This Sunday there was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about violent video game ratings. I’ve been trying to pay attention to this topic since the Newton tragedy because I’m interested in how our society is processing and taking action on the events.
The author of the article, Benny Evangelista, provides information about how the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) reviews games and applies ratings. I didn’t know, for example, that raters sometimes base their rating on a publisher-supplied DVD of game highlights rather than playing the full game. I also didn’t know that the M-rated games (mature 17+) “tend to be the industry’s biggest revenue generators, and often the most highly advertised”. For this reason, publishers try to avoid an AO (adults only 18+) rating.
Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and Halo, are all titles with M ratings. If you are a parent who wants to understand more about violent video games, the industry, and the ratings, I’d recommend reading Benny’s article and the follow up commentary in the Chronicle, for starters.
Meanwhile, the Game Developer’s Conference is taking place this week in San Francisco. I decided to take a look at the agenda, to see if any topics addressed the controversy over games and violence. I found one session called Scapegoats No More: Improving the Public Image of Games which will discuss “moral panic in light of recent events” and how game developers can overcome this with strategies to improve their reputation.
Really?
What about a session hosted by a panel of parents of children who play video games, who can offer insights and information about the pros and cons of violent games on child behavior and family life?
What about the same session, but instead of having three advocates of the industry on the panel, the GDC makes room for child development experts who have experience with the impact of gaming on children?
Whatever the case, I hope anyone attending Wednesday’s Scapegoat Session might consider speaking up for families who are concerned about the pervasiveness of popular violent content, and will let us know what the panel says in light of those concerns.
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ADDITION March 31st, Post GDC: Summary of the GDC session referenced above which offers some productive ideas from the panelists about highlighting games with social value: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-03-27-fixing-games-public-image-problem
Great post and point Lorraine. I just reviewed the sessions being offered and found them lacking any empathy for the “moral panic in light of recent events”
Very sad and disappointing.
The Newton shootings is not a “branding” issue for “games”. It is about children’s lives. Game developers need educate themselves and take a look at what violent games do to kids.
Thanks for weighing in Alesha. I do understand that not all games are violent nor should an industry be “blamed” for such a complex event. But I don’t think it’s an outlandish assumption to for most to agree that our culture has a violence problem, and that we might all be better off if contributors to this culture held discussions about right from wrong, or what makes up good moral choices vs. bad moral choices, rather than deflect the issue to PR strategies.
Great post, thanks for directing me to the article and commentary. There is such a knee-jerk reaction from the games industry to come out immediately and say there is no correlation between violent games and violent kids. Then you talk to real parents and you hear otherwise.
The violent video game industry is thriving, it’s huge, and the people they target (young men) get sucked into these games and are very loyal and (dare i say) addicted. When there is any threat of the games being taken away or labeled as bad or dangerous, there is an amazing amount of defensiveness from the industry and the players themselves.
So the question for me becomes: why? why do we need these games to be so violent? why do we have to let kids play them?
what good are these games for our culture? are there better types of games we could be designing? there are a lot of amazing, non-violent games out there, but its not what seems to sell or what the industry cares to put their resources behind.
Hi Michelangelo. Good questions, same ones on my mind. The underbelly sells, I guess. Ironically though, there are so many harsh problems facing us to make video games plenty exciting: poverty, climate change, dreadful education budgets, toxic algae. Let’s put those in a video game, with plenty of lessons. I’m sure those narratives won’t lack for challenge and complexity.
I guess I am giving away my age by saying that all of the video games in the arcade when I was young seemed to be shooting, eating, or blowing up something. When I was in college everyone was playing doom in the computer labs. We do not allow our boys to play shooter games yet they are still very young and fortunately there are so many great education apps. Still Censorship is censorship and though none of those games on the market are my taste I do not think games should be banned. I like ratings and believe Parents need to be involved. If a child is in the basement until three am playing violent video games I do not think the game company is totally to blame.
Hi Susan. Yes, arcade games seem to have had a common theme for eons: blowing something up. I wonder why has always been a common theme, and think to myself what is so fun about blowing stuff up. If researchers have asked the questions, I’d be interested to read the results.
But the issue here is not about censorship. I think many of us agree that limiting first amendment rights is not the answer. The answer I hope starts with asking honest questions about games, their attraction, their appeal, and their effects. And then packaging and marketing these games with rating systems that parents have had an opportunity to evaluate.
Here is a summary of the GDC conference session that I think was written in a fairly balanced manner, by Brendan Sinclair http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-03-27-fixing-games-public-image-problem
I definitely think that bolstering games with social value could be productive (comments by Ian Bogost). As a parent, I’d like to know that the “culture of gaming” isn’t driven by violence alone, but by all sorts of contexts that can also include education and social responsibility.
Thank you for pointing out that article. (I saw your tweet 🙂 )
The first thing I thought about the image problem is the media problem. Yesterday we downloaded a PS3 Move dancing game that the whole family could play. Our boys thought my my husband and I were hilarious (and we were). Perhaps if the media spent more time focusing on all of the good that is out there and not the bad the landscape would not seem to be entirely polluted with adult themed games. Although everyone in the MWA bubble is well aware of fun math, puzzle, dance, and art games how nice if the media at large portrayed that image of the the video game industry.