racism resident evil 5

I have found that gamers and non gamers tend to have different opinions on games. Let’s take Resident Evil 5 for example. This game has been criticized heavily for its racial stereotypes. The game is set in Africa, where you either play as a white male protagonist or a black female protagonist. The objective of the game is to stop prevent the zombie virus from spreading as it has already taken over most of Africa. With this said it is fair to stay that most of the Zombies will be black as its setting is in Africa. Kym Platt, a writer for Black Looks, a blog dedicated to exploring issues dedicated to African women, expressed how she felt about the game

“This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young... fearing, hating, and destroying Black people.”

I can understand where Kym is coming from but the last thing I though about when playing this game was hatred towards African people. It just so happened to be set in Africa ,perhaps the creators of the game could not choose a more sensitive setting of the game but I was more concerned about killing zombies whether they were black ,white or yellow I think that most people who have played the game would agree that Kym’s response is an over reaction, perhaps her not having any experience beyond watching the trailer , it is hard to make such claims, although it may be unfair for me as a ‘white male’ to say that Platt’s comments were not justified.

Just a thought :-)

Brendon.S

NZ's classification system... At least it is better than Australia's..

I for one believe that the classification system for games in New Zealand is an effective way of categorizing games – in theory that is..While our rating system shows that gaming is not only associated with Children, there is a market for adult gamers as well, which was recognised as a lacking market by Sony when they introduced Playstation.Yet while there are some problems associated with how the games are actually rated with regards to violence etc, we are definiately better off than those Gamers in Australia where MA15+ is their highest rating system, this means that adult gamers in Australia are unable to access the same adult content that they would see in Films, TV shows etc, due to the fact that R18 games have to edited to be suitable for younger players, which even when they are they still contain high levels of violence and or sexual content that is not suitable for 15 year olds. sometimes they are banned by the government or even gaming companies choose not to release their games in Australia which is the case with EA games release of Syndicate, which will have a New Zealand release but not an Australia. So while our ratings system needs work done to ensure people are playing games that are suitable for their age, yet I also believe that it is the parents place to take an interest in what their kids are playing, try out the games before they actually play them, it is what my parents did, it is what I would do with mine. The moral of this story.. well it shows that New Zealand is actually a pretty progressive place to live, by keeping things simple (having the same rating system for games and films etc) it ensures a thriving gaming market in which games are able to be enjoyed by anyone no matter what the age.

Jarrod Te Moananui

Immersion and the need for speeeeeeeed.

My brother started playing Need for Speed at the age of about 5... not long after this and his need for more speed started growing. I do need to mention though that he got his first go-cart at the age of 2. A simple peddle one , BMW to be exact and this was his treasure. A year later once he (and his terrible older sisters) had trashed this treasure, dad bought him a red Porsche. At 4 he got his first jumbo Aeroplane (operates with batteries) and soon enough , every birthday he had started collecting battery operated helicopters ; more aeroplanes ; more little go-carts till he was 11 and got a real petrol engine operational go-cart and the need for speed truly did start.

I cant quite remember all the other names of the games he played but I do know he excelled at all the Needs for Speeds and he even learnt the cheats to be able to do all sorts of cool things... Today my young brother flies as a bush pilot and has a racing bike and road bike which he actually drives like a 'Fast and the Furious' driver and what makes it more worrying is that he came to visit a few weeks ago showing off his new Samsung Galaxy and played me his favourite tune which he happens to play whilst going through corners on his bike... this sent my heart racing because I could not help but think of the uneven long roads we have here in NZ , the 'other' dangerous drivers on the road and more importantly the cops who are waiting at the next turn only to successfully pull him over... what would happen then he asks? At this point I make it clear his licence would be taken since he is 30-50km over the speed limit AND what about his job? Surely a pilot and soon to be Air NZ pilot would not be allowed to fly if your road licence had been taken away?

In short , my brother still speaks of how Need for Speed changed his life as a 5 year old and most certainly ignited something within him inspiring him to become a driver of everything... So surely this new term 'Immersion' would refer to him because he got so 'immersed' in this game that he forgot where he was and somehow started believing he really was inside this car racing and racing and racing.... this became short fixed realities to this young boy....

So today he has his private plane licence ; commerical pilots licence ; skippers licence ; oversized ferry / boating licence ; truck licence ; motorbike licence ; motor vehicle licence and he actually pointed out at Christmas that the only two licences he is missing and ought to go and get 'just for fun' would be a train licence and taxi licence!

