It's Just a Game

This Tuesday Rockstar’s highly anticipated video game “Grand Theft Auto V” will launch for PS3 and Xbox 360 and I will spend a large portion of my life playing it. As is always the case with the launch of a game like Grand Theft Auto V we will inevitably see the mainstream media and watchdog parent groups call for the games ban because of the violent content. Since the controversy over the 1976 arcade game “Death Race” video games have become a popular target for moral watchdogs. It seems that every time there is a tragic shooting or other crime people will quickly jump on the “Video Games Trained Them to Do This” bandwagon often ignoring other important factors in these cases. In the immediate aftermath of the Columbine Massacre media outlets latched onto the fact shooters Harris and Klebold were fans of the shooter “Doom” and had made mods for the game. There were multiple reports that layouts of the maps resembled their high school and that this was used as a “training ground” for the massacre. This later turned out to be not true. Similarly after the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre news media reported that Seung-Hui Cho was a fan of the first person shooter game Counterstrike and his experience had trained him in the use of firearms, a ridiculous claim when you consider that firing a gun is quite different from clicking a mouse button.

While opponents are quick to point out examples like these as evidence that video games cause violent actions the evidence is far less clear cut. In the wake of the Columbine tragedy a US Secret Service study of 41 school shooters found that only 12% were attracted to violent video games, compared to 24% who read violent books and 27% watched violent films. Plus we must consider the fact that an estimated that 90% of young males and 40% of young females play video games and the vast majorities of those groups do not commit violent acts. According to a 2001 US Surgeon General study the strongest risk factors for school shootings are mental stability and quality of home life. Multiple studies have shown little to no link between violent video games and violent actions and often point out that the ones that do seem to be affected by such games are kids with a history of mental instability or witnessing violence in real life.

The most damaging misconception about video games is that they are purely a toy for children. Many opponents of these games view them as hyper violent toys that manufacturers are trying to sell to children. This is also not true. According to the Entertainment Software Association 68% of gamers are over the age of 18 and the average age of a gamer is 30 years old. This misconception leads many parents to purchase violent video games for their children. The video game industry has done its best to educate consumers on this matter through the Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB. The ESRB assigns ratings to games ranging from E for Everyone (6+) to M for Mature (17+). Simply put, M rated games like Grand Theft Auto are the gaming equivalent of R rated movies. Many parents wouldn’t let their children watch R rated movies but let their children play M rated games. Video game companies aren’t putting out violent games for children to play. They’re putting out violent games for adults to play. Saying that a game like Grand Theft Auto V was made for kids because it’s a video game is like saying that South Park was made for kids because it’s an animated show. The “epidemic” of kids playing violent video games is largely due to a lack of awareness from parents.

While video games have been around since the 1970s, they’re still considered a relatively new media. The fear of video games is no different from past fears of other new media. In the 1990s it was a big fear that the internet would lead to sexual predators finding your children if you so much as let them look at a computer. In the 1950s there was paranoia that television would corrupt the mind. In the early 1900s people feared that the telephone would kill written communication and even literacy. In the 1800s people thought that certain genres of novels would dangerously corrupt a young mind. In medieval Europe, theologians rallied against the use of the printing press calling it the work of the devil. According to Plato, Socrates was hostile towards writing because putting an idea in written form killed it by “depriving it of a mind in which to live.” Fear of video games corrupting society is no different than any of these examples going back into history. When people see a new idea that they don’t understand or challenges their way of doing things they will immediately resist. The moral guardians cry that we must defend society from these violent video games but they have little understanding of the games themselves. Video games are a great way to relax and perform acts any sane and reasonable person would never attempt in real life. While “it’s for the children” makes for a great rallying cry we can’t forget that violent games aren’t made for them. That’s why this Tuesday I’ll be happily navigating an expensive sports car down city streets while being pursued by police helicopters with no idea in my head that I should ever try it in real life. After all, it’s just a game.

“Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock n' roll.”

-Shigeru Miyamoto - Game Designer