Gaming Blog 2: Ban These Evil Games

Digital games receive bad press and people focus on the values that they believe the game demonstrates. According to Dr Spock, the only benefit of playing digital games is to help improve a child’s eye to hand co-ordination. He believes that games promote aggression and are a waste of time.

After the release of Manhunt in 2003, violence within digital games became a moral panic, especially after the case involving Warren Leblanc. It has been proved, however, that it had nothing to do with the digital game, so are games that evil? People may only believe they are as a result of moral panic and exaggerated media reporting.

Rhetoric persuasive language is present in anything which is being sold to the public. Brian Sutton-Smith, as cited in Salen and Zimmerman (2004, p.9) describes the use of rhetoric to “persuade others of the veracity and worthwhileness of their beliefs”. Rhetoric persuasive methods can be verbal, written, visual and behavioural.

Within digital games, there is rhetoric in the representations of the games i.e. advertising, and within the games themselves. This can be to convince the audience to purchase the game or to persuade their views and beliefs to be the same as the creators of the game.

In DOOM II, the objective is to shoot everything, emphasising combat and violence. It promotes the values that violence and weaponry is the solution to all and the rhetoric is that shooting things is ok. This relates back to digital games being viewed as evil, just because people play them does not mean they will become violent.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider has violence within the game because she kills people and creatures during her quest. The objective involves her travelling the world to find a certain object or artefact. There is puzzle solving to be able to get further in the game but also violence as Lara collects weapons and kills creatures such as dinosaurs, bears and people. It has the rhetoric that shooting things to get on and win is ok and using your brain also helps you progress. Although the game holds this view, it does not mean that people playing the game will become violent or more intelligent.

Playing digital games containing violence does not mean that person will become aggressive. The same can be said for games of expansion and acquisition such as Civilisation II, playing this game does not necessarily mean you will turn into a tyrant. The use of rhetoric in advertising and within the game itself is evident, but the attitudes it is trying to convey may only apply to the audience whilst they are playing the game. For example, Lara Croft promotes sexiness in advertising; people may feel sexy whilst playing it.


Bibliography

Salen, Katie and Zimmerman, Eric, (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, MA: MIT

http://www.gamestudies.org/0401/jarvinen/