Difference between revisions of "Violence in Video Games"

Revision as of 16:40, 18 April 2019

Violence in Video Games has evoked many debates since their rise in popularity during the 1970s. Parents, politicians, and religious groups have made claims against violent video games, stating that their content can cause negative behavioral and/or mental effects on the player. Criticism of violent video games stems from multiple studies which indicate that video games can cause an increase in both aggressive thoughts and behaviors along with the desensitization of people to seeing aggressive behavior, and a decrease in prosocial behaviors^[1].

Developers, producers, and players have advocated for these video games, arguing that video games can increase mental and intellectual capacities, along with being an effective outlet for creative expression^[2]. There are also many ethical concerns regarding the regulation of video games and their usage.

These social debates have become experimental debates, and have stimulated a multitude of studies on the effects of violent video games on users.

History of Violence in Video Games

Death Race - 1976

An advertisement poster for the controversial game "Death Race"

Death Race was a driving arcade game released by Exidy in April of 1976 ^[3]. Its known for players required to stimulate hit and and run killings while behind the wheel.This was a simple racing game with an added twist of running over stick figure "Gremlins". Once a player hit one of the fleeing gremlins, a tombstone would appear and a short scream would be heard from the arcade machine ^[4]. Due to the structure and objective of the game, it became the first game to create controversy and be discontinued because of it. It upsetted the National Safety Council and led to the Congressional hearings and aiming for the gaming industries.

Custer's Revenge - 1982

Custer's Revenge is an adult video game created by Mystique for the Atari 2600 in September of 1982. The game was the first to draw mass protests and is widely considered one of the worst and most horrific video games of all time ^[5]. It allows the player to play as General George Custer, a famous American Civil War figure, and dodge incoming arrows and attacks. This continues until he reaches a Native American woman tied to a pole at the end of the level. Instead of rescuing the damsel in distress, Custer has sex with the woman to gain more points. Many viewers perceived this action as rape, which led to protests from both women and Native Americans for promoting sexual violence and racism ^[6].

Mortal Kombat - 1993

An in-game image from Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat is an arcade fighting game released by Midway in 1993. Mortal Kombat was one of the first games to portray detailed, gory human violence. It was known as one of the most gruesome and famous fighting games of all time.In this game, there are two characters that hit each other until one of them die; this keep repeating itself. Interestingly, whoever won the battle had the opportunity to prove their victory by making it bloodier therefore more violent. Unfortunately, it gets so descriptive that you can see a series of bones snap in detail, can see a character's testicles pop under the pressure of an uppercut and so forth. This game soon transitioned into home gaming systems.

Mortal Kombat along with a few more obscure games released in the early '90s became subject to such extreme scrutiny that resulted in a congressional hearing and review. Congress ridiculed the game and claimed that it was negatively affecting youth. After threatening to make a federal commission for video games during the hearing, the gaming industry decided to form a regulatory body named the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). This regulatory body is still present today in the gaming industry^[7].

LambdaMOO- 1993

LamdbaMoo is a text-based virtual reality which is an extension of MUD, a multi-user dimensions computer game released in 1990^[8]. In 1993, one user under the alias Mr. Bungle forced two other players, Legba and Starsinger, to perform explicit and sexual acts^[9]. Mr. Bungle was able to force these actions upon other players through the use of a voodoo doll subprogram. Mr. Bungle's attack not only affected his victim's real-life psyches but caused turmoil in the community as they struggled to determine an appropriate punishment for the attack. The attack and its aftermath are outlined in Julian Dibbell's article, "A Rape in Cyberspace, or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society."^[9] It is considered one of the first virtual, or cyber, rapes on the Internet and lead to defining what constitutes virtual rape and numerous studies on the effects of virtual rape ^[10].

Phantasmagoria- 1995

Originally released in August 1995, this game contained high levels of sex, blood and violence. In fact, the main character of the game is a helpless female, and one scene in the game features a violent and atrocious rape sequence. Later that year, various retailers in the US decided to ban the game due the questionable nature of its content.

