Monday 31 January 2011
Research on existing viral campaigns
Use of humour = when hes on the phone towards the end and decides to die after hes finished his conversation
Use of realism = people diving on the floor clutching their shoulder, arm, or stomach as if they have been shot, crawling away for cover and pretending to throw grenades
Use of a real life setting = makes it more realstic and believable
Use of fake weapons through hand movements = makes it look
Media Essay
“There is a mechanism, usually called ‘identification’, which makes viewers of ‘violence’ vulnerable to it – such that it thereby becomes a ‘message’ by which they are invaded and persuaded.”
How and why does graphic violence within video games such as ‘Call of Duty’ attract a teenage demographic?
Call of Duty is a first and third person video game series franchise owned by Activision. In 2009, the total sales for the entire COD series were surpassed 55 million, taking $3 billion retail sales. It is played for more than 600 million hours which is equivalent to 68,000 human years and one of the reasons why theorists suggest video games have “...sucked the social life out of many of today’s teenagers”. Jean Anthelme Bruliat-Savann, known as a French lawyer and politician once said "Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are". However this quote is more than just about our diet, it can be used in the context of how we develop mentally and what we allow our minds to ingest i.e. violence. Although violence and aggression in a young audience is a major concern for society, institutions such as Infinity Ward and Treyarch who are one of America’s biggest video game developers, still continue to produce games with high volumes of violence. Researcher George Gerbner believes organisations such as Activision with a high status do this as “constant exposure to violence in the media may lead people to believe that violence is everywhere and that they should be afraid.” This essay intends to prove that violence is one of the factors why teenagers play Call of Duty.
For a young audience, video gaming institutions keep the high volume of violent content in order to satisfy their requirements. The high intensity of this graphic violence ensures the audience respond to these graphics negatively as “All video games create behavioural scripts, which encourage the player to respond to the virtual environment in certain ways and rehearse those behaviours over and over”. Examples of these rehearsals are within the game play of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 when “the player earns points by shooting as many tourists as possible, including those who are injured and crawling away” connoting that “many narratives have depended on violence and it is clear that violence in fictions gives pleasure to the audience” . It has become a major concern for parents and society, and especially about young males who have a high trait of aggression and much “more likely to prefer or value games with violent contents”.
The media in one form or another can be arguably offensive and controversial however in some cases contents within the medium can relatively have positive outcomes. On the contrary media texts such as Call of Duty are known for their negative effects upon their target audience. Studies show “Children in their early teens found that almost a third played video games daily, and that 7% played for at least 30 hours a week.” Although it does not prove Call of Duty is an influential game it does prove games such as COD “shape young people’s attitudes and actions than do parents or teachers, thus replacing them as educators, role model and the primary sources of information about the world and how to behave in it.” Provided the high level of violence it is known for, teenagers also have an urge to play these games in order to reduce stress with an excuse for escapism. We could argue that non violent games such as Fifa 11 which is a game based on football can have the same affect however “violent entertainment may offer viewers – especially young males – a way to explore their violent tendencies without hurting anyone.” It can therefore be argued that “media violence is a catharsis which may actually help reduce aggression” . A variety of studies and tests have been conducted and shown that there is no “link between violent games and aggressive behaviour” however also suggest that players high in trait aggression “value games with violent contents”. The actions of 9/11 have allowed media institutions to glorify these incidents and even with the use of censorship still manage to “reveal an extensive presence of violence in modern media”. Studies show “the average child will see nearly 100,000 violent images in the media before he or she reaches the age of 18.” The effects of globalisation and media technology ensures “the media makes the world a lot violent than it is”. However it can be argued that without these violent graphics “there would be no substance to a game”. Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 contain images and narratives that resonate with and reinforce a tabloid imagery of post 9/11 geopolitics which “glorify military power and elicit content for the idea that state violence and wars are inevitable”.
In recent times studies, surveys and research show there is an “extensive presence of violence in modern media”. Call of Duty ensures their volume of violence contribute to the way “children and youth spend an inordinate amount of time consuming violent media”. It has come to the point where “shooting dogs, beating children and murdering innocent civilians” are the norm for game developers and have many concerned that “it’s not about censorship but it’s about protecting our children”. Social philosophers such as Michael Gurian note that boys have 20 times the level of testosterone found in girls and because of that “males are more attracted to violent imagery than females are”. It is that kind of evidence which encourages Hollywood and video-game makers to undercut their own rating restrictions in order to affect the male audiences who “have more trouble controlling violent impulses”.