Immersed in the Need for Speed much?!

The Cycle of Misrepresentation

According to Johan Höglund, first-person shooters, more specifically military shooters, is one of the most popular genres nowadays. In his article Electronic Empire: Orientalism Revisited in the Military Shooter, Höglund argues that videogames have become so sophisticated that the representation of the game space is more realist than ever before. How realistic are these environments though? I am sure that technologically, the recreation of the actual space is flawless, what is in question here is the way it is represented. 

Based on the discourse of Orientalism by Edward Said, Höglund argues that the reality of the orient has been misrepresented for centuries, and attention must be paid to video games. Edward Said defines Orientalism as the misrepresentation of the orient - a dissemination of the western hegemonic ideology. Said argues that his experience of being an Arab is far from being what has been represented in books, paintings, movies, and in western media. Said describes it as the 'western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient'. Höglund believes that the military shooter is one form of popular culture that carries the Orientalism discourse because it insists on representing cultural differences, structured by both political and military powers. In this sense, Höglund argues that games are one of the most rapid methods of ideological dissemination in popular culture. ‘Anyone interested in how race, ethnicity, gender and national identity are constructed in the West, and how these constructions also enter non-Western discourse, needs to pay attention to all forms of electronic entertainment and perhaps to computer and console games in particular’. Höglund introduces then Neo-Orientalism, the 'concept that can be described as a discourse that in military electronic entertainment is characterized most importantly by the construction of the Middle East as a frontier zone where a perpetual war between US interests and Islamic terrorism is enacted'. In most military games, the virtual Middle East space is constructed by ‘quasi-historical elements’, and the Arabs are framed as terrorists and extremists Islamic – the enemies. The Close Combat First to Fight is an example:

The dissemination of hegemonic ideologies through the misrepresentation of culture in video games is seen as an essential tool for profit maximization: capitalist process in which standardization is a must. The consumer-gamers, as we’ve all agreed on Friday's lecture, are labelled as white unemployed middle class men: stereotype reinforced constantly by western Media. This representation, however, is far from being a real representation of who gamers really are, similarly to Orientalism. However, in this case, the misrepresentation of the gamer identity exists not for political, or military reasons, but economic. The misrepresentation of gamers is a product of the standardization process of capitalism, and because this stereotype is what determines the representation of everything else in games, the whole process of representation in game culture is corrupt. It is an endless cycle of misrepresentation, unfair to many and very profitable to some. 

My frustration got me thinking of ways in which one could contribute to the construction of a more equalitarian game culture/society. I could not come up with anything useful. But if corporations are making money through the construction of fake identities, why not recreating the identity of gamers through the representation of not only one individual, but of a multicultural community? But then who cares that much to invest so much time in changing norms and sets of behaviors that have been around for hundreds of years just for the sake of representing people in a decent way? No one.

Racist? Too harsh

Racism is a pretty heavy word to throw around, which is why I was slightly thrown back by the Resident Evil 5 trailer being labelled as such. I myself have played a couple games in the series and I think the trailer was taken slightly out of the context which was so crucial in understanding the intended effect the makers of the game had. It also reminded me of the different audience models and how gamers engage and interpret the games they play.

In understanding the intended message of the trailer I think it is worth noting that the game was produced in Japan. A such the developers of the game may not appreciate the explosive issue of African/Black people being represented in that way, atleast not in the way as say someone from an American or South African background. Im not asserting the producers are ignorant of these issues, but perhaps they did not fully realized the way/extent in which their trailer could be interpreted. One student in the lecture claimed to have been apaulled by the trailer, as they had studied the history of Africans and their struggles with the white regime in South Africa. With that understanding applied to the trailer I can see how it would be deemed as racist. However I think it is crucial to understanding the trailer in terms of the wider picture it belongs to, as opposed to an isolated event. I myself did not see any difference on the graphic-violence level between this trailer and the trailer for Resident Evil 4, where the zombie massacre is of small town Europeans. I admit would certainly have a different reading of the trailer had I not previously played/had been unaware of any of the series games. I however felt that the exploration of the plot in Africa is plausible considering the plot involves a global outbreak of zombies.

This is a classic example of misinterpreted reading, where the producer fails to get its intended message across to the audience. In this case, those with a strong understanding of the Afro-White relationship in Africa or the millitant regimes will have a different reading to a person who has played afew other Resident Evil games and simply sees zombies. Two groups of different historical and social contexts with two different readings on a text. Another example of this failure of communication I believe is seen in this Australian KFC ad.