Grand Theft Auto - 1998

Grand Theft Auto was a game released in 1998 by DMA Design and BMG Interactive. This game involved a high number of crimes such as car theft, picking up sex workers, and murder. Grand Theft Auto, along with the game Doom, were among the first games to be directly cited as a reason for violence. A man in Tennessee who murdered three people claims that he was imitating the actions seen in Grand Theft Auto when he committed the crime. This occurred around the same time the two students behind the Columbine attack committed the mass murder due to their video game activity, sparking the belief that video games lead to violence. ^[4]. Also, there was a mass shooting in Washington, D.C. caused by an angry, mentally-ill young man who shot and killed a dozen of innocent people. This shooting was blamed for the release of this game. Interestingly enough, many people blame this game for many crimes. If this game was the factor for many crimes, it is possible that people should worry that this game produced between 18 and 20 million killers, possibly millions of more for those who have played violent video games for years. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content It is argued that this game plays a role into violence as players have the opportunity to "drive through stop lights, mow over civilians, crash and die and start over, get in ridiculous gunfights and still walk away on two feet. Regardless of this descriptive violence, it is proven that this game decreased crime rates with the assumption that the players reduced their aggression from playing this game.

Manhunt - 2003

Manhunt is a stealth-based horror game that was developed and released by Rockstar North, a subsidiary of Rockstar Games. It was released for PlayStation in 2003 and was adapted for Xbox and PC video game consumers in 2004. The game was notorious for its brutal and graphic violence, sinister tone, and psychologically unsettling plot. Players brutally murder other players using a variety of blunt force objects in order to escape a contemporary, gladiatorial lifestyle. The controversy surrounding this game peaked in 2004 when a 17-year-old boy from the United Kingdom beat his 14-year-old friend to death using a claw hammer and a knife, leaving a total of 60 different injuries. Parents and friends of the victim alleged that the murderer had been obsessed with Manhunt and pointed out similarities between the brutal killing methodology used in the game and those used by the 17-year-old.^[11] The court was not able to find a connection between the perpetrator's motivation and the game. Manhunt went on to be either refused a classification or outright banned in a number of countries, including Russia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea ^[12]

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 - 2009

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was released in November of 2009 by Activision. This game was particularly controversial and disturbing due to the 4th mission in the game titled "No Russian". In this mission, the player acts as an undercover CIA agent who infiltrates a Russian terrorist group. To prove they are committed the player must tag along as the terrorist group guns down and massacres civilians in an airport ^[13]. Activision has since issued a warning statement and made it possible to skip the mission after ethical backlash threatened sales of the game.

Studies Regarding Violence in Video Games

Oxford Internet Institute Study

The Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University conducted one of the most detailed studies to date regarding video game violence and aggressive behavior. The study used data from British teens and parents as well as E.U. and U.S. ratings of game violence. The study consisted of multiple questionnaires of both the players and their parents regarding their gaming and behavioral tendencies. After much analysis and recording, Professor Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the Institute, stated that "Despite interest in the topic by parents and policymakers, the research has not demonstrated that there is cause for concern" ^[14]. This study is one of the most definitive studies regarding the topic and claims that there is no correlation between aggressive behavior and video games, additionally, the study claims that many past studies on the topic had significant research bias which could be the reasoning for the discrepancy in results. Although there is no correlation to aggressive behavior, the study does concede that players are more prone to talking, competitiveness, and trolling ^[14]

Dartmouth Study

This study, conducted by Jay Hull (a Dartmouth Psychological and Brain Science Professor) sought to link aggressive behavior and "deviant" actions (sex, smoking, drinking, etc...) to violent video game usage by analyzing 24 other studies with over 17,000 participants. In order to avoid previous studies' criticisms, Hull and his team made sure to strictly measure acts of overt, physical aggression. Additionally, the team made sure to include data on multiple different variables predictive of aggressive behavior. The research conducted by the team indicated the antithesis of the Oxford study, claiming that "violent video game play is associated with subsequent increases in physical aggression" ^[15]. The researchers further broke down the results by race and found white children to be the most vulnerable to increased levels of physical aggression, with Asian children showing some effect and Hispanic children showing no change in aggressive behavior.^[15].

