Do you care about what happens in the games you play?

[Itse]

I've recently ran into several articles, mostly in game media but in other places too, where people talk about their discomfort towards some of the things that goes on in video games.

Since I know there are gamers on this forum (I consider myself one), I'm curious as to other people feel about this. Personally I don't play these modern warfare games, although I haven't really thought much about why. I have picked up quite a few games where I'm a lone supersoldier destroying hordes of hideous monsters. I've started to think that maybe this is not a coincidence, that for me it matters what the enemy is.

How about you? Violence or otherwise, does it matter to you what happens in games, or are they just games for you?

Here's some of the stuff I've read on this. Note that all of the people talking here are gamers, most of them you could propably call hard-core gamers.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...eld-3-Is-Scary

And then there's that sequence that seems to be a prerequisite for every modern warfare game now where you're in a bomber supporting infantry units by firing ludicrously big shells at ground targets who have absolutely no possibility of hitting you. Watching blips on your radar representing someone's son or husband disappear with a plop as someone in your earpiece congratulates you and laughingly points out the remaining ones who are running for their lives. I mean, ####ing hell. Once you discount the possibility that this is supposed to be dramatic or challenging then we are left with the conclusion that this only exists for the masturbatory power fantasy. It just creeps me out is all.

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/propaganda-games

We love to talk about the exciting possibilities that games offer us. We talk about is an emerging art form, a new way to explore the human condition. A leisure activity that is soon going to be more common than watching TV, but unfortunately, the very things that make this media powerful can also make it dangerous.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...dern-warfare-3

I don't particularly mind the level of violence in computer games, partly because it's absurd, and partly because I'm hopelessly desensitised. What I do object to is the dick-swinging machismo that infests games like this. If I had a penny for every time I've spent the opening moments of a game sitting in the back of a transport vehicle listening to a soldier called Vasquez repeatedly use the word "mother####er", I'd have enough money to buy the Sesame Street game instead. And even that probably starts with Sergeant Grover warning Private Elmo that "#### is about to get real".

http://kotaku.com/5857878/the-proble...ar-video-games

Our attitudes and actions about war, conflict, death and the use of weapons certainly matter. We cannot afford to be seduced by the technologies of war, hypnotized by the glow of explosions on our screens and silenced by this claim that "it's only a game."

[Beerfest]

Honestly...people are trying to hate on video games for this stuff.......

Why not hate on it in real life.....you know where it actually happens.

Ugh.

Blaming video games is such a scapegoat.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Beerfest

Honestly...people are trying to hate on video games for this stuff.......

Why not hate on it in real life.....you know where it actually happens.

Ugh.

Blaming video games is such a scapegoat.

What does this even mean?

12-15 year olds are killing each other in large numbers on the streets of Calgary and we should be concerned?

Violence in video games is there and it desensitizes us. That is not in question. For the vast majority of people, it doesn't do them any harm because they understand that what happens in the game is not real, but for some it does - IMHO mostly because they have other problems that feed off of it.

[Mass_nerder]

I can admit that I rage a little bit when I'm playing COD and my KDR after a game is like .3 or something...
I understand that it's just a game, but if you're playing in a competitive atmosphere (online multiplayer) how fun can it be if you don't care how you do?
It's not just videogames though...I get really competitive playing Monopoly, or beer league hockey. What's the point in playing if you're not playing to win?

[Flames89]

If anything, people should be pointing out that the rise of video games has actually decreased crime. Not the other way around.





Violent Crime Rate in the US

[JohnnyB]

I'm a supporter of video games, though I don't personally play them much. Virtual worlds in education is a field I do a lot in and I'm currently researching how avatar design options in virtual worlds affect users' in-world identity experiences.

For those that are interested, you should really take a look at some of the research done by Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab . Their work is mostly focused on experiences in immersive virtual environments, but there's no doubt those will be on the way for common use in the fairly near future. They have some very interesting results about the power of avatar design to influence how people act both in world and in real life.

Edit: Next week I'll actually be presenting at a conference in Finland on video games in education where there will be lots of interesting projects about game developments for schools. Their potential is great as learning tools.

