VG Violence/Bioshock Infinite (Jaclyn)

The four articles we read address the common conception that violence in video games promotes violent behavior in players. The main point made across the articles is that there is no proven correlation between violence in video games and violent behavior in the real world. Despite claims that VG violence increases aggression across younger generations, there is no adequate research to support these claims. After the Sandy Hook shooting, Obama requested that more research be done to determine the link between video games and gun violence, but this research did not find any significant link. For this reason, the Supreme Court did not allow California to ban violence in video games, suggesting that it was unconstitutional. One of the articles suggests that video games may increase people’s aggression, but so could any other form of media or exciting aspect of reality. Another article suggests that VG violence distorts children’s perceptions of what is an aggressive act, which may cause them to act more aggressively without realizing it. Overall, the articles suggest that more research needs to be done regarding VG violence in order to know the true effects of the games on their players before any action needs to be taken in regulating the violence .

One point that Jayce Wagner makes about the effect of media on people as a whole in her article “Violent video games make people violent. But so do pictures of snakes” is that “Media does not create appetites or behaviors, but it can attract people with certain appetites or behaviors for whom the experience may be a very different thing” (Wagner). I think this is a very interesting point. She argues that controversial genres in books, movies, and video games do not change the way people behave in any way, but people are attracted to these controversial genres because of traits that they already have. I had never thought about the effects of media this way before. I think this is a valid point but might not be entirely true. While I agree that people are drawn to certain subjects based on their interests, I think that media is very powerful and could cause somebody to adopt new behaviors.

Regarding VG violence, I think that my experience playing BioShock is a perfect example of how VG violence does not necessarily translate to aggressive behavior. While playing the game, I noticed blood, threats, and bombings, which startled me at first but did not provoke any aggressive behavior out of me. Because the game is first person, I think that once I get to the more violent scenes of the game I will feel like I am actually the one shooting people, but I don’t see how this would translate into any more aggressive behavior in real life, at least for me. I think a great point that one of the articles made was that although some of the people behind mass shootings have been players of violent video games, such as Call of Duty, they are only some of hundreds of thousands of players who have not had extreme actions like theirs. I think that violence in these cases comes from deeper psychological issues that are not necessarily related to video games, but I agree that more research needs to be done before any true conclusions can be made about the effects of VG violence.

Also with Bioshock, I am very confused about where the game is taking place. It seems like some sort of distopia and I think that the characters and set up have been very interesting so far, but I’m curious to learn about what the game is really about.

Posted on by Jaclyn Kemly
Categories: Uncategorized

5 Responses

  1. James Bachmann says:
    October 28, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    It is very true that more research is necessary if we ever want to make a claim that video game violence causes real world violence. I too found the quote about how only media attracts interesting because I had a similar line of thought as you, where I accepted as a partial truth. Yes, people are attracted to what they already lack, but that does not mean the media can not exert its own influences. As for BioShock, I actually distance myself more from the character once the shooting begins, instead of feeling more attached. Of course when decisions come around, that is when I tend to feel more attached to the character, other wise I tend to distance myself.

  2. Joseph Sterling says:
    October 28, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    While it is always good to gather more information before making a large legislative decision, no reputable study has found a concrete link between video games and violence, at least, not any more than every other form of media.
    I both agree and disagree with Jayce Wagner. I do believe that people are more attracted to things that they already like, but I also believe that people are changed by what they interact with.
    When it comes to Bioshock, I too did not feel like I was the one shooting the people (even if it is in self-defense most of the time), and I always feel like I have a certain amount of disconnect from my gaming avatars.
    As for where the game takes place, you’ll find out throughout the game, just look around.

  3. Micaela Willoughby says:
    October 28, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    I thought the point about violent videogames attracting those with violent tendencies (sorry for the rough paraphrasing there) was very interesting as well! It makes a lot of sense to me. Like sure, some violent people play violent videogames, but that could just be because that content attracts them in a way that it doesn’t attract the average player.
    Like, I really have been enjoying Bioshock so far. I like the powers, I like the melee ability, the shooting… but there’s way more that I like about it. I’m not just there for the violence! And I’m sure the majority of players feel the same way. The author of the last article, Jacobs, kind of disregarded the cathartic aspect of games in parenthesis… I think that was very premature on his part. There’s definitely a cathartic aspect of violent videogames that shouldn’t be ignored even when you’re arguing against them.

  4. Rachel Helbling says:
    October 28, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    I agree with what you said about bioshock infinite. Although there are violent aspects to the game and it is in first person, I did not feel any more aggressive before or after playing it. At first some of the violence in the game was a little bit shocking and unexpected to me. But then I remembered that it is just a game. I think that is an important idea to point out, that it is just a game. I think most people know that while playing and know that some of the stuff they are doing in the game isnt ok to do in real life. Overall, I agree with what most of the articles say and still think that playing violent video games does not correlate directly to more aggressive behavior in real life.

  5. Hyewon Hong says:
    October 29, 2018 at 10:26 am

    I mean, priming is a real thing which does influence peoples subconcious towards different actions but I doubt that it would be able to cause anyone to do anything that they werent already predisposed to do already. The main issue I have with these articles is basically the same as McGonigal, they bring up some interesting points but never seem to be able to come up with meaningful examples to corroborate their stories.