Many are concerned with the way Call of Duty’s influence has caused an impact on society. Stanley Cohen, a Sociology professor defines a moral panic as “a condition, episode, person or group of persons who emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values”. In context to this, Call of Duty acts as a metaphor for this “condition” whereby “children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences”. However Professor Mark Griffiths has argued that “younger gamers, typically under the age of eight, tend to be more influenced by games and what they see on screen” and so “we must get away from the habit of thinking in terms of what media do to people and substitute it for the idea of what people do with the media”. There are many concerns with media violence such as learning of aggressive behaviours and attitudes where “media violence may not make children violent, but it may teach them that violence is a normal way of solving problems.” Therefore by playing a graphic game such as Call of Duty may make audiences believe that the content is normal and acceptable within society. There is also the concern of desensitization to violence where violence and gore shock the viewers initially however eventually become use to it. Call of Duty Black Ops has a very violent scene where a character is interrogated by inserting broken glass into his mouth while numerous punches are thrown at him. It is this kind of violence which is constantly portrayed within Call of Duty and encourages young audiences to “be less shocked by real-life violence”.
In relation to theories Call of Duty has a variety of ways to get to their audience. For example the hypodermic needle theory where the audience passively intake the mass media’s portrayal and tend to believe it. The audience is injected with the idea that war and violence is an enjoyable experience and the mass media’s portrayal of gender and ethnicity are the correct portrayals within the video game. This gives the impression that “if something is repeated often enough it will tend to be believed and remembered”. It can also be shaped into the context that if violent games are continuously produced by gaming institutions it will tend to attract a more mainstream audience and make young audiences feel that the idea of this violence is socially accepted. However audiences can also take initiative of their own consumption and choose whether to believe and act upon the media. This is known as the cultivation theory where either “children replicate the behaviour they view” or instead use the games as a way to tune out of the real world and “if they want to steal a car, they steal a car in the game instead of in the real world”.
Some seem to believe that exposure to violent video games is not a contributing factor in violent behaviour and that “the scientific debate about whether exposure to media violence causes an increase in aggressive behaviour is over” and in fact should have been over 30 years ago. Recent times show that “a large portion of today’s teenage generation spends much of its free time sitting in front of a computer screen shooting aliens, zombies or other teenagers sitting at another computer screen” and could connote that because others are playing it such as their friends; they feel the need to interact with the similar behaviour. However becoming emotionally attached to games like Call of Duty increases feelings of hostility, decreases emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury and therefore leads to “violent behaviour through imitation”.
The main cause for concern is for parents who are continuously pressurized by their children to buy these violent games and throw tantrums should their parents not agree. Michael Rich a professor of paediatrics believes that “Any parent who goes out to the supermarket and shops for food for their kid wants to look at the can and know the ingredients.” However the same does not apply for games and therefore “don’t know what we’re feeding our kids’ minds.” Daphne White believes that parents should enforce their authority over them as “we wouldn't give our children a drug just because they ask for it. It's still important for parents to say no.”
To conclude it is quite obvious that video games have contained a high degree of violence and that realism and gore levels have risen but only simply because “video games are also the more popular games on the market.” It can be argued that there is a “strong correlation now between the violent natures of games these days and the aggressive tendencies in game players” however “equally possible that violent media images serve a valuable function by providing audience with a vicarious outlet for their violent impulses”. In my opinion I do believe that the graphic violence within Call of Duty does attract a teenage demographic as it is a route of escapism and a way to vent out any aggression and stress interactively however it has come to the point where much younger audiences who are influenced easily use the violence within games as an excuse to imitate it within society and based on that enhance their game enjoyment.
How and why does graphic violence within video games such as ‘Call of Duty’ attract a teenage demographic?
