DO VIOLENT GAMES MAKE VIOLENT PEOPLE
Many games as we know glorify crime
and let us live out our deepest darkest messy alter egos. There is a strong
public opinion voicing that video games cause people to be more violent and
that they encourage crime. However, within the argument that games like the
Grand Theft Auto series should be banned due to encouragement of violence,
arguably, there is a fine line between what kind of video game violence is
acceptable and which isn’t. Games like left 4 dead and grand theft auto are not
based real events and both have necessary age ratings – restricting the games
from affecting children’s development to think that this kind of violence is
okay. However another game produced by Rockstar – Manhunt
received a lot more controversy after a murder involving a young boy was blamed
on his obsession with the game. The game itself is a series of brutal murders
one after the other. Pacifying the real
trauma that could take place after a murder the protagonist stays pretty numb
and calm about it all.
We have a double standard when it
comes to violent games. It’s ok to shoot and kill in Grand theft auto but it’s
not okay to suffocate someone with a plastic bag in manhunt. It’s alright to
beat a zombie nurse to death with a mallet in silent hill but left 4 dead 2 is
banned in Germany and Australia ‘because of high impact violence and cruelty’.
I feel that people are exploiting
gaming as a new medium, by creating offensive gestures like the super Columbine
massacre RPG. As soon as a violent game links to real events suddenly being the
shooter doesn’t seem so desirable. Super
Columbine massacre RPG combines 16 bit graphics with real images from the
media, the game is a re-enactment of the 1999 college shooting in Colorado.
Obviously the game did not get a positive reaction; it was made in 2005 by an
Australian student who meant the game to represent his own feelings on the
event and show how the media de sensitised the effects of the shooting. The
title was criticized as trivializing the actions of two murderers and the lives
of the innocent; it is one of many extremely offensive re-enactment games. Some
others include another college shooting in Virginia 2007 called V-Tech rampage.
Another called JFK reloaded is a game where you play as JF Kennedy’s shooter
from different angles and situations, and you have to assassinate America’s
most renowned president to this day.
Considering the intensity of violence,
in my opinion, is one of the hardest production constraints, whether making the
violence realistic and gory will offend the audience or simply make the game
for effective. It comes down to the kind of audience the game is
attracting, do they want their
experiences to be realistic or are they just trying to escape to something
fictional for a couple of hours?
Certificates of 18 restrict what kind
of games are advertised in the daytime and where they are advertised however
for some games, production companies know and accept the fact that a younger
audience enjoy the games and play them. For example Halo 4 is certified a 16 or
‘M’ for mature. However there is a wide franchise of Halo toys sold in various
toy stores, suggesting that although the certificate advises minors not play
the game, it is well known that parents ignore the warning.
I draw the line at sexual violence; in
my research I have found that any game with outrageous sexual violence is
commonly only sold in Japan. Clearly their sexual decadence is a lot stronger
than anywhere around the world. A
company called Illusion Software make many games series involving forced sexual
encounters, rape and sexual abuse. One game specifically, called ‘Rapelay’
where the aim of the game is to stalk, black mail and rape a family of three
women (a woman and her two daughters).
One of which, looks as if underage! The game at one point was being sold
everywhere but didn’t attract any attention until 3 years after its release
(April 2006), where now it is banned for ‘graphic depictions of glorified
sexual violence’. In japan it is illegal
for genitalia to be shown uncensored, even in hard-core pornography. Resident
Evil 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Bullet storm, Gears of War 3 and Dead Island
were edited for high impact violence, yet sexual violence in games is
acceptable(if the genitals are censored out) and can be bought easily from the
internet- exclusively only in Japan. The game lacks any hint of lawful
consequence and if anything promotes and demonstrates the easy lengths that can
be made to be a sexual predator. Other
pornographic games like ‘Bonetown’ people claim to be equally offensive. Bone
town is a grand theft auto – styled adult video game where the aim to have sex
with as many women as possible. Although it is fairly offensive the game
involves consensual sex between two adults. Which is not illegal or disgusting,
only the characters ‘slutty’ outlook on life.
Oscar Wilde writes that ‘life imitates
art far more than art imitates life’.
This expresses the theory that humans no longer act under instinct. We
copy what we see, we learn from everything around us. Considering Gaming as an
art form conducts another theory that what we experience in the game turns into
lessons or morals. The interactive element in games creates an emotional
attachment to events and happenings. This being said are we more affected by
the violence in video games than we think we are?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Silicon Sisters Interactive is the
first female owned and run video game studio in Canada. Founded and staffed by
industry veterans with decades of hands-on experience, the company is committed
to developing high quality, inspirational games with a decidedly female focus:
games made by women and girls, for women and girls. Silicon Sisters’ first two
projects are currently under development
- Interview with silicon sisters CEO (Games Company who make games for
women)
http://fatuglyorslutty.com/ - A website composed to reveal the
abuse women receive whilst playing online
http://extra-credits.net/podcasts/sexism-in-gaming/#discuss – Live forum about sexism in gaming
#1reasonwhy – Twitter trend to reveal problems
that women have whilst working in the gaming industry
- Sexist PS vita advertisement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhgPh5zLZ5o- Interview with Anita Saarkesian about abuse over online play and
YouTube 16x9
http://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com – Feminist gamer blog
http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Wilde_1889.html- Oscar Wild’s writing expressing the death of lying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5VmbcYsCN4 - top ten most offensive games
The art of video games – Chris
Melissinos & Patrick O’Rourk
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