World Health Organization

Interestingly, the World Health Organization recently added “gaming disorder” to its list of mental health conditions because it is defined as problematic as it interferes significantly in other areas of people’s lives.In order for one to have this disorder they must meet three characteristics: (1) if a person loses control over their gaming habits (2) if they start to prioritize gaming over many interests or activities (3) if they continue playing despite clear negative consequences. Some are suggesting there are links between playing video games and violent behavior considering the school shooting in Parkland, Florida ^[16]. To roughly refresh one’s memory, there was a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. This tragic event killed 17 people. The connection between video games and violence was mentioned as he is a “YouTuber” and posted a comment “I’m going to be a professional school shooter” on this website. Because of this and many other incidents, Congress will fund research into the effects that violent video games may or may not have on children and teenagers. Whereas, some can argue that some games offer benefits - potential to improve attention span and process visual information.

American Psychological Association(APA)

American Psychological Association argues that violent video games is a risk factor for aggression. In 2017, APA came to the conclusion that having exposure to violent video games had a connection with increased aggressive behaviors, thoughts, and emotions, and decreased empathy. Studies shown that violent video games also that people can view aggressive behavior and decreased behavior in helping others and feeling empathy. The studies varied in how it observed aggressive behavior in correlation to violent video games. Some of the studies looked at self-reports of hitting or pushing or some looked at peer or teacher ratings on aggressive behaviors. While other studies looked at how likely an individual was to subject others to an unpleasant exposure to hot sauce or a loud noise after playing video games. There are minimal studies on those who under the age 10 and minority groups. The biggest takeaway from this is that having exposure to violent video games is just one factor to aggressive behavior. In other words, it is not the main and only reason as to why to people commit such violent, tragic crimes. It has been proven that exposure to violent video games increases the level of aggressive behavior and leads to more lethal violence or criminal behavior. However, there is no proof or results from studies to prove that this assumption is true.

Because of their extensive research and concerns, APA Task Force on Violent Media recommends that the Entertainment Software Rating Board(ESRB)'s change their rating system to make the level of violence clearer. It was also recommended that there is further research using delinquency, violence, and criminal behavior as outcomes to determine if violent games has a connection to violence. ESRB argues that their rating system is effective and it is clear the rating level of the amount of violence in the game.

Additional Research

Ironically, research has recently shown that video games haven’t been linked to violence or aggression in adolescents. This research was based on a combination of subjective and objective data to measure teen aggression and violence in games. This was compared to previous research on teenagers who self-reported their own experiences; parents and carers shared information to reflect the level of aggression they sensed from their children. Based on this comparison, it has proven that there is no link between violent video games and teenage aggression.

One can argue that violent video games trigger aggression but that’s it. There is a study that is trying to determine if slaughtering zombies can lead to aggression from teenagers when they no longer are playing these type of games. There is proof that violent video games can cause a slight increase in physical aggression among adolescents and preteens. The debate hasn’t settled yet as researchers disagree on the scientific findings. Some studies show that these type of games lead to increases in aggression while others show no connection between the two. After looking into multiple (24 to be exact) studies and narrowing it down to focus only on violent video games and overt physical aggression, this analysis proved that kids who played violent video games did become more aggressive over time but the changes in behavior wasn’t significant. In fact, these behavioral changes were minor but it’s good information to take into consideration for this debate.

