Moral Kombat: violence in video games

As part of the videogames module, we looked at the documentary Moral Kombat, which debated the morality of the use of violence in videogames.

Part of the issue with violence in videogames is what sets videogames apart from other medium such as films and comics. In a film, the audience takes the role of watcher, having no impact and no choice in how the action plays out, whereas in a videogame the player takes a much more active role, have total control over their character's actions. When a character in a film kills someone, the viewer has no decision as to if the other character lives or dies, whereas in a videogame, the character dies by choice of the player.

On the flip side however, most gamers know how to separate fantasy and reality. The controversy arising with violent games being blamed for school shootings and similar events, is in my opinion, an attempt to shift the blame to a single or group of minor entities that would have lead an individual to commit such acts.

Also, concerns of children being exposed to the violent content of the medium needs to consider that violent games will often get a 15+ or 18+ rating depending on content, and as such, distributors will refuse to sell such content to minors.