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| Source: therapeuticcode.com |
The majority of popular video games today, including Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Counter Strike, all include some sort of violence. This may involve killing zombies or other drug dealers. Violent video games have become very popular and seem to be the only games that kids and teenagers are interested in today.
Although this is only one category of video games, there are many facets and archetypes to the kinds of violent characters involved. Especially since many of these video games make use of the first-person shooter point of view, it is easy for players to become attached. As Scott Rogers said "Players view character as "self", allowing for greater immersion in [the] game world," (Rogers, 2010).
Commonly Used Archetypes that are Consistent with Violence
A classic character used in many shooting video games is the Bald Soldier Dude. This character embodies the stereotypical "white, tough soldier dude, with a bald or near-bald head," (Maiberg, 2015). Among the most popular games, this archetype shows up in Call of Duty.
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| Source: gameskinny.com |
Breivik said "he [practiced] his shot using a "holographic aiming device" on the war simulation game, which he said is used by armies around the world for training," (Pidd, 2012). Breivik illustrated the classic soldier archetype by even training himself as, he says, armies do.
Another common archetype that video games use, which leads to forms of violence, is the Nice Guy. This character is the classic guy who believes his "'good' behavior toward women...will eventually pay off with a relationship and/or sex," (Wysocki, 2015). In video game form, Dragon Age: Origins exemplifies that the main character succeeds in the game by choosing the correct romantic dialogue or gestures (Wysocki, 2015).
Elliot Rodgers, a real-life Nice Guy, expected girls and sex, but when he got neither, he revolted. In his video of retribution, Rodgers said "I don't know why you girls aren't attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. It's an injustice, a crime because I don't know what you don't see in me. I'm the perfect guy," (2014).
Elliot saw himself as a Nice Guy who did all the right things. He mimicked what a Nice Guy did, but unlike a video game algorithm, he didn't get the prize. Seeing this archetype in video games and modern day media has influenced the audience to believe that the Nice Guy act results in reward.
The Maniac is another common archetype that is used in many video games that exudes some sort of violence. This character epitomizes insanity and is commonly seen in Grand Theft Auto. The main character of the game is a criminal who participates in reckless behaviors, thus promoting actions such as careless driving, alcohol and drug abuse, and risky sex.
Devin Moore, who shot three police men and fled by a stolen police cruiser (debategraph.org), is suspected to have been influenced by Grand Theft Auto. The crimes he committed do emulate the actions of the Maniac main character of the video game.
Video Games have a Negative Influence
Through these various examples, it is reasonable to conclude that video games have an influence on aggression. This can be seen through imitations of the main character's actions or imitation of their temperament.
Even though there is a negative relationship between users and violent video games, their sales persist. In the data graph below is a comparison of sales between a violent video game and a non violent video game. Since the beginning of its franchise, 2003, till now, 2015, Call of Duty has sold more than 175 million copies (Liebl, 2015). In comparison, The Sims has only sold about 125 million copies in its lifespan (2002-2010) (Sinclair, 2010).
Of course this is only a conclusion based on accounts where the correlation is positive, but this is enough evidence to see that something should be done. The influence that video games have on children and adults is profound enough to impact their actions.
These influences begin with the main characters portrayal in the video games. As mentioned earlier, the archetypes and characteristics of these roles impact their audience. Changing these roles will be a step toward alleviating the negative events that are occurring with more frequency.
Brianne,
ReplyDeleteOverall I found this ePorfolio to have various good examples of the archetypes that video games portray and the real-life violent examples that gamers have imitated from the violent video games. You have also provided sufficient background and links for the viewer to gain more information and observe the news stories of the examples.
Looking into the specifics of the post and the 10 content requirements that Dr. Yaros has taught us, I'd like to start with the headline and subheads. I did not find them very interesting, explanatory, and descriptive. For your headline, a suggestion is to have stated the archetypes that video games use (bald soldier dude, nice guy, and the maniac) and how game users take on those violent roles in real life. For your first subhead, I would suggest deleting that one and creating a subhead throughout your post for every archetype and describing how it influenced the people in your examples (example- Grand Theft Auto gamer Devin Moore, stole a police car and shot three people). Remember, the headlines should state the main points in your story and be explanatory.
As the content requirement states, all text should be in the inverted pyramid style, which was not done properly as your first paragraph did not get to the main point and findings of your post. You should have stated the commonly used archetypes and that they influence gamers to imitate the violent actions that are being portrayed by those archetypes, and then gave some more background information as you did in your first few paragraphs. Throughout the post, I also noticed that you said something had a correlation or influence to something, but the direction it correlated or influenced was not stated.
In regards to the picture, they are all a good size and seem to be located correctly, but I personally would put your first picture to the very top. For your graph, it is easy to interpret the data and its in the "info 3.0 format", but it should be smaller (sized at small) and I would suggest making it more continuous with the paragraph by placing it on the right side next to the paragraph you are talking about, instead of placing it in the center with nothing around it.
The links were all good, except the "Nice Guy" that directed us to the UMD login page, which users not affiliated with UMD would probably not be able to log onto it. I noticed that you had been citing your sources, but that is not necessary since you had been linking your sources.