Analytical Essay on Ethical Issues of Violence in Video Games

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Abstract

This paper aims to explore video game controversy, its significance and how it ethically impacts people. The ethical issues of violence in video games, as well as gaming addiction will be evaluated and determined if they are ethical issues or not. Influence of video game controversy in other countries will be discussed as well.

Video Game Controversy

1. Introduction

In 1971, the first video game ever released was the simple tennis inspired arcade game named “Pong” [1]. Ever since “Pong’s” inception and tremendous success, video games have become an international phenomenon within the entertainment industry. People play video games for various reasons, ranging from stress relief, thrill, and challenge. The motives are endless. Thus, it is crucial to note the possible ethical impact that video games can have on people as video games continue to establish their place within society. Throughout recent years, video games have amassed heaps of controversy in the media because of ethical issues such as: gaming addiction, and graphic violence. Ultimately, most believe that each aspect of video game controversy is linked to violence in video games. However, this negative portrayal of video games has led to many misgivings about what they have to offer the world beyond play. This paper aims to examine the positive and negative ethical issues of video games and whether the controversy they have accumulated globally is justified.

This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the significance of examining video game controversy and its separate ethical issues. Section 3, 3.1, and 3.2 are the main body of the paper and argue both the good and bad of video games, and ethical approach as well. While section 4 presents conclusions about video games in general.

2. Significance and Impact

As mentioned in the introduction, video games have become a mass entertainment medium and in fact, about 60% of Americans play video games every day [2]. This illustrates the influence that video games have in society, whether for better or for worse. Thus, it is crucial to analyze how the ethical issues of graphic violence and gaming addiction influence people and are dealt with globally.

3. Violence in Video Games

Controversy surrounding video games began in 1976, as public outcry caused a game named “Death Race” to be banned from being sold everywhere [1]. The nature of the game was described as violent because it involved running “gremlins” over to get the highest score possible. Logically, it may seem that giving a game like this to a child would be ethically questionable, because they would get rewarded for running over and taking the lives of “gremlins”. This is the narrative that the media has been projecting ever since the banning of “Death Race”. After horrible misfortunes in the news, the media often turns video games and the video game industry into a scapegoat, blaming them solely for the actions of others. For example, in 2013 an 8-year-old boy shot his grandma reportedly after playing “Grand-Theft Auto IV” (GTA). Both the media and the police blamed the creators of the GTA video game, saying that it would “awards points to players for killing people” [3]. However, after the investigation was completed, it was concluded that the shot was accidental and that the boy thought the gun was a toy. The media continued to blame the creators of GTA, instead of asking how the boy found that gun and why wasn’t it under lock. Clearly, the violence in video games isn’t to blame for other’s actions, because in fact, countries with less shootings have higher video game use [4].

Next, this brings up whether the media and public are justified in continuing to correlate video game violence with real life violence. Scientific studies searching for that correlation were increasingly conducted after the Columbine mass shooting that occurred in 1999 [5]. For instance, one of those studies explicitly claimed that long-term exposure to graphic video games would result in “aggressive action against others, expectations that others will behave aggressively, positive attitudes towards use of violence, and the belief that violent solutions are effective and appropriate” [6]. Their procedure for the study was to ask a group of 143 students their gaming habits, and what games they liked the most. Additionally, it is important to remember that this study was conducted after mass media hysteria (bias), with small sample sizes, and never accounted for other, more influential variables such as environment or mental health [5]. Their results may have been empirical, but they only found an association between aggression and video game violence, but no evidence for a causational relationship. Essentially, correlation does not equal causation.

Furthermore, this alleged link, that has never been officially proved, was legally discredited in the U.S. in 2011. The state of California had passed a bill that would have put strict regulations on violent video games, however, the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the bill was unconstitutional, because California failed to prove the seemingly undeniable link between aggressive behavior and violent video games [4]. This demonstrates how video game controversy itself is an ethical issue in the sense that it brings along the unnecessary censorship or banning of video games that bring joy to others despite the content. Therefore, violence in video games is not a relevant ethical issue.

3.1 Video Game Addiction

Despite the media’s wrongful use of violent video games as a contemporary scapegoat, video games can be a negative influence due to the displacement hypothesis. This hypothesis “suggests that influence learning and social behavior by taking the place of [important] activities” [6]. It is known that doing anything in excess is generally bad, and that people must find a balance when using electronics in general. When it comes to video games, there has been cases of extreme addiction, where players would not stand up for several hours on end because of “gaming binges”, causing major injury and in some cases, even death [7]. It is clear to see why other countries like China, have been attempting to strictly regulate how much time children can play these video games [8]. The game most “binged” on is considered “World of Warcraft” (Warcraft), an online role-playing-game (RPG) where the player decides who they want to be and the choices they make within the game [7]. Symptoms of video game addiction include lack of social interaction and loss of interest in responsibilities and prior hobbies. Video gaming addiction is truly an ethical issue that is threatening the mental and physical health to people globally.

