Jones, Gold Smith 2003)

The largest debate about videogames today is do they cause people to commit crimes through violence? To claim an inanimate object made you do something is insane and ludicrous, as a game has no power over you're will and mind. You yourself are the will of the game, not the other way around. Violence didn't show up in videogames really until the early to mid 1990's. Games such as Mortal Kombat and Doom were released, both of which feature realistic depictions of violence and gore. Studies have done many times show the same thing. And that is that violent video games activate the part of the brains related to aggression and violent emotional behavior. With the start of FPS (First Person Shooter), games like Doom, these games have been influences of school shootings and mayhem such as Columbine. The Columbine shooters were avid players of the game, and they would create levels to play and shoot each other in. This shows that games can be killing simulators that teach people to shoot and kill innocent bystanders. With the release of games like Grand Theft Auto many more violent crimes have happened, like Devin Moore who killed three police officers and fled in a police cruiser to escape. All things that you would be given points for in Grand Theft Auto. When captured he claimed that he was under the influence of GTA and that is shown by the lines, "Life is a video game, you have to die sometime." This has happened many times in the past with other media like music, and now it's happening today with video games. (Bradley 2005) This stance is a strong stance and it has the backing of scientifically data. To say that all that data is correct is not likely. The way the research is done in those studies are done with people who play video games excessively and do not account for the mass population of gamers, who in fact play less than an hour a day on average. (Novak pg. 36) With the occurrences of videogames in school shootings and crimes, all cases have one thing in common. A person, (Usually a white man, the main demographic of video game), has had past problems in life dealing with bullying, social awkwardness, or family troubles and abuse. The people who play these games are mentally unstable and it is not the game publisher's fault that a game pushed someone over the edge instead of a movie or music video. The game is just a scapegoat to make the perpetrator look innocent. Although many people think that since violent videogames, violence has risen. The FBI shows that around the years Mortal Kombat and Doom were released, crime was lower than before and continued to drop. (BJS 2006) As to if violence in games is good or bad is debatable. Just because you're brain is stimulated in the area that produces violence, doesn't mean it makes a violent person. A theory stands called "Catharsis' Theory" which states that exposure to violence would invoke it, but it would instead calm the mind and relieve any need for that violence at all. This is opposed by the "Social Learning Theory" which states that it would indeed invoke anger, which all the studies are based around for violence. (Griffiths 1999) If it's anyone's fault, it's the parents for allowing there kids to play an "M" (Mature) rated game that is for 18 and older. The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) was established after a lawsuit against violent Videogames like Mortal Kombat because games had no definite rating that applied to all games. The ESRB rates every video game released now on a scale ranging from "E" for everyone to "AO" adults only. These games are given a range of descriptors to tell what's in the game. Because of this the ESRB is known as the most thorough and complex rating board alive. The ESRB rate games with a team of parents, not gamers on its content and their only downfall is the low amount of parents that know about the systems workings, (Although they do all they can to make it known), allowing many kids to grab games like GTA to play. (ESRB 2006)

Video games are not all bad though. They have lots of good qualities and benefits as well. Video games are breaking boundaries with games like Dance Dance Revolution and the Nintendo wii that require you to move you're body to get physical exercise while playing. Games like Tetris are fan favorites for its exercise of the mind and surgeons even use videogames to improve their reflexes and precision. Video games are used to train our military in tactics, and simulators are used to practice flying planes. (Yung 2006) Before video games it was TV, before that rock and roll, and even before that it was Satan who influenced people to do bad things. The evolution of games though is moving towards a centralized multiplayer experience, which probably is referred to as virtual reality. With the advances of technology it is no wonder it is under attack. Because the more realistic it becomes, the more scary it is to live in a virtual world.

Work Cited 

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Novak, Jeannie. Game Development Essentials. United States: Thomson Delmar Learning, 2005. 
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Griffiths, Mark. Aggression and Violent Behavior. United States: Elsevier Science, 1999. 
ESRB. 2006. The Entertainment Software Rating Board. <http://www.esrb.org/about/copyright.jsp>. 
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