Are video games evil? Well, clearly not all games are evil, or even bad. For example one could hardly say that games such as Madden 2006 or FIFA 2006 bring out the evil side in a person. However, there are games that can promote a sense of evilness. In class we looked at the effect Manhunt has had in the world, even being banned in a few countries. Personally I have never played Manhunt so it would be wrong for me to comment on this, however I believe that a similar game could be Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In GTA, the aim is to rise to the top of the criminal world by completing missions in which you usually have to kill a lot of people or collect drugs or other gang members. This can be portrayed as being an evil game due to the amount of violence that it appears to promote.
Which leads me to rhetoric. Rhetoric is 'generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral or written language' (Wikipedia). But how can we relate this to digital games? We can do this both in the representation of games and from within the games themselves.
Representations of games vary greatly, from a generalised view of games being eithe
r good or bad, to representations of individual games. For example, reading a small article in 'The Sun' newspaper titles 'Gamers in speed rap' contradicts itself by stating in the the first paragraph that 'A third of boy-racer drivers admit they go faster after playing games consoles'. However, in the final paragraph of four paragraphs the article says that 'Thirty-four per cent of 1,000 people polled thought regular gaming helped their real driving. Fifty four per cent of them said they passed their test first time.' This leaves the reader with a mixed message about gaming - are we being told it is a good or bad thing?! Usually the press gives a very one sided view of games, for example we were shown in class an article from the 'Daily Mail' front page article - 'Ban these evil games', a very bold and blunt statement. That article clearly used rhetoric through its choices of words and apparent scientific backing.
r good or bad, to representations of individual games. For example, reading a small article in 'The Sun' newspaper titles 'Gamers in speed rap' contradicts itself by stating in the the first paragraph that 'A third of boy-racer drivers admit they go faster after playing games consoles'. However, in the final paragraph of four paragraphs the article says that 'Thirty-four per cent of 1,000 people polled thought regular gaming helped their real driving. Fifty four per cent of them said they passed their test first time.' This leaves the reader with a mixed message about gaming - are we being told it is a good or bad thing?! Usually the press gives a very one sided view of games, for example we were shown in class an article from the 'Daily Mail' front page article - 'Ban these evil games', a very bold and blunt statement. That article clearly used rhetoric through its choices of words and apparent scientific backing.Rhetoric can also be applied from within the games themselves by showing the games individual values, for example Civilization II holds values that you should conquer the world and destroy those that get in your way, however Civ. II also has the ability to allow you to create world peace and live in harmony with your neighbours, but this is made hard to do, especially after speaking to your military advisor who is sure to tell you to get fighting!
While reading an online text written by Chris Suellentrop an interesting fact came up, and one which would put down the 'haters' of digital gaming:
'Those who assume that video-game players are a bloodthirsty lot might be surprised to learn that of last year’s 10 best-selling games for the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, not one was a shoot-’em-up.'
An interesting point, but still the fact remains that 'despite their popularity, video games remain, in the opinion of many (particularly those who don’t play them), brainless or, worse, brain-destroying candy.'
Suellentrop, C. (2006) Are Video Games Evil? [online] Retrieved 03/03/07 from: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=193155
The Sun (2nd March 2007) Page 25 - Gamers in speed rap.
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