3.2 Advantages and Ethical Theories

Approaching the ethical issue of video game controversy with the theory of utilitarianism would recognize the actual good that video games bring into society. Utilitarianism holds that the best moral action is the one that maximizes utility, and if that concept is applied to video games, then they are supper useful at various types of social activities. As mentioned before, Warcraft for few is considered a heavily addicting game, however, for most casual players, its been reported that they are increasingly better decision makers [9]. This is significant, because scientists often point out the damaging effects of using social media and watching TV for even a short period of time because of the lack of engagement and quick decision making. In terms of the ethical theory of utilitarianism, Warcraft would be useful for non-players to gain quick thinking skills, while having fun enjoying the stimuli. The media needs to realize that video games have become one of the biggest mass mediums within the entertainment industry, and that they are not simply violent, and lethargy inducing. Games such as “Mine Craft” encourage free expression and creativity, while ‘shooter games’ encourage teamwork and communication towards achieving a certain goal [10]. Correspondingly, the characteristics mentioned are the exact ones that job recruiters believe are crucial towards maintaining a job in the 21st century. Not to mention, when playing a video game, players choose what happens to the characters. In the right circumstances, players can be encouraged to examine their own values by seeing how they behave within virtual space. Therefore, video games truly have the power to morally change people through complex storytelling and choice. When the utilitarian approach is taken with video games, the positive ethical aspects outweigh the negative ones.

3.3 Global Analysis

Not all countries are the same when approaching different ethical issues that affect their population, decidedly they all share different moral standards and cultures. For instance, Germany’s indescribably disturbing history has affected all the media that their population consumes, in the form of strict regulations when it comes to any media content depicting Nazi imagery. Until 2018, when they lifted the ban of video games with Nazi imagery, and if the games were for educational purposes only as well [11]. This shows that Germany is being ethical with their standards because they value freedom of speech, comparable to when the U.S. Supreme Court voted banning violent games as unconstitutional.

Conversely, in China, there are constant bans on new upcoming video games, for reasons ranging from graphic violence, gaming addiction, and playing time. Their Education ministry have been developing strict regulations on the amount of time children can be playing video games and age restrictions amid concerns of visual impairment and addiction [8]. This displays the different concerns that China has about video games, over the ones that the U.S. has. China is interested in both the physical and mental health of its population, therefore acting specifically on the ethical issue of video game addiction.

4. Conclusions

Finally, video games are a cultural phenomenon, which is constantly changing our society. They have the power to be a positive influence, by giving players noticeable real-life skills and creativity, or can cause their lives to deteriorate because of video game addiction. As with everything in life, video games should be played in moderation. Moreover, video games have proven themselves as a dominant force for good in our world, and the future ahead will be filled with new advancements and impactful changes to our existence.

References

A Timeline of Video Game Controversies. (2016). Retrieved from https://ncac.org/resource/a-timeline-of-video-game-controversies
2018 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.theesa.com/about-esa/industry-facts/
Video game violence research. (2015). In C. Ferguson, Media psychology 101. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.fiu.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/spmedia/video_game_violence_research/0?institutionId=728
Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence? (2016). Retrieved from https://videogames.procon.org/
MARKEY, P. M., & FERGUSON, C. J. (2017). Teaching Us to Fear: The Violent Video Game Moral Panic and the Politics of Game Research. American Journal of Play, 10(1), 99–115. Retrieved from http://http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=127477163&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Gentile, D. A., Lynch, P. J., Linder, J. R., & Walsh, D. A. (2004). The effects of violent video game habits on adolescent hostility, aggressive behaviors, and school performance. Journal of Adolescence,27(1), 5-22. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2003.10.002
Hun, K., & Ng, N. (2015, January 19). Man dies after 3-day Internet gaming binge. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/19/world/taiwan-gamer-death/index.html
Staff, O. F. (2018, August 31). China to crack down on children’s video gaming time amid fears over addiction. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/31/china-crack-childrens-video-gaming-time-amid-fears-addiction/
Why World of Warcraft is good for you. (2010, September 13). Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/babbage/2010/09/13/why-world-of-warcraft-is-good-for-you
Helmore, E. (2014, April 12). Ethical gaming: Can video games be a force for good? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/12/ethical-video-gaming-games-for-change-festival
Means, G. (2018, August 09). Germany Lifts Controversial Ban on Nazi Imagery in Video Games. Retrieved from https://screenrant.com/germany-ban-nazi-video-games/

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