Call of Duty is a first and third person video game series franchise owned by Activision. In 2009, the total sales for the entire COD series were surpassed 55 million, taking $3 billion retail sales. It is played for more than 600 million hours which is equivalent to 68,000 human years and one of the reasons why theorists suggest video games have “...sucked the social life out of many of today’s teenagers”. Jean Anthelme Bruliat-Savann, known as a French lawyer and politician once said "Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are". However this quote is more than just about our diet, it can be used in the context of how we develop mentally and what we allow our minds to ingest i.e. violence. Although violence and aggression in a young audience is a major concern for society, institutions such as Infinity Ward and Treyarch who are one of America’s biggest video game developers, still continue to produce games with high volumes of violence. Researcher George Gerbner believes organisations such as Activision with a high status do this as “constant exposure to violence in the media may lead people to believe that violence is everywhere and that they should be afraid.” This essay intends to prove that violence is one of the factors why teenagers play Call of Duty.
For a young audience, video gaming institutions keep the high volume of violent content in order to satisfy their requirements. The high intensity of this graphic violence ensures the audience respond to these graphics negatively as “All video games create behavioural scripts, which encourage the player to respond to the virtual environment in certain ways and rehearse those behaviours over and over”. Examples of these rehearsals are within the game play of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 when “the player earns points by shooting as many tourists as possible, including those who are injured and crawling away” connoting that “many narratives have depended on violence and it is clear that violence in fictions gives pleasure to the audience” . It has become a major concern for parents and society, and especially about young males who have a high trait of aggression and much “more likely to prefer or value games with violent contents”.
The media in one form or another can be arguably offensive and controversial however in some cases contents within the medium can relatively have positive outcomes. On the contrary media texts such as Call of Duty are known for their negative effects upon their target audience. Studies show “Children in their early teens found that almost a third played video games daily, and that 7% played for at least 30 hours a week.” Although it does not prove Call of Duty is an influential game it does prove games such as COD “shape young people’s attitudes and actions than do parents or teachers, thus replacing them as educators, role model and the primary sources of information about the world and how to behave in it.” Provided the high level of violence it is known for, teenagers also have an urge to play these games in order to reduce stress with an excuse for escapism. We could argue that non violent games such as Fifa 11 which is a game based on football can have the same affect however “violent entertainment may offer viewers – especially young males – a way to explore their violent tendencies without hurting anyone.” It can therefore be argued that “media violence is a catharsis which may actually help reduce aggression” . A variety of studies and tests have been conducted and shown that there is no “link between violent games and aggressive behaviour” however also suggest that players high in trait aggression “value games with violent contents”. The actions of 9/11 have allowed media institutions to glorify these incidents and even with the use of censorship still manage to “reveal an extensive presence of violence in modern media”. Studies show “the average child will see nearly 100,000 violent images in the media before he or she reaches the age of 18.” The effects of globalisation and media technology ensures “the media makes the world a lot violent than it is”. However it can be argued that without these violent graphics “there would be no substance to a game”. Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 contain images and narratives that resonate with and reinforce a tabloid imagery of post 9/11 geopolitics which “glorify military power and elicit content for the idea that state violence and wars are inevitable”.
In recent times studies, surveys and research show there is an “extensive presence of violence in modern media”. Call of Duty ensures their volume of violence contribute to the way “children and youth spend an inordinate amount of time consuming violent media”. It has come to the point where “shooting dogs, beating children and murdering innocent civilians” are the norm for game developers and have many concerned that “it’s not about censorship but it’s about protecting our children”. Social philosophers such as Michael Gurian note that boys have 20 times the level of testosterone found in girls and because of that “males are more attracted to violent imagery than females are”. It is that kind of evidence which encourages Hollywood and video-game makers to undercut their own rating restrictions in order to affect the male audiences who “have more trouble controlling violent impulses”.
Many are concerned with the way Call of Duty’s influence has caused an impact on society. Stanley Cohen, a Sociology professor defines a moral panic as “a condition, episode, person or group of persons who emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values”. In context to this, Call of Duty acts as a metaphor for this “condition” whereby “children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences”. However Professor Mark Griffiths has argued that “younger gamers, typically under the age of eight, tend to be more influenced by games and what they see on screen” and so “we must get away from the habit of thinking in terms of what media do to people and substitute it for the idea of what people do with the media”. There are many concerns with media violence such as learning of aggressive behaviours and attitudes where “media violence may not make children violent, but it may teach them that violence is a normal way of solving problems.” Therefore by playing a graphic game such as Call of Duty may make audiences believe that the content is normal and acceptable within society. There is also the concern of desensitization to violence where violence and gore shock the viewers initially however eventually become use to it. Call of Duty Black Ops has a very violent scene where a character is interrogated by inserting broken glass into his mouth while numerous punches are thrown at him. It is this kind of violence which is constantly portrayed within Call of Duty and encourages young audiences to “be less shocked by real-life violence”.
