Violent Games and Free Case:

Analysis Based on Super Columbine Massacre Role-Play-Game

Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, which is different from other violent video games, is based on the real murder of 12 high school students and one teacher, in 1999. The game “asks players to relive that day through the eyes of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold”, who are the murderers (“Super Columbine Massacre RPG!,” n.d.). Just to mention that both murderers were fans of violent video games.

Danny Ledonne,who is the creator of the game, accurately claims that the “process of reevaluation, introspection, and a search for understanding is the value” that he believes his video game offers to those who play it” (“Virginia Tech Shooting Statement,” n.d.). He doesn’t mention how much money he earned from advertising the tragedy. In 2015, Ledonne was banned from entering Adams State University (ASU) and this is due to the plea from Police Chief Paul Grohowski who wrote: “it is my duty to balance the free speech and individual rights against the public safety of the many” and the ban “errs on the side of public safety” (Orland, 2015).

The main reason why free speech principles may be not well understood is the belief that exposure to violence leads some people to become violent especially when discussing violence in the media or in virtual games, otherwise they wouldn’t be. It is not hard to find arguments concerning both sides especially that they are backed up by credible scientific studies. Carnagey et al. (2007) argued that participants in their study showed a “physiological desensitization to violence” after they had played some violent video game (p. 489). Others, like Chris Ferguson, say “none of the studies were adequately conducted to show a definitive connection between video game playing and violent behavior”(Mathews, n.d.). In a recent psychological study of 1,004 teenagers, the researchers found “no evidence for a critical tipping point relating violent game engagement to aggressive behavior” (Przybylski & Weinstein, 2019). In addition, Aristotle argued that drama could have a cathartic effect, “dispelling emotions that would be harmful if given vent to in reality” (Graham, 2002, p. 157).

Real violence is not automatically maintained by only the exposure to violent media, it actually depends on the individuals who are exposed to it. Violent behavior can be descriminated and controlled. It is absolutely possible for a person who never commits a violent act to be excited by violent media.Our experiences are felt for so if they took the violence out of Hollywood movies no one would watch them.

Censorship should only be used to protect those who are immature enough to believe that violence is normal or acceptable, i.e., children. Just as children are not allowed to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol (adults are free to choose to get lung cancer ), violent video games should not be made available to them. In the USA, the Entertainment Software Rating Board found that, in 2018, 74% of parents regularly check a game’s rating before making a purchase (ESRB, n.d.), but this was after the ruling between the Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011) which overruled a California law which banned the sale of violent video games to young ages.

Reynolds argued that “virtue theory is the most relevant theory for an analysis of 21st century computer games” (2002), but I support the consequentionalist view that assures that we must consider the consequences of our actions. But, as Reynolds points out, “if one recognizes the power of a consequentialist argument one either has to argue against it or discount this as a valid mode of argument with another application of consiquentalism or discount this as a valid mode of argument” (2002). The 2011 ruling shows a major ethical messin the USA. In 2009, the percentage of homicides by firearms committed in the USA was 66.9% which is more than double that of Canada (32%) and ten times that of the United Kingdom (6.6%) (UNODOC, n.d.). Many lives would have been saved Without the “right to bear arms”.As there are laws governing the distribution of pornography (the 2011 ruling was founded on the right to free speech (First Amendment)) the transfer of (pornography) to minors is prohibited (DoJ, 2015). It is unfortuantely more sense for the judges in the court to think that the exposure of children to sex is consequentially more harmful than their exposure to violence.

There is no easy answer to the question of censorship versus free speech. Everything in our 21stcentury advanced societies have created a world based on computer apps . It is easy children to believe that the experience they live in the virtual world while gaming is the real world. It’s the state’s responsibility for protecting children from the possible harmful consequences of violent video games .Censorship should aim to protect the rights and not to prevent free speech. Unfortunately, I believe that in the USA’s goal and interest is only to protect those behind these video games in order to make more money.

References:

Carnagey, N. L., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2007). The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(3), 489–496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.003

DoJ. (2015, May 26). Citizen’s Guide To U.S. Federal Law On Obscenity. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos/citizens-guide-us-federal-law-obscenity

ESRB. (n.d.). Consumer research about ESRB ratings awareness and use. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.esrb.org/about/awareness.aspx

Graham, G. (2002). Sex and violence in fact and fiction. In M. Kieran (Ed.), Media Ethics. Taylor & Francis e-Library.

Mathews, R. (n.d.). Ethical Responsibility of Video Game Manufacturers. Demand Media.

Orland, K. (2015, November 18). Columbine Massacre RPG creator banned from college campus, film festival. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from Ars Technica website: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/11/columbine-massacre-rpg-creator-banned-from-college-campus-film-festival/

Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2019). Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents’ aggressive behaviour: evidence from a registered report. Royal Society Open Science, 6(2), 171474. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171474

Reynolds, R. (2002). Playing a “Good” Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games. International Game Developers Association, 12.

Super Columbine Massacre RPG! (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.columbinegame.com/

UNODOC. (n.d.). Homicides by Firearm. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and.../Homicide/Homicides_by_firearms.xls

Virginia Tech Shooting Statement. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2019, from http://columbinegame.com/vtechstatement.htm