Just playing –the ethics of digital gaming

Who is the artist/maker of the game
The maker of this game is the designer,Howell Ivy and the publisher,Exidy.

What is its name?
This game is called Death Race, the working title is " Pedestrians"

When was it produced/released?
It was produced in 1976.

Describe it in detail
For you, what is interesting/unusual/thought-provoking/aesthetically pleasing/puzzling about this artwork/website/game? [you may choose your own adjectives! These are just some suggestions]. Explain in detail.

This game is a thought-provoking one because it seems to be the first violent game to exist, it raised controversy at that time in U.S. The rules of playing this game is to control the on-screen car to hit the "gremlins" (which look like the stick men and also pedestrians). When  the players drive the on screen car to hit them, they will scream and replace by  the tombstones.These tombstones seem to be the obstacles which challenge the players for getting the higher scores.
It is thought-provoking because it is the first example to show the problem about the ethics of digital game.This game changes people's view on the nature of  video games. It seems that playing game is not for entertainment only, but also for people to break the rules and release their negative feeling.It is known that  many games in nowadays may be developed to satisfy humans desires about breaking the rules to do some illegal things.This is dangerous because these games really have psychological effects on the players which affect them to break the rules in the reality.

What key issue(s) or question(s) does this artwork/website/game raise? Explain these thoroughly, making use of quotations and paraphrases from your readings, and other examples, as appropriate

This game raises the problem of ethic in the society.It was blamed by the American parents as a "sick"game in the 1960s. Because the original title of this game is called " Pedestrians'.In this game, the "gremlins" look like human beings, it seems that  hitting those gremlins is like hitting the pedestrians.Thus, the latent message is evil and violent. Also, the "gremlins" will scream when your car hit them. This "scream" sound is so annoying and makes those children(who have played this game) feeling uncomfortable. Therefore, the society opposes this game as its evil hidden message. 'Death Race' is the first violent game that raises the problem of  the ethics of the video game in the society.



references:
“Death Race (video game).”Wikipedia . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Race_%28video_game%29 (accessed October 27, 2010).
http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=death-race&page=detail&id=3386
http://www.nerve.com/archived/blogs/the-ten-videogames-that-should-have-been-controversial-part-1
http://www.retrogamer.net/show_image.php?imageID=2833&page=1
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7541#ytplayer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLI6AQUMElo
http://www.roguesynapse.com/games/death_race.php