Ethic of Videogame
LEE Kin Wai
1113816
Videogames that I will use for example
First of all, I will introduce the games that I will use for example in this presentation. They are counter strike and mafia.
The first one, counter strike is a famous first person shooting game. It is very popular all over the world. In the game, there are two team of player, counter-terrorist and terrorist.. You can choose to play on police side or terrorist side. Each round is won by killing your entire enemy by using different guns in the game.
Another game is mafia. It is a third person shooting game. In the game, you only can be a ganger. You need to follow the instruction from your boss in the game and finish those tasks. Most of the task are killing people or stealing something, which is always done by the ganger in the reality.
Positive ethical influence
After that, I will talk about the positive ethical influence of these two games. About the counter strike, this game can give some knowledge to the player. Such as the usage of the guns, the tactics of combat, the leadership skill, etc. This knowledge is a part of personal growth too. For example, this kind of shooting game can be virtual training for the army. On the other hand, Mafia can give the players to have a decision making, to decide follow the instruction from the boss or not. This helps their critical thinking in the reality. Also, videogames is a recreational method to relax. Playing games is a way of escaping from all things that trouble them. They can get delight from the videogame after finished the task in the game, killing your enemy or escaping from the chase of the police successfully.
Negative ethical influence
However, videogame also got many negative ethical influences. Shooting game like counter strike, this kind of game always teach skill and ability of using weapon and killing people, this directly cause violence actions. America has many cases of this issue. And Mafia, is will affect your conscious of decision making in the reality because you will used your decision making experience in the videogame to use in the reality. Also the background of this game is base on America before World War 2, so the game is not independent from the society, it is related to the reality. Moreover, the noble quest by the character will give an illusion to the player, their delight come from the game will made they feel that the killing people and steal things is have fun and honor.
Not only these two game, but also other videogames got some negative ethical influences. The videogame is affected people in a psychological way. The games changed the player’s behavior. The wrong behavior will be established after they did something that is illegal in the reality. Also, when people start living his life in videogame, they may find themselves in the real world again. They started behave just like they do in the game. However, the people may not accept this in reality. Then they back to the videogame with more passion. Then they will more addicted in videogame, just like drugs.
Conclusion
For conclusion, there are some suggest of this issue. To the game designer, they should first understand how to design games by focus on the psychological profiles of the targeted players. If your game is targeted teenagers as the players, then it should be less violent elements in the game. And for the players, they should understand how to play videogame ethically. They need to learn how to interpret their action and simulation.
