For is the agreement for games.
Against is the agreement against games.
Age Restrictions
For:
The Pan European Game Information (PEGI) says 'PEGI is usually treated as being mandatory by nearly all game retailers in their company policy. We encourage the public to always notify store managers to where the age ratings are clearly being ignored by their staff.
Against:
The Store may sell a violent 18 game to an adult but the adult may be buying it for a child under 18 years of age.
It was because of a report by Professor Tanya Byron that lead to the UK to change the laws of age restrictions and adopt the PEGI system. However she said 'It would be great to see parents taking an interest in their children's video game playing. This can involve taking direct control of what games their children play at home'
Censorship:
For: Censorship keeps anything that may be seen as in proper to a certain age group and keep the game in tact.
Against: The game Fable was sold as a 12 game but it contained murder and sexual activity which was blacked out but could be clearly heard in audio.
I would make the argument that this is censorship at work, but then again, if this sort of stuff is in a video game and needs to be essential for the game, that it is not cut out completely then why is it being sold as a 12 game?
Effects of Games:
For: In the case of games like Brain Training and Wii Fit, the effects of the games are beneficial your brain is further developed and you are more healthy. It also allows hand-eye coordination.
Against: In some cases violence in video games have caused violence in real life. In 1999 after the Columbine high school massacre family members of victims sued 25 video game companies which they blamed for the deaths. The game Doom came under intense scrutiny over reports that those responsible may have been influenced by the spectacle of shooting various targets to gain points.
Content of Games:
Against: As previously mentioned, negligent and irresponsible actions will lead to players being exposed to content they should not be exposed to. Also it may not be the adult action that are to blame it maybe that the game has been given the wrong rating e.g. the game Heart of Darkness for the PlayStation 1 was realised with an E rating (the equivalent of U) however became infamous because of the death cut scene where the main character (a young boy) get killed in many horrible ways including having his spine broken and being eaten alive, and yet today the game has still got an E rating.
Another example is when the game Fallout 3 was edited in Japan because a weapon in the game was called Fat Man, this is the Reception Theory at work as this had historical context, "Fat Man" was the code name of the second Nuclear Bomb dropped the US Air Force to end the Second World War, because this caused mass devastation and the lose of hundreds the scene on the game was thought be offensive.
Advertisement of Gaming
For: Advertisement allows that player to see what the game is like and may consider playing it, it is important to showcase the game.
Against: In some cases no actually gameplay in show the only parts shown are the cut scenes, as well as the fact that adverts have the ability of overhyping a game, making a game look amazing but in the end it turns out to be rubbish. It also depends on the content shown in the advertisement e.g. the latest Tomb Raider allegedly contained rape (this turned out to be false, it was that there was attempted rape) the controversy it did create and the scene was also seen on an advertisement.
Conclusion
This idea that violence in the media is influences children in a negative fashion is not new having being said for every type of media that allow child viewing that contains violence, it relies on the out of date theory of The Hypodermic Needle (explained in an earlier post).
Also this idea depend on the User Gratification, the majority of people use games as a means of escapist fiction that has the added bonus of allowing the player to interact with the world the game establishes, as Richard Gallagher Ph.D. wrote in an article "Most youth are able to recognize the difference between reality and fiction" so this mean that the majority of children will not be effected by the game as they know that it doesn't exist.
All in all I don't believe games are to blame for anti-social behaviour, it is only an excuse that people have created to try and understand the reason, trying to make connections and jumping to conclusions.
Reference
http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/26#question_7
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19042908
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness_(video_game)#Gameplay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games#Japan
http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/video_games_cons_pros
http://www.gamesradar.com/controversial-tomb-raider-rape-scene-youve-already-seen-it/
