Tom Hunt discusses the health factors involving heavily violent video games, and asks the question: at what age (or at any age) is this kind of media appropriate?
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Do you remember all those years ago when you wanted GTA: 2, but couldn’t persuade your parents, older sibling or that disturbing homeless guy who followed you home that one time to buy it for you? Well thank Mortal Kombat, Night Trap and Death Race 2000 for that charming memory because without their gruesome portrayal of hand-to-hand combat, assault and careless driving; the ESRB would have never been created. For those who aren’t in the known: the ESRB or Entertainment Software Rating Board was founded in 1994 to assign what age rating content should fall into. Basically what happens is: publishers send the ESRB a video of their most graphic content as well as explaining how said content relates to narrative structure of the game and other hidden elements. The ESRB then after reviewing the content in addition to studying demographics, will allocate an age restriction based on their findings. It’s a pretty solid plan to protect children from experiencing content that might upset them — even though thanks to the internet the idea of age restrictions is laughable at best, like a knee-high wicker fence caging an enraged tiger.
However, throughout the year’s violence acts and videogames have hauntingly linked in the mind of the media, and it seems like that fact isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Columbine Massacre, the Newtown shooting, even the semi-resent Channel 4 documentary detailing the shooting in Isla Vista by Elliot Rodger aka The Ultimate Gentlemen entitled: The Virgin Killer had a fleeting nod to the fact that Elliot played videogames. After shouting at the TV, and whoever had the misfortune to watch it with me, an idea popped into my head. Do we need some form of mental screening before individuals are eligible to buy videogames, watch a film, read a book? I know it sounds slightly Hitler–esque, but let me explain meine freunde.
Publishers send the ESRB a video of their most graphic content as well as explaining how said content relates to narrative structure of the game…The ESRB …will allocate an age restriction based on their findings. It’s a pretty solid plan to protect children from experiencing content that might upset them — even though thanks to the internet the idea of age restrictions is laughable at best, like a knee-high wicker fence caging an enraged tiger.
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There have been countless studies on content violence such as Dr Mario Vance, a psychological researcher at the Rapture Institute for headline-inspired science seven-year longitudinal study — which is the study repeating risk or health factors — which monitored the anger levels of more than a thousand volunteers from the gaming community. The results showed statistically significant increases in overall aggression and violent tendencies. Yet, that doesn’t necessarily mean that because someone has a visceral reaction to content, they’re going to act on it. Proving videogames make players irritated is like proving it was the dog that left the coiled poo on the carpet.
The media in all its faultless and magnificent wisdom has ingrained to the general public that if your son/daughter enjoys videogames, he/she will murder more people than the Black plague, ADIS and a psychologically deranged man wielding a mallet combined. So: every time some nut job goes on a rampage, the media latches onto whatever game that person may have been playing. Take Adam Lanza and his Black Ops Bunker dubbed by The Sun newspaperfor the soul reason that he played Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 — completely glossing over the fact that he partook a variety of games as most games do; such as Paper Mario, LEGO: Star Wars, Pikmin to name a few. Am I saying because he played Paper Mario that is no chance that videogames could have been the reason for his actions? No. In the same way the media shouldn’t have made the ‘connection’ between Black Ops 2 and the shootings. This is the difference between: Correlation and Causation.
The media’s statement that Black Ops 2 caused the shooting is an example of poor minded Causation. They say A — Black Ops 2 — is responsible for B – the shooting. However, I believe the shooting is an example of Correlation, as Correlation is used to study the statistical evidence for A resulting in B. To find the statistical likeliness of the shooting, we need to use some unpleasant math. First, we need to discover how many copies of Black Ops 2 were sold from the date of its release — November 12th 2012 — and the date of the shooting — December 14th 2012. According to VGChartz the number of units sold in the US between the week ending on November the 17th and the week ending on December the 15th was. As the shooting took place on December the 14th, we have to take away a days’ worth of sales away, which would be as Sunday is included in the next week’s sales, leaving us with to be subtracted from.
As we have our figure of units sold in the US, we next have to determine the number of people likely to own a console and a copy of Black Ops 2 in the area of the shooting. Sandy Hook Elementary is located in Newtown, which is in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The estimated population of Newtown as of the 2012 United States Census is The target market for most M rated games — I’m using the ESRB American Rating System as we are talking about American events — is normally 17 to 39 as the average age of an adult buying a game is 39. Using the 2000 census data, Newtown had of under the age of 18. Now, I understand that Black Ops 2 age rating is M and that allows 17 year-olds, but this census had the most accurate information I could find, and I could not for the life of me find any data starting from 17 and over. With that in mind, the number of people in Newtown that fit our target audience — 18 to 39 — is round Although that figure was taken when Newtown had a populous of, I think it’s a reasonably safe bet to assume that the percentages would stay roughly the same. of is of people who were legality able to purchase a copy and fit the target audience. Furthermore, taking into account that Black Ops 2 predominantly played by men and for every woman in Newtown there is men, the number of potential male players in the Newtown area would be — rounding up from.
Next, we take into account the number of Americans likely to own a gun. According to Fact Tank of Americans say that they — or someone in their household — owns a gun, of is possible gun owners.
Finally, as Adam Lanza was in therapy, we need to know how many Americans are receiving some form of mental assistance. Psych Central explains that in a 2004 poll, of adults received mental health treatment within two years of that year. Taking that percentage into account, we’re left with or 231 men in the Newtown area that fit the demographic to commit the shooting.
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It might seem utterly absurd that I went to all that trouble to fashion such a tawdry number that doesn’t actually help lessen the tragedy; but my point is that media outlets tend to make bold unsubstantiated statements when it comes to videogames and events such as this. I believe the fact the Adam Lanza was in therapy was a remarkably significant point that was entirely marginalised in all the coverage.
The Elliot Rodger press coverage had the same issue. Elliot Rodger who — for lack of a better word — was obsessed with the notion that sex was an impure “barbaric act”, but envied those “because I was unable to have it.” In fact, he detested what had become of World of Warcarft, and as he put it.
“WoW [World of Warcarft] no longer became a sanctuary where I could hide from the evils of the world, because the evils of the world had now followed me there. I saw people bragging online about their sexual experiences with girls… and they used the term “virgin” as an insult…”
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold — whilst not in any sort of therapy that I know of — displayed various signs of aggression, desolation and hilarious hairstyles. Once again, am I saying because someone’s in some form of therapy that is the undeniable reason for these attacks? No…ish.
It is the individual’s ability to differentiate what works in the context of a film, book or videogame and understand that what the medium is trying to put across isn’t necessarily right or even true.
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You see: It is the individual’s ability to differentiate what works in the context of a film, book or videogame and understand that what the medium is trying to put across isn’t necessarily right or even true. Individuals who are particularly impressionable become enveloped by a narrative or characters of a story, normally because there is an underlying reason they feel an absence of identity and therefore, must duplicate one from whomever they admire.
I honestly don’t believe that some form of elaborate mental test is the answer to this problem. What I do believe however, is if we want to have the freedom to walk into a shop and buy a game, or watch a movie involving gratuitous violence, we have to understand that the price of that freedom might be the occasional tragedy. I know that sounds heartless, and I’m in no way saying that a human life is worth a videogame — unless it’s Far Cry 4, Jesus Christ I want that game so bad I’d kill a thousand people for it — but to have this type of freedom, we have to take the bad with the good.
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Photo credit: RebeccaPollard/flickr