How do Video Games change The Teenage Society?
Video games are advanced graphic based images that can allow a person to control any character or object in a setting. They usually have a storyline and an environment that has missions to fulfill. With technology and future upgrades in command, video games have become a system which many people have experienced.
Throughout the modern age, video games have always set forth a nerve wrecking standard in changing society. Today many companies such as Microsoft, Sony, and Sega, have targeted teenagers for there relentless addiction to video games. Video games have somehow changed the minds of teenagers. It can be said that since there minds have changed through gaming, society has changed as well. With teenagers holding a key part to society, video games have encouraged immoral and unethical modes of life for today’s future leaders.
As society in the modern era grows, many teenagers have used video games as a way handling their emotional problems. As emotions run high in every teenager’s life, video games have provided a sanctuary for their rough peer pressure "games". As video games become a time consuming weapon to a teenager, things can definitely change inside and out. According to Mark Wolf and Bernard Rerun in The Video Game Theory Reader, one of the authors have stated that:
I have just suggested a typology of simulation rules (manipulation rules, goal rules, and meta-rules) that can help us to better understand how the designer’s agenda can slip into the game’s inner laws. However, this typology is not exhaustive and could certainly be expanded (for example, by analyzing the ideological role of the interface rules or by examining the nuances between games which have both winning and losing scenarios and those where you can only lose). (233)
It can be clearly seen that video games can definitely change the minds of every teenager with their storyline. Mark and Bernard have stated that when a teenager plays a game, he or she will try to finish the game and complete it to the very end. When this happens, they become so hooked on the game that they tend to lose control of themselves and as a result, become the game’s “inner laws”. This means that they memorize every single move, level, and secret of the game. This can only harm a person, not help them.
Video games have truly changed teenagers in society with there emotional behaviors. When they become hooked to the video game, they lose focus in their school work and other important responsibilities. They also tend to ignore there friends and family while they need them the most. As video games become a part of their lives, they get very hostile and very deceptive. When they become the game itself, teenagers can obviously ignore any type of responsibility because of the game’s goals. As the games become more and more dramatic in a teenagers’ life, things start to get really absurd and therefore end in a flash.
Video games have been known to cause serious mental problems due to their violent nature. Video games like Halo, Grand Theft Auto and many more, have established a violent way of handling problems. This is meant by shooting and cutting in a sense of violence. As stated by Bill France in his article for The Herald, "Violent Video Games Are Training Children To Kill", Bill clearly specifies that "if a parent wanted their children to develop attitudes like Gary Ridgeway, the confessed killer of at least 48 women, these games might provide a good training ground" (1) Ridgeway clearly explains that video games can change a teenager to become violent. By practicing killing people in the games, teenagers all over can become lethal assassins in society. Bill also points out that:
Ridgeway remembers where he dumped the bodies, how he planned his killings and tricked people into his traps, the description of his many cars, and the floor plans of his several homes. He doesn’t remember the faces or names of the 48 victims he admitted killing. He killed only women. He killed no men, he said, ‘cause they didn’t give no sexual gratification to me.’(2)
Bill clearly describes the nature of which he got his killing spree. By practicing killing other women, both in video games and in real life, he had become one of the most notorious killers in the country. This is what video games do when they get intact with teenagers. As they struggle with life, they take out there anger on the video games.
When teenagers become too settled in with the killing games, they tend to think that it is the right thing to do. When they face a real situation, anytime someone gets them angry, they might kill the person and end up feeling good about. As a result of this, video games have become the base of all internal emotions and fueled the power of every teenager. Video games have no doubt changed society through killing spree because they help initiate the killing sprees in the first place. As soon as someone becomes more attached to video games, society will face another threat to the human race. This would begin with every teenager who owns a system and plays video games for there free time.
