VIDEO GAMES: ARE THERE LIMITS?
What is Grand Theft Auto V? What do people love about it? Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) is a video game revolving around 3 individuals: A middle-aged gangster, a drug addicted psychopath, and an adolescent who is simply beginning a lifetime of crime (Sapieha, 2013) (Figure1). These characters mainly have missions to achieve that might push them to steal cars, smuggle drugs, use bad language, slaughter innocent citizens and murder anyone who gets in their way (Figure 2). Also, women in GTA 5 are severely sexualized and portrayed as prostitutes. On one hand, people are astonished by and love the brilliant graphics, the great feel of the controls and the clear realistic visuals. As for what they love about the games’ story is its legitimacy and vitality. How time passes, lives of player change, having the ability to explore and many more make people love the game. On the other hand, another majority of people demonize the game. They claim that the main reason they hate it so much is that it supports and embellishes acts of violence and torture as well as represents women in in a very offensive manner (Figure 3). For those reasons and much more, some countries banned this game. Countries such as China because it was inappropriate for children, Malaysia for the excess use of violence, and Australia against the ugly depictions of women (Kawas, 2018). As for the KSA, it partially banned the game due to violence and sexual content. Video games such as GTA cause ethical issues to arise such as reduced respect for women, increased violence and increase in the tendency to participate in crimes (Reynolds, 2002).
The technological advancements we are now encountering are remarkable. Video games are now becoming very realistic (better graphics, ability to show complex actions on screen) (Alan, 2014). Thus, manufacturers should be ore careful and have a much bigger responsibility in the design and production process. Game producers and designers must both acknowledge the effect the game might have on certain users as well as balance the right of free expression. Producers should also decrease the amount of violence and sexism in the games, they don’t make them any more fun. As for the primary responsibility, it is to assign appropriate ratings for each game. But still, some opinions differ. “If designers just create ‘fun games’, but the buying trends are adding towards more realistic and violent games, then the designers who refuse to move along will likely be left behind,” says Lorne Lanning (Takahashi, 2004). In the UK, the Video Recordings Act of 1984 clearly states that it is against the law to give such a game (GTA) to anyone below age, it is punishable by a fine of 5000 euros or by spending 6 months in jail (Out-Law, 2019). Some US governors and judges tried to ban the selling of video games, but they kept getting struck down.
Without a producer and a designer, surely a game can’t be formed. Producers are more management oriented as they take control over the operations being done to achieve the result. They manage licensors, schedule of production, team, ideas and outsourcing parties (Robledo, n.d). Producers and designers have an interdependent responsibility of game production and its results whether technical or ethical. Although designers come up with the ideas, they can’t execute any of them without the confirmation or permission of the producers. But who is responsible for creating the meaning behind video games? Both are. “Other errors in game design ethics come from its reliance on a shame-based system that do not acknowledge ethical gray areas”, says Johnny Kilhefner (Kilhefner, 2013).
In defense of video games, a new discussion has emerged which is: “Do games have similar effects as movies?” This question is very controversial. Some people believe that they have the same impact and others are saying that video games have a bigger impact. For example, Trump blames video games for school shootings (TIME, 2018). One thing for sure is that both movies and video games do have an impact. Violent video games and movies have shown to result in increased feelings of stress, aggression and anger. But some critics of video games state that watching violent movies has a much less impact on children since they are not physically playing out violence or choosing to do violent acts (Tompkins, 2003). Therefore, violent video games should not be protected under free speech. This type of realistic fiction has also affected our society in many ways, whether violent speeches, sexism, and the list goes on. Fictional realism also affects politics. For example, the game Wolfenstein might not have been about or even thought of the idea of killing Nazis, but it generated the idea of the first-person shooter genre, where players spray bullets in the service of American foreign policy (Brown, 2018).
Sure, banning video games and censorships are not enough. Also, it is not only the entertainment producers’ or designers’ responsibility, but also parents should be careful what their children play and how much time they spend playing. As for other alternatives such as age limits are very important for reducing the harmful impact of these games on children because in the end, designers are designing these games in such a way that is appropriate for adults not children, so technically they are doing what they should do. from now on it is the company’s job to put age limits and for parents to know what they are buying their children before purchasing and ask yourselves: What other promising alternatives do we have?
Appendix
Figure 1
Figure 2
Bibliographies
[Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/21/grand- theft-auto-5-women-misogynistic-violent
Alan, M. (2014, November 19). Ethical responsibility for video game content — yes or no. Retrieved from http://retrogamefix.com/ethical-responsibility-for-video-game-content-yes-or-no-37/
Bown, A. (2018, August 13). Video games are political. Here’s how they can be progressive. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/aug/13/video-games-are-political-heres-how-they-can-be-progressive
Confirmed: Grand Theft Auto 5 breaks 6 sales world records [Photograph]. (2013, October 8). Retrieved from http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2013/10/confirmed-grand-theft-auto-breaks-six-sales-world-records-51900
Kawas, S. (2018, March 25). The Ethics of Video Games. Retrieved from https://medium.com/jsc-419-class-blog/the-ethics-of-video-games-51115e649ad9
Kilhefner, J. (2013, June 27). Ethics in game design. Retrieved from https://work.chron.com/ethics-game-design-22838.html
Out-Law. (2019, April 2). Video games and age restrictions — the US and UK. Retrieved from https://www.out-law.com/page-5810
Robledo, R. (n.d.). What is a video game producer?. Retrieved from http://www.animationarena.com/video-game-producer.html
Sapieha, C. (2013, September 17). Grand Theft Auto V. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/grand-theft-auto-v
Takahashi, D. (2004, December 27). Ethics Of Game Design. Retrieved from https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130594/ethics_of_game_design.php
TIME. (2018, March 8). Trump Blames Video Games for School Shootings. Science Isn’t So Sure. Retrieved from http://time.com/5191182/trump-video-games-violence/
Tompkins,A.(2003,December 14). The psychological effects of violent media on children. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia
