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One-Liner: I Scare Easy on Game and Player

One-Liner: I Scare Easy

Jessica Johnson  //  February 14, 2010


Do violent games make us violent people?

I

f there is one thing I love about a great video game, it is that it makes me feel something. Whether it provokes laughter, empathy, or fear, a great game should stir up the same emotions we expect from award-winning films.

Loyalty to my hobby aside, I was recently horrified by something I said about a game that I did not consider particularly violent — that is until I relayed the satisfaction brought on by executing enemies to a non-gamer friend. Out of context, these actions sounded terrible and I came across as desensitized, but I don't think I am. In fact, I feel that playing violent games offers an outlet for stress relief.

I could go on forever, but I want to know about your experiences. Do you think violent games make us more aggressive and/or numb to real-world violence?




Michael Ubaldi // February 14, 2010 // 11:51 AM

We're inured to certain depictions of violence in video games — like you, I would commit a faux pas by describing certain aspects of typical gameplay in mixed company. And, too, there are temperaments that simply aren't as strongly affected by witnessing violent acts as others, even though the individuals in question are in no way violent themselves.

Still, I view video games such as Call of Duty or Halo as competitions between real players — not projections of imaginary combatants. This separation between reality and fiction not only distances me emotionally from in-game violence but does leave me sensitive to actual violence or more realistic depictions thereof in film.


Bryan Evans (Pino) // February 14, 2010 // 2:01 PM

Video game violence, in my opinion, is still merely a very abstract representation of real world violence. As such, the similarities between the two are limited. As Michael Ubaldi shows, this abstraction allows gamers to interpret the content differently. Like him, I dissociate the video game violence for what it is supposed to represent and instead interpret only the competition of the game play.

However, it is important to reemphasize that people are influenced differently. In my opinion, video game violence can promote violent behavior in certain personality types. To these individuals, feeling the thrill of a kill as you described in the article would mean something completely different than someone like yourself experiencing it. Yet, it is important not to generalize the influence of video game violence with the effects on a minority.


Joseph Powell // February 14, 2010 // 8:57 PM

I encourage everyone to watch the episode of Penn & Teller where they dissect myths of video game violence causing violent/aggressive behavior and desensitizing us to real-world violence.

My opinion is going to be pretty much the same as any level-headed gamer out there. Games do not cause violent or aggressive behavior.


Ed Kirchgessner // February 15, 2010 // 6:24 PM

Do games occasionally make me swear like a sailor? Definitely. Has a game ever inspired me to act out violently in the real world? Certainly not.

I've vanquished tens of thousands of foes in CoD and Halo, yet the most real-world violence I've ever been a part of was a third grade shoving match. I won, in case anyone cares.


Alexandr Beran // February 16, 2010 // 1:12 PM

I'm with Ed: I'm a swearing dude when it comes to emotional outbursts caused by gaming. But as a whole, I think the answer of gaming's link to violence lies in motivation. Jessica, those horrific in-game acts you commited were purely to get past a level or to grind experience, not to feed your animalistic blood-lust.


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