Religion and Ethics Newsweekly article and video October 21, 2007
Posted by nutheadgreg in Gaming ethics.Tags: delicious, ethics, religion, research, video games
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This article looks at the ideas surround the debate on whether games contain values, it dicusses the advantages and disadvantages of games as a entertainment. The video is just a motion picture version of the article that is written on the website, there a link to it embedded in the site. This 8 minute video looks at the debate from the perspective of the teenage gamer, the parent, the religious figure and the video games expert.
From the exert of the teenage boys it seems apparent that they would never actually shoot someone in reality and explain that he is able to differentiate between the game values and societal values. Henry Jenkins, is the video games expert. He explains that video games have the ability to make the game feel a sense of guilt, and suggests that games should/do allow players to reflect upon their actions.
The childs parent had seen him playing violent games on the console, she explains about the content and expresses her concerns towards the content and the impact it is having on her son. The religious figure is Daphne White, she is the figurehead of a group know as the Lion and Lamb project. White suggests that not many games teach anything constructive or productive or of “any value a parent would approve of”.
This article is a typical example of the debate I will be demostrating, it shows the polation within the debate, but I think the only opinion that counts is that of the gamer. Henry Jenkins is a gamer and lecuturer, he uses them to teach his students. He demostrates that the sphere of gaming allows his students to think outside of normal realms of the stereotypical classroom environment.
Here is the link to the original article: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week639/cover.html
Hardcore Uproar! June 10, 2007
Posted by nutheadgreg in Online Gaming.Tags: ethics, philosophy, religion, video games, violence
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On friday I was watching BBC news 24 when a story appeared about the use of Manchester Catherderal in a video game. This has cause an uproar within the Christian community, as there is a bloody gun battle in the naive in which hundreds of enimies are killed by the player. The Dean of the Catherderal explained that he was highly upset about this, and suggested that it is doing the city’s fight against gun crime no favours. The Church of England are getting ready to sue Sony creator of the million selling computer game, Resistance: Fall of Man. This game was released on the launch of the new Playstation 3 console. It is claimed that the game has recreated the inside of the Catherderal to almost photographic quality, thus creating a highly realistic feel to the game. Sony, however are defending the position that it is a game, and is not trying to portray reality.
From my point of view I do not agree with the hypodermic model that the Dean is referring to when he mentions about the game causing problems in gun crime. This is suggesting that the game is directly influencing people to commit acts of gun crime. As a result the audience are seen as passive, this cannot be the case as the audience is interacting and thus are active. However, from a religious perspective that this is upsetting for Christians, that a masacre is being carried out within the building in which the worship.
