This topic has been bounced around pretty much since gaming first started. You have always had the controversy of people saying a game is ‘Too Violent’, but I see one major flaw with that comment… it’s purely opinionated. People’s opinions differ depending on that person; do I have the same tastes as every single person on my Xbox Live Friends list? No I don’t, so can someone define that one of us is wrong and one of us is right?
There have been a number of notable incidents about games being changed because they were deemed ‘too violent’. Possibly one of the most famous of these incidents was Mortal Combat and its fatalities. In the early 1990’s the game was subject to scrutiny in the US, saying that the fatalities were too graphic for release and subsequently the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) was formed in 1994. The games creators even went as far to hide the gore content in the game only accessible by a cheat code. Another famous incident was when Carmageddon was banned because of the depiction of you running over and splatting humans. In order for the game to go ahead the people were changed to zombies (Basically the blood was turned from red to green) and that was allowed. In the case of both these games, both have subsequently been released with the original content. So the presence of violence in video games has always a hot topic amongst the media/governments.
Now in terms of suggesting Video games turn people violent, one incident stands out more than most, The Columbine High School Massacre. In the aftermath of the incident it showed that one of the killers, Eric Harris, was an avid Doom player, often submitted levels that he created to play online. It originally was stated that one of the levels he created was a ‘mock up’ of the high school, which could have been used for preparation for the attack. This was subsequently discovered to be false; however some media outlets and political party members still believed video games were behind it. Now every time a similar incident hits the media, what gets the blame…. Video games.
Is it fair for video games to be tarnished with this brush? Is there any evidence that links violence to video games? I’ve played most of the GTA games and I’ve never once stolen a car, gunned down a gang member or killed a prostitute to get my money back (don’t pretend like you haven’t all done it!). I’m sure I’m not the only that has managed to suppress these urges after playing these games…..So why should games get the blame?
The whole issue is blame culture, someone isn’t bad because they are bad, there has to something wrong with them or some kind of outside influence that has turned them that way. Take Eric Harris for example yes he spent hours and hours playing and designing Doom levels, but he was also abused by his violent father and spent most of his school years being bullied, but yet video games got the blame….. I don’t think that quite stacks up do you?
I’d love to hear people’s opinions on this. So if you have anything you want to share, please comment below and share my blog.