To the much acclaimed killing sprees of video games and the mentality of the video games to teenagers, many games have also disrupted the social races of many ethnic groups. This is a new world of video gaming. As video games become more dynamic and more enhanced, they tend to become more and more real and relate to real life situations. According to Eugene Provenzo in The Ultimate History of Video Games, by Steven L. Kent, Provenzo described that:
In interviews with children, what I found was that they talked about ninjas as being bad. Then you asked them about who ninjas were, and they were sort of like the Japs and the Chinese. It turns out that they perceive Asians, any Asians, as being extremely violent, as being dangerous, as being evil. It is operating at a very basic level and at times simplistic. It carries over in to other areas as well. There are depictions, I believe, although it is hard to prove, but my perception of homophobia operating in terms of how certain types of women are portrayed. (472)
Provenzo explained very rationally that video games have encouraged teenagers and many others in society to disrespect ethnic races. He claimed that by playing games that fight against ninjas, you were assuming the fact that all East Asian based citizens are bad, sub-conciously. With the direct knowledge of video games in today’s society, many teenagers alike have grown to know that disrespecting others for there race is inhumane.
Video Games have a very huge impact on teenage society through sex and other provocative themes. When video games become more and more addicting through there complex levels, many of the real life situations would actually come in to play. Video games change society through sex and drugs by igniting a whole new world for the feeble minds of teenagers. To determine this, many companies have witnessed the fact that many of their top rivals sell sex and drugs on there advertisements in order to gain profits for there merchandise.
Society can definitely change because with the teenage population playing video games all the time, many of them would see what sex can do a how it would affect the minds of future makers of the world. Based on an article from Paul Hyman, a reporter for "The Hollywood Reporter", Hyman explains that:
My hope is that there will be continued growth of the independence
game industry which will develop more experimental games that will probably be sold through online distribution. How many of them will contain so-called normal content and how many adult content remains to be seen. But one thing is clear. The public perception of games is currently very fragile and it’s very important for those who have influence in altering the public’s opinion to send out the right messages. One of those messages is that games aren’t necessarily for kids. A message I think we don’t want to send out right now is, hey, stand back… we’re rolling out the sex games. The industry doesn’t need that right now. (3)
It can be seen that Hyman has demonstrated what the video game industry wants and what the teenage society needs. He quotes that "the public perception of games is currently very fragile." Hyman describes that since the public is need for video games with sex and drugs, most teenagers would do anything to get there hands on the game. He also says that since there minds are weak, they can be easily fooled by anything described or shown in the game. It has been clearly proven through the murders of 48 women, and the mental illnesses of every teenager.
For most cases, many small time video games have a huge amount of disruptiveness inside of them. Throughout the video game industry, games such Super Mario bros and The Legend of Zelda, have demonstrated a need for violence. Teenagers of all ages play these games because of what they are and how complicated they become. No matter how childish these video games seem, any video game can change a teenager if it has some type violence. Therefore, if these simple games have violence inside of them, what happens if most of these simple games involve violence and the evolution of one character throughout the entire game? Not only would this change the interface of the teenager but it would definitely change the mind of a teenager by changing his principles and his method of living.
Many games like these have been created for this specific purpose. Games such as Fable and Prince of Persia have demonstrated a change of character throughout their complex levels. With the character changes during the game, any teenager would feel relieved that they have accomplished a great deal of evolution. With this in mind, any teenager would become fused with the ideals of evolution of a character. As stated by Dr. Kimberly M. Thompson and Kevin Haninger in the article "Violence in E-Rated Video Games", both authors conducted research and stated that:
We observed that each successive game in The Legend of Zelda series had progressively less violence and fewer deaths per minute; a less clear trend was demonstrated for the Super Mario Bros. series. One explanation that is consistent with our experience is that successive games in series may tend to involve more complexity in character development and engage the player in more exploration and discovery activities that will help him or achieve a goal. However, as console technology advances, this trend of less violence may be offset by the tendency for successive games to portray violence more graphically and more realistically. The limited evidence of these two series should not be over generalized. (3)
Both Thompson and Haninger have researched the fact that because of the reality of these games, many teenagers and other video gamers might face the power of manipulation. Video games have no doubt change teenage society through the evolution of the characters in the games because many teenagers would inherit the characters traits and status level. Only time can tell if any video game can change a teenager completely just by playing it the first time.