[Thor]

I'm just waiting for holodecks, because why would anyone commit a crime when you can just do it digitally and no one is harmed.

[Bigtime]

where you're in a bomber supporting infantry units by firing ludicrously big shells at ground targets who have absolutely no possibility of hitting you.

Sounds like he is just jealous of the awesome power of the AC-130 Spectre gunship. Nothing "masturbatory" about realistically showing off the true to life operation of an aircraft such as this.

[Itse]

Hmm, I think maybe people didn't really understand my question, or read/watch the links.

I really wish people would at least watch the extra credits bit about propaganda games, it's short and they're always sensibly light in the way they present things.

I didn't mean "do you think games can affect our behavior" (to which the obvious answer is: of course it does, just like every other media, but no it just doesn't work that way that you start copying what you do in games).

I mean, do you, personally, care who you kill in games and why (as an example)? Do you think about stuff like right and wrong while playing? Do you ever take notice of the reasons you are given to justify the killing, and does it matter at all what the reasons are?

In a way you could say ,do you ever think about the stories in games? Do you like games better if you feel approve of what the main character does?

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Flames89

If anything, people should be pointing out that the rise of video games has actually decreased crime. Not the other way around.

The rise of video games has actually decreased crime? Correlation does not equal causation.
An equally absurd statement would be that as outdoor ice cream sales decrease so do the occurance of sexual assaults in Central Park decrease.

[hondabbl]

PETA vs Mario

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Thor

I'm just waiting for holodecks, because why would anyone commit a crime when you can just do it digitally and no one is harmed.

Why would anyone commit a crime? For personal gain.

[burn_this_city]

I like FPS games specifically because you're pitted against other people, and you're trying to "kill" them. Single player games against monsters don't interest me in the slightest. The thrill is the fact you're up against other people and it's high competitive.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Itse

In a way you could say ,do you ever think about the stories in games? Do you like games better if you feel approve of what the main character does?

I prefer to play games where I don't feel a moral conflict in what I'm doing. Generally I prefer playing games that either involve characters who are not human or aren't really character based.

[Weiser Wonder]

I like the GTA/Red Dead games because of the complete freedom they allow you. Sometimes I will go on rampages but it's not because I like killing things, I like the challenge of evading the police. I hate linear games, where you can't figure out creative ways of doing things. I don't think it's made me more violent. I've always been a non-violent person.

[tjinaz]

Im with this guy....

I like FPS games specifically because you're pitted against other people, and you're trying to "kill" them. Single player games against monsters don't interest me in the slightest. The thrill is the fact you're up against other people and it's high competitive.

The venue and tools in the game become irrelevant. Its like Starcraft and Battlefield. Because I enjoy watching my opponents bug explode or dissolve doesn't mean i go out in search of anthills or wasp nests in real life and stomp on them. The enjoyment of the game is the competition. You are given a scenario, a set of tools and teammates. The fun is in designing your build whether it be your weapons or skills to integrate with your teammates to further the goal of winning the game. The fun is being able to either out think or out execute your opponents in order to win. I think they are very beneficial as they teach what schools do not, critical thinking. How to see a scenario in different ways and use what you have to solve it. A lot of time your strategy fails and you have to rethink it or you see how others have adapted and learn from them.

That being said.... sure there are some that may take it to far or morph it into real life but I am of the belief that they would find they would do that anyway. If not video games then music or movies or other form of entertainment would lead them down that destructive path.

[LChoy]

My 2 cents

I think it kind of depends on the game.

In a shooter like the COD series, you don't have a choice really about the enemy. You're trying to complete an objective and survive. Games like these tap into the Hero fantasy that a lot of gamers have. Who doesn't want to be the hero and save the day. In these games, there really is no reason behind the violence or choice behind it

Then there are the more open sand-box RPGish games for instance Deus Ex or the GTA type games. Here, the game has the flexibility to allow the players choice and values come into play. For instance, *Possible Spoiler for those who haven't played the original Deus Ex*


There is a misson that you have to raid an airfield because "Terrorists" are off loading stolen vaccines. The first time playing it, I'll be going in there and wiping out all the opponents using my augmented abilities. At the end of the mission, it's revealed that these "terrorists" are actually ordinary citizens trying to get access to a vaccine to save their families and it's actually high level officials in the governement that's releasing the plague and using it as a means to gain control. Your character ends up joining the cause for the rest of the game.