As seen in the Comments many people of American background read the commercial as a play on the stereotype of Black people and their affinity with fried chicken. However Australian commentors defended the ad, instead viewing it as a play on the cricketing rivalry between Australian and a (presumably) West Indies team. Several Australians even go so far as to take offence at the Americans for assuming that their cultural and historical priorities are somehow significant in country which does not share them. Again two very different readings from two different groups. Perhaps its just in my nature to give these questionable reading the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think its in KFCs interest to pander to an American white-supremisist interests, especially through a commercial aimed at Australians. Perhaps this is where Capcom is at fault? Maybe their ambitions marketing the game global makes them responsible for catering to the sensitivities of each and every person the game was inteded for. In this regard, yes Capcom is a fault. Perhaps Capcom was at fault fro assuming that their intended message would be absorbed uniformly, much like the hyperdermic model suggest? Is a company at fault for their 'polysemic' text being read in a not-so-flattering way?

I think this little case study highlights the importance of the active user model. I first started off this post defending Resident Evil 5, with the assumption that a racist ideal must be implied. But if the active audience model is correct one does not need to intend for a message to be racist for it to be deemed as such? This is a very problematic feature of the theory in my opinion as the message could be skewed to fit a certain viewpoint (the Americans with the Australians).

(I know this argument isn't very good (especially considering the poweder keg it could be), I cbf writing an essay on the topic. I intended it to be more of an exercise to see the different types of audience reactions to the media. I know that, in hindsight, that this was a ridiculously naive topic to try and tease out the concepts, and wouldve chosen crash bandicoot. However I have typed for an hour now and I want my grade. No offence was intended, but according to the active user model some may be taken...)

Response to Spacemans Blog.

Spaceman , I think this was a really great issue to raise. I would like to add/comment though that rather than highlighting it is society whom ought to be changing their viewpoint regarding the video gaming culture/world , it ought really to be the gaming industries themselves coming together and addressing the issues that we as a gaming culture find concerning.

Issues like you have already mentioned being: "sexual/ethnic/gender representations in games". I firmly believe that if the gaming industry put their heads together and conducted thorough research before implementing the ideas then launching these absurd games and selling them, the issue could be dealt with.

Either way , the gaming heads and society both have a bit to think about since gaming most certainly differs to movies and films in the way that the scriptwriters of books and movies actually conduct relevant research and do investigation regarding their topics or genres and story that they want to tell... why does the gaming world not start to do the same? I am sure society would want to get more involved in the gaming world if they can at least feel that the games they are purchasing are correct in the historical sense and have been researched at least.

Cheers!

Reply to "Priorities"

I think I agree with you here when you point out that not all video games can come under the blame for violence within the real world.

In fact there would have to be other factors to include when looking at violence and representations of that violence within video games.

Outside factors would come into it but it is concerning to allow young people to play games that are intended for 18+.

However there is also the issue that violence is not just exclusive to those who pursue video games. Essentially we as a human society have become so desensitized to violence due to what we absorbed through the media. For example, violent acts that take place that are broadcast on mainstream media news. And furthermore, those that are directed in films such as Saw.

So how can critics claim that the fault of some high school shootings for example as based solely on what games consumers play when mainstream media itself uses violence in everyday scenarios.

To find out why I can’t play a video game?(2)

Two years later, I started middle school. Until then my father bought me a laptop. Of course, it should be used for study not for play games. At that time I was indulge in reading online novels. These online original novels wrote the story about how the heroine travels through time from modern to ancient. She often went back to the ancient dynasty and fell in love with prince in royal family. Because the popularity of this kind of novel, game developer seized the opportunity to quickly develop the online games which are based on the traversing novels. At that time I did not know the details of game information such as game type, game platform and game developer; I even cannot remember anything about the game now. The only thing I remember is that the exciting feeling I had when I saw the game. This is because I cannot travel through the time in real life and the word-narrative stories are not that vivid and lifelike, I decided to play the game resolutely and determinedly. I registered an account and chose a heroine, and then I started the game. My main purpose of playing the game is to falling love with the prince but I despairing found that the prince is only a computer designed and controlled cartoon character. He can only say certain words and do certain actions. And I have to running through the whole Forbidden City to do various tasks, in exchange of the opportunity to talk to them. These tasks are nothing but use the keyboard to deliver the avatar to some places and then click mouse a few times. I felt so bored about the completion of these tasks.

