Ethics are the science of moral values in human conduct. There is a lot of ethical issues in the video games industry when it comes to violence, addiction and stereotyping, but Video games are certainly not all bad. It is mainly the gamer’s responsibility to be aware of the issues, but designers and publishers should also make an effort to keep to PEGI’s guidelines.
Violence: There are many games (some with a very graphic cinematic style) that contain strong violent acts as well as other content related to violence, many people would be believe that this can badly affect people who play these kind of games and potentially make them become more violent in real life. There are certain cases that have occurred that have been linked to video games, but by the amount of videogame players to the crimes that have occurred there is no real case to warrant an attack saying that “all videogames are bad”. One case of this was attorney Jack Thompson who filed several lawsuits against video game companies who made games of a violent nature, all of which were dropped.
PEGI Rating: Pan European Game Information (PEGI) is a video game content rating in Europe formed in April 2003. Its main goal is to inform the possible European consumer of any content that may be unsuitable for the age the consumer is, or the one they are buying for. Now more than thirty countries use this system and it is now a contractual device that game developers and publishers must follow. PEGI self-regulation is composed by five age categories and eight content descriptors that advise the suitability and content of a game for a certain age range based on the games content. The age rating does not indicate the difficulty of the game or the skill required to play it.
Education: For a while now there have been many investigations into how video games can help make learning fun and stimulating for a generation born into technology. Some schools have started using the popular DS game Brain Training as a starter in maths lessons, and use Wii Fit to start after school fitness clubs. There has even been research (using technology from Xbox Kinect) to test artificial intelligence in the education system. So although videogames may deter some kids from picking up a book, or having a go at a puzzle there is still some educational benefits found in the industry.
Stereotyping: In the videogames industry, especially in past times the main focus has been towards men, this has led a number of people to believe that this means videogames stereotype mainly against women. This is certainly true in some cases, like the popular (and extremely controversial) series Grand Theft Auto. In this game nearly all the woman are there to take part in either sex or violence, there is also a lot of racial sterotypes too, but I think what needs to be understood is that Videogames did not create these stereotypes. For one thing it is too young an industry, to have founded such a deep and real issue of society and I know this doesn’t mean it should be excused in videogames but if you look around stereotyping is everywhere. If you have ever watched an advert for a cleaning product, which gender is always showcasing it? Women. This could be interpreted as a stereotype against housewives. So even if some videogames are culprits f stereotyping they can hardly be the only one to be penalised for it.
Addiction: participating in an immense amount of time in video game play has caused people to be addicted to it. As a result, they lose valuable time within their communities and miss opportunities from other activities that could be more beneficial for them. There has even been some extreme cases in which people have become sop absorbed they die of starvation, or lack of blood circulation since they just can’t tear away from the screen. It is, in my opinion one of the more major issues out of all of them. This is because addiction is part of a human nature that cannot be ridden of, so that means that there is a chance for anyone who plays a videogame to become addicted.
Bibliography
http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/ - IP info
hawkip.com – IP Illustration
law.ed.ac.uk-Copyright image
en.wikipedia.org- Info
decodeunicode.org- Copyright and Trademark signs
reidsteel.aero- Patent Certificate
www.sloperama.com- Contractual Info
matnagger-mcnagger.blogspot.com- Gender Sign
jonchoo.blogspot.com- PEGI Signs
http://www.womeningames.com/- Info
bafta.org- Picture of Miyamoto-san
spong.com
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