Now knowing the full story, when you replay the game, it does cause some thought how to do that airfield mission again. Do you go gun blazing again? Non-lethal? The choice is yours. Interestingly enough, the deus games can be completed without killing anyone (except for some bosses where it's unavoidable)

In GTA type games, usually you'll have to kill a lot of people in your rise to imfamy. However, most players will also have no qualms about running down people, killing hookers and taking their money, and causing utter destruction. In this case, the game doesn't force you to do this.

I think that a sign of a really well developed game is one that makes you think about what and why you are doing what you do. This is why open ended games are generally difficult to play from an evil side (people are inherently good), why there was such a reaction when EA's Medal of Honor game got flack for using the term "Taliban" as a bad guy in multiplayer, and even the airport scene in MW2 and whether you choose to take part in the airport massacare.

My point really is that video games, much like any media product, is an escape. You can do what you always fantasized about in a safe environment and without repurcussions in the real world. It's the really well designed games that will cause you to think about your actions and that goes beyond just an escape.

Hope what I wrote made sense

[CaptainCrunch]

And then there's that sequence that seems to be a prerequisite for every modern warfare game now where you're in a bomber supporting infantry units by firing ludicrously big shells at ground targets who have absolutely no possibility of hitting you. Watching blips on your radar representing someone's son or husband disappear with a plop as someone in your earpiece congratulates you and laughingly points out the remaining ones who are running for their lives. I mean, ####ing hell. Once you discount the possibility that this is supposed to be dramatic or challenging then we are left with the conclusion that this only exists for the masturbatory power fantasy. It just creeps me out is all.

This has got to be the stupidest thing that I've ever read, and probably the basis for most of the arguments made by the anti-gaming brigade out there.

Games are not murder trainers, they're certainly not trainers for future soldiers for the most part, I wouldn't want to go into battle with half of the idiots that I play video games with.

While they have a point that someones husband or brother or blah blah blah dissapears they fail to add in only to respawn again to rejoin the game.

They're not dying, they're certainly not fleeing in terror, there's no video game out there that that parlays the terror of an artillary strike or bombing run or the crack of the sniper rifle.

With the exception of a few sicko's that think that these games are some kind of simulation of real life I say get a life.

Your not killing people, your basically sending a string of 1's and 0's at an image made of 1's and 0's.

As parents there is certainly a responsibility to not use video games as a convienient baby sitter for hours on end. Maybe there's a responsibility for you to watch these games that your kids for example are playing and have a discussion about real vs not real.

But its easy and convienient to blame the programmers and publishers to cover for your shock that you didn't know that your kid or husband or whatever was playing Call of Duty for 8 hours straight.

But out of the millions and the Crunch says millions of video gamers out there, there's probably far less then 1% who have some kind of desensitivity to violence, the rest know that there's no connection between video games and real life violence.

[Bigtime]

The author of the first article quoted is more upset that the Modern Warfare games never really put the player in an underdog position, but rather in one of ultimate power with all of the might of the US armed forces behind them. So in effect, it is actually an accurate representation.

I assume he would prefer to always play as the underdog, but he openly admits that these games do not put the player in that situation. So a lot of complaining over nothing?

Disclosure: I've never played any of these Call of Duty or Modern Warfare games. My last FPS shooter was Half Life. I had no problem shooting down my own ships when I played Freespace II and had to go undercover with the rebel faction.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I had no problem faking being a terrorist and mowing down all those civilians in MW2.

I see almost no connection between video games, my moral compass and real life actions.

There might be a point where I would be hesitent to play as a child molester (that's why I never pick Penn State in NCAA 12) or a rapist or something else similar. But honestly if it really fit in well with the storyline I wouldn't have a huge issue with it.