Brown v EMA

Case Details

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), essentially companies who produce and sell video games, took the state of California to court after a new California law stated that forced these companies to label their games as violent when sold to people under the age of 18. The EMA argued that the proposed law was unconstitutional as it would break both the first and fourteenth amendments. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court where a final ruling was made that the new law would not be passed in California as it was not based on concrete evidence. ^[17]

Case Outcome and Aftermath

After losing in a 7-2 decision, California was not successful in passing the law for stricter regulations surrounding violent video game production and sale. The Justices who decided against the new law seemed to agree that there was not clear enough evidence that video games were the case of aggression or that they were any more causal than other forms of entertainment (such as television shows and movies). This lead the Justices to believe that the gaming community was being specifically marginalized which would be a breach of the first amendment. ^[17].

Ultimately, what came of this case was a major victory for the video game industry. This ruling gave other states a clear suggestion that they should not try implementing similar laws, as they would be shut down immediately. Further, it raised praise for the video game industry as being one of the best at controlling who gets their hands on sensitive or inappropriate content. "Retailers prevented 87% of underage purchases", and video games have some of the best warning labels. ^[17].

Ethical Implications

Promotion of values

Violent games are not morally neutral due to their graphic and controversial content. By society's standards violence is not a norm. The argument is that violence in video games promotes aggression and violence in the real world. Games which promote violence, such as Manhunt, encourage the player to kill in increasingly gruesome ways in order to earn a better rating.^[18] Players are required to distinguish the difference between acceptable values and unacceptable values between the real world and a video game. These individuals who play violent video games are left to conduct their own ethical reasoning. An experiment by Nicholas Carnagey and Craig Anderson, concluded that, regardless of whether the game rewards or punishes violence, playing a violent video game increases violence and aggression as opposed to playing a nonviolent video game.^[19] The game itself does not engage in moral actions or bear moral responsibility.^[20] By taking the approach of embedded values, the games have moral consequences and should thus be analyzed ethically.^[20]

Virtue Ethics

This topic regarding violence in video game continues to raise significant ethical questions and concerns. Virtue ethics, in particular, are very significant in this debate. One piece that brings up important claims regarding ethics and technology is Susan Vallor's "Social Networking Technology and the Virtues". Although Vallor discusses social networking in this article, the main takeaways are still very relevant to violence in video games. Vallor explains that the virtues and vices we encounter with technology will not only affect thoughts but also actions. ^[21]. Vallor believes that this claim has significant merit and if this claim is true, then "technology significantly alters the nature and patterns of activities that people regularly perform ^[21]. This statement correlates with the findings from the Dartmouth study that claims that video games do in fact cause increased aggression. This claim also supports some of the extreme anti-violent video game advocates who believe that video games are directly correlated to the increase in violent shootings ^[22]. In this case, one may argue that the virtues that violent video games are promoting do have significant ethical implications because of the increase in violent behavior and actions.

Regulations & Ethics

Because there is no definitive answer as to what the effects of video games have on players, regulations and restrictions have created significant ethical concerns. Example, in 2010 when California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill to restrict the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. This bill was taken to the Supreme Court and didn't pass because of a claim that video game developers have the right to free expression and banning the sale of video games to minors would be similar to banning movies, books, or violent news reports ^[23]. This reflects the ethical dilemma that is created in regards to violent games. One should consider that these games may have a negative impact on players and increasing their violent tendencies globally. However, regulating video games could potentially infringe on one's freedom of speech and expression. This decision of suppressing free speech vs. promoting violent actions increases the difficulty for policymakers to take action. People still demand regulation of video games due to ethical issues, however, it hasn't been successful.