In relation to theories Call of Duty has a variety of ways to get to their audience. For example the hypodermic needle theory where the audience passively intake the mass media’s portrayal and tend to believe it. The audience is injected with the idea that war and violence is an enjoyable experience and the mass media’s portrayal of gender and ethnicity are the correct portrayals within the video game. This gives the impression that “if something is repeated often enough it will tend to be believed and remembered”. It can also be shaped into the context that if violent games are continuously produced by gaming institutions it will tend to attract a more mainstream audience and make young audiences feel that the idea of this violence is socially accepted. However audiences can also take initiative of their own consumption and choose whether to believe and act upon the media. This is known as the cultivation theory where either “children replicate the behaviour they view” or instead use the games as a way to tune out of the real world and “if they want to steal a car, they steal a car in the game instead of in the real world”.
Some seem to believe that exposure to violent video games is not a contributing factor in violent behaviour and that “the scientific debate about whether exposure to media violence causes an increase in aggressive behaviour is over” and in fact should have been over 30 years ago. Recent times show that “a large portion of today’s teenage generation spends much of its free time sitting in front of a computer screen shooting aliens, zombies or other teenagers sitting at another computer screen” and could connote that because others are playing it such as their friends; they feel the need to interact with the similar behaviour. However becoming emotionally attached to games like Call of Duty increases feelings of hostility, decreases emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury and therefore leads to “violent behaviour through imitation”.
The main cause for concern is for parents who are continuously pressurized by their children to buy these violent games and throw tantrums should their parents not agree. Michael Rich a professor of paediatrics believes that “Any parent who goes out to the supermarket and shops for food for their kid wants to look at the can and know the ingredients.” However the same does not apply for games and therefore “don’t know what we’re feeding our kids’ minds.” Daphne White believes that parents should enforce their authority over them as “we wouldn't give our children a drug just because they ask for it. It's still important for parents to say no.”
To conclude it is quite obvious that video games have contained a high degree of violence and that realism and gore levels have risen but only simply because “video games are also the more popular games on the market.” It can be argued that there is a “strong correlation now between the violent natures of games these days and the aggressive tendencies in game players” however “equally possible that violent media images serve a valuable function by providing audience with a vicarious outlet for their violent impulses”. In my opinion I do believe that the graphic violence within Call of Duty does attract a teenage demographic as it is a route of escapism and a way to vent out any aggression and stress interactively however it has come to the point where much younger audiences who are influenced easily use the violence within games as an excuse to imitate it within society and based on that enhance their game enjoyment.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Books
Anderson, C. A., Gentile, D. A., & Buckley, K. E. (2007).Violent video game effects on children and adolescents: theory, research, and public policy. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
Burton, G. (1990). More than meets the eye: an introduction to media studies. London: E. Arnold :.
Clark, V. (2007). Complete A-Z media & film studies handbook(1. publ. ed.). London: Hodder Arnold.
Cohen, S. (2002). Folk devils and moral panics (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
Rayner, P., Wall, P., & Kruger, S. (2001). Media studies: the essential introduction. London: Routledge.
Websites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty Call of Duty
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/index.html
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=759 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://cmch.typepad.com/mediatrician/2009/12/call-of-duty-teen-boys.html My son wants Call of Duty, but how do these video games impact teen boys?
http://psp.sagepub.com/content/35/2/243.abstract The Motivating Role of Violence in Video Games
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723 Video Games: A Cause of Violence and Aggression
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.psycontent.com/content/k1263x424326ulm7/ The Hitman Study
http://psp.sagepub.com/content/35/2/243.abstract The Motivating Role of Violence in Video Games
http://psi.sagepub.com/content/4/3/81.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc The Influence of Media Violence on Youth
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://rebeccacraft.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/gaming-addiction-myth-medical-condition-or-moral-panic/ Gaming addiction: myth, medical condition or moral panic?
