Assignment 1-4: Video Game Violence

Kitty Hollingshead Mancil
HUMN 341
Assignment 1-4
Video Game Violence

Assignment 1-4: Weekly written analysis: Video Game Violence

Video game violence is nothing new, although a lot of attention has been directed towards it lately. With such games as “Grand Theft Auto” and, more recently, “Manhunt 2” coming into the spotlight for their explicit content, it makes one wonder where the line is that they are crossing. While these games are violent on their own accord, what has really seemed to inflame the public is so called “hidden” scenes, where hackers will dig beneath the surface to reveal new scenes and un-blur explicit sequences. While this is done by a small majority of the gaming population, and at times on systems that are illegally modified, with “Manhunt 2” falling into this category (“Target pulls..”), directions on how to do this become quickly available to the gaming public thorough such sources as the internet.

The question comes to mind… how is the violence in video games so much different than that in horror movies, such as in the popular movie series, “Saw?” The violence in such movies is also highly graphic and yet there seems to be little outcry about this phenomenon. Perhaps this is because the public feels that video games are largely targeted towards children and young adults. However, video games are restricted from buyers via an age system, much like movies, with a “mature” rating on a video game relating to a “restricted” rating on a movie: only appropriate for people above the age of 17.

Is it the fact that the gamer takes control of the violence that really makes the public nervous? This could well be. It is one thing to passively watch violence happening on the big screen, but video games are different in that the player “becomes” the perpetrator of said violence. The player takes an active part in whatever atrocities are taking place in the game, and more often than not, they are rewarded for those actions. The question becomes then, is it better to be a perpetrator, or is it better to stand by and gain entertainment from violence in a passive way?

The most important issue is the monitoring of not only your children, but yourself. The rating systems are put in place to ensure that what some may consider inappropriate materials do not fall into the grasp of those too young to appreciate what is going on. For now, the rating on “Manhunt 2” remains at the “Mature” level (Svensson), but it is up to each one of us to make an informed decision on what kinds of entertainment we and our children have access to. In this country, not only do the makers of these products, be them video games or movies, have the right to make them, but we as the consumers have the right to decide whether or not to purchase them, and that is where the real power lies.


Target pulls violent video game. Retrieved November 07, 2007, from
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/ap_on_hi_te/games_manhunt2_target;_ylt=ApmSq3NnUhnDU8m_aS3axkAjtBAF

Svensson, P. “Manhunt 2” dodges “adults only” deathblow. Technewsworld. Retrieved November 07, 2007, from http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/60149.html