Do games like GTA and PUBG create violent people?
In this article, 2 videogames that are highly popular but controversial will be discussed; GTA 5 and PUBG. PUBG was established around 2 years ago in 2017, and ever since it has become one of the most popular games. The idea behind it is that you need to collect guns and equipment as soon as you land by a parachute and start killing everyone you face until you’re the only one who survives. All players are real players. GTA was released in 2013–2014, and its main idea is that, a group of thieves need to earn money, be rich and follow missions, and this includes committing crimes, or being violent in order to achieve them.
What makes these games controversial is that, they both are violent games. In PUBG you have to kill to survive, and in GTA you have to kill and steal in order to achieve missions. On top of that, GTA is sexist by the way women are portrayed in the game; either prostitutes that you can pick up, or strippers dancing in clubs. Furthermore, posters on streets of women objectify women, since they are always portrayed wearing lingerie, but when it comes to men, they are portrayed with fancy sports cars for example. “GTA V has little room for women except to portray them as strippers, prostitutes, long-suffering wives, humorless girlfriends and goofy, new-age feminists we’re meant to laugh at.” (Petit, 2013). What people really love about these games is that they are so realistic because of their fantastic graphics that makes it seem like real life. Just like movies with better image are more watched, games with better graphics are considered better. As a PUBG gamer, what we enjoy the most about the game, is the process of gathering the best guns, and killing the most people. Some sort of satisfaction is felt by the number of people killed, and often we show it off on Instagram. The fact that we are committing violent acts is disregarded in the game and we usually communicate with people we are playing with as a team in the game as “I want to kill him”. This may all sound weird and violent, however, it is not what it seems in real life. “It is interesting to note how players describe their in-game activities in the first person: I killed, I stole, I destroyed, and so on.” (Zagal, 2012, p.3). On the contrary, other people hate these games since they can cause violence and aggression and wrongdoings. Lately, PUBG has been banned by the Lebanese army, because they might communicate with the enemy on it. GTA 5 has also been banned in several countries such as Australia, since they prohibit the sale of video games that promote illegal activities.
So, is it ethical for a videogame to be violent, sexist, stereotypical and dehumanizing at the same time? Or should it be banned? Is banning it a threat to freedom of speech?
Some of the ethical responsibilities of game designers is the fact that they design these games giving individuals the right to explore different types of behaviors. these behaviors could be unethical behaviors such as murder, stealing. “Computer games are complex cultural objects: they have rules guiding behavior, they create game worlds with values at play, and they relate to players who like to explore morals and actions forbidden in society” (Sicart, 2009, p.4) Another ethical challenge could be the fact that sometimes in some games the gamer is not allowed to make ethical decisions, they are just guided by steps to follow. According to Sicart (2009, p.9), we can question the ethics of a game if it does not let its player to create their own ethical game.
However, the main aim of a game developer is to get the player addicted to the game. Is this unethical? Even if the game is violent? These games have only been created for adults, not for kids to play. However, kids still do play them. Each person has a different personality, and each person can make sense out of the game in different ways. There is an Instagram page that is called xzit_thamer that has around 600k followers including many kids. This guy’s aim is to upload videos of him playing GTA doing the worst kind of actions, such as killing prostitutes, while background “thug life song” plays, which makes it seem like what he is doing is badass and cool.
These types of videos encourage people especially kids that what he’s doing is “cool”. It still depends on the person’s personality, their social environment, and how they have been raised. Why think of banning the videogame, when videos like this are easier to ban and are not getting banned? When someone plays GTA, they might be committing violent actions yes, however, when it has been publicly portrayed as being cool by accounts like this, this is where freedom of speech should be questioned. Why ban the game itself when it is the people who can make sense out of the game, rather than banning these videos that obviously send messages to the world that illegal actions are cool.
Difference between games and movies is that when it comes to movies, you do not have the power to manipulate what will happen. However, when it comes to gaming, you are actively participating in violence or sexism. “The difference with a game is that we make choices within the game itself — these choices are the game.” (Reynolds, 2002, p.9). That does not mean that violent movies are okay either, it depends on which you actively participate in. If a person watches violent movies more often, then it could yield to the same effect such as video games. I would rate them as equally affecting individuals because of many aspects.
1. You might watch movies more than you play video games and still be as violent
2. You might think that movies are real life and games are fake so you might turn out to copy movie images more
3. Anyone in the right state of mind and right age can know what is real what is fake, what is unethical what is not.
The latest New Zealand shooting event that was captured by a gopro attached on the shooters head, had similar visuals such as the game PUBG. For example, he had similar gas tanks in his car trunk like the game, he shot fire from the car just like the game, and even at some point switched guns just like the game (he threw one gun on the floor and got another). The person might have been influenced by gaming, but any person who commits a crime like that must not be in the right state of mind from the first place. A violent person is a violent person whether they play video games or not, but perhaps, violent video games might affect their behavior by reinforcing their violent behavior.
In conclusion, I think that parents should be much more aware of what their kids are engaging in. These games are made for adults and not for kids and the developers do provide these age restrictions. When it comes to adults playing these games however, each person depending on their personalities can make different sense out of the game. Some might play it without getting affected, and others might play it aggressively. It all depends on how you use that tool. Some restrictions can be made in order to reduce harm, which in my opinion I think is “what is not necessary in the game must be removed”. Is it really necessary to have ads of women portrayed with lingerie? Is it necessary to have strippers and prostitutes? The games should not be banned, but the videos created of the games must be banned, because even my 6-year-old brother is exposed to it. Violent games like this must be age restricted to only 18+, since starting from this age, one can make up their own decisions in life. Do they want to be criminals? Or do they understand that it is just a game? Any person who has a normal state of mind and plays these violent games regularly as well, will know what is right and wrong in real life. Do you think that if you personally started playing violent video games starting today, would you ever become a violent person?
References:
Petit, C. (2013, September 16). Grand Theft Auto V Review. Retrieved from https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grand-theft-auto-v-review/1900-6414475/
Zagal, J. P. (2012). Preface. In J. P. Zagal, The Videogame Reader (p. v). San Diego: cognella.
Reynolds, R. (2002). Playing a “Good” Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games. International Game Developers Association, (pp. 9).
Sicart, M. (2009). Chapter 1: The Ethics of Computer Games. (pp.4–9)Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
