BA (Hons) Web Design
Hull School of Art and Design
The University of Lincoln
January 2011
PPD3 Ethics Essay: Consider the ethical and moral obligations of game design companies. Should game design companies be responsible for the behaviour of players of their games to any extent?
Intro:
For my ethics essay I am going to discuss whether games design companies should be taking responsibility for the behaviour of their players when they play their video game to any extent. I will be looking at the ethical point of view and the moral obligation point of view followed by my own argument as to what my opinion on the matter is.
The three subjects that I will discuss all relate to the behaviour of the person playing a video game, the first being a story from South Korea of a gentleman who played Starcraft for fifty hours straight with a limited amount of breaks and later passed away in hospital from exhaustion, the second subject being the story of six American teenagers who went on a Grand Theft Auto related rampage on members of the public, vandalizing anything that got within their sight and the third and final subject is a story of two young men who burst into an American school murdering thirteen people and wounding twenty-three before committing suicide shortly after.
South Korean man DIES from playing Starcraft
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4137782.stm
This subject is about a twenty-eight year old Asian man who played the game Starcraft for a total of fifty hours before collapsing and later dyeing in hospital. It was reported that he only had brief breaks from the game for short sleeps and toilet breaks, he also consumed very little food or drink during this time. This incident received mixed views from the nation, as South Korea usually view gamers like sport stars and gaming for hours and hours is really no surprise to people in the country.
Blizzard Entertainment are the company who created the game Starcraft and have had rave reviews for the game itself. This proves the game is very successful with a high user rate which with users who play the game for short periods of time have a much better way of playing the game and have more enjoyment. Players who play the game for a mass amount of time are to blame for bad health, as shown by the incident we are currently discussing.
Games are rather enjoyable when played and can become very addictive but the problem sometimes is that the user doesn't know when too quit. Games can give the user a whole new lease of life. Some people who are that into games, portray themselves as the actual computer character they are playing and often get that involved with thinking it is themselves it makes them become addicted. With games such as The Sims you can create your very own person with hairstyles, clothing, accessories and any other minor details, which users tend to take upon and don't usually portray their real human life self. This I feel makes the user a lot more happy and gives them a comfort that real life doesn't give them and this is a reason some people become fixed on games.
Games are not meant to be played for hour and hours, it is fair to say a lot of people who are big game enthusiasts may play games for a few hours straight a day but even that sort still revert to keeping up with the right health guidelines of taking regular breaks for food/drink and use of the lavatory.
The gamer has to be blamed if they cause any harm to themselves, as games usually always state to take regular breaks. In my opinion I would say that the man who played this game has something wrong with himself as someone who plays a game for fifty hours straight without eating/drinking etc must surely have something psychologically wrong with them. It is of their own responsibility to know when enough is enough and stop playing if they have any problems. Obviously this man from South Korea didn't realise that and this in my opinion is his own doing.
Six American teenagers cause GTA related crime
Source: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/84706-Police-Blame-Youth-Crime-Spree-On-GTA
This subject is about six American teenagers who ranged from the age of fourteen to eighteen who went on an apparent Grand Theft Auto game related crime. They mugged a man outside a newsagents, robbed a female motorist of her cigarettes and attacked a van with baseball bats and crowbars. The police department that arrested the teenagers had said they felt that the youngsters had an idea of relating their actions to the game GTA.
The police who dealt with this incident claimed that the attacks made by the six teenagers had a link to GTA as the weapons they used related to ones in the game i.e. baseball bat, crowbar etc. This isn't necessarily true as any human who would do a related attack like that of GTA, would surely be a bit more twisted and not just revert to using hand combat weapons. This attack is a disturbing occurrence but a lot of other incidents in the world have been worse. This incident sounds like a set of youngsters who are still learning the ways of life and still have the childish arrogance of a young teen, this can be avoided in later life once they realise they can't go around using harmful weapons on random members of the public. At a young age they wont receive much punishment but in later life if they were to act like this again then stern action would surely be acted upon.
Due to this I would say that GTA doesn't have any real responsibility for the players of its game. It clearly states on every GTA game package that this game should be played by people over the age of eighteen, this I would say makes for strange reason to accuse the teenagers as the people in question were aged between fourteen and eighteen respectively. This shows that security for selling games should be blamed if this incident was fully related to GTA.
In my opinion this incident has to be blamed on the youngsters as they are just genuine hooligans who only had one concern, and that was inflicting any physical pain on innocent members of the public. I feel that GTA shouldn't be blamed even if they got the idea off the game itself. I for one have played this game and I never have a thought in my mind to go out and act like an animal. So these youngsters should take full responsibility as GTA doesn't make you copy the game, the players follows what every their brain tells them so they must be psychologically harmed as games are just reality not real life.
Two men attack BRUTALLY attack school
Source: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723
This subject is about two young men called Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who brutally attacked a school in Colorado, America. They murdered thirteen and wounded twenty-three before later committing suicide. Reports say that the two men were influenced by the US army licensed game Doom, which US soldiers play on to learn how to kill effectively. A group which tracks internet hate groups found out that Harris had customized a version of Doom were he and a friend would have extra ammo and weapons, and the other people in the game had no way of defending themselves as they had no protection.
This subject is very disturbing as murdering/injuring people for fun who are defenceless is a very strange occurrence which you don't usually hear that often. Harris and Klebold must surely have planned this sort of action as given in evidence that they created a custom version of Doom themselves which had a very similar sort of story line to the one they committed in the real world.
The game Doom has been largely criticized by a lot of gaming critics for being to violent, having to much gore and satanic imagery. People have said that Doom has a lot of violence which can cause a lot of real life situations, which is the current subject we are discussing. Doom was classed as a game that US army licensed soldiers could play to gain better knowledge of how to kill. If this was the case, surely shouldn't the producers of Doom made the game only allowed for the US army. This comes back to the same argument that every game with violence had an age limit but no one abides by it.
In my opinion Doom is pushing the boundaries in a sense, for a very early released game to be that gory with the graphics that were about in that era is quite shocking but also the gamer should realise not to take these actions into the real world.
Conclusion:
My overall opinion on whether games design companies should be taking responsibility for the behaviour of their players when they play their video game to any extent is that the player of the game should take most the responsibility. I can back this up as I have played such games as GTA, Doom etc. All very violent games but none of these games have ever made me once want to commit to doing anything that has been shown in the game. I have to say that Doom is far too gory in my opinion for a game which came out in the nineties as the graphics then were none to shabby and it was just gory moments throughout the game.
Also relating to the first story of the player who didn't take enough breaks to be classed as healthy is also very silly as I have played Metal Gear Solid 4. This game has a round about time limit of three hours for each area of the game, once you complete this you have to install the next part, but whilst you are waiting it gives you countless reminders to take a break, not sit to close to the screen and also sitting in a well lit room. These guidelines should be followed and this also backs my argument up that gamers should take the responsibility and not the games company as it is of good knowledge that you only play a game for a few hours at a time with regular breaks.
Games companies have some role to play when it comes to making sure their game fits the right guidelines and doesn't cause any harm to the player, but sometimes this doesn't happen as shown by the stories listed above. Most of the time people view games as being an enjoyable experience whether you are alone or with a friend and this is how it should stay, but sometimes people who have psychological problems do not see it that way and this then turns them into thinking the game is reality. Games are for enjoyment but people with difficulties should be notified before playing the game.
Bibliography:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6943835.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4137782.stm
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/84706-Police-Blame-Youth-Crime-Spree-On-GTA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Harris_and_Dylan_Klebold
http://www.konami.co.uk/
http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/index.html
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Video Game)