TBC

JIWEI LI

Priorities

Having a lecture focusing on some of the ills of video games and video game culture was an interesting change of pace, with some fascinating issues being brought to attention. The underrepresentation/poor representation given to certain groups such as homosexuals, blacks, women, etc cannot be denied as a legitimate issue if we look at examples like those shown in the lecture. I feel that the issues addressed very much relate to issues of past lectures, in a very specific way. Not everyone can agree on what is offensive, what is doing damage and what needs to be challenged, which is why we controversies in game culture and whatever else, rather than simple distinctions of what is and is not okay. However, I think it’s fair to say that most of us in this course would agree that the issues of racism, homophobia and sexism in the world of games and gaming that were brought to attention this past week are in fact issues worthy of attention. At least, more worthy than your typical “games are ruining our kids and are the sole cause of high school shootings somebody think of the children” ‘issues’ we’ve looked at in the past few weeks.

I really, really believe that a change in perspective has to be made by society as a whole when looking at video games in the modern day. People have been making the same unfounded complaints and have been trying to make the same fruitless actions against video games in general for far too long, with results that have rarely pleased anyone. Yet here we have an industry that, while supplying many with a hobby and some even a great passion that they can enjoy day-to-day, actually does have its flaws – flaws that continue to be unaddressed by the large majority of people. Are first person shooters the sole reason for violent gun crimes in America? No, believe it or not I think there may be some other factors involved there. Are sexual/ethnic/gender representations in games skewed and directly detrimental to certain groups? If you look at the examples and the facts, it’s much easier to argue yes for this one. I personally believe that we’ve really got to get our priorities straight when it comes to the discourse of video games, and the impacts that they really have.

Under-representation in videogames

In relation to the content of last Friday's lecture, I came across an article while doing research for another paper which addressed the under-representation of the LGBT community in videogames.

I'm not computer-literate enough to link the actual article, but here's the reference:

Putting the Gay in Games: Cultural Production and GLBT Content in Video Games Games and Culture July 2009 4: 228-253. By Adreienne Shaw



The article reinforces what Kevin said in the lecture on the videogame designers' reluctance to represent marginalised groups in games. It takes a discursive/postmodern approach, as Shaw conducted interviews regarding the lack of LGBT representation with videogame developers as the participants. Some key points found were:

• Gay representation in games don't just happen, it is actively created by invested stakeholders. Stakeholders here being members of the gay community or developers who desire diversity in games.
• Factors affecting representation include the attitudes of developers, the imagined construction of the gamer audience, the potential backlash of the inclusion of gay content and the gaming industry's support, and the potential to represent accurately
• Lack of representation entails marginalisation, subordination and communicates the idea that under represented groups are culturally unimportant
• A large proportion of the videogame industry are heterosexual males, limiting the possibility of the invested stakeholders' input. This under-representation in the workforce manifests itself in the content of the games. Also, a lack of creative input by the gay community offers the potential for developers to resort to stereotypical representations
  
• The constructed audience follows demographic norms (white, heterosexual males) - a limited construction of the gamer market
• Backlash can mean the loss of sales and the loss of confidence or loyalty of buyers
• Content of marginalised groups and subject matter may thrive in narrow or niche markets, where profitability and regulation is less of a concern

Kevin touched on some of these, like the economic barrier and imagined audience, when discussing the under-representation of females. These could extend to several marginalised groups, not just LGBTs or females.

Finally, in accordance with postmodernism, change in represtation could be enacted at both the top-down or macro level (ie in the industry or through regulation) and the bottom-up or micro level (how we as players create the meanings from texts and voice what we want to see from games)

The Visitor, what a violent game!

I don’t play games a lot and The Visitor, can be said to be the most violent game that I have played. The squirmy worm, the nasty sound and the cascade of gore make me feel not only uncomfortable but also violent and horrorfied.

As I am not getting used to this kind of games which need logical thought to go on every step, so the first time when I played it, I was very frustrated and doing each step in a really slow and hard way. By the help of the game instruction, I sort of went on everything smoothly, except the way that how the worm killed all the hosts it met which really made me shocked. The first thing it met was the frog on the bank, though I did not want to admit that I was playing as an evil worm who would become stronger by eating each alive host around it, I chose to eat the frog as well. But at the same time when the frog was being eaten, its body broke into pieces and blood was splattered everywhere on the tree and ground. It was so cruel as the process of life destroying was totally reflected. What’s more, the sound accompanied with the destroying process has no doubt enhanced the exaggeration of this eating action and the comparison between the “evil” worm and the “innocent” frog. Then the scenes followed became more bloody as each time the worm would almost use the same way to kill the host but with more cruelty and the overwhelming soundtrack left me no chance to forget this brutal process. The fresh blood, the miserable screaming when the host is being killed and the more wicked image the worm has become, have covered all of my mind afterwards even I quited in the middle.