Video games have very much been enhanced throughout the years. They have changed society with the most suppressive games and codes. With all the controversy around games being violent and nerve wrecking, no game has ever tested the ethics of a teenager or any other person in society through the stroyline. Based on the poetics of Aristotle himself, video games have been known to be based on the term of "ludus" and "paidia", (game and play). According to The Video Game Theory Reader, both Wolf and Rerron described that Aristotelianism is thriving in each of the games storyline. They described that there were only two ways of finishing the game, winning or losing. They claim that:
Ludus is the simulational structure of choice for modernist simauthors: these designers have moral certitudes (Mario is good, the monsters are bad). Clearly defined goals do not generally leave much room neither for doubts nor for contesting that particular objective. Not surprisingly, all military games are ludus because they do not admit options that break its binary logic (friend or foe, dead or alive, with us or against us). Based on this, it would seem that paidia is a less modernist technique aimed at designers who have more doubts that certitudes. (231)
Video games have drastically changed with its newly founded ethical point of views. When a teenager plays a video game, he or she is exposed to the games storyline and the structure of the game. Based on Aristotle’s book of poetics, each game has a level of ethical manner inside of them. Both Wolf and Reeron have described that each game test’s the ability to see if you can shoot a person for money, do whatever it takes to win, or even demonstrate the differences between the good and the bad.
With these ethical methods by Aristotle, any video gamer can realize what have they accomplished and what they have to go through if they want the game so much. These methods have a definite effect on teenagers in society because it soundly explains the fact that it teaches them how to create crimes and become the worst felons in the history of the country. The three methods of Aristotle clearly portray the exuberance of what can happen to video gamers in society. As video games become more advanced within each passing year, every teenager will realize that video games can become a center for destruction.
Throughout the history of modern technology in society, video games have been the basis of many teenagers alike. By demonstrating their true potential in manipulating the minds of ordinary teenagers as a result, anyone can become a potential weapon towards society. However, it may seem that manipulating a person’s mind isn’t really hard. When you have a teenager who is really hooked on video games, all that is required is to compromise the game and develop a way in which the gamer can follow each and every other move. Although it may seem like a big deal, the only way to do it in the modern world is through technology such as video games.
By manipulating a teenager’s mind, society could very well change around them. It can start a chain reaction that would probably end up in another part of the world. Before you know it, once you control one person, you can control an army or a city all together. With that in mind, video games have definitely played a big role in society for the teenage era. Even though they have just been created and have become advanced in a short amount of time, they might have a longer lasting effect on society. The reason for this is that video games always leave a print inside someone. As proven by Aristotle, there is a "game" that is "played". The person who plays the game is the one who is the gamer. When someone plays a game, there is no doubt that the game will leave a mark in his mind due to the time spent and the complexity of the game. With the lasting effect in place, any teenager would realize that he or she is being controlled by the dimensions of the game and the game’s storyline. Only a true gamer knows how to control the game and the game’s innermost qualities.
Video games have conquered the minds of every teenager in this country. With the advancement of technology and the powers of the modern world, video games can easily change society through ordinary teenagers. Based on real life, any teenager could play a game. However, a video game can control a teenager because of its structure and storyline. With its ethics and its controlling ideas, any video game can operate on a feeble mind that is looking for time to squeeze.
With the world coming to a new era, society will forever be based on technology. Video games can easily control a teenager through its inner laws and its method of killing people and the way other s are treated. As video games become apart of teenager’s lives, most teenager’s would agree that video games have no effect on anyone. However, video games have created a massive regimen and an army of highly skilled warriors in the business world today. Video games have developed a way of ethical and prophetical destruction for society and for teenagers alike.
Works Cited List
France, Bill. "Violent Video Games are Training Children To Kill." The Herald.
28.3(2003): 3pp. Online. Internet. 25 November 2005. www.heraldnet.com
Haninger, Kevin, and Thompson, Kimberly. "Violence in E-Rated Video Games."
JAMA. 286.5(2001): 4pp. Online. Internet. 26 November 2005. www.kidsrisk.harvard.edu
Hyman, Paul. "Video Games Grow Up." The Reporter. 54.9(2002): 3pp. Online.
Internet. 28 November 2005. www.TheReporter.com
Kent, Steven l. The Ultimate History of Video Games. Chicago:
PrimaGames, 2001.
Rerron, Bernard, and Wolf, Mark J.P. The Video Game Theory Reader. New York: Routledge, 2003.
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