Murder by Playstation feature

[page=Introduction, Desensitised by the values of life]
Introduction :

A week or so back I was looking through an old scrapbook of newspaper cuttings (yes I’m very sad like that), and one story in particular caught my interest. BAN THESE EVIL GAMES! MURDER BY PLAYSTATION! Read the headlines. They were in relation to the brutal murder of a young boy, and the relevance of a game called Manhunt to the killing. A copy of the game was found in the murderer’s bedroom, and the nature of his killing was much like that of one the player is encouraged to commit during the game.

Suddenly, an industry that generally invoked little if any media coverage was being heralded as the devil in our society. Page after page was listed with video games, and in-depth descriptions of their content, and how they encourage the young to enjoy and commit violence. I also remembered this not being the first time something along these lines had happened. Carmageddon, Duke Nukem 3D, Grand Theft Auto, all these titles and more have incurred the wrath of an ignorant public, fuelled by media induced propaganda as opposed to actual knowledge.

I’ve decided to write this article because I want to address the issues and concerns of people who are opposed to digital violence, and argue them in an educated and sympathetic way, as opposed to the “fuck off! Don’t try to censor this shit you have no idea what you’re talking about” mentality that does us as a gaming community, far more harm than it does good.

Desensitised by the values of life:

The main argument people have against violence in video games, is that it conditions us to be numb to death, and the suffering that violence and harm can cause. Rather than teach us to respect our fellow man, it teaches us to throw him out of a moving vehicle, run over his head then have our way with his ‘biatch’ before crashing into the ocean and dying, only to be reborn and repeat the whole thing again. Obviously this is only a specific type of game and is unlikely to happen in anything like Spyro the Dragon, but as I said before this is focusing on violent games. In a society where murder, violence and generally immoral attitudes to other people and cultures exist, this is a very real and completely justified argument.

Computer games do not teach us the consequences of our actions in a particularly accurate way. If on Grand Theft Auto you decide to go on a killing spree you will most likely be killed or arrested, as you would in real life. Unlike real life though, in Grand Theft Auto you’ll either be released from prison straight away, or become revived seconds later, a fete many would argue even Jesus was unable to pull off.

To a very large extent, in games we are given absolute freedom. We’re given the freedom to kill or mutilate whom ever we see fit, as many times as we’d like, and this freedom does not exist in the real world (nor should it). You’ve got two very different realities that work perfectly apart, but when they come together, that’s when the problems arise. Some people fail severely when it comes to distinguishing fantasy from reality, and like to merge the two. We saw exactly the same thing happen with Stanley Kubrik’s A Clockwork Orange, and the principles and practices of medium such as these belong in their own media, not in the real world. The way I see it there is one basic rule by which we should all live. Do whatever the hell you want and feel is right with your freedom, just so long as it doesn’t impose upon the freedom of others. If you want to kill that’s imposing on someone else’s freedom against their will, and should not be encouraged or tolerated.

Thankfully the number of adults being unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality is a minor one, but adults aren’t the problem. It’s their children.

[page=Fuck Censorship?, Games? An artform? RIDICULOUS]
FUCK CENSORSHIP?

When a child is born, they’re completely ignorant to everything around them and rely greatly on their parents for education and values. It takes years to really understand your surroundings and how things in the real world generally work, about 18 to 21 infact. Now I didn’t just invent that figure for no reason. Approximately 18 to 21 years old (depending on which country you’re in) is accepted as being the age at which you become an adult, and thus responsible for your own actions. It’s generally accepted that when you’ve become an adult you have the ability to function by yourself, and can respect your freedom and the freedom of those around you. This is why particularly violent video games are restricted to the sale of people around this age only. If you’re not responsible enough to respect the world around you and are unable to tell the difference between reality and make believe, you shouldn't be subjected to images or experiences that could alter your values in a dangerous way. When you’re younger, this is basically the position you’re in as you haven’t learned or experienced enough to make accurate judgements concerning existence. Like for example, stabbing someone in the eye with a shard of glass.

Of course none of this applies to absolutely everyone, but when you’re talking about subjects such as this you have to speak generally, as you can’t restrict the sale of such media to specific people depending on their individual mentality. It just aint practical mate. Industries like video game, film, music, and censorship organisations have to work off statistics that reflect what society is like in general. Generally in society, really violent games are restricted to people above the age of 18 only, because generally that’s the age at which they’re responsible enough to use them. Why then do we still have cases of people copying what they’ve seen in a violent game or film? Generally people don’t, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.

The organisations in power have done all they can to do what is best for the public on the whole and they can’t be held responsible for what happens to the individual cases, nor should they be expected to. But someone has to surely? Yes, the parents.

It’s naïve to assume that a child/minor isn’t going to get their hands on a piece of software not meant for them, which I completely accept and agree with. I really do think both the industries and society on the whole would benefit from much tougher consequences regarding the sale of specific items to those younger than the certified age. If a barman sells alcohol to someone underage and is caught, they’re going to be in pretty deep shit, and the same rules should apply to games/film retailers. Infact possibly harsher penalties should to start, expressing just how serious an offence this is.

