Games and Violence

Is aggression and violence in games making the players take to violence in real life? Some old fashioned people would directly answer yes, without considering any evidence, simply because they don't like games and therefore would say anything degrading games. They would condemn violent games without taking a second look at them. Personally, I view violent first person shooter (FPS) games with distaste; they give me a headache and are not at all a means of relaxation and recreation, which is what a game means to me. But then, I'm not denying that they are recreational to others- they are.

Saying that violence in games makes the gamers naturally aggressive is going over the top though. Drawing a parallel, playing NFS should then make drivers reckless. However, this has never been raised as an issue. And it would have, if games mirrored reality. Even though road accidents are as common as a one rupee coin, no one blames games for them. Why? Because it's not the gamers who have a high likelihood of causing an accident. Indeed, with reflexes acquired from skilled driving in games, they may possibly have a better chance of averting a high speed disaster.

Therefore, blaming games for inciting violence is a very biased way of looking at the issue. Gamers know the difference between fantasy and reality. No one wants to play a game resembling real life- no one would possibly want to play a game where a sprite sits in class or office all day long and then comes home to do homework. No, thank you. It'd be more interesting to spend some time shooting down aliens on a console and then going back to the actual homework.

Games are merely an escape from reality; they allow us to immerse ourselves in a fantasy world. And violent games have their appeal because they are far removed from our peaceful daily life. Also, killing some noobs releases all the pent up tensions from a hard day of work, and makes us relaxed. Thus, these games are beneficial too!

That said, I don't like the amount of blood and gore in some games. It's a major turn-off for some people, especially girls. Here's when you see games mirror reality: the people who can't stand blood in a game can't stand the sight of it in RL too.

To sum up, to say that violence in games causes violence in real life is like saying playing contact sports causes aggression. If that were so, we'll all have to grow up playing tiddlywinks, and who knows, maybe boys will fall in love with barbie dolls too :-)