The violence of games
GTA5 is one of the games that have violence and explicit vocabulary as keys to their success. It takes us through the story of three criminals who are trying to survive in the industrial world by making money, aiming for stable life; but their thirst for more and their greed keeps pulling them back to corruption. To progress in the game, the player needs to steal, murder, torture, invade the privacy of other characters, etc. It also carries a heavy weight of sexism, “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, 2014). This world where no law can stop you attracted the attention of almost all videogame players all over the world. To them it is a platform where one can just let go of their virtues and free play with immorality. In opposition, some of those who take a further look on the game see in it a negative impact on the gamers in the real world. Some others did not criticize it for its violence as much as its explicit nudity and discrimination against women. It was completely banned in Thailand (Censorship Gaming, 2015) and Malaysia (Bennett, 2008), And recently in Saudi Arabia after two children committed suicide (Jawad, 2018). In Japan, on the other hand, it was edited to hide all aspects of nudity and sex in it (Censorship Gaming, 2015). It is true, the game is an expression of freedom of speech, but in the meantime, it is likely to cause more harm than good to gamers, which are mostly driven by their subconscious.
It is debatable whether it is the game developers’ responsibility to control what they include into games or if it is the people and the parents of minors that must control what games they buy, taking into account that games are rated by recommended age. Consequently, some regions like in the “US and EU […] free speech is generally taken as a primary right. Therefore, games tend to be in a very strong legal/ethical position” (Reynolds, 2002). However, the court’s view may differ from judge to another, whereas some do not view games as speech, unlike books and movies. In some other regions, modification is strictly required for the game to enter the country. “This created conflict when players have bought a game on the strength of an internet review only to find that their local edition has been modified” (Reynolds, 2002).
What could make violence in video games more dangerous than in film or other forms of entertainment is that games require an interaction between the user and the character’s actions. In other words, here the player is performing the act himself, making him active rather than reflective. From a virtue ethics point of view, the mere fact that the player is himself committing the crime, although it is virtual, makes the act unethical. But does it harm them?
According to the R. Mathews, 2015, in Ethical Responsibility of Video Game Manufacturers, There is not enough evidence to claim that there is a definitive connection between playing these games and violent behavior. However, countries like Saudi Arabia still did ban violent games after witnessing potential outcomes like suicide and crime. In fact, in Mathews’ article it is stated that “there is enough evidence to show that playing violent video games is one factor leading to violent behavior”, but this does not mean that they are the main cause.
Additionally, violent behavior is mostly seen with children who play such games, but these games are not supposed to be played by people under the age of 17, as in they are rated M. A suggested solution would be to create awareness on the importance of these ratings within parents, who are the ones responsible for what their children have access to (Mathews, 2015).
In conclusion, it is true, crime is the whole point of the game, but if the player could have the choice to do good instead of only evil, if the story was designed to serve gender equality, if the players were rewarded for their morals, then we would be moving towards a solution for these games. But then again, in these cases GTA V would never be as popular as it is with all its nasty aspects. The production just wants to make money, and the easiest way to do so is to give people what they want. Should the governments stop them? Are the governments much more decent? I don’t believe so. In my opinion, it is the people that are harming themselves by their lack of self-actualization, therefore their thirst for satisfaction of need applied in wrong places. Hence, I see no solution for this case, it is what it is. And even if I did it wouldn’t matter anyway.
References
Bennett, C. (2008, August 8). Malaysian Consumer Group blame it all on GTA. Destructoid. Retrieved from https://www.destructoid.com/malaysian-consumer-group-blame-it-all-on-gta-98824.phtml
Censorship Gaming. (2015, April 12). Grand Theft Auto 5 Censorship — Censored Gaming Ft. TheBlackLink. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89mEh9FinlY
Jawad, U. (2018, July 17). Saudi Arabia bans 47 video games including GTA V. Neowin. Retrieved from https://www.neowin.net/news/saudi-arabia-bans-47-video-games-including-gta-v/
Mathews, R. (2015). Ethical Responsibility of Video Game Manufacturers. Demand Media.
Petit, C. (2014, November 17). City of Angels and Demons. Gamespot. Retrieved from https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grand-theft-auto-v-review/1900-6414475/
Reynolds, R. (2002). Playing a “Good” Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games. IDGA. Retrieved from http://www.igda.org/articles/rreynolds_ethics.php
