Where's the Reset button? - I was reading a video game magazine the other day. Why? Well, I used to be part of that business and culture. So I like to dip back in every-so-often and see where things are. Every time I do check back in, I'm stunned by the depth of depravity to which game designers and players are lowering themselves.
The article that stunned me this time detailed a game in development titled "Prototype" and the article featured a large number of photos and descriptions of the plot.
It's your basic fair plot-wise - your character awakes and doesn't know who he/she is and must find out. This particular character has the ability to absorb the people and other creatures he kills/murderers thereby taking on their memories, form, and powers.
The thing that really disturbed me was the openness of one of the creators of the game with their desires to do really bad things in the game. Here's the quote that jumped out of the article from GameInformer:
We have the freedom with this property to do what we want and have the character be as bad as we want him to be.... It's good to have a setup where you can do very bad things, and make them fantastic, but have them justified within the setting. We asked ourselves: 'What do people want to do in a game?' We're creating a character that does what players want to do, and creating a structure and a framework around that which works.
The article goes on to describe how the player gets powers and knowledge through a "vicious throttling" of a "defenseless foe" - a foe which is a "business man" walking down the street. The player's character then absorbs the "civilian" into his body and then turns upon another "pedestrian" running in fear and "literally splits him in two."
The article shows some rather gruesome and bloody pictures of characters split in two by the player.
The trouble with video games and violence is the interactive quality that is found nowhere else outside of actually doing it. It's a thin line.
The constant acting out of violence lowers inhibitions that normally would stop most from acting out. It's one of the reasons that video game training is used by police officers and military personnel, but the difference in those training sessions is that the people learn via command structures and specific situations. Those things are not typically designed into video games that your average consumer is playing.
Violence is becoming more and more problematic in my neighborhood. I often witness young children "acting out" in a much more violent way then when I used to play "war games." Boys frequently show incredible disrespect for girls and language is horrible. The children repeat violent actions from their video games.
Granted, video games are not alone in their influence. There's T.V., movies, music, peers, and parents to blame too. But again, video games are special in how they affect perception and inhibitions through the interactive nature.
There is a couple of news items this week which are examples, I believe, where video games played an influence in crimes.
The first is a terrify item about a 19 year-old boy who took a pipe and murdered his brother while they played a Nintendo game. He then proceeded to murder his grandmother, his father, and his mother. He used a pipe - Bradenton.com: Grandfather of Henderson verbally leads jury to the murder scene.
Here's another news item detailing a man who killed his girlfriend's baby daughter when he got frustrated with his video game - ChicagoTribune.com: $750,000 bail set in girl's death
This news item details a car full of youth whom the police say where acting like they were in a video game. The story details the murder conviction of a young man who shot another young man - Newsday.com: Holbrook teen convicted of drug-related murder.
Here's a news item I find disturbing because it shows the video game developers further glorification of violent individuals. O.J. Simpson was ordered by a court to hand over the money he received from the infamous game developer, Take-Two Interactive Software, creators of such games like "Manhunt" and "Grand Theft Auto."
"Manhunt" is a game set on an island of criminals. The player wears a headset and murders in game characters he's told to murder. The player scores well based upon how violently he does the murder.
Anyway, the came related to the O.J. court order is a football game where a character, which we're given the impression is O.J., does a dance in the End Zone with a large knife.
Here's the link - ScientificAmerican.com: O.J. ordered to pay Goldmans over game.
Related:
Bullets Fired, Life Lost, All for Sony Playstation.
Paganism, Pornography, and Violence: Video Game Reality.
Update of X-Box Murder/Mutilations.
Teen Kills Toddler for Playing With His Playstation 2.
"Manhunt" Video Game Player Acts Out Virtual Kill on Real Person.
New Zealand Bans Computer Game.
Is this Kind of Realism Useful in a Video Game? Shellshock: Nam '67.
6 Murdered over $150 X-Box Video Game System.
