I can recall a time in my life when video games were much simpler, more archaic, more interesting and less violent. Not that violence in video games is a terrible thing, but too much of it can be overwhelming, of course. Still, where do we draw the line?
Video games today have no doubt left those simpler days behind by transforming into breathtaking masterpieces of digital artwork. At the same time, they developed what the critics of video games would claim is a deep, dark underbelly, known as - brace yourselves - graphic depictions of violence! Now, I know you must be shocked - I know I was.
I, too, found it hard to believe those game developers could produce such horrifically violent games as "Animal Crossing" and "The Sims."
Jokes aside, there is obviously a growing market for violent video games, with every developer trying to outperform the previous in his or her ability to portray violence as realistically as possible. Take a look at the latest "Grand Theft Auto" game, for instance, recently banned in various countries and mostly criticized not for violence - although it contains more than a barrelful of the stuff - but for displays of explicit sexual content which is only accessible through a patch that must be downloaded and installed.
Governments all across the world were up in arms over this one, banning the game from retail stores left and right.
Well, if you ask me, those game manufacturers had it coming. What, with making games that people enjoy and want to play! It's obviously the government's duty to protect the people from doing things they like to do, with or without displays of violence.
But wait, if that is true, then why is it still possible to access any type of violence we enjoy via television? Or why is the U.S. Army manufacturing an online video game, "America's Army," in which you take on the role of an American soldier and participate in missions where the object is to shoot and kill your opponents? And why can this game be picked up at your local recruiter's office or downloaded for free? Or why is it that we now find it appropriate to televise combat operations live to the public?
Is this just a matter of choosing the type of violence the government would like people to see?
If that's the case, my advice for the "Grand Theft Auto" team: Name the next installment in the series "Grand Theft Auto: Downtown Baghdad," and you will be sure to avoid all government involvement.
But let's not count the government out on this topic or its involvement in the game industry; it's making some significant contributions.
Recently, government offices from the Department of Defense and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as well as non-profit organizations, have begun funding projects to discover the positive affects that video games can have on children and young adults who are undergoing medical treatments, when the treatment is intertwined with a video-game-like experience.
Such a study into the healthy effects of video games recently took place at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In the study, patients who were undergoing muscular rehabilitation used the movement of their rehabilitation routine to control a race car around a racetrack, alleviating the anxiety and stress that the patient would normally experience during the exercise.
So, the point is, children and teenagers enjoy things that seem exciting, which might just happen to involve - in no particular order - sex, explosions, shiny things and violence.
Maybe once we reach a perfect utopia, we'll be able to settle the violence issue. But until that happens, we needn't worry about what kids like and want.
Shouldn't parents be looking after them anyway?
Write to Justin at jdwilliams2@bsu.edu
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