|
|
PDZero.com
PDZero.com Forums
|
Column > Violence in Videogames
|
|
|
Nowadays, a lot is made of the substancial amount of the red stuff shown in our video games. Many parents take a standpoint that evidently, since we see the ketchup being spilt all over our monitors and TV's that we will all become obsessed with destroying every human life in our direct vicinity. I believe this not to be the case. The next generation of children will inevitably grow up with somewhat of a bloodlust. But it's always been there. Every since the first caveman went out and clobbered his neighbourly mammoth, violence has been a key in human evolution. It's what made us different from the other animals. We don't just sit around and kill just what needs to be killed, we kill anything. This aids computer games because of the virtual aspects of it.
Yes, we can kill, maim, destroy anything, but surely anyone can see it is much better to blow a hole through a collection of polygons than to actually go out and prove the theory works in real life. This digital entertainment is a replacement for physical violence. A lot of people say it encourages us to harm our fellow man. But instead we are harming representations, who have no feelings or personalities. This is infinately better. Were we to go about doing harm to others, I would have to reconsider my views. But if everyone is inside being a social recluse, playing games and getting that perfect head-shot technique, or trying to get one more record on Track and Field, they can't be out breaking the law.
There are many games that feature gratuitous violence. Grand Theft Auto gained much media hype for being completely about living a life of crime. After all the hype died down, and many people actually played it, the truth came through. The game was not really about shooting people. It wasn't about breaking into cars. It was about escaping into another world. Doing things we know we can't do. This was initially introduced with television. Violent films usually get bad press, but collect higher accolades at later dates. When James Bond tears around a city street in his BMW, we daren't imitate. When Hulk Hogan kicks someone in the face, we know it's purely for entertainment purposes. The thing everyone realises is that it isn't real. We know after a man gets thrown from a building on TV that he'll get up and walk away, but we also realise that in real life, you won't. Video Games and Television are both methods of escape. We use them to forfill needs for adrenaline, for action. No-one criticises snowboarders or bungee jumpers because they try to get a quick thrill.
Every new generation has a new "thing". When television came out oh so many years ago, the older members of the public went almost in arms against this box they couldn't understand. I bet even Mr and Mrs Ug's grandparents were angry at the wheel, because they didn't understand it. If we took the time to convince the sceptics that these small boxes of electronics will in no way harm them. Maybe they would be accepted. Almost every household has a console sitting near the television and as soon as the next generations come about, video games will be totally acceptable. People just can't understand these "gadgets", People are afraid of things they don't understand. Therefore they try to get the things they are scared of removed, even at the expense of their childrens entertainment.
Just like the wheel, just like electricity, just like television. Video games will eventually worm their way into our homes. Being seen for the entertainment devices they are. Not as the boxes of pent-up frustration that will be the downfall of the human race and some believe. They are just a way to forfill our wildest dreams, come that little bit closer to achieving them. Is it right to try and take that away?
Cook Train- August, 2001
|
|
-
|
