If anyone were to ask you how a person was affected by the violent video games of today, most people would say that they were nothing beyond a good thriller. As always that questions lingers in the air whenever a new violent video game emerges. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the newest addition to the well-known game series is the next big thing that has set the giant wheels of debate in motion.
The question arises due to the rating that Black Flag was given. Like all the other games in the series it was rated “M” for mature. Now that isn’t too bad if you know the games. There is language and violence not to mention a bit much in the sexual confrontations that come up. However, with the new game, the producers have upped the ante. The blood spewing every which way is a lot more realistic and the sexual encounters are supposedly more in-depth, but the rating hasn’t been made stricter which has raised the question of how it’s going to affect the mind of a highschooler.
Langley has a large, healthy number of gamers that include both teachers and students. Many of them are great people. Just walking into the cafeteria, one would see computers open and keyboards tapping away. Langley even has an event every year for gamers to play their favorite games. One of the many gamers, senior Andy Eliasen (12), says that he believes “that violent video games help people to release their built up anger or frustration so in that way they are beneficial, however [he] believe[s] that if a person does tend towards psychotic tendencies that it is just as likely to help as it is to make them worse.” Like Andy, Mr. Ander, a visual art’s teacher, whose room is full of video game posters and players, sees firsthand how violent games affect his students. “People don’t react specifically to video games,” he says, “violent tendencies are more about the student’s background and previous life.” This is the normal consensus among people, however many studies have said that that isn’t always true. Mr. McBeth, Langley’s psychologist, points out that video games in general are “more rewarding and can easily distract a student from work.” Video games are very rewarding right away, while actual work isn’t as rewarding or as quickly.
Every video game ever created has followed one basic structure, they had to keep the gamer entertained, be that by story, fear, action, romance, violence, unforgettable characters, and graphics, anyway to keep the gamer coming back and spending money. Today, that formula still holds true with compelling characters like Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2, to the crazy Jester from Skyrim. Every single game is tied to keeping the gamer entertained and coming back, so does it have an effect on the human mind. The specific points can be debated all day long with no consensus ever being reached. In the end it is up to the gamer to take that risk, whether it be real or as imaginary as the characters we’d follow to the ends of our favorite game’s world.