Just playing - the ethics of videogames (presentation)

Case study: Death Race ( violent game) 

Platform: Arcade

Publisher: Exidy, 1976

Developer: Exidy  

Death Race, originally named 「Pedestrian 「 The first video game to inspire a great deal of protest and controversy in the United States the first person to put stick figures – a representation of a human being – on the screen and let you do something nasty to them --> arose ethical issue

How to play…

 










This game featured the player as an automobile driver whose goal was to run over screaming 「gremlins」 (「gremlins」 the design team called them) , transforming them into tombstones.

Whoever has run over the most gremlins by the end of the timed game wins.

right or wrong ? -----DEATH RACE

normative ethics (another school of philosophy ) suggests that something is considered immoral or un-ethical if it falls outside the boundaries set by a particular set of rules or codes (i.e., a norm, derived from a given ethical theory)

 According to a philosopher ,Ryan Reynolds
 Does the game have a negative impact on an individual, or society as a whole ?
 Does the game violate any rights or responsibilities?
 Does playing the game make you a bad person?

 Answer :   more harm than benefits -----Death Race ( violent game)

 benefits:   for fun , relieving stress

Negative impacts on an individual or society----DEATH RACE -- run over Pedestrian

For individual : 

violent video games  as catalysts for violent acts

 any relationship between violent video games (and other forms of violent media) and violent behavior is correlational  but not causal (Pinker, 2002)

 「violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because of the interactive nature of the games」

 place the players in the role of aggressor

(One or two players control an on-screen with a steering wheel and

an acceleration pedal, The goal was to run over stick-figure skeletons)

 è then reward themè increase accessibility of aggressive thoughts 

「the catalyst model」

「individuals who have an aggressive personality are more likely to engage in violent behavior during times of environmental strain(i.e., family violence and media violence exposure).Thus, although the environment does not cause violence propensity, times of stress may act as catalysts for violent acts for an individual already prone to them.」  (FERGUSON , RUEDA , CRUZ, FERGUSON, FRITZ ,SMITH ,2008)

 violent video games decrease players』 tendencies toward positive behaviors

~isn』t doing something more productive
~ like learning a new hobby, getting exercise, doing homework, or spending time with the family
~ e.g. affect students 『grades negatively by displacing time spent in other educational and social activities.

For society:

「Computer games …. relate to players who like to explore morals and actions forbidden in society. 「(Sicart,2009)

Break the traffic law-->run over pedestrians at top speed
kill people--> illegal

A safety consultant for the Automobile Club complains that it teaches the opposite skill of evading collisions.

Reuters recently did a report on a British study that claims people who play racing games immediately before driving are more likely to be reckless and aggressive on the road.

the intent of the game was to promote violence
--> a platform to violate the rules

Unethical  game ----Death race

Its violence was abstract in both audio and video

looking completely inoffensive compared to modern standards

 An important case study about violent game 

~shows the change of ethic (compared to modern standards )
~because I』ve seen so much more, and so much worse.」 a game player said
~"Each person's definition of what is ethical changes.「 Jason Della Rocca , the program director of the International Game Developers Association said.

References

1.MacIsaac, Jason . 「A Collision With History」The Electric playground,

 entry posted March 05, 2007, http://www.elecplay.com/feature/11427 (accessed November 24, 2010)

2.   Dang, Jimmy, Lee, Jin and Nguyen, Chau. 「 Playing With Ethics: Video Game Controversy」,

http://www.ethicapublishing.com/ethical/3CH12.pdf (accessed November 22, 2010)

3.  Reynolds, Ryan . 「Playing a "Good" Game: A Philosophical Approach to Understanding the Morality of Games」 IGDA,

entry posted June ,2002, http://archives.igda.org/articles/rreynolds_ethics.php (accessed November 22, 2010)

4.  Good, Owen .」Death Race Remake Recalls First Violent Game Controversy」 Kotaku Australia ,

 entry posted  August 3, 2008, http://www.kotaku.com.au/2008/08/death_race_remake_recalls_first_violent_game_controversy-2/ (accessed November 21, 2010)

5.  「Death Race (video game)」 Wikipedia,

 entry posted November8, 2010, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Race_%28video_game%29(accessed November 20,2010)

6.   Shawn and Matt 「 Video Games, Moral or Immoral 「High School Journalism,

 entry posted  June 02, 2010 , http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/schoolid/1371/articleid/365069/newspaperid/1347/Video_Games_Moral_or_Immoral.aspx (accessed November 22, 2010)