As discussed, gaming has long had a bad reputation to influence negative effects on gamers, whether violence, depression or addiction. But what hasn’t been so widely promoted is that gaming has been said to produce positive effects on gamers, a recent article on the telegraph supports this claim. Games such as Manhunt (banned twice in multiple countries) and Grand Theft Auto (victim to potential banning) where gamers are rewarded in game cash for killing or attacking victims, are consistently blamed for a steady rise in violent crime. This is mainly because many murder cases have evidence that games such as the above mentioned, were “to blame” for the killings. However the article on the Telegraph Website mentions a report, named “Understanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime” by respected academics has stated they do not believe there is a link.
So really there is no evidence in any case, that games can directly cause violence in a real world setting. They are taking aggression in a laboratory setting, exaggerating it, applying it and linking it directly to the few extreme cases reported. So it could merely just be coincidence. The report continues to add, “...laboratory studies may be poor predictors of the net effects of violent video games in society. Consequently, they overstate the importance of video game induced aggression as a social cost”. This statement does make sense, as there are millions if not billions of gamers out there; the majority of them do get frustrated however only the select few go to the extreme. Therefore there really isn't enough evidence to directly accuse violent games of causing the violent acts the select few do commit. For some reason, they assume a game causes aggression, then the gamer gets up, walks outside and then has a fight, when the article has evidence that actually states, “rather than violent crime rates soaring when new violent video games are released, they actually drop as gamers are 'too busy' at home playing the games” adding, "Time spent gaming cannot be spent on other activities, both legitimate activities and illicit violent activities.". This doesn't necessarily disprove the opposing side’s theories, but it does make sense on some scale. It cannot disprove that games make people more passively violent, violent enough to commit a crime on society, whether murder or stealing a chocolate bar. The article continues with, "Many researchers have argued that these games may also have caused extreme violence, such as school shootings, because laboratory evidence has found an abundance of evidence linking gameplay to aggression.” Yet although we can agree that there is a link between gaming and aggression the article also states, "Yet few studies before this one had examined the impact of these games on crime”, this is interesting, as this is what everybody generalizes the term “Video Game Violence” to, they assume games cause crime, even though no evidence shows this besides the odd few extreme cases of psychologically ill people ‘finally’ snapping.
In my personal opinion, games themselves have both a negative and positive effect. Yes it is true people get aggressive on games, I myself have experienced and witnessed this, but along with this there is the happiness and positive effects they have on you. When you’re not angry you’re being rewarded, which makes you happy and in turn, less violent. Haters seem to forget that polar emotion. I know many people and many forums that suggest being aggressive in a game a great way of venting stress rather than inducing it upon the gamer.
The article finally finishes by taking into account gamers spending more time on the game than committing crime and lack of evidence by concluding with;
"Overall, violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime."
AllAboutTheGame.co.uk has a recent article on a grown man committing murder ‘allegedly’ because of a game. The gamer of which was the fan favorite Call Of Duty, a game violent in nature but not as graphic as the kings of violence such as Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto. The man was playing the game with his flat mate in his apartment when “tensions escalated and they got into a fight”, the fight itself ended with “Johnson shooting Taylor in the back of the head.”. So here we have a grown man, clearly fully integrated into society, so surely a psychological sound man wouldn't kill his friend without some influence?
A point I wish to add is that when gamers show aggression it is because they have failed in completing the goal of the game. This is true for all genres, even the games that are not violent; it’s a natural human reaction to reflect negative emotions when we experience failure. It isn't the violence within the game itself that causes the aggression, which is a general assumption of many haters. However some people may disagree with me, stating that because the violence in games is rewarded, the gamers naturally associate violence with positive connotations, therefore they do not see violence as a negative action. However to think that an everyday person could forget the difference between right and wrong in such an extreme case from just paying one videogame is absurd. From cases mentioned in this argument, the people who forget such a difference are clearly psychological unstable or have some issues.
My personal opinion is, all gamers get frustrated by games at some point, it is in the design to reward and punish the player at equal levels to create an immersive entertaining experience no other medium can. Games aim to draw emotion out of the gamer in order to immerse them in the only medium that they can control the outcome of. However although it is in fact true that all gamers can get frustrated, that is not to say all gamers immediately go outside and commit murder and crime. The cases shown clearly show there is an issue with the gamer rather than the game. I truly believe it’s because only the negative effects and extreme cases are revealed to the public rather than the positive effects gaming can have that creates the generalization of violence in video games, therefore the haters try their best to generalize slight aggression in a laboratory to extreme cases of murder in an uncontrolled environment, there’s to little evidence to suggest such a direct link and cause. I admit gaming may cause aggression or frustration, but it is in the mind and heart of the gamers to hold them self back and distinguish between right and wrong; they control the game, they control themselves. It’s the people with some form of medical or social imbalance that cause the violence and give a bad name to games in terms of violence. I personally believe taking the opinions and evidence on board; that the violence is in the gamer playing the game rather game being played by the gamer.