Again though this would not eradicate the issue entirely, the very last port of call is the up bringing children receive from their parents. You have to question how someone is raised if they’re that quick to go and murder their schoolmate. Parent’s who have problems with video game violence might want to look at what they’re doing to condition their children before screaming bloody Mary to the Government and entertainment industries. That might sound harsh, but people are very happy to just go along with the norm until it’s them who suffer a bite

Reading over this article regarding the Manhunt related murder again, am I the only one who finds it funny, neigh, hilarious that both the parents of the murdered boy and the media covering the story have only now developed an opinion on video games? Did we see these parents protesting against the sale of games with violent content BEFORE their son was killed? Did we see any articles in these newspapers regarding video games before this either? Wait a second… no we didn’t! Yet now, they all claim to have this vast amount of knowledge and intellect about the medium, and why it shouldn’t be aloud on our streets. Nevermind the fact that the game industry is creating more jobs with every day that passes. Nevermind the amount of effort and detail on both practical and artistic levels that people work in to create these games. It’s a pathetic hypocrisy that people who know nothing of what is becoming a great artform, are willing to shout the odds without knowing a single fact.

Games? An Artform? RIDICULOUS!

Yes, I’m sure there were a great many who said the same thing about Cubism. Let’s look at this objectively. According to my dictionary, art is the following :

 Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature.
 High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value.

I would agree with these wouldn’t you? Now let’s look at things that can be categorised as art, hmmm let me think… music! The arrangement of sounds made by instrument(s) to express a feeling/idea. Paintings, using colour and 2D orientation to visually represent something. Movies, taking elements of both visual and musical arts to create a story that can evoke emotion, through characters, narrative and setting. Now surely something that could feature all these factors would be REALLY artistic wouldn’t it? Infact look at this, another description of ‘art’ that I found.

 The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colours, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.

Now am I crazy or do computer games basically embody all these features? We’ve come
a long way as a community and an industry from the days of mindless digital junk food. For games to impress and work nowadays they really need to immerse the audience, so they become completely overwhelmed and feel like they’re a part of what’s going on.

I remember connecting greatly to a story I heard from someone who’d played Valve’s Half Life. It told how they actually felt sad when an ally was killed during the game. What is basically a series of zero’s and one’s programmed to project light, could actually inspire someone to feel a genuine emotion, and this is not an isolated event. The vast majority of games are nowadays built with the very intention of making us feel emotions, and bond with the experience. Yet uneducated morons with too much ignorance have the Gaul to pass off these works as pointless money-makers for a braindead generation? Will someone please just explain the logic of this to me? The killing one can commit in a game may actually be beneficial in a sense. I for one have found games an excellent way to relax and alleviate stress. Would the media prefer we played video games to release our anger, or would they rather we beat our partners? (which they’d then most probably blame on TV soaps). Violence is always going to exist, it’s as much a part of human nature as love, and mediums that help us express/release anger should be encouraged, not condemned.

Another thing I’d like to question, is how people who see violent games as corrupting the young justify the news? Atleast there are laws that are trying to keep video games falling into the hands of impressionable children. Yet the news is on television regularly (infact there are some channels that show nothing but the news), every single day, telling of murder, rape, death and all manner of nasty topics. You’re telling me that this doesn’t condition children to de-value human life? You could argue that the difference is, in most games it’s actually you committing the violence, and that it’s much more graphic. This is true, but it doesn’t change the fact that stories and images telling of inhuman crimes are available and on display every second of every day. If it’s not on television its in a newspaper, if its not there its on the internet, if its not there its on the radio, and if its not there its coming out of someone else’s mouth. There are thousands of factors that go a long way in desensitising us to everything that is wrong with society, and it’s an appalling mistake to finger the blame on one source. Scapegoating creates more problems than it will ever solve.

[page=In Conclusion]
In Conclusion

Gaming is slowly becoming a new, highly immersive and accessible artform. With the early days of all art forms comes the mandatory condemnation from a society spoon fed prejudice and bigotry.

There are some serious issues that need addressing, and I feel the gaming industry should really be the ones pushing the issue. I can’t imagine a more positive sign of understanding and tolerance on the industries half than actually trying to get stricter laws on the sale of violent games to minors. Concerned parents might see this as the industry accepting that it is at fault, and persisting that violent games be taken off the shelves altogether. Personally I think these people should actually make some effort in knowing what their children have access to and are doing. They might argue that they can’t keep an eye on their children 24/7, but until they’re legally adults they are their parents responsibility, and no amount of ignorant hatred towards a medium is going to solve that.

So what’s the answer? Where’s the middle ground? Personally I don’t think there is any. I can see why the parents of the murdered school boy are so upset. When something like that happens your heart takes the controls away from your mind which is more than understandable, and I only hope that no one else should have to suffer such a loss. But what they and so many others are asking for, the complete banishment of violent games is by all accounts wrong. This kind of uncompromising censorship can only lead to more trouble and anger between parties, and I fail to see how this can benefit anyone.

On our own part, we gamers as a community need to show that we can respect and tolerate the views of those who would seek to abolish our beloved medium, and not resort to our primal instincts as a means of defence. For example, emailing any anti-gaming groups messages that proceed along the lines of “YOU GUYS SUCK!! GAMES ROCK!! SUCK MY COCK!!”. Pissing people off only gives them more ammunition, if you can respect someone’s opinion and even use it as a way of fortifying your own, you have won the argument hands down.

This is how we prove that the gaming community IS made up of responsible individuals, who can distinguish fantasy from reality, and can appreciate their art for what it truly is. Ultimately, this is how gaming survives the way it should. As an immersive, accesible, ever expanding, free form genre of artist expression.