There are many in the society who have been voicing very ardently against the video games as they believe that they promote violence predominantly among many others while there are significant others in the predominantly in the developers community who are against the idea. So, does this very notion of aggression developed by the game players due to the video games can be considered rational? This essay aims to evaluate both the ideas to substantiate the claims of both the parties and provide a validated conclusion.
Relaxation and entertainment are the major considerations when playing video games. However, not all the games designed these days come with only the fore mentioned criteria. In order to appeal to wider range of audience the developers are designed the games in wider genres. This may include violence along with the other aspects of gaming such as sports and racing. Having said that, the aggression portrayed by the gamer cannot always be considered bad as it is displayed passively and may help the user of such game to vent out any frustration and malicious thoughts they may develop. In contrast, the methods and the animations present in the game might stimulate new ideas to hurt other persons which the user might not even know of previously.
In addition, with the advent of new technology, the developers have brought forth the multiplayer gaming which is very addictive and often leading to non-sociable and aggressive behaviour as suggested by many experts. The never ending gaming scenario in such games has proved to be a major encouragement to the gamers to innovate new skills to progress through the game and as such is enhancing the malevolent tendencies in the players. But it cannot be said with any certainty that these prolonged hours are damaging the people’s minds while at the same time it is also very arguable that such games are strictly for entertainment. However, these games are very helpful in a way – the aggression is only in the digital environment and not causing any physical harm.
The game developers also create games in which the protagonist fights for a cause such as defending people or country and there are many games that fit the same theme. Such games obscure the moral dimension of violence. These games can instil in players a sense of righteousness and duty the qualities which are quite helpful in the society. Also, quite recently the militaries of various countries are stimulating the real war scenarios in a gaming situation for the soldiers to get accustomed to what they might experience in the battle. This way of gaming, speaking within the thin line defined between gaming and simulation, has proven to be quite a feat in saving the lives of many as they can adjust to the dangers very better than previously.
As with any development there are quite a large games such as Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and alike in which the players kill unarmed and innocent people along with destroying police stations and hospitals to meet the game objectives. Such games are becoming increasing popular with the generation of youngsters and may lead them to develop such behaviour even in the real world. The developers only restrict the players from buying these games using content warnings, however, it is not stopping any prospective buyer and in fact may even encourage them. While these are games are very violent the seriousness of the game can be questioned and is rather ironic for any user to use similar actions in the society as they rarely take themselves to be serious. This virtual world of violence may also pacify the gamers need for aggression as the moral rules are excluded in this environment.
The games may heavily influence the players but such games are for mature players who should have already developed a way to choose what they like as they are not a blank paper to write as the game pleases. It is the responsibility of the player not to sway from the morals and not the developers themselves. If any of the players have displayed such behaviour, it is quite safe to say they would have exhibited similar responses even they weren’t playing these games, as they have their perceptions and own experiences which models the way they perceive them.
The society tends to lay blame on the people who are very hostile to various situations and also play radical violent games. The same society also laid blame on the TV, films, music and any entertainment media at its inception. However, they have now come to terms with them. Finding a fault is rather easy while it is increasing difficult to find its cause. Rather than to make something liable the society should act so that the players are not only relying on these games to make the clock tick. Video games should ultimately be supervised and controlled by parent and they should screen the games that they believe shall adversely affect the behaviour of their children. The developers cannot by any means control all the players’ behaviour but the parents of individual players can in some way mitigate the actions their children might develop.
From the discussion above it cannot be said with any firmness of the developers’ role in players violent attitude from video games and the society definitely cannot blame them for the actions of the radical actions of few of the gamers. The video games have also proven to be very useful to the society as conveyed briefly over the essay. Also, close attention should be paid to the underlying meaning of the devastating acts in the games and should not be interpreted as all-embracing as these acts have a context that defines the gamers’ actions. The society may be right in saying that the video games may bring out violent behaviour, however not all the games may does so or any of the games. It cannot proved without any concrete evidence that video games are detrimental to the society and the developers are to be blamed for it.