Like I said games provide an experience that immerse emotionally. Yes they can cause aggression, but they can also cause, laughter, tears and maybe even paranoia (after effect of horror games). Which brings me onto the next argument, can games cause people to lose track of reality? Can gamers being to see a blur in the line between virtual reality and reality? How bad is Video game Addiction? Evidence suggests it is very bad, and although I do not believe games are bad, I believe without moderation they can have negative effects. However unlike violence in games, over immersion within games can only be moderated by the gamer, therefore if a gamer has an addictive personality, or other underlying issues, they can in fact feel the negative effects games present. This is a matter I definitely agree with and believe exists, as I have seen it myself. Such underlying issues can really effect a gamer. The resulting effects of such a negative are that the gamer may find it hard to re enter society, they may become social recluses. They may become addicted to the game, therefore lose track of time and life outside of their computer screen without even noticing as they are too busy enjoying themselves but literally loosing themselves within the game. They may become depressed as real life isn’t as stimulating as the virtual reality. These are all issues that can present themselves through the game. After all games are in some cases more exciting than life, hence why they were created, just like Movies (which have had their share of controversy and blame for violence). But like I said the risk are there, but it’s up the gamer to address those risks rather than fall to them. A disturbing but fascinating story that highlights these ever-present risks is a story on IGN.com not a month ago of a neglecting gaming mother.
In Taiwan, a young single mother of a 3 month old baby boy was an avid fan of a online gaming society, of which one of the game mechanics was looking after a virtual child; feeding it at the appropriate times, bathing it etc. The mother became so addicted to this game, that she neglected her actual child for 2 weeks. The child died of starvation and thirst; the mother of which only realized her child had died 3 days later. She claimed her reasons for neglecting where that “she needed to feed her child online”. It’s this kind of gross negligence that spawns such arguments. Indeed the game itself did indirectly play a part in the child’s death; however the mother’s sheer lack of responsibility, courtesy and emotion within the situation clearly shows she has psychological issues (maybe post natal depression) and wasn't fit to look after her child. It was her direct negligence of her child and psychological instability that caused the death of her child, not the game itself. It was never designed to facilitate the death of children, rather to provide the experience of looking after a child. The games intentions where positive, where as the mothers where not, however still people believe a story like this proves games have extremely negative effects on society and the people who play them, they believe if it wasn't for the games addictive attributes the mother would never have become so neglecting.
Once again a seemingly perfect way to blame games on a negative effect on society has fallen to other explanations, I do agree games present the risks above, but it’s the gamer who controls the game that controls themselves, not the game controlling them. This woman along with other clearly had issue before they started playing the game; it’s just the risks the game presents that highlighted her issues.
There are many other stories, even a documentary called “My World in Warcraft” documents addicted gamers who play the MMORPG “World of Warcraft” and their individual stories of how they lost all of their friends and family to online gaming addiction. Some cases the gamers lose their jobs, in some extreme cases they ended up in hospital from exhaustion. In fact one gamer even died from lack of food and drink. This is the extremities game addiction can cause, therefore they clearly exist. There are reports of over 3 Millions addicted gamers worldwide; it just goes to show the extent it can affect society. So yes, games can have a negative effect on society, not enough to be noticeable by everyone, but for those caught in the gaming addiction trap, it’s completely noticeable. It’s a sad but true statistic that highlights the risks of gaming. I still passionately believe that it is still down to the gamer. Yes life isn't as fun as a game, but you can still put the controller down and enjoy the little things in life, you just need to get up, go out and find them, which brings us to the positives’ of gaming on society.
It is ‘possible’ games can cause violence directly or indirectly. It is ‘possible’ that games can cause addiction and loosing track of reality, but it is ‘proven’ that games can bring together society and even educate. Comparing the possible to the proven, I would say gaming has a positive effect on society rather than negative.
NEXT POST: VIOLENCE IN GAMES: IGN VIOLENCE ARTICLE
No comments:
Post a Comment