Are Video Games Pushing the Boundaries Too Far?
Posted: Thursday, November 19, 2009
by Derek Lee
I remember not too far in the distant past when video games were still in their infancy and it was a fun time to be had by all.
My first recollection is the famous “pong" game, batting a ball from one side of the screen to the other, simple rectangles at either end of the screen attempting to prevent a moving blob of pixels from getting past. Then as consoles advanced, the Atari brought us Space Invaders, Missile Command and many other now classic games. Uproar was caused by “Freeway", a game where the objective was to get a chicken across multiple lanes of traffic without getting killed. In the day this was about as violent as games got.
By now, the computer games industry was beginning to take off in a big way, along with advancements in technology.
Today, there is just about every conceivable type of game available on the market. Be it on a games console, computer or even mobile phone. But what is also happening is that computer games and reality are beginning to merge. Life like graphics, realistic characters and plots the mirror events in the real world, the two are closer than ever. In the next ten years or so, people will be able to fully submerge themselves into virtual reality, and this is where the problems really will begin.
Watch the news, and it is often seen that video games are blamed for violent acts, that games should be banned due to their content and realism. But what happens when it’s no longer possible to differentiate between a game and reality?
I myself play games regularly. I find picking up an AK-47 and shooting a few baddies quite a good way to get rid of stress, but that does not mean that I will then go out and actually carry it out and nor would 99.9% of the rest of the world’s population. The concern however is that 0.1%.
Is it necessary to control the content of computer games, especially to young children? Although there is a rating system on games, how many 8-17 year olds are given 18 rated games? Is this a cause of the breakdown in the fabric of society? That games like Grand theft auto, Call of duty and the many other games of a similar genre are being played by the young and impressionable who see nothing wrong with carrying out on the street what they first experience at home? Should parents be held to account for allowing their children to be exposed to such things? Or is it a case that society is evolving and this is just the natural order of things?
Whatever the answer, I believe that this is a debate that will continue for as long as computer games are played. But let’s not forget the days of the likes of Pac-man, being chased by ghosts, and the poor clunky graphics, ah the memories.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Derek. Great article. Thank you for writing this well-written piece. It is frightening to think what the effect of this games to individuals. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. ~Nenita~thank you
Hey Derek,Loved your article. Guess we're about the same age--I had a Speccy as a kid. My dream is to own a full sized Galaxian or Phoenix cabinet.If you want, you can checkout my own creation of Asteroids at: bigangrydogI liked the old games--you could play a quick game for 5 to 10 minutes without getting sucked in. I agree that the newer games are a different animal, but I've never gotten into them.Thank you for the comment. I shall check out the game in due course. I used to love the game but was never really good at it...now missile command, that was a different beast!!
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