http://ejas.revues.org/8831 “Invading Your Hearts and Minds”: Call of Duty®and the (Re)Writing of Militarism in U.S. Digital Games and Popular Culture
http://digiplay.info/node/2778 The influence of media violence on youth
http://www.infowars.com/violence-in-video-games-and-the-baghdad-massacre Violence in Video Games and the Baghdad Massacre
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/09/labour-mps-call-of-duty-modern-warfare Labour MPs clash over Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299214 Report: Teenage brains desensitized by video violence
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/St_Vdogms.html Studying videogames
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/mm28_diploma_censor.html Diploma – the c-word: censoring the media?
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/index.html
http://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia.html The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723#2 Video Games: A Cause of Violence and Aggression
Moving Image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEt36IJEdmg&feature=player_embedded Call of Duty: Black Ops - 012 - Numbers Part 1 of 2 [Veteran/HD]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esA4w7_A70M&feature=player_embedded VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES
Works Consulted
Websites
http://www.old.japanfocus.org/products/topdf/2130 Writing the history of the future: The killing game
http://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia.html The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children
http://www.younilife.com/killer-games 'Think of the children...'Moral panics in the media and video games
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2862370/1/Call_of_Duty_Calling_Off_Violence_in_Video_Games Call of Duty: Calling Off Violence in Video Game
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/ns/technology_and_science-games/ Does game violence make teens aggressive?
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1222 AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Media Violence
http://palgn.com.au/10453/violence-war-and-call-of-duty-4/ Violence, War, and Call of Duty 4
http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/media-violence-and-aggression-3670690.html Media Violence and Aggression
http://vgresearcher.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/appeal-of-violent-video-games-to-lower-educated-aggressive-adolescent-boys-lemmens-bushman-2006/ Appeal of violent video games to lower educated aggressive adolescent boys (Lemmens & Bushman, 2006)
Moving Image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fvxS54r0mQ&feature=player_embedded Call of Duty: Black Ops Shows Good Guys Using Torture - Alex Jones Tv
Works Cited
Books
Anderson, C. A., Gentile, D. A., & Buckley, K. E. (2007).Violent video game effects on children and adolescents: theory, research, and public policy. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
Burton, G. (1990). More than meets the eye: an introduction to media studies. London: E. Arnold :.
Clark, V. (2007). Complete A-Z media & film studies handbook(1. publ. ed.). London: Hodder Arnold.
Cohen, S. (2002). Folk devils and moral panics (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
Rayner, P., Wall, P., & Kruger, S. (2001). Media studies: the essential introduction. London: Routledge.
Websites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty Call of Duty
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/index.html
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=759 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://cmch.typepad.com/mediatrician/2009/12/call-of-duty-teen-boys.html My son wants Call of Duty, but how do these video games impact teen boys?
http://psp.sagepub.com/content/35/2/243.abstract The Motivating Role of Violence in Video Games
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723 Video Games: A Cause of Violence and Aggression
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.psycontent.com/content/k1263x424326ulm7/ The Hitman Study
http://psp.sagepub.com/content/35/2/243.abstract The Motivating Role of Violence in Video Games
http://psi.sagepub.com/content/4/3/81.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc The Influence of Media Violence on Youth
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://rebeccacraft.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/gaming-addiction-myth-medical-condition-or-moral-panic/ Gaming addiction: myth, medical condition or moral panic?
http://ejas.revues.org/8831 “Invading Your Hearts and Minds”: Call of Duty®and the (Re)Writing of Militarism in U.S. Digital Games and Popular Culture
http://digiplay.info/node/2778 The influence of media violence on youth
http://www.infowars.com/violence-in-video-games-and-the-baghdad-massacre Violence in Video Games and the Baghdad Massacre
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/09/labour-mps-call-of-duty-modern-warfare Labour MPs clash over Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299214 Report: Teenage brains desensitized by video violence
http://www.enotes.com/media-violence-problem-article Is Media Violence a Problem?
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/St_Vdogms.html Studying videogames
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/mm28_diploma_censor.html Diploma – the c-word: censoring the media?
