Are violent video games problematic?

aceattorney

aceattorney

TXB Join Date: 02/2002
Sep 11, 2013
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If not, answer these questions:

If violent video games are not problematic, then children be permitted to play them without parental guidance?

If violent video games are not problematic, then why does the industry accept and praise the ESRB ratings system?

Do you like playing realistic violent video games? Why?

To what degree do realistic violent video games simulate real violence?
 
No they are not, at least not any worse than violent movies or television shows.

Just because something isn't problematic doesn't mean it should be played by children, that's why games and movies have ratings. Children don't always know how to differentiate fantasy from reality and it's up to parents to monitor what type of entertainment their kids play/watch.

The industry has the ESRB because it shields them. Parents can't claim ignorance when their kids do something bad and then blame it on games or even just buy a game for a kid and then get upset at the content as all the info they need before making the purchase is on the box. When I worked at gamestop for a short time many years ago we couldn't sell M rated games to kids or we'd be fired. We had to have an adult purchase it and we had to verbally explain the ESRB rating and what it was for. Sadly parents only cared about sex and not violence, most of the time they seemed upset that they had to come in to purchase the game and couldn't just send the kid to get it.

I don't think games realistically simulate violence at all, generally you can take a lot more punishment and need to deal out a lot more punishment to defeat an opponent in a game than you would in real life. Not only that but you don't see cracked open skulls with brains coming out of them etc, it's all very superficial.
 
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So whats a violent video game? Is it Battlefield 1? Is it Grand Theft Auto? It is Resident Evil Biohazard? Is it Dead Island? The presentation of the game is a huge factor. Personally I think RE Biohazard is very violent and I don't enjoy it all that much but I don't think GTA is violent at all even way more killing goes on it but I love that game.
 
JinCA said:
No they are not, at least not any worse than violent movies or television shows.

Just because something isn't problematic doesn't mean it should be played by children, that's why games and movies have ratings. Children don't always know how to differentiate fantasy from reality and it's up to parents to monitor what type of entertainment their kids play/watch.

The industry has the ESRB because it shields them. Parents can't claim ignorance when their kids do something bad and then blame it on games or even just buy a game for a kid and then get upset at the content as all the info they need before making the purchase is on the box. When I worked at gamestop for a short time many years ago we couldn't sell M rated games to kids or we'd be fired. We had to have an adult purchase it and we had to verbally explain the ESRB rating and what it was for. Sadly parents only cared about sex and not violence, most of the time they seemed upset that they had to come in to purchase the game and couldn't just send the kid to get it.

I don't think games realistically simulate violence at all, generally you can take a lot more punishment and need to deal out a lot more punishment to defeat an opponent in a game than you would in real life. Not only that but you don't see cracked open skulls with brains coming out of them etc, it's all very superficial.
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"Children don't always know how to differentiate fantasy from reality and it's up to parents to monitor what type of entertainment their kids play/watch." So violent video games are problematic after all?
 
D-V-ANT said:
So whats a violent video game? Is it Battlefield 1? Is it Grand Theft Auto? It is Resident Evil Biohazard? Is it Dead Island? The presentation of the game is a huge factor. Personally I think RE Biohazard is very violent and I don't enjoy it all that much but I don't think GTA is violent at all even way more killing goes on it but I love that game.
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But what about my questions?
 
They put the exact same warnings on music albums (back when physical music was a thing). The only thing that means is a bunch of parents are lazy and need the government to monitor their children. Google Tipper Gore. Those of us in Generation X were going to grow up to be ultra-violent anti-social misfits according to most.

It doesn't mean that kids can't have them or will even be harmed by them, it is just a simple tool to allow parents to understand what their kids are playing.

If violent video games caused problems in even 1% of kids, this country would have a major problem. The level of violence in our society is actually at an all time low. In spite of there being some very shocking events in the news, these are still incredibly rare.
 
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aceattorney said:
But what about my questions?
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What about the definition that I'm referring to? Without the context of what is a violent video game I can't answer? If you simply call them over 18s games is that accurate? Or does it have to a war game? Or any game where you kill a human?
 
aceattorney said:
If not, answer these questions:

If violent video games are not problematic, then children be permitted to play them without parental guidance?

If violent video games are not problematic, then why does the industry accept and praise the ESRB ratings system?

Do you like playing realistic violent video games? Why?

