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Excessive violence in video games... what do you think about it?
Ever since video game designers were able to put red pixels in their imaginary characters who had recently passed away, there have been people who have opposed their subversive ways. The outrage towards video games appears to be cyclical, fading very briefly before bursting into the public eye once again with renewed frenzy. The controversy seems to have resurfaced in recent times, with numerous crimes attributed to the corrupting influence of video games. There have also been several "controversies" surrounding recent video games and their content in the areas of violence and sexuality.
The first game to receive widespread criticism and media attention was the martial arts fighting game "Mortal Kombat." This game featured large jets of blood emitted from attacks and alsoThese kills were hideous animation sequences that showed the victorious player killing his defeated opponent in a variety of ways. Players reveled in this new experience and the controversy surrounding the violence sparked a massive hype that informed less informed players that the game was available. Consequently, gamers played the new game only to find out what all the talk was about, greatly increasing revenue.
One of the biggest sparks of controversy has been the recent "Hot Coffee" modification of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA: SA)". This involved unlocking a sexually oriented minigame that had been removed from the game prior to launch, though obviously not from the source code. Lawsuits were filed against Rockstar for including such content in its game, although the validity of the claim must be questioned. If the game was simply bought and played as intended by the developers, this certainly bland and inappropriate minigame would never be found. It is not until the user modification is downloaded and installed that the player can access the content.
Regardless of who is at fault, "GTA: SA" was re-rated in the United States and banned from sale in Australia. Interestingly, the gratuitous and encouraged violence in the game went largely unnoticed in the wake of the "scandalous" sex scenes that involved dressed up and cartoonish people.
Nintendo's bright and colorful "Mario" games for kids feature a character stomping on the heads of animated creatures. In fact, most games, even those for children, involve the protagonist in a crusade against an enemy horde of some kind and generally "getting rid" of them in some way, either by hitting them with a weapon or a part of the game. body (feet, hands, possibly a tail depending on the nature of the character). The only real difference that stands out is that in a game for kids, the 'bad' characters usually bounce back in a cute way and explode with a humorous puff sound (or just disappear) while in a game geared toward older players. , the characters are more likely to be (somewhat) realistic, spraying a stream of red after their disappearance.
Every time a young man somewhere commits a violent crime these days, it seems like a video game is being blamed, since "Duke Nukem" and "Quake" are charged with the Columbine High massacre, to a Most recent incident involving a group of minors who attribute their violent actions to "Mortal Kombat" video games. Without any solid evidence either way, it's hard to say if video game violence really does have much of an influence on gamers. To be really safe, you would probably have to have a control group of isolated children who have never seen a violent movie or played a bloodthirsty video game. However, history shows that brutal crimes were committed long before video games or even movies existed.
