This site provided basic information about social problems merged with video gamers tendencies. It does raise some important issues about the effect of videogames in our society and status that may be useful for my Recommendation Report. It is a commercial site rather than an academic site, so it provides some internal opinions of the writer and from the public (it’s an open space) which are helpful but not 100% trustful. It does list some primary sources. In general, I would use this site in my research as an extra add, but I wouldn’t base all my paper on the information provided over here.…
Violent video games have been blamed for school shootings, increases in bullying, and violence toward women. Critics argue that these games desensitize players to violence, reward players for stimulating violence, and teach children that violence is an acceptable behavior. Although critics believe this to be true, there are some people who believe otherwise such as Roger Pilon, who expressed his thought and ideas on the matter in an article he wrote that appeared in the Denver Rocky Mountain News paper on May 9, 1999, entitled “The Blame Game”. In this article he elaborated on the issue of video-game creators being held liable for for the crime that are committed today especially among the youth, for example the Littleton tragedy. Pilon speaks on how not only video game makers, but the media in general all have the right to create and advertise whatever they want by way of the Constitution and the only person who should be blamed and punished for a crime is the direct person who committed the crime. This is revealed by way of the audience Pilon intends to reach through his article which is law enforcers, and parents of video game players all to say that its not the video games that is causing the crime but its the individual.…
Gaider spoke about the way that the public portrays gamers (“mostly children”) and the way that the industry views the same gamers (“teenage boys who want sexualised female characters”) (Wilde, 2012) but he reinforces the facts given by the ESA saying that women make up almost half of the consumer industry however, they’re under-represented in the medium itself. There are only a handful of strong…
As an article entitled “Women Are Prizes in Video Games—And That Should Bother You” by Damon Beres points out, women are often placed in the games just for the male consumers enjoyment. A common theme has come up within the games that after saving the woman or winning the game, their character gets rewarded with sex, a kiss, or the view of one of the female characters dressed in very little clothing. As Beres states, “It all reinforces the idea that men are supposed to -- even entitled to -- claim women after overcoming some challenge” (Beres). This seems to present one of the most dangerous issues with the video game industry’s lack of accurate depiction of women. It creates an idea that women’s bodies are objects and that they owe men their bodies if the men have been successful in defeating the “bad guys”. Again, women are not represented as strong or intelligent, they are rarely available as characters who can actually help win the game, instead they are there only to please or reward the success of the male…
Video gaming is the largest entertainment industry, with an estimated 1.2 billion people engaged worldwide. Whilst women represent 46% of gamers and female game creators are increasing, games are still predominately made by and for men. As a result, misogynistic and sexist representations of women are created in the interest of male fantasy that is reflected in both game context and game play. Throughout many video games a patriarchal culture of sexism is maintained, reinforced and normalised through the context, stereotypical character representations, online bullying and harassment. This culture of sexism is, however being challenged by gamers and game developers in a way that is liberating and empowering to women in the gaming sphere.…
Video games have been rising in popularity and today has become a very profitable industry, beginning with the 1980s, from arcade classics like Asteroids, pinball, and Pac-Man to the postmodern console and computer gaming. (Sherman 243) With the rise of video games came the perpetuation of a gender disparity as a result of the emerged gaming culture and from the video games themselves. (Sherman 245) This gender disparity is evident from looking at the female gamers, who often experience sexism from male gamers and apparent in the production of video game characters and how female characters can be subjected to over-sexualization and objectification by the developers. Video games have often been considered something “men/boys do” and it is…
Dill, Karen, and Kathryn Thill. "Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People 's Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions." Sex Roles (2007): 851-64. Print.…
Video game consoles have made their way into the households and hearts of millions of people all around the world. New games of all different genres are continually being produced and bought by consumers from every inch of the globe, only becoming more popular as time goes on. Throughout the past couple of years technology as a whole has been on a drastic up rise. With continuous breakthroughs in the technological field the video game industry has been able to flourish into its current state. Companies now days are able to produce more and more realistic like gaming experiences. These life-like graphics and visual effects put the gamer right in the action, bringing joy to many while enraging numerous others. The way in which one views and understands the game’s contents is the way in which one perceives the video game. More often than not parents, who do not play video games, tend to focus on the negative aspects of the game, namely violence. The parents who are buying the video games for their children see only the cruelty and disgusting features making up only part of the whole. Most avid gamers would agree with the above statement, arguing the blood and gore is just a small part of the many aspects of some video games that complement the other components such as graphic quality and plot. The way in which one perceives an individual video game more often than not depends on whether or not the person is a gamer. The way in which some people perceive video games angers me because it seems as though they are over looking the big picture and viewing the game with a pessimistic point of view. By doing this, those people are doing themselves and the creators of games an injustice.…
