The Ethics of Computer games
“Games communicate ideas — and even social messages — through familiar literary devices (character, plot, dialogue, music) and through features distinctive to the medium (player interaction with a virtual world).” (Packart, 2013)
If you were to ask me, I would say that one of the biggest shifts in the last decades was the shift from Super Mario to the Grand Theft Auto franchise. How is it that we went from saving the princess from the beast to picking up girls on the sidewalk and beating them for not giving the players what they virtually wanted. Since its release, this game has been criticized for being sexist, racist, violent and so on; many countries have banned and censored the game for many reasons which will be stated later on. Where does all of this lead us? Is it a question of freedom of speech or social harm?
Grand theft auto is an open world game that started as a game to mainly steal cars, in order to do that, players kill, harm, hurt the drivers. Every player has a set of guns and explosives that they can use to harm the people on the street or even other players. Nowadays they have created new missions where the players have to kill citizens, cops and so on in order to win and move on. I do not know about you, but to me this isn’t the kind of game I would like to play or allow my future children to play.
Let us start talking about the main ethical responsibilities of game and entertainment producers, but also the players. According to Miguel Sicart in the Ethics of computer games “computer games are moral objects because they present values embedded in their design. Those values can be found in design choices as well as in game world simulations. It is the combination of both the system and the world that makes games interesting objects.” (Sicart, 2009) Values embedded in design choices. So in a way, racism, sexism, violence and dehumanizing speech are at the core of this game for a reason, because it was in the design all along. Are those topics the world finds interesting nowadays? Who is to blame? Us? The world? The game makers? Or all of those mentioned above?
Moreover, he also says “I claim that computer games are ethical objects, that computer game players are ethical agents, and that the ethics of computer games should be seen as a complex network of responsibilities and moral duties.” (Sicart, 2009). When creating a game, morally speaking, one should not try and offend anyone. Games that are degrading to women should not be available to the public for the main reason that it can teach children that it is okay to slap a woman or insult her no matter what her profession is. However, if a child is raised right he will, by himself, refuse to do any action that might go against his upbringing, but to my mind, this does not give the game-makers the excuse of tempting the child. What about racism? How is it okay to display stereotypes of african american people and neighborhoods to the public. For instance in one of the mission in GTA V, Racism can be noticed when driving in Franklin’s old neighborhood. The neighborhood is flooded with thugs and gangsters all African American that will not hesitate to shoot you and try to kill you.
Finally, Sicart also had something to say about the Grand Theft Auto Franchise: “a game like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an ethical action of several dimensions. First, given the sheer size of the game, the player may be compelled to cheat in order to unlock some of the world’s interesting items, such as vehicles or locations. But Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is also a game known for its violence. Choosing to play this game, and to engage in the acts of simulated violence that are a crucial part of the gameplay, is also an ethical action. A player can actually play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas without committing any crimes,8 just exploring the virtual world of the game. That is a gameplay choice derived from the ethical reflection of the player-subject.” (Sicart, 2009) Even though I am completely against this game, I agree with him. It is a choice to be a complete criminal in this game, the signs of temptation are still at question, but one with a strong will can chose to play this game without shooting anyone, without going to prostitutes and taking advantage of them and ending their fun by killing them. To give an example, my best friend, boyfriend and brother all play this game, they love it for the mission involving cars and the freedom to be who they want to be. They do not trash, violate or kill the women, to be honest they could not care less. Considering that they are adults, they are mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions, but as my younger brother was growing up, I always made sure to remind him of the importance of treating women well, and the dangers of uncontrolled violence behavior, which I believe helped shapes him and get him away from the dangers of that game.
Laws. Where do laws fall in this? In Sex and Violence’ in Digital Media Law, it is said that many restrictions were inflicted on video games that included killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting another human being. (Packard, 2013) It is obvious that the franchise falls under all of those options mentioned above. The government however can only do so much because they would be violating the freedom of speech. This is very confusing indeed but that hasn’t stopped many countries from banning the game such as: China, Japan and South Korea considering it to be unsuitable for children; Saudi Arabia and Malaysia banned the game because of the offensive depictions of cruelty, hellish visions, sexuality and content that was against Sharia (Wikipedia, n.d). I personally believe that banning the game will not resolve the issue, we live in the digital world, the game will be found wherever, it will be sold in black markets and so on.
However, many people still argue that violent games do not create violent kids. Many studies have shown the complete opposite. A Study done by Brad Bushman and his colleagues that took care of 130 studies involving more than 130,000 participants around the world showed that violent video games increase aggressive thoughts and angry feelings and lead to higher heart rate and blood pressure and more aggressive behavior (Bushman, 2013) The study goes on to show that violent games pushed the children to cheat more and feel less empathy towards the other players. Kids are very easily influenced, and he who says otherwise must have the superpower all parents have dreamed of having since the beginning of time.
On another note, let us briefly talk about how far the fictional realism of games needs to be sensitive to the social, political and historical conditions in which it operates. Over the years, countless mass shootings have happened, whether they were in school, clubs or malls. These shootings are usually the result of a child, teenager or adult having the access to a gun and going out there and just going crazy about it. If I am not mistaken, grand theft auto gives the players the ability and freedom to do all of this. The players are living in a virtual world with no rules, everything about the game is becoming so real that it is becoming hard for people to differentiate between real and virtual life. They are finding so much joy in living a world without any rules or consequences to their actions that it is prompting unusual behaviors. They can kill, steal, torture and so son and nothing will happen to them, which is socially unacceptable. Game makers need to realize that we are living in a time where at any moment a war is about to happen and creating and developing games like these doesn’t do any good.
In a nutshell, topics like these are very sensitive and are usually contradicting. I personally am against such games that degrade morals, women, beliefs and so on but this is where freedom of speech gets in the way. Banning these games is not the answer because they will still be found wherever. However, let us take a second to talk about one thing that isn’t Rockstar Games’ fault. They have warnings on the packaging, the age restriction and even on their website. In a way, they are trying their best to exclude children, but they cannot do anything if there are parents out there that still buy them.
References
Bushman, B. J. (2013, December 13). Don’t Buy Your Kid Grand Theft Auto V for Christmas. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from Huffpost, the blog: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-j-bushman/dont-buy-your-kid-grand-theft-auto-v-for-christmas_b_4440477.html
Packard, A. (2013). Sex and Violence’ in Digital Media Law. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Sicart, M. (2009). The Ethics of Computer Games. England: MIT Press.
Wikipedia. List of Banned video games. Retrieved March 25, 2018: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games
