Game Studies Blog.
Adults deserve to be entitled to see what they want to see right? It's even written in documentation that Australians should be able to view what ever media they like to. But why make a law to prevent them from legally obtaining said material all because it's considered too graphical for distribution in Australia? That's just un-'straylian if you ask me.
so yeah, Australia's 'refused classification' does treat us grown adults like kids, but I don't blame them. Imagine how strong the fight would be for a politician if they proposed the idea of making the refused classification less harsh in judgment and allow for more overrated films, games, etc. It wouldn't be a particularly easy political fight to win considering how politically correct of a country we are. However, disregarding that I still believe that the (RC) treats adults like kids even more so. In order for us to obtain a game that has been refused classification, (such as Hotline Miami 2 for example) we would have to obtain it legally via pirating because of the laws preventing it from being distributed in Australia. Which is just stupid and rather risky as pirated games generally potentially contain malware and viruses within them and possibly be more harming than it would be for the game to be released within Australia and have "people potentially become more violent." as i've talked over before, video games don't cause violence. Additionally damaging the developer as they get no revenue from piracy. But this doesn't entirely mean censorship isn't a bad thing, some games can be over the top at times and end up not being any of a better game than it could be without said graphic images. But the current guidelines for Australia's refused classification is just extremely mellow and doesn't allow for adults to play the games that they want. Jake Carter - 1/09/2017 Video addiction is not entirely a bad thing, is something I used to tell myself a lot when I was playing lots of video games excessively. However, I believe that everything can be enjoyed within moderation. There is always a point where it's too far. What is considered too far is really up to what anyone else believes it should be. But that doesn't particularly apply as due to when a person becomes addicted, their general sense can become blurred and uncertain; but certain in what they must do to get what makes them happy.
While gaming addiction isn't entirely severe in comparison to other addictions such as drugs, alcohol, etc. It still suffers from a similar stigmatization as the word addiction is included. However, as mentioned before things can be enjoyed in moderation, in this case. Alcohol. It's great for when you're out with your mates, or at a social gathering. But there is a point to where it can become harmful to you, and/or others. But this doesn't mean that you shouldn't drink it, it only means you should take it in moderation. So how can this apply to video game addiction, well firstly when someone becomes addicted to a video game they may end up spending far more hours on specific games in hopes of fulfilling their need to release dopamine. The chemical our brain makes when we do something that feels good. However with constant releasing of this chemical its effect can run out and have little to none affect. Which in turn, deprives the experience we get from playing video games. With moderation this wouldn't be an issue. With this desire to get that dopamine kick again the player would have to crunch more hours into the game, and with this addition of hours spent playing video games it can have devastating physical effects to them. This can include such injuries as strain to the eyes after staring at the screen, Repetitive strain injuries (RSI), Spine problems if sitting in an incorrect position, etc. So all-in-all, As long as a player knows their limits, and play a safe amount of hours they can avoid all of these injuries and have a great time playing games like you're supposed to! Jake Carter - 19/08/2017 This area within video games is a rather sensitive area and generally sparks controversy; but that is within reason. This can be very distinct within some games, some others not as much. The reason to why gender is considered a sensitive subject is due to the fact that women can be over sexualised within video games and fall under the roll of being the 'damsel in distress'. However, this doesn't mean it's the case all the time.
While feminism is a good movement, sometimes the people that support it (feminists) can go over the top and blatantly throw around words such as 'sexist', 'misogynist ', etc. They can find that video games can be a great target due to the history of video games having cases of strong sexism towards women, whether it be in degrading roles as the role of a hooker in Grand Theft Auto, or even have lowered game play mechanic stats, or have provocative and questionable clothing which seems to serve as fan service. Personally I don't find this to be a common trait and a large focus as I see it as nothing more than a video game, but it's within basic decency to not degrade someone because of their gender. Sure it may follow a 'design' where the slimmer woman may have lower health and faster agility compared to the over dosed on steriods looking guy in a fighting game for example. But say if the woman is rather strong it her stats shouldn't be depleted because of this. Fan service however is very prominent within gaming as women are often placed in rather revealing clothing, where as men would have full armour most of the time in comparison. This may include Quiet in metal gear solid, some of the girls from street figther, etc. While it does make the character match their gender and make it clearly distinctive, designers shouldn't have to rely on sexuality so much due to the gender of gamers being close to equal of both boys and girls. Jake Carter - 17/08/2017 For as long as video games have been around, there is most certainly going to be a wide variety of genres for those games. One in particular; the violent genre. There have been very few violent games when gaming first came around, however one noticeable classic game that is known for its violence is ‘DOOM’. With the rising popularity when it was still new, it has caused hysteria among parents, Christians, and other ‘mature’ figures. These people believed that video games tend to make people violent and that there is a correlation between the two; however, as a gamer myself it’s clear to say that this is highly inaccurate and is only just made from fear mongering. Fortunately, as time has gone on games have been given more room and flexibility to what they can contain. It’s not a whole lot, but it’s still an improvement.
Now if we take the parents and other non-gamers into consideration from the past and when they believed that video game caused violence. We immediately think of some examples where it’s speculated but not confirmed. For instance, the columbine shooters; They played a lot of violent games and have done violent acts. It’s because of the game right? Absolutely not, It’s because those shooters were mentally unstable, not included with other students and friend groups, and often picked on by the ‘jocks’, etc. Not because they played violent games. (Said info can be found in a documentary about what caused the whole incident.) However, if we used the exact same logic that violent video games cause violence, the same should be said for other mediums such as film and tv. Or even that other genre of video games cause behaviour changes in the player. But just because a player plays surgeon simulator it makes them a surgeon, or if they play Garfield Kart, they’re a fat orange cat racing in a kart. So the argument where violent video games cause violent behaviour is just absurd and inaccurate, but easy to be mistaken due to events that happened coincidently at the same time violent video games where recently popularised. Not that the time of releasing for games has any importance as humans have been inherently violent as far back as we can remember. In conclusion, violence in video games don’t have an effect on people. But their mental stability and other factors have influence; and video games don’t define the player. Jake Carter - 3/08/2017 |
AboutHere is where I'll be submitting my blog pieces for my Game Studies class in Tri 2. Archives
September 2017
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