Ethics Of Playing Video Games

A huge controversy in today’s society is violent video games and their behavioral effect on the children and adults who play them. Violent video games have been blamed for bullying, school shootings, and even violence towards women. Many have fought that violent video games desensitize players to real-life violence, and that they are teaching the youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy. Other sources have stated otherwise. The 2004 Secret Service has stated that only one-eighth of attackers have exhibited interests in video games. Violent Video games do not cause violent behavior or behavior problems because it has not been proven that there is a link between violent video games and behavioral issues, playing video games provide a safe outlet for aggressive and angry feelings and reduces violence in young children, and violent juvenile crime has actually gone down since the violent video game popularity has increased.

In discussions of video games, one controversial issue has been whose responsibility it is to deal with the behavioral problems of children and teens who get influenced by the content in games. On one hand, the game industry argues that the responsibility should lie with whomever bought the game. On the other hand, others such as parents and Parental guidance agencies contend that their children’s bad behavior stems from games and that the video game industry should regulate the content to protect children from negative influences within the game. Others even maintain that video games promote violent crimes. My own view is that it depends on the person playing the game because certain people can be more influential than others, especially children. I also believe that it is the responsibility of the buyer to know the game that they or their children are playing and to take responsibility for the things that happens within their own household.

Prolonged scenes of massive violence, graphic sexual content, and animated blood are examples of statements that the Entertainment Software Rating Board uses to depict the content in over fifty- five percent of the video games rated yearly. The debate of whether the aggressive nature of these video games influences youth violence in our country has been heatedly battled for decades. Since the mid 1980’s, it has been suggested that high profile cases of violence are due to an aggressor’s excessive video game use. However, much like a cold case the type of connection between video game use and youth violence remains without a definite answer. Most believe that video game use negatively influences child aggression acts in our country. Others firmly declare that video games provide a realm of opportunity for child development. Ultimately, it is impossible to say that video game use affects every child the same way. New studies suggest that video games do not affect every child that plays a game. Although violent video games are innocuous for the majority of adolescents between the ages of twelve and eighteen, the effects of these games are aggravated in those with pre- existing antisocial or depressive traits.

According to Hollingdale and Greitemeyer (2014), Video games that are violent are identified as very popular games that are played by the consumers. There is a concern that violent video games may pose a public health risk due to the levels of aggression due to the effects of the video games. In a cross sectional studies it has been found that there is a positive correlations with real life and video game aggression. Also in longitudinal studies shows that playing violent video games constantly it can predict that there may be later aggression even after controlling for initial levels of aggression. Experimental studies have showed that playing the video game is a factor of an increase level of

Video game effects are relatively new in modern society. Even though these games are often entertaining, the content of the game has been increasingly more and more violent as technology becomes more prevalent. The popularity of violent video games has caused an increase in controversy. Parents and experts feel that some games are just too violent and they demand the government to regulate the sales of these games. However, violent video games do not cause an increase in aggression, in adolescents. The forceful plan by the government is caused by an exaggeration of the effects of violent video games and this plan are indeed pointless.

In recent years, we have seen many video games criticized and bashed in the public eye for their disputable content. However, the game industry has been subjected to controversy since the creation of its first adult themed games such as Death Race 1976 or Custer 's Revenge 1982. These two graphics limited games have introduced video game violence to the public and since then debate about morals and ethics of video games evolved over the years together with the game experience thanks to modern technologies. Violence is one aspect of many that can cause great controversy that’s why it is important to create a suitable ethical, cultural and legal context as it can determine its failure or its success. In this paper, I will present an example

A significantly large portion of the video games created within the past 5 to 10 years contain some form of violence. On top of that, some of the most popular video games out in the market today are extremely violent and warrant an “M” rating for mature. Video game developers are well aware of this trend and continue to produce more graphic, interactive, and realistic content. Therefore, there is a concern that the vast amount of violence in video games is changing how youth develop and what they perceive as normal. Many researchers believe that there is a link between video games and increased aggression in the people who play them.