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/index.html
http://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia.html The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=457 Our Appetite for Aggression
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723#2 Video Games: A Cause of Violence and Aggression
Moving Image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEt36IJEdmg&feature=player_embedded Call of Duty: Black Ops - 012 - Numbers Part 1 of 2 [Veteran/HD]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esA4w7_A70M&feature=player_embedded VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES
Works Consulted
Websites
http://www.old.japanfocus.org/products/topdf/2130 Writing the history of the future: The killing game
http://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia.html The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children
http://www.younilife.com/killer-games 'Think of the children...'Moral panics in the media and video games
http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2862370/1/Call_of_Duty_Calling_Off_Violence_in_Video_Games Call of Duty: Calling Off Violence in Video Game
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/ns/technology_and_science-games/ Does game violence make teens aggressive?
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1222 AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Media Violence
http://palgn.com.au/10453/violence-war-and-call-of-duty-4/ Violence, War, and Call of Duty 4
http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/media-violence-and-aggression-3670690.html Media Violence and Aggression
http://vgresearcher.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/appeal-of-violent-video-games-to-lower-educated-aggressive-adolescent-boys-lemmens-bushman-2006/ Appeal of violent video games to lower educated aggressive adolescent boys (Lemmens & Bushman, 2006)
Moving Image
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fvxS54r0mQ&feature=player_embedded Call of Duty: Black Ops Shows Good Guys Using Torture - Alex Jones Tv
Sunday 9 January 2011
Xmas Task 6
How and why does graphic violence within video games such as ‘Call of Duty’ attract a teenage demographic?
Call of Duty is a first and third person video game series franchise owned by Activision. In 2009, the total sales for the entire COD series were surpassed 55 million, taking $3 billion retail sales. It’s played for more than 600 million hours which is equivalent to 68,000 hours and one of the reasons why video games have “...sucked the social life out of many of today’s teenagers”. Jean Anthelme Bruliat-Savann once said "Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are". However this quote is more than just about our diet, it can be used in the context of how we develop mentally and what we allow our minds to ingest i.e. violence. Although violence and aggression in a young audience is a major concern for society, institutions such as Infinity Ward and Activision still continue to produce games which high volumes of violence. Institutions such as Activision do this as "Media is evolving and today the social aspects of technology and more important to the overall entertainment experience than ever before. COD creates a shared sense of identity for its community and is an integral to their social lives as any other form of digital communication". In this essay I intend to prove that violence is one of the factors why teenagers play Call of Duty.
Xmas Task 5
TASK 5
Detailed Essay Plan
How and why does graphic violence within video games such as 'Call of Duty' attract a teenage demographic?
Introduction
- My essay is going to investigate the conventions the Call of Duty franchise used in order to attract teenagers and the effects that the game has on a young audience.
- What is Call of Duty? (Success, Impact on gaming market, Contextualise Call of Duty).
- Cod = First person + third person video game series franchise owned by Activision. Has become relatively popular for both good and bad reasons and on the 27th of November 2009, the total sales for the entire COD series = surpassed 55 million, taking $3 billion retail sales.
- Over $1 billion sales
- Played for more than 600 million hours = 68,000 human years
- If all COD players turned out in numbers, they would fill 83 of the largest stadiums in the world everyday
- COD gamer spends averagely 87 mins on COD everyday
- If COD created a state = 3rd largest state in U.S.
- Sold 8.4 million copies in North America alone during launch month.
"Media is evolving and today the social aspects of technology and more important to the overall entertainment experience than ever before. COD creates a shared sense of identity for its community and is an integral to their social lives as any other form of digital communication". Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard.
"Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are". Jean Anthelme Bruliat-Savann = just not about our diets however, used in context of how we develop mentally + what we allow our minds ingest.
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How and why graphic violence attracts teenagers. What conventions does graphic violence use in order to attract their market? Why do teenagers engage in violent games so much? Out of males and females, which plays violent games more?
“If something is repeated often enough it will tend to be believed and remembered.”
"Many narratvies have depended on violence and it is clear that violence in fictions gives pleasure to the audience"
"Some research, such as Bandura's experiments in the 1960s, suggests that violent media texts encourage violent behaviour in the audiences but this is by no means conclusive"
They have, according to critics, sucked the social life out of many of today’s teenagers."