This experience made me think of the war games I played before, which even had someone being killed, but that was in the situation to keep the good alive and the players would not be shown the dying instant in such vivid and detailed way as in The Visitor. It is a good game since players need to use logical thought to move every step, but just not work for me as the bloody dying scene in the middle.

Xu Can

Angry Brides

I came across this article about a game called Angry Brides yesterday, which gets a woman character to throw things at three grooms who come with price tags for their demanding dowries. The game came out of protest against the dowry practices still happening in India. According to the game website, Shaadi.com, there is one dowry related death every four hours in India, even though the traditional practice has been outlawed five years ago. The game is played in the same way as Angry Birds. Each time the bride hits a groom, his price decreases, and that money gets put into your Anti-Dowry Fund, to be posted on Facebook.

There haven’t been that many comments on the article, but I noticed that the word 'sexist' has come up a few times. I don't know... Sexily clad women are in games all the time for men to goggle at, but throwing vegetables or shoes at men makes the game 'female chauvinistic'? At the time I checked out their Facebook page, 284,014 people liked the game, and 29,778 were talking about it. If this game helps bring this demanding dowry issue on board, I don’t see much harm in the concept of the game. I wonder what other games are out there that focuses on social issues like this, other than the war torn battling games with terrorists and such.

What is it about Farmville?

There is just something about this 'game' that everyone hates, myself included. Yet, most of us don’t know why

Yes I have played Farmville, who hasn't? Even if just to try it out. I think my hatred for this game comes from the almost drug like hold it has on people, yeah the first hit is free, but once you’re addicted, the rest is gonna cost.

Or maybe it’s from what it stole.

Harvest Moon is an extremely popular farm simulation RPG, very similar to that of Farmville, yet the first of the series came out in 1996.

Harvest moon is fantastic. In my opinion one of the best games series ever produced. You have to clear your land, dig plots to plant your seeds, grow you plants, and water them every day. Once they are fully grown you can pick them and sell them. You can have cows and chickens which produce milk and lay eggs respectively; you can form relationships between other people inhabiting the Harvest moon world. Man, this sounds EXACTLY like Farmville

The similarities don’t stop there, check out the comparison between in game screen shots, Harvest moon: Back to Nature on the top and Farmville on the bottom, very similar

I remember reading a top 10 most revolutionary games or something along those lines on the internet a while ago, where Farmville was in the top 3 for (to paraphrase from an awful memory) introducing the world to the now extremely popular genre of farm simulation

That did not go down to well

So just what is it about Farmville?

importance of graphics in games.

How important is the graphics when it comes to video games? It’s a debate I have had a lot with my fellow gaming friends and I’m sure it has come up at least once in any gamers’ discussions. Looking back from the days when old school games such as “Super Mario” and “Dong King Kong” was the shit (at least from my memories), graphic in video games have improved significantly. But does that mean games in nowadays must have high resolution crystal clear graphics to be a good game? I must say for me, graphics play an important part when I look to decide whether I’m going to play this or not, but when once I get introduced to a game, narrative of the game and game play becomes the most important elements.
I believe graphic in today’s games is a huge factor for the game players, simply because it is more realistic. Being able to see the small detailed movements to items which players have customized is a huge attraction. I believe agency and immersion is another huge factor is why the graphic is so important in games. Playing a character which you have customized brings you closer to the character. Therefore the players get to immerse into the game a lot more easily.

Although graphics in video games is an important factor, there are other factors such as narrative and game play are just as important as graphics. With solid foundation of narrative and game play, players can be immersed just as much as graphics lead them to. With game play which leads the players to certain challenges and solid plot that makes the challenges believable, the players get immersed into the game.

At times, I have looked at a game and said “wow... the graphic sucks. That looks like a horrible game” despite the fact that I know the game play might be different. through such examples, it is evident that graphics in today’s video games is important and graphics do have their place as improving a game’s overall appeal but I don’t think graphics can overshadow the game play or story of a game.

