Video Games – Good or Evil?
The recent release of Grand Theft Auto 4 has once again sparked debate over the merits of video games. Some people have spoken strongly against games like Grand Theft Auto. They feel that video games such as this promote racism, violence against women, glorify drugs, and promote gun violence. It has been debated that the increase in youth crime, violence, and disrespect for authority is directly linked to video games such as Grand Theft Auto. The other side of the debate defends video games saying that the games are purely entertainment and it is the parents who are not doing their job in creating a set of values and respect for society in the children. It can’t be argued that games such as Grand Theft Auto are extremely violent games but are these games responsible for the problems of youth in our society? Or is it a breakdown in the family unit with parents not doing their job to properly raise their children to become positive contributors within society? Are video game designers pushing the limits by creating games such as Grand Theft Auto? Are the warning labels on these games sufficient to alert consumers about the contents of these games? Should they even be on the market? I would like to hear your thoughts about this topic. Let’s start blogging.
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I think that it is the parents choice if they want to let their kids play the game or not. To rent it or buy it you must have I.D. so it prevents you from buying it underage. Yes game creators are pushing the limits to an extent but honestly who plays the game and says “oh that was fun gunning somebody down lets do it in real life!” My views on this stay with the parents choice. If they think their kids can play it then they can.
I agree with Ryan. It is the parent’s discretion whether their child will be able to handle this or not. Basically, you are fine playing it as long as you have a BRAIN to tell you that it is just a game, not real life. There are themes in this game that I frown upon. If you don’t have a life, maybe you think this is reality. Personally, I think that people pick on this topic because they have nothing else to pick on at the time. It is a vicious circle of life.
I agree with these two entirely. It is the parent’s personal choice to let their kid play games like these. I personally would never have a game like this bought for me because of my parents personal choice. And after you play a game like this your just not gonna want to go out and shoot somebody. The aspect of these games people don’t look at is how fun they are, they could probably cut down on some language, but when you think of it; when don’t you see a single gun in a game, they are all over. So why do they criticize this game? They criticize this game because every game like this is fun to normal people. Anything that is fun now is illegal or his heavily frowned against. I’m not saying you should go do something out of the game, but i believe these people should actually play the game before they put more of this heavy criticism on GTA IV. Play the Game before you draw assumptions.
Many games are very violent and could cause some to think they have an effect on youth in society today so why single this game out? I actually think that if young kids are playing video games so much then they wont be out on the streets getting into trouble, they will be inside the home or at a friends house. Some games I do agree, are unproperly rated. Parents should research the game and decide if it is suitable for their child. Like it was said in the previous comments many times, it is their parents decision to allow them to play the game or not. I do not see much of a problem with them.
Do these games have any link to such events like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Taber, or Montreal’s Dawson College? Are people involved in these events more prone to be influenced by violent video games?
I don’t think that these games are responsible for problems with youth in society today and I think that it is the parents decision to buy these games for their kids or not. These games are very violent and show things that should not be happening in our society. Some times kids get so wrapped up in these games that they believe the game is real life and some people believe that these games are the cause of school shootings. I remember a few years ago there was a story on the news about two teenagers who had thought that the video game was their real life and they took their dad’s gun and shot two people I think. I think that video game designers are pushing the limits with these games. If they aren’t allowed to sell the game to people without an I.D. it is exactly like selling cigarettes and alcohol. Some people are probably influenced by these video games and think that it is cool because they see so many people playing them but I don’t think that they are to blame for school shootings.
I agree that we can all sit here and debate whether or not it is up to the parents to be able to say “yes” or “no” but when it really comes down to it, it is the person who is playing the game to make decisions. The game does not tell you to go out and shoot people, or hit them with your car. It cannot MAKE you do anything. The player makes their own choice. Although I do agree that it gives kids and adults alike ideas, we still know that we are wrong. We know that we will get in trouble if we actually carry out the actions as demonstrated in the game. Also, Alyssa puts out a good point, if they are at home playing this (voilent) game, then they will not be out on the streets and getting into who knows what. It all comes down to one thing: It is your choice.
i think that it is not your mom or dad who should say if you can play this game because it is really up to the person who is playing the game
I think video games can just be a waste of time, now i’m not saying they are, or that i hate them becuase truthfully i have a wii of my own and i do sit down there playing the cars game or Wii Olympics. But some of the games that are made, juts make me wonder why. For women it really makes them feel like their bodies are targets for men,not whats on the inside. It also shows that in these games that the women are ” perfect”, Perfect body, hair and skin. Really no girl is perfect. I think it puts younger girls who see these games under pressure to look exactly liek them because there so pretty. ALso with the gun shooting aand robberies i think it makes some people so obsessed with the game that they actual try these things in the real world and end up hurting them selves. It is a parents job as well to say yes or no to if you do get a gmae device but it is also there job to make sure that the games that their child is buying or playing is suitable for there age, if not they should be tkaing a look at the things that goes on in the game world.
I have played games for over 16 years, and started since I was 2. I have played games ranging from RPGs, to platformers, heck i played them all. From what I have seen from the game designers, I have to say, they dont really push thier limits at all. The limit is already set for most of them anyway. That limit is the AO rating set by the ESRB. As far as to my knowlege, Sony, and Nintendo will not allow an AO (Adults Only) rated game on thier home console. So, since GTA4 have recived an rate of M, I would say no, cause to get an AO rating, they have to do something so controversal that it would warrent it. Such as the Hot Coffee mod incident that allowed hackers to access a Sex mini game in GTA:SA. They wouldent want to recive an AO rating since it would mean that they couldent sell it, and they would not be able to make any sales except for the computer.
Other then that, the majority of the games I see, I consider a work of art. People put alot of hard work into these games. They work on the storyline, gameplay, artwork, graphic, level design, and etc. All this is put togather like paint on a canvas to create the game.
Now the responsiblity goes to the parents. Parents need to look into the games that thier children are playing, rather then just buying the games and/or using the games as a way so that they dont have to watch thier kids, like setting a child in front of a television screen. I have seen the ESRB rating system and found it to be very suficient. They give several ratings that gives and the age recomended for the parents. They also include a little about whats in the game that gives it that rating, such as alcohol and tobacco usage, violence, and etc. If the parents dont want to take the time to look at the ratings and understand what the ratings mean, then thats thier problem. These parents should know thier child, and if they feel that thier child can handle a certian kind of game, they should let him play it, but if they know, that he cant handle it or would imitate it for any reason, then why let him play it.
If its an adult player now, then you should know thats its your choice of wether or not you want to play that game. But is also you choice if you wish to imitate the actions in that game. No one is responsible in this case except thier own.
Lastly, I have to mention that this is not suprizing about people blaming video games for societies problems because this have happend before. History does repeat it self, and the example is Rock’n'Roll. For a while parents belived that it was the devils music and that it corupted thier children with its content. This situation is the exact same thing that we are talking about now. They had to decide wither to blame the musicians, or the parents for letting thier kids buy the music. The best example of this is probly Elvis, because many parents at the time belived that it was obscene of Elvis to gyrate his hips. Kids at the time loved him, and he became an US icon.