To what degree do realistic violent video games simulate real violence?
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I tend to see games and movies in the same way and I accept the use of a ratings system for both. It's not that either is 'Problematic' exactly, but younger people handle things differently and parents should be informed as well as involved. Some kids can handle mature content earlier than others and some definitely can't. It's not necessarily a problem just because it inspires violence, but a minor can be unnecessarily disturbed by it. On other hand, in some cases young people are inspired by it artistically and grow to be people like Wes Craven or John Carpenter.

Like others said, maybe it should be more clear on what 'Realistic Violence' is. As for violent gaming in general, I did play Mortal Kombat X for a long time. I'm not sure I could pin down specifically why I would like to chop up people in a game with Jason or Leatherface. Maybe there is a novelty to playing as the iconic bad guys.

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As for real world violence simulated in gaming? The best I can think of is HITMAN even though the deaths are unrealistically quick.
 
aceattorney said:
"Children don't always know how to differentiate fantasy from reality and it's up to parents to monitor what type of entertainment their kids play/watch." So violent video games are problematic after all?
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Problematic as in a problem for everyone? nope, potentially problematic for an audience who they are not created for and who's not meant to have them? maybe.
 
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D-V-ANT said:
What about the definition that I'm referring to? Without the context of what is a violent video game I can't answer? If you simply call them over 18s games is that accurate? Or does it have to a war game? Or any game where you kill a human?
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I'll make it easy for you. Pick a game YOU deem to possess realistic violence. Now how about my questions?
 
JinCA said:
Problematic as in a problem for everyone? nope, potentially problematic for an audience who they are not created for and who's not meant to have them? maybe.
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Fair enough. One thing you mentioned earlier though: you don't think games are realistic "at all"? You have to admit that some games are pretty realistic in some aspects, like visuals, physics, blood, weapon mechanics, etc.?
 
aceattorney said:
If not, answer these questions:

If violent video games are not problematic, then children be permitted to play them without parental guidance?

If violent video games are not problematic, then why does the industry accept and praise the ESRB ratings system?

Do you like playing realistic violent video games? Why?

To what degree do realistic violent video games simulate real violence?
Click to expand...

Nope.

1. No. Same reason you don’t allow kids to watch R rated movies or porn. I don’t feel like their mental maturity is at the correct maturity level to disgest violence/sexual content for what it is. Entertainment.

2. Again, like other mediums of entertainment, there are products designed for different age groups. Video games should be no different.

3. Violent or non-violent, it’s all the same to me. It is simply fictional entertainment. So yes I guess.

4. As somebody that has seen a lot of gore and graphic photographs in my line of work, plus my curiosity sometimes gets the best of me, and I do historical research regarding political conflicts/war, games don’t really simulate real violence at all imo. There is a clear distinction I feel.
 
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aceattorney said:
Fair enough. One thing you mentioned earlier though: you don't think games are realistic "at all"? You have to admit that some games are pretty realistic in some aspects, like visuals, physics, blood, weapon mechanics, etc.?
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Not really, it's all sort of a cartoon version of what's real. I mean something like MKX which went for gore wasn't really realistic but it was very graphic.
 
JinCA said:
Not really, it's all sort of a cartoon version of what's real. I mean something like MKX which went for gore wasn't really realistic but it was very graphic.
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What about Battlefield 1? Call of Duty WWII? Are those games at all realistic in their depictions of violence?
 
JinCA said:
Not really, it's all sort of a cartoon version of what's real. I mean something like MKX which went for gore wasn't really realistic but it was very graphic.
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MKX is mostly ridiculous, but for what's worth is fairly 'realistic' at showing Leatherface saw people in half or bash their head in with a hammer. TBH the hammer to the face brutality still makes me cringe or flinch a little even when I'm Leatherface doing it, it's so horrible.



Aside from the gimmick guest characters, my main guy ever since MK 1 has been RAIDEN who is a completely 'unrealistic' fantasy character. While he does perform Fatalaties with gory bloody gib chunks, I'm not sure how he fits into realistic violence frying people with lightning powers.

MKX-4.jpg
 
aceattorney said:
What about Battlefield 1? Call of Duty WWII? Are those games at all realistic in their depictions of violence?
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No, generally I don't think a person just falls down when a tank blasts them or when they get run over. Generally speaking body parts will start coming off or "exploding" depending on what has happened. Have you ever seen a picture of someone who's been in a terrible car accident or run over and had their skull crushed? that kind of thing never happens in video games, a person gets hit or shot then some generally unrealistic blood splatter happens and they fall down.
 
aceattorney said:
What about Battlefield 1? Call of Duty WWII? Are those games at all realistic in their depictions of violence?
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The interesting thing to me is that the presentation of Gun Combat in those games is violent as well as some blood, but do many of them show stuff that is more graphic like limbs shot off? I don't play Battlefield, but I'm not aware of many FPS shooters being both realistic like that with guns and also with lots of graphic gore. I also don't remember much in the way of blood from Splinter Cell and certainly not any brain spray from sniper kills.