See Also

• Call of Duty
• Ethics in Computer & Video Games
• First Person Shooters
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Manhunt
• Mortal Kombat

External Sites

Call of Duty
Dartmouth University
Electronic Software Ratings Board
Grand Theft Auto (Rockstar)
Mortal Kombat
Oxford Internet Institute

References

1. ↑ Goldberg, Lauren, and Alex Pew. “Violent Video Games and Aggression.” National Center for Health Research, 27 Mar. 2018, www.center4research.org/violent-video-games-can-increase-aggression/.
2. ↑ “Video Game.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game.
3. ↑ Smith, Keith. “The Ultimate (So Far) History of Exidy - Part 2.” The Ultimate (So Far) History of Exidy - Part 2, 1 Jan. 1970, allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} “What We Do.” National Coalition Against Censorship, ncac.org/resource/a-timeline-of-video-game-controversies.
5. ↑ Wise, Deborah (1982). "Video-pornography games cause protest". InfoWorld (November 8): 1,7.
6. ↑ "Gamespy's Top Ten Shameful Games". GameSpy. Archived from the original on April 26, 2011.
7. ↑ Hsu, Tiffany. “When Mortal Kombat Came Under Congressional Scrutiny.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/business/video-games-violence.html.
8. ↑ Danaher, John. “The Law and Ethics of Virtual Sexual Assault.” Research Handbook on the Law of Virtual and Augmented Reality, 21 Dec. 2018, pp. 363–388.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Dibbell, Julian. "A Rape in Cyberspace." The Village Voice. 21 December 1993
10. ↑ Sander, Melissa Mary Fenech. “Questions about Accountability and Illegality of Virtual Rape.” Iowa State University Digital Repository, 30 Apr. 2012, lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/11046.
11. ↑ “UK | England | Leicestershire | Game Blamed for Hammer Murder.” BBC News, BBC, 29 July 2004, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/3934277.stm.
12. ↑ “List of Banned Video Games.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games.
13. ↑ Peckham, Matt. “Is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Terrorist Gameplay Artful?” PCWorld, PCWorld, 2 Nov. 2009, www.pcworld.com/article/181140/modern_warfare_2_artful.html.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} “Violent Video Games Found Not to Be Associated with Adolescent Aggression.” University of Oxford, www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-02-13-violent-video-games-found-not-be-associated-adolescent-aggression#.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} “Children's Violent Video Game Play Associated with Increased Physical Aggressive Behavior.” Children's Violent Video Game Play Associated with Increased Physical Aggressive BehaviorUntitled, www.dartmouth.edu/press-releases/childrens-violent-video-games-increased-aggressive-behavior.html.
16. ↑ Chuck, Elizabeth, et al. “'Pure Evil': 17 Killed in Mass Shooting at Florida High School.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 15 Feb. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-respond-shooting-parkland-florida-high-school-n848101.
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1 17.2} Genetski, Christian “'Brown v. EMA/ESA: U.S. Supreme Court Stops California from Playing Games with the First Amendment.” SMU Science and Technology Law Review. 2012.
18. ↑ Zagal, José P. “Manhunt – The Dilemma of Play.” Well Played 2.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning, by Drew Davidson, ETC Press, 2010, pp. 241–243.
19. ↑ Carnagey, Nicholas L., and Craig A. Anderson. “The Effects of Reward and Punishment in Violent Video Games on Aggressive Affect, Cognition, and Behavior.” Psychological Science, vol. 16, no. 11, Nov. 2005, pp. 882–889, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01632.x.
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1} Brey, Philip. 2010. "3 Values in Technology and Disclosive Computer Ethics" Pg.42 https://umich.instructure.com/courses/273552/files/9617491/download?download_frd=1
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} Vallor, Shannon. 2010. “Social Networking Technology and the Virtues.” Ethics and Information Technology 12: 157-170
22. ↑ “Gun Violence in America.” EverytownResearch.org, 8 Mar. 2019, everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-america/.
23. ↑ Totenberg, Nina. “Calif. Pushes To Uphold Ban On Violent Video Games.” NPR, NPR, 2 Nov. 2010, www.npr.org/2010/11/02/130979773/calif-pushes-to-uphold-ban-on-violent-video-games.