Recently, I have seen worrying amounts of callousness coming from fellow gamers. Nearly every time I express a feeling of remorse at seeing an innocent person die, or something terrible happen to someone in a game who didn’t deserve it, I have been criticized for it, even been called “messed up.” Every time, the phrase I have come to hate has been used: “It’s only a video game.”
It is exactly that attitude that gives gamers a bad name. I don’t care where you come from – the act of killing an innocent person or a child should carry a feeling of guilt. I don’t care if you are reading a book, watching a movie, or performing the act yourself in a game: You should feel bad about it. If not, you are the one who’s messed up, not me.
I am not against violence in games. I like to pick up a good shooter as much as anyone and am currently enjoying Far Cry 2, a game about a mercenary in a fictional African country who is caught in the middle of a civil war. It’s when the violence is being perpetrated against those who have done nothing wrong that I have a problem.
And yet, look at the most popular title out today: Grand Theft Auto IV. I marvel at those who wonder why the violence debate related to video games hasn’t died yet, when the most popular game to this date is one that offers (and some would say encourages you to exercise) the ability to go on a killing spree in a virtual New York City. Rockstar Games can say the game is meant primarily as satire, and claim they are not forcing people to do this (and they are right), but they sure don’t discourage it. In fact, this newest incarnation offers the ability to link online with friends for online rampages. GTA IV makes up for it slightly with a marginally interesting story and phenomenal voice acting, but the core of the game still revolves around hurting or killing people who are just trying to walk down the street.
Those unfamiliar with video games may have an even worse picture of the industry in their minds by now, so let me clarify something: GTA may be a bestseller, but most of the people playing that game are doing so for the wrong reasons. Video games offer us the ability to not just hear or read a story, but to be the main character in it. We get to vicariously live the story and this is the heart of what gaming should be.
The whole “it’s not real” excuse simply does not fly anymore. With the increasing graphical quality demonstrated in games, virtual death is becoming more realistic day by day. When was the last time you felt bad reading a character’s death? Seeing someone die on television or at a movie? Why should games be any different? If anything, the response should be worse, since you are often the one committing the act. I’m not suggesting we go so far as to make laws against virtual slayings or anything, because it is, God help me, “only a game,” but the death of someone, real or imaginary, should carry some meaning and not just be dismissed away as nothing.
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