If there is a women in a video game she is in danger, or she is just there to fill up space. She is usually presented as weaker, less capable, and undesirable. According to the conclusions drawn by Berrin Beasley & Tracy Collins Standley women appeared in games less than characters of “indeterminate gender”. Which means there were more animals and aliens in video games than women for the top two consoles (Beasley and Standley). Women make up half of the world’s population, yet no one considered that it should be pretty often that they appear in the game world. The easy fix for this is to create more women in video games. Yet, game designers avoid putting women in games and when they are in a game they are made as second rate. In reference to video games Beasley and Standley’s studies showed that, “Male participants reported less confidence in female physical capabilities, in comparison to male physical capabilities…” (Behm-Morawitz and Mastro). Males believed that females were not as capable as themselves because a video game did not present these two genders equally. If games have an effect on the way people view others, and we only represent women in a negative way in video games, what could the possible outcome…
Video games have always been a great landmark in the history of the human race and how great and advanced they’ve become since their creation. Video games also have their own timeline and certain points in time in which major controversy has arisen. Newscasters have made full reports on how video games are the major contributor to thoughts and actions of violence in the minds of all who have purchased them, either being adults and all the way down to children of all ages. Even though newscasters and reporters may be seen as respected and credible sources this topic has always pinned video games as the culprit but they were never the ones to blame.…
Therefore, a major concern is with video and computer games, and recent content analyses reveal that almost nine out of ten video games contain some form of violent content (ChildrenNow, 2001.) With findings like this, conclusions have been made that video games encourage sexism, violence and racism by conditioning children to view the real world the same way that the video game portrays it. This has ultimately led to the argument that children become more aggressive after playing such games. (e.g., Koop, 1982; Zimbardo, 1982) The social cognitive theory is based on the understanding that someone’s behavior is not only influenced by his or her environment, but personal reasoning, social interaction, and circumstantial factors all work together to generate specific behavior, resulting arguments such as aggressive video games causing violent…
No one else is free while others are oppressed”, states Martin L. King. It is an essential claim that women are oppressed. What is oppression? Oppression is the subjugation by one group to another group. By being oppressed you are being denied your human right to be an equal. Equality should not be an unattainable ideal that is only imagined in a far off place. Equality should be realistic and true. However, is equality just an unrealistic ideal for women in today’s society? To achieve a goal of equality, oppression has to be dealt with in the way we talk, the way we live, and the way we are taught. The treatment of women in today’s society is related to culture and the society we are living in. Only by taking a couple steps back can you see that…
There is no denial that Video Games play a big role in modern society. It is a fun and enjoyable activities which millions of people practice every day. The gaming industry is one of the fastest industry in the last decade and the attraction of video games toward the public is growing more and more powerful. According to Gartner, an economic research term, global video game sales reached $111.1 billion in 2015. In 2013, computer and video game companies posted strong overall sales in the United States, with revenues exceeding $21 billion as entertainment software companies delivered well-paying jobs and revenue to state and local economies across the nation. (Meulen, R. V., & Riverra, J. (2013, October 29). Gartner Says Worldwide Video Game…
For years people have blamed violent video games for violent behavior problems with white youth. In fact, many journalist compared young school mass shooters to how often they play a certain video game. In Karen Sternheimer's "Do Video Games Kill?” She discusses one game in particular, which is the video game “Doom”. “Doom” was a shooting video game “...released in 1993...”(214) and many politicians brought up “Doom” while discussing mass school shooters at the time. However these…
Another solution to this problem is to change the way creators make violent video games (McGrath 3). If the violence is justified in some way then it could be considered as morally acceptable (McGrath 4). Most violent video games are made so that the player for no particular reason murders and tortures innocent people (McGrath 4). This could be enhanced by making it morally correct like self defense (McGrath 4). There also should be a lesson learned at the same time showing how killing another human being is wrong (McGrath 4). The video game “Dishonored” is a wonderful example of a violent video game that does not force the player to kill. (Fergusen 6). The player plays as an assassin who has the choice to either kill or not to kill guards and kings in order to save his niece (Fergusen 6).If the player chooses the killing route, the bad ending to the game activates which sends the player’s…