By now, we've all heard about the latest crime that has some connection to videogames. We, as a community of gamers, all have our own opinions on violent games. There are questions every gamer should ask themselves: does realistic violence make a game better? Should there be any limit to the violence in games? Does the violence in games affect anyone in real life? These questions are not easy. One must take into account various games and even companies that seem to pride themselves on being violent. More than that, what about those of us who play games and sometimes think to ourselves, "this game would be a lot cooler if i could kill these people"?
I'm not about to start a holy war against violent videogames (after all, my favorite one ends with the hero stabbing someone in the face). Nor am I going to assault the companies that create these games or the gamers who love them. People with a sane and sensible mind know that each person's actions are their own. Some things are just that obvious. Can any game legitimately be called a "murder simulator" for real life? Of course not. No more than Monopoly being able to be called a "business simulator". Will that stop people from claiming such absurdities? Of course not. What's important is that we all see games for what they are at their core: entertainment.
That may sound like I'm lowering the very essence of gaming down to the depths of reality television, but I assure you it's quite the opposite. Like many other gamers, I feel there is no reason not to put games into the same category as "art". But there is no game whose purpose is "to be art". Games are meant to affect us in some way and usually meant to be enjoyed. Same thing can be said with cinema and, frankly, most of what's considered art. This is a slight digression, but I want to be clear: Video games can no more inspire these horrific acts of violence than cinema, literature, or even paintings. Was anyone murdered after watching Leon The Professional? Did anyone go insane after reading Poe? Does anyone dream of what haunts the person in Edvard Munch's "Scream"? Should having a bad diet also be reason enough to commit murder?
The gaming community is not a group to be generalized on account of the few people who commit violent crimes and also play videogames. I often use the word community when referring to gamers as a group because... well, that's just the best word to describe us. Anyone who's ever been to a LAN party -- hell, anyone who's ever even played multiplayer (on the couch or online) can see why the word "community" is especially fitting. We gamers play well together. It's to the point now where even the lack of co-op or online play makes the game's overall score worse. Gaming is getting more and more mainstream, and the community expects developers to know we have friends, and we want to play some videogames with them. Personally, I even thoroughly enjoy watching other people play. I know when I invite some pretty ladies over for a game of Mariokart, I want them to have fun. I, like the designers of these games, want the people who play them to enjoy the experience.
There is no question as to whether or not videogames can influence people. This blog and countless others are testaments to that. If games had zero influence, there wouldn't be anyone trying to get into the videogame industry. No designers, no programmers, no critics. I'd be out of luck. Will people be more likely to break the law if exposed to violent games? I would whole-heartedly say No. Almost every game has a protagonist fighting against the antagonist (Tetris just squeaks by on that), and most games in general have someone or something dying (getting killed) or have the protagonist finding items lying around, often in someone's house, which means that they're stealing from helpless NPC innocents. If games made the morals of gamers fall away, then, with the gaming community as large as it is, I'm shocked more and more people aren't becoming vigilantes. ...Oh. Shit. Nevermind.
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