Political Issues in the Video

Game Industry: Violence

and Gaming
Alisdair Owens
 The Situation
 Video games receive a lot of negative
attention in the media.
 Particular emphasis on potential damage
to children.
 This presentation covers a history of
violent games, the case against them, and
the potential solutions to the perceived
problem.
 Death Race
 Arcade game based on the movie Death Race
2000.
 Released in 1976
 Gameplay involved running over ‘gremlins’.
 Early 80s
 Arcades wildly successful.
 Violent games considered a useful tool for
training children by the US army.
 First game linking sex and violence.
 Early 90s
 Games garner consistent public attention.
 Mortal Kombat causes congress-level
debate in the US.
 Massively ‘gory’ fatalities
 Less violent Nintendo version relatively
unpopular.
 Wolfenstein 3D banned in Germany for
Nazi references.
 Doom
 Late 90s-Current
 Columbine linked to Doom.
 Carmageddon
 Grand Theft Auto 1-3
 Adult games massively popular among
children.
 Sex/violence link.
 Manhunt linked to murder of a 14 year old
in the UK.
 The Situation
 Parents are worried that violent games
negatively impact their children.
 Some blame misbehaviour on games.
 Politicians and the media have picked up
on this concern, particularly in the light of
Columbine.
 Gamers blame parents for improper
supervision.
 Evidence
 Large body of evidence that links violent
games to short term aggression increases.
 Little hard evidence of this causing long
term violent tendencies.
 Largely theories based off work on other
types of media.
 The Problem
 Potential damage to children.
 Violent games clearly attract children.
 Disparity in SEGA/Nintendo MK sales.
 Games are clearly getting both more violent
and more realistic.
 Little legal regulation.
 Many parents unwilling/unable to
supervise children sufficiently.
 Solutions
 Greater parental education.
 Limited efficacy?
 Stronger regulation.
 ‘Chipping’ consoles.
 Differing regulations by country.
 Doesn’t solve the issue of multiple age groups
using the machine.
 Conclusion
 Violent games are not going away.
 Chipping consoles is inconvenient, and
may cause difficulties for manufacturers.
 Imperfect solution:
 Parental education
 Stronger legal regulation.