The Importance Of Moral Values In The Walking Dead

Tom Bissell, in his essay, “Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter” has described video games and how they are unique and different from movies, books, or even interactive films. Bissell says “I came to accept that games were incompetent with almost every aspect of what I would call traditional narrative.” This is showing the readers that even though there is a plot and story line, as characters can control and alter the story line or outcome by what you do or see throughout the game.

‘’It’s the Zombie Apocalypse!’’ If you recognized the saying, then you really do pay attention to The Walking Dead. If anyone out of the 17.3 million who is interested in this game then this is for you! This paper is going to persuade all video gamers to go out and buy ‘’The Walking Dead Season 2’’ video game based on the reviews that will come from the Telltale Games Critics, Game Radars, and more. The New York Times calls it,’ The Most Excellent Game! ’that’s in stores now to this day. Warning this game is rated M for mature. Based on the video, Telltale Games proved that Clementine’s story is worth to continue throughout the season which will be told later on in the paper. So it has successfully persuaded the video gamers to go out and buy The Walking Dead video game based on the emotions to face throughout the game and the logic of hard, choice making decisions.. Do you have what it takes to survive the apocalypse?

“Be a Gamer, Save the World,” written by Jane McGonigal, is an article found in the Norton Reader 14th Edition. Video game critics are often quick to dismiss playing video games as brain numbing and a waste of time. McGonigal challenges critics of video games by discussing the benefits of playing video games. She makes a valid point by stating that video games make players more optimistic and help create better social bonds. These emotions can encourage people to desire working for the betterment of the world. McGonigal believes we can solve some of the world’s most difficult issues with the use of video games. The author makes a valid point, especially considering the advancements in technology and the

Video games are prevalent among impressionable children and teenagers. There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the violent themes used in video games. Teenage shootings in schools have led society to question the relationship between video violence and criminal activity. After considerable research, expert opinions, and research findings, the American Psychological Association found that there is no link between gaming and criminal behavior (Casey). With this, the pursuit of video violent games continues to grow in our society. With games that show execution style murders, blood oozing from gunshot wounds, and victims moaning from wounds, it certainly is gratifying for the indulgent player. The ongoing concern about aggression and violence has once again been proven to be non-existent (Alert). My thoughts are that this cartoon like violence is appeals to the need for violence in an artificially designed environment. In this manner, violence is contained within the boundaries of fantasy. This is unlike “The Crucible” which occurs in with real people, events, and situations. Thus, directing violence in the realm of societal dysfunction that has endured with

Content analyses show that 89% of video games have some violent content. Half of the video games on the market have extreme violent actions toward other characters. Games, today, are allowing players to not only connect with the game physically, but also emotionally and psychologically. In essence, the player becomes the character. According to Nielson Media Research, at least 45 million households in the United States have at least one video game console (Markey & Charlotte, 2010). The average age of video game players has increased to age 34, and 60% of Americans play interactive games on a regular basis. However, researchers believe that younger children are more susceptible to the negative effects of playing violent video games compared to older teenagers and adults. Furthermore, games that include violence have raised serious concerns among

Fear itself is seldom a cause of trauma in everyday existence, but having to face close-range interpersonal aggression is a traumatic experience of an entirely different magnitude (Grossman). During the initial outbreak of terror while everyone is scrambling to save his or her own life, survival mode kicks in and an individual starts to plan on saving one’s self. The need to be a powerful motivator drives an average person to do what any normal person would consider unthinkable. Abandoning monsters plaguing the entire world, helping others in need, or deciding to save one’s self is a decision that will be made. The decision to save one’s own life will bring a person to question his own humanity while discovering the benefits of self-

The Movie Dead Man Walking is about a man named Mathew Poncelet who sits on death row for the murder and rape of a young couple with the help of his accomplice Carl Vitello who was sentenced to life without parole. The film centers on Sister Helen a catholic nun who receives a letter from death row inmate Mathew Poncelet. She decides to take a visit to the state penitentiary to visit with Mathew to help fight for him to get off death row and council him as his spiritual advisor. Sister Helen works as a teacher and social worker at The Hope House where she lives and works while dedicating her life among the poor black community. Focusing her attention on families and children in her neighborhood her relationship with Mathew begins to develop.