I do think HITMAN does this a little bit from what I've seen of it.

I think DOOM is very graphic, but involves basically Monsters or Demon kills. Similar for The Evil Within I suppose.

I'm not sure even Max Payne was ever that graphic, just at the end of Max Payne 3 when the boss got burned to a crisp.


If the discussion is basically on the negative influence of FPSes, I sometimes wonder if shooters in fact have to much Sanitized Violence allowing them a lower Teen rating. You shoot them and they bleed a little and fall down and there is actually a lack of horror to it?
 
aceattorney said:
If not, answer these questions:

If violent video games are not problematic, then children be permitted to play them without parental guidance?

If violent video games are not problematic, then why does the industry accept and praise the ESRB ratings system?

Do you like playing realistic violent video games? Why?

To what degree do realistic violent video games simulate real violence?
Click to expand...


1. That is up to the parents. But children's minds are still forming so violent media is probably not a good thing for them to spend much time with, in general its better for a kid to spend those years learning to create things then consume, that way they aren't conditioned as an adult to be only a consumer.

2. The ESRB was put together by the industry and keeps it from being heavily regulated from the government. Thats a big reason the industry likes it.

3. To a point yes. The better to learn to rip someones arm off and beat them with it.

4. Not much IMO, i don't like gory movies and for the most part no violent game has bothered me at all.
 
JinCA said:
No, generally I don't think a person just falls down when a tank blasts them or when they get run over. Generally speaking body parts will start coming off or "exploding" depending on what has happened. Have you ever seen a picture of someone who's been in a terrible car accident or run over and had their skull crushed? that kind of thing never happens in video games, a person gets hit or shot then some generally unrealistic blood splatter happens and they fall down.
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So if you don't think any violent video games are at all realistic, then why are they inappropriate for some audiences?
 
aceattorney said:
So if you don't think any violent video games are at all realistic, then why are they inappropriate for some audiences?
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Aside from depictions of violence, I think many military shooters have a lot of Swearing. Does any parent really want the embarrassment of their young kids dropping F-bombs?





I also think shooters can lead young kids to be overly aggressive or over competitive with bad sportsmanship, but this will vary depending on individuals. This is more a cultural thing separate from violence.
 
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aceattorney said:
If not, answer these questions:

If violent video games are not problematic, then children be permitted to play them without parental guidance?

If violent video games are not problematic, then why does the industry accept and praise the ESRB ratings system?

Do you like playing realistic violent video games? Why?

To what degree do realistic violent video games simulate real violence?
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Violent video games are not problematic, end of.

The problem stems from the individuals understanding and perception of reality. This would be more of a parenting issue. Give somebody lacking in understanding reality from fantasy a Nursery Rime pop up book with violence and you get the same result.

It is like saying " is religion problematic," No, it isn't. You can't label somethinh problematic because of a small minority who take things too far. If you do, then everything is problematic.

The rating question is just a trap , and is rather irrelevant to the actual question.
 
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aceattorney said:
If not, answer these questions:
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Overall I don’t think they are problems if reasonable paternal guidance is used.

If violent video games are not problematic, then children be permitted to play them without parental guidance?
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Neither. They aren’t really a problem but neither should kids play some games are intended for adults.

If violent video games are not problematic, then why does the industry accept and praise the ESRB ratings system?
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Rating are a classification for a target audience. Themes contained in the game might not be suitable for younger people. That’s the basic concept behind a rating and it works, more or less. I see them as something to provide guidance.

Do you like playing realistic violent video games? Why?
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I don’t enjoy excessive brutality in video games.

To what degree do realistic violent video games simulate real violence?
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Biohazard I thought was pretty excessive and it put me off playing it.
 
aceattorney said:
So if you don't think any violent video games are at all realistic, then why are they inappropriate for some audiences?
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They aren't "inappropriate for children" - there's zero evidence that violent video games cause any issues with children. Tons and tons of kids play pubg, Rainbow 6, COD, etc. Those games are all filled with kids.

What is appropriate or inappropriate for kids is up to the parents (as it should be). If someone buys a COD game for their 12 year old is it going to turn into national news? Of course not... happens all the time.

What is "inappropriate" is up to parents, not something for the government or businesses to decide. The labels are just there as a guide for parents and to help prevent kids from buying something that maybe their parents don't want them to have.
 
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