Editor’s note: While this post is preaching to the choir on Bitmob, it’s interesting to read quotes from gamers about both positive and negative feelings caused by games. Also, if you notice a sudden uptick in spontaneous high-fives, this article could be to blame. -Demian
Video games have made messy scenes in news and the court of public opinion. However, for every negative story, dozens of positive stories are never reported. Obviously, we all know the real truth not shown on Fox News: Games can inspire violence in certain individuals already prone to violence, just as they can create feelings of happiness and tranquility in the vast majority of others.
I remember the days when music was blamed for all the evils in the world. We live in an age where a person can blame their troubles on a video game because video games have reached mainstream adoption and attention. Like the media, many among us are quick to lay blame on external influences in our society rather than look at ourselves as the source for our own trouble.
If a person feels the urge to hurt another person, chances are they made that decision long before they played Grand Theft Auto. We don’t live in a perfect society — we can’t stop our TV, music, and movies from displaying acts of extreme violence. And even if we could, I’m not so sure that’d be a perfect society either….
I asked other random gamers on three separate Internet forums: Can video games cause others to hurt people? Who is to blame? These are a selection of their responses:
Tyguy: I’m the other way around usually, I always play the bad guy. I play enough of the good guy in real life, I like to know that for every old lady I help across the street I get to run over 10 in GTA.
Alejandro Quan-Madrid: I don’t think that a video game can directly cause others to hurt people. I think that people who allow themselves to be heavily influenced by games have other issues in their lives that might need examining.
J. Cosmo Cohen: When my brother was beating me at Halo, I would punch him and unplug his controllers. So I guess, yeah, they can. My ego was hurt severely.
hello moto: Yes, video games can influence maniacs to follow what the game does, normal people, however, won’t. But remember, movies cause the same effect on people, even music at times.
Highway Chile: Yes, video games can build up aggression, especially competitive and tense games. People who cannot control aggression as well as others may release this on someone else in the form of violence. This answer isn’t ‘yes’, ’cause it’s really saying that video games have the potential to aid someone to commit violence, but that only happens because the person can’t release that aggression well. They should learn how to control it and then return to playing games.
I went on to ask the same people, Is there such a thing as positive gaming? What can be taught with video games that is positive?
hello moto: Some may say video games are works of art, they can tell a story like a book, can teach you, they inspire you to do great [things]. Positive gaming is playing for a few hours and getting something useful out of it.
Highway Chile: You’ve got the basics like hand-eye co-ordination. Then you’ve got examples that can be learnt from some games. This is quite a wierd one…but stuff like Gran Turismo and rFactor, etc., could in a way show you how simple it is to become involved in a motoring accident when you don’t concentrate. There’s those sort of lessons that can be learned.
Jet_Porkins: The physical perception developments could go without saying, such as hand-eye coordination. [Games have] put me around computers a lot, which increased my typing skill, which vastly helped give me the job I have today (typing lectures for deaf students at my university). Online, they can be great social networking devices. I will always have my fond memories of Deathmatch Classic, going into the only server I would join, every day, because the people were very fun to be around. Same goes for several others: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Star Wars Galaxies. Others have given me a more historical edge than an average high school student, as a result of the many WWII shooters, Vietnam shooters….
Dinnesch: A good way to spend time, pretty much the only thing I do aside from playing guitar. Sandbox games like GTA are great to release frustration.
Nicholas Michetti: Yes, there are such things as positive gaming. First of all, there’s most obviously edutainment, [via] consoles such as Leap Frog. Kids are being taught basic english and math skills through games themed after their favorite characters. It’s also said that people who play video games tend to have better problem-solving skills. They’re also more likely to be team players and are more careful with risk taking. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7912743/. There was also research done that says Tetris leads to a more efficient brain. Source: http://blogs.discovermagazine….ker-brain/. There are positive effects of playing video games, most definitely. Unfortunately, those positive effects don’t always get the attention that they deserve.
Spencer Gregory: Gaming is a positive side to my life every day, except when I’m stuck on a tough level that I cannot beat. That is more disappointing than positive. Nevertheless, once I finally overcome the stopping point, I feel tremendously positive. This happened to me yesterday while playing through the StarCraft campaign. I was on a roll throughout the Terran campaign until the last mission of their story arc. I finished the previous levels on my first try without any problems, but this one was beating me down. I tried and tried again, over and over. At least five times I restarted. Finally, at 5:30 in the morning, in a state of sleep-deprived gaming brilliance, everything clicked and I knew exactly what to do. Mission Complete! It was a real triumph for me. After such an arduous victory, I was able to fall asleep proud of myself. Gaming can be positive in many ways, including boosts in confidence.
Nobody wants to blame the parents. There is some social stigma that says we cannot point a finger at a parent and say, “Hey, if you had provided a better home atmosphere for your child, maybe they wouldn’t have run away and become a hooker and later died of an STD.” We don’t want to think that. We want to say, “Oh, it’s the game, it’s the television show; it’s the radio and the books they read, it has nothing to do with all the things their parents should have taught them but didn’t bother.”
Does a video game truly make you violent or does it make a violent person more creative? If a young person is raised on violent games to teach them life lessons in place of correct parental guidance, who really is to blame?
Younger children are highly influenced by the environment that surrounds them, and this can include video games. A responsible parent shouldn’t let their kids play violent video games until they are old enough to understand the realities of violence. This is why the ESRB rating board was invented. That said, I also believe it is important to vocalize that games do cause happiness, tranquility, and a distraction from everyday life.
Please do me a favor: When you’re playing a game and you win or do something otherwise amazing, go high-five someone. Hug a loved one, help an old lady across the street. When someone stops you and asks, “Why you are in a such great mood?” tell them that video games make you do nice things.
Unfortunately, the media will never cover that story.