Digital Alcohol is not a solution

While watching a recent episode of 'The Big Bang Theory' I was incredibly amused by a scene in which one of the characters, Sheldon, goes for a walk to clear his head inside a video game world because the real world has far too much risk of real danger in his opinion; it provides an outlet for him without the potential for harm. While this implies that there are no negative consequences to him from the game, his later comment about how the effects of the alcohol he consumed there is affecting his out of game play actions is curious. His situated immersion is great, to our and his roommates amusement who when asked if he would like a whiskey replies “no I can't, I'm playing grand theft auto later" (1:16) Sheldon, not one for jokes takes this in all seriousness as a valid responsible decision despite grad theft autos themes. 

a vary curious scene with game related talk from 0:00 - 1:37

Initially when introduced to 'The Big Bang Theory' I couldn't stand it as the characters seemed to be too stereotypical in their geekdom, with social inept characteristic such as the complete inability to talk to girls (Raj) living with mother (Howard) glasses (Leonard) lack of humour (Sheldon) an obsession with comics as well as working at a University. Having a beautiful neighbour with limited intelligence (Penny) really didn't help matters. But slowly the show began to tease out some of the troupes by introducing extra 'nerdy' female characters, attractive 'nerds' and by introducing Penny to their world. one of the most entertaining episodes for me was when Penny a non gamer was introduced to online gaming and becomes OBSESSED with age of Conan and we see unflattering aspects of her personality. While an unflattering reflection of the perception of gamers and the effects of games, its satyriasisim is entertaining.

Katrina van Roon

Some thoughts on violence in video games

On Thursday night, I, a reasonably mild-mannered guy, went to see the rap group Odd Future with a few other reasonably mild-mannered friends. Before the show started, we sat on the couches at the back of the room and talked about things mild-mannered guys talk about. Then the group came on stage and before we knew it we were in the middle of the mosh screaming "KILL PEOPLE, BURN SHIT, FUCK SCHOOOOL!" at the top of our lungs. My friends and I have never killed anyone, burnt shit or fucked school, and our enthusiastic chanting certainly wasn't indicative of a burning desire to do so. The acts of violence Odd Future describe in their lyrics are so ridiculous and obscene that there's no way we could possibly attempt to commit them ourselves, and we're well aware that they don't want us to. Their music is meant to be listened to not for its offensive content, but rather for the ways in which that offensive content manifests itself into a unique, humorous and enjoyable experience.

I believe the same type of phenomenon occurs in video games. In Resident Evil 4, I didn't sell my handgun and buy a magnum so that I could explode the head of every zombie that crossed my path and laugh maniacally as the blood spurted from their neck; I did it because I knew it would make the upcoming section easier if I could take down every enemy with a single headshot. Just like Odd Future, the violence itself is not the main attraction - it's how that violence operates in its narrative context to produce an atmospheric and engaging experience. Furthermore, the violence portrayed in video games is often so far-removed from reality that it's difficult to forget that it is just a game, and that the violence isn't appropriate when out of context.

Just as rap musicians often assume an alter-ego when they step on stage to rap about fictional things, video game players assume the role of a protagonist who commits fictional acts in a fictional world. Both are meant to be enjoyed, not imitated.

Elliot A.S.

"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

I found this quote floating around on the internet and found it funny and of course, relevant. I'm not saying that video games don't affect kids at all, but in regards to teaching kids to be violent in real life, I think the effect is minimal.

In my (very humble) opinion, I think that violence in video games do not make the players commit violent acts in real life.
How do people imagine this comes about?
That one day someone who loves grand theft auto is walking down the street and suddenly he thinks "you know what will be a great idea?? If I steal a car! And beat up a prostitute! I think that'd be fun. It worked so well in the game!" ?
Surely they don't think this is the case!?
It is as if there is an assumption that game players can't differentiate between the real world and the game world.

and the argument that video games trains teenagers to be violent? That's even more absurd. Just because you're good at a first person shooter doesn't mean you know how to work a real gun! It doesn't really do an adequate job of teaching you either! In the same strain, does it mean that flight simulator is adequate training for people to fly planes? Aditionally, playing hours of street fighter doesn't train you to fight, it trains you to press forward, down, forward, L1, L2 really really quickly.
I wish street fighter taught me to fight.

I think the idea of 'violent play only leads to more violent play' is important and rings very true. While people are playing the game, they know it's a game and operate within the boundaries of that world. I thinbk that a lot of the time, people say "oh they like that game so much and play it so much that it seems real to them" seems like a gross overexaggeration.


Of course, I'm not saying that it's good for children to constnatly be exposed to violence but that video games are the lesser of many evils.

_