Violence In Video Games

- A bit of intro

As the gaming industry moves on to next levels almost every day, changes happen. Thats the natural order of things! Gaming nowadays is an important part of an average man's life, if we want it or not. Every single person has at least played a game once in his life. Especially these days with Facebook and other social networks wanting to promote apps and other mini games almost all social network users are familiar with gaming. 

Doom

We have the first appearance and traces of Sega (Service Games), back in 40's which alongside with Rosen Enterprises were publishing the first coin-operated entertainment machines likes jukeboxes. Nintendo as well, goes even more back in the time which was founded in September of 1889, and was producing handmade hanafuda playing cards. As you can see the roots of gaming are deep inside human society and with a bit of studying and openmindedness we could easily see what gaming industry has to offer. 

Well that's not anything else than pure entertainment at highly advanced levels. We pay for a few hours of escaping reality. Thats all. The same goes for almost for every kind of entertainment regardless if it is a book a movie or music etc. As i already said gaming goes way back, but in the last decade we can say there are giant steps in the gaming industry. This happens because manufacturing companies are able to use more advanced technology therefore they have the capability of designing games look like more like they have pictured them in post-production stages. For example with the arrival of colors we could see Frodo in Lord of the Rings and relate him (those pixels) with what we have read in the book. Moreover, with the arrival of 3D environments video games were one step closer to the real world. 

Parappa The Rapper

So, at the beggining companies could only make dots moving, then they moved on to colorful pixels binded together, giving us a picture to what they want us to believe we see, then with 3D technology we approached even more reality and so on. So thats why we passed from Tetris to Overboard or Residnet Evil. Because yes Tetris or Pac-Man is entertaining but as always thats not enough for people. Gamers as every consumer wants to be thrilled, feel adventure and andrenaline pumping in his blood. So thats why more "violent" games came up. And phrases like "video games cause violence" or ""violent" games should be prohibited" are totally untrue and wrong. And here is why. Lets say there is a case of a murder. The murderer kills the victim with a knife. Whose fault it is? The knife's or the one's that commited the murder? The knife itself is neutral, it is not good or bad. Its up to people and how they use things. Games themselves can't create violence if the player is not violent in his own nature. I am not trying to say that they are not violent video games. There are indeed! And there are some really hardcore games out there but again its up to people how they will "use" and play them. 

- Actual reasons that lead to violence

Condemned 2

And really now ... whats the connection on shooting some pixels in front of a TV with shooting at living,breathing beings? If someone can't distinguish those two blatantly different things then HE IS the one that has a serious problem of inability of distiguishing reality from something that happens in a device with circuits and wires!!!! Therefore he is the one that should be under supervision and not allowed nor playing video games neither watching movies, listening to music etc... (with that kind of logic we result that video games are kind of brain-washing machines... therefore, with a little more effort and more extreme content they could manipulate people. Well i dont see Sega or Sony rule the world though).

Theme Hospital

And thats because all these ways of entertainment offer interaction each one of them to a certain point. Music transfers feelings and messages to the listener, the same goes for the movies. Games are one level above them because it offers all that previously said plus interaction. So, it ιs how people respond to stimuli of those interactions that matters. Hence, it is that violent reaction we should focus on and what is really causing it (society/famliy/relationship oriented problems) and not on some unreal digital violence. And that goes way back to human relationship and how a community treats its members. What matters mostly here, is the social education a child receives in his early years, the treatment and how things are handled inside his family environmnet and how he treats and behaves towards friends. If a person learned how to be socially healthy and acceptable then its unprobable that he will react violently in certain situations. But if he is being abused in any means especially during childhood, then it is very likely that this person is going to reproduce violence when something relevant occurs! 

You can also think this subject vice versa. Violence most of the times is a result of power and enforcement. The attractions to these two situations and terms, are oftenly sweet and tempting, causing weaker people to fall into their traps quite easily. Violent scenes in video games sometimes may cause averse to that certain violent act instead of encouraging it They deconstruct violence turning gamers away. Another "plus" if you want is that oppressed people break out "digitally" avoiding harmfull sitautions in reality. 

Judging video games for violence is so childish and narrowminded like judging movies or toy guns for wars! And LETS assume that video games do cause violent behaviors. What about Theme Hospital? Or Parappa The Rapper? What about Sims? Hasty assumption as the one above simply distort the truth and lead to generalities. It is just wrong to criticize one specific category judging only one sub-category. Instead, I could elaborate on the positive side effects that video games (the rest categories if you want) have on the human brain but I will just let this video do the talking for me! 

Also do not forget that many games are masterpieces with amazing directions, noteworthy castings and such ripe plots that we can hardly find even in the best books or movies. People always want to find a scapegoat to blame wittingly or unwittingly (Barrack Obama sponsored a research against violence in video games with 10.000.000$ ??? Hmm... Yes Obama my friend you were a bit late but FINALLY found the root to all problems) and games is the prefect scapegoat in the present.  Few years back we had the evil, malice, wicked and vicious Heavy Metal music, before that we had Rock 'n Roll, before that the arrival of movies. etc etc etc... So you want to tell me that millions of people who play Call of Duty or Thief are bloodthirsty coldblooded killers? And that before the arrival of video games the planet Earth was the perfect, crime-free, ideal world? I dont think so neither do you! In advocasy to my sayings there are statistics and results of surveys that prove that video games are so responsible for violence as music or movies can be. You could google it for yourself! 

We live in and with technology, we are surrounded by it, we even choose to live like this even if we dont know it. From the simplest form of technology such as fire (yes fire is the first form of technolgy known to man) clothing and light to airplanes, videochat, and cloning, it has become an unextractable part of the present human society. Video games is a part of our lives, a part with a role of entertainment and its blame in crimes and violence is equevalent to everything we encounter and interact with everyday!

(If you will excuse me now ... i was playing Manhunt so i have to go kill my neighboor).