Games themselves are not the product of violence, but rather, the people influenced by the games and the interaction of the game. Just as guns do not kill, but the people and their cruel intentions, violent video games are a source that lead to effective mur-der homicides, suicides and tragedies. This is an evident problem. Yet, the problem lies in the heart of man. Until this is solved, every seemingly positive aspect in the world is merely the de-velopment of entropy awaiting

According to Mary Flanagan and Helen Nissenbaum “all games express and embody human values.” Throughout all of chapter one in “Values at Play in Digital Games” both authors express their beliefs on the power behind videogames. According to them, one can learn an incredible amount about someone's beliefs and ideas based on how they play. From the way they make their characters to the different actions they commit, it all expresses their beliefs and values. One can even understand game developers opinions based on how and what kind of game they make.

In this journal they justify the level of manner a child is with the game characters, and players’ interpretation, or whether or not the actions of the characters are visualized as virtuous.

Zombies have had quite the resurgence within the last decade culturally. Before we got Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, or the amc show, The Walking Dead, Zombies had simply faded into the background of horror and pop culture. Since George A. Romero’s film Night of the Living Dead, Zombies had really seemed like a one trick pony. They were depicted as slow moving creatures, preying down upon harmless naive teenagers. But after the resurgence of the zombie from films and shows in the early 2000’s, zombies are now everywhere and in all different shapes and sizes. Comics, videogames, shows, books and movies are now just a few of the mediums that zombies are used in media today. Well it now finally seems that Zombies have finally seemed to make

According to Samir Chopra “The central motif in ‘American Gothic’–at least in the two sequences cited above–is the decay of the familiar: inevitable, persistent, insidious, ever-present and perhaps most frighteningly, contagious.”. Using two modern examples to support his argument, American Horror Story, and The Walking Dead, he breaks down the key component of American Gothic; the unfamiliar. It’s the fact that we don’t know, is what makes the American Gothic so believable and intriguing and it’s because of this very reason American Gothic is popular in television today. Along with the unfamiliar, Chopra’s analysis of death and its influence on American Gothic television, reveals that American Gothic exposes us to the reality that death does

“In video games, the category of “first person shooters” has been controversial with critics concerned about what that means to players who actually perform acts of violence within the games. Instead of merely watching a character perpetrate a violent act, the player is actively encouraged to participate. Gamers will often refer to their characters as “he” or even “I.” “This suggests some confusion is brought on by the intense identification players sometimes feel towards their avatars. Players typically remain attached to a single character they can control; thus they have a very strong following pattern. Game designer, Will Wright, has argued that games may have a unique ability to make players experience guilt for the choices their characters have made in the course of action. Because players are making choices, they feel some degree of responsibility” (242-243).

The paper will focus on the application of the social learning theory through the use of video games that incorporate moral choices into their design. In this paper, I will first describe what the social learning theory is and its implications. I will discuss findings that pertain to the social learning theory and through violent television and operant conditioning from violent video games. I will also explore studies focusing on the impact of moral choices in video games on decision making and moral disengagement. From the data, I will determine my own hypothesis as well as a methodical experiment relevant to the focus of this paper.

Among the various questions that adults may think of when considering teenagers as video game players, one that can easily plague the debate about appropriateness of video games is the question: why do teenagers want to play “mature” rated games? Is it the possibility of sexual content within the game data? Is it the violence that serves as the primary gameplay for many of these games? Is it the simple association with the word “mature” that acts as the game rating? As pertinent as these questions may be, particularly to parents or teachers who fear the negative effects of video games, I choose to ask something completely different: what if the story, rather than being an adult or “mature” story, is actually a teen story that draws these teen players into the game?