If the game is not enjoyable due to the developers having to incorporate ethical standards into the development of the game, then that could decrease the amount of games sold. It also takes time to thoroughly check every area of the game to make sure it is up to code. It would be easier for the company to ignore ethics all together. They could make the game as fun and addictive as they want to, which would bring in superior revenues. That would increase the happiness of the company and the developers. With the rating system in place, as long as the individual purchasing the game understood the type of content within, they could also have a great time enjoying it. This approach would likely get much backlash from the media. Depending on how popular the game is, this backlash could be

More than half of the video games purchased are from underage children. The sheer scope of media choices renders futile any effort to rein in content through regulations. Regulations which nobody seemed to follow or obey. Occasional pixilated displays of violence or sex can be found in some games that are sometimes sold to children. These comprise a tiny part of the total array of media content freely available to anyone. (Koffler 51). Further, hearing from Mark and Keisha Hoerrner, parents allow the exposure to violent video games, without even checking the industry ratings. Victims susceptible to increased aggression learn that violence is acceptable to solve problems, and they perfect the art of shooting as though the virtual gun was a real weapon (39). Hoerrners’ concede that parents need to be aware of the inappropriate content that is viewed, as well as inform the players reality to socially acceptable behavior in the real world. The Hoerrners and Koffler agree to such statement that violent video games don’t have any further effect on aggression, due to the fault of parents and the video games stores themselves. Even though such belief is valid in the sense that parents have to have a watchful eye, but in order to make the statement true, more information must be

Video Games have come a long way since their first introduction into the main stream. With video games becoming more sophisticated and using advanced technology, it seems as if video games are closing in on the gap between games and reality. However, as video games become ever so life-like it brings up the question of if the violence associated with video games is having a negative consequence. There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games are causing children and teenagers. Experiments have been conducted trying to associate a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Even the media has been known to point fingers at video games for the cause of children

In the latter half of his first argument, Roberts boldly claims “Violent video games equate to violent behavior, especially in children whose brains are not fully formed yet” and “a game rated MA (Mature) doesn’t stop a kid from playing it,” yet there is utterly no evidence supporting these poor claims. In reality,according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s official website, a majority of parents check the video game rating before purchasing it for their child (ESRB). Robert draws a hasty generalization in hopes that readers will gloss over such details and ignorantly agree with Robert’s meaningless and false claims.

An example of video games providing a true sense of control is in the game franchise known as “Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney” in which you play as a lawyer protecting clients in a courtroom scenario. This game is very much reliant on the player’s skill level to find contradictions in witness testimonies and luck is never a factor. This sense of control is what all people crave and is what the video game developers give to players. All of this evidence shows that video games are a way for people to let out their negative emotions in a safe environment and a helpful way to satisfy basic human cravings of control.

The range in media form can cause many to conclude that one form may be more harmful than another. Over the last decade, video and computer games have gained popularity as the most common way for children and adolescents to spend leisure time (Vessey & Lee, 2000). Over eighty percent of today’s most popular video games contain violence (Vessey & Lee, 2000), showing that there is a strong preference for these types of games in the market. Television and filmmakers have also taken leaped towards more violent programming and content that appeal to their audience. These visual images of violence have been determined to increase aggressive behavior in frequent viewers as well as desensitize the population towards violent acts (Videogames|and|Violence, 2007).

Upon further research, author Tobias Greitemeyer stated how, “One national survey showed that 88% of American youth between ages 8 and 18 play video games.” (Greitemeyer 19) From the statistics I gathered stating that more than half of video-games rated by the ESRB have violence, along with the 88 percent of American youth that plays video-games. It is fair to assume that most children are playing some type of violent video game. However, does violent video-games really affect the minds of our young people? It remains a debate, because video game developers are protected by laws and every type of playable electronic software is regulated by the Electronic Software Rating Board. The people totally against violent video games feel as if violent titles should be taken of shelves.

Violent video games have always been a hot topic since the release of the first Mortal Kombat in October 1992 for home consoles, which, because of its violence, resulted in the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). There have been studies that show a correlation between violent video games and aggression resulting in both an increase and decrease in aggression among players, but all if not most studies have only been short-term experiments. The real question is whether violent video games cause an increase in short-term aggression to the point where the players start to commit violent actions because of it, but, if the aggression does increase, how to prevent the short-term aggression from increasing to the point where it becomes a problem without taking the games away.