"Some people believe that the violence portrayed in videogames is a primary cause for violent acts committed by children. They believe that games make violence socially acceptable. They argue that children replicate the behaviour they view."
Studies also showed that players high in trait aggression were more likely to prefer or value games with violent contents, even though violent contents did not reliably enhance their game enjoyment or immersion.
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Looking at the representations and stereotyping within Call of Duty. Also looking at gender and ethnicity. What impacts these representations have on society. Negative or positive representations, fair?
“First, there are the representational issues concerning the worlds depicted in video games, such as those portraying hyper sexualized women or Orientalist depictions of Arab enemies. We suggest, however, that these cultural, sexual, and political representations are not the only forces doing work on the player within the virtual world of a video game.”
“Reinforcing the racism that justifies domination and mass killing becomes a key part of the authenticity of historically accurate war gaming.”
"Games have narratives, and as the player moves through the levels or stages, s/he experiences the game as a character. In this sense this is a unique kind of text because, as you take on the character you are playing, you ‘become’ a representation. We could get into all kinds of intellectualising here about existential postmodern identities."
“Stereotypes are thus neither neutral nor fair, presenting the examination of differences within groups”
"The main task for any student is to challenge this. You must develop a critical faculty that questions and probes how and why this ‘misrepresentation’ occurs. As you do this, the benchmark for most media study will always hold true – what is the ‘message’ behind the medium?"
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Discussing the media effects of Call of Duty. How these affect the audience when playing the game. How the level of violence contributes to the mindset of teenagers.
Results do not support a link between violent video games and aggressive behavior, but do suggest that violent games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players through mood management.
Studies also showed that players high in trait aggression were more likely to prefer or value games with violent contents, even though violent contents did not reliably enhance their game enjoyment or immersion.
“In general, boys were most attracted to violent video games. Boys that scored higher in trait aggressiveness and lower in empathy were especially attracted to violent games and spent more time playing video games than did boys lower in trait aggressiveness.”
"Many people use the games as a way to tune out of the real world and if they want to steal a car, they steal a car in-game instead of in the real world. In could be argued, therefore, that the game stops people breaking the law, although ironically many adults believe that such games encourage kids to steal cars and argue that the games should be banned. The amazingly realistic graphics that some of the newer games have seem to fuel such worries about their impact on young people
"Violence is a unit of meaning that can be abstracted from occasions and modes of occurrence, and measured – with the correspondent assumption that the more violence there is, the greater its potential for influence.
"There is a mechanism, usually called ‘identification’, which makes viewers of ‘violence’ vulnerable to it – such that it thereby becomes a ‘message’ by which they are invaded and persuaded."
"Some people believe that the violence portrayed in videogames is a primary cause for violent acts committed by children. They believe that games make violence socially acceptable. They argue that children replicate the behaviour they view."
"Children in their early teens found that almost a third played video games daily, and that 7% played for at least 30 hours a week."
When video games first came out, indeed they were addictive... however, there seems to be a strong correlation now between the violent natures of games these days and the aggressive tendencies in game players.
"The media do more to shape young people’s attitudes and actions than do parents or teachers, thus replacing them as educators, role models, and the primary sources of information about the world and how to behave in it. "
Negative outcomes include aggressive feelings, aggressive thoughts, aggressive behavior, physiological arousal, and desensitization, whereas positive outcomes include various types of learning. Multiple theories predict, and empirical findings reveal, that violent video game exposure is causally related to a host of negative outcomes and a few positive outcomes."
"Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors."
"media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts."
"viewing media violence is a catharsis which may actually help reduce aggression. Violent entertainment may offer viewers—especially young males—a way to explore their violent tendencies without hurting anyone."
"Case studies provided a clear-cut argument against gaming and its negative effects. One boy followed the motto of “eat, sleep and play games” and had got kicked out of higher education, which subsequently meant he was damaging his relationships with his friends and family. Another study revealed the violent results of parents trying to gain control over an “addicted gamer”, the boy kicking a hole in his sister’s wall and becoming full of rage after his parents disconnected the internet. A screen shot of a game character was used to express this rage if the description wasn’t enough."
"It is equally possible that violent media images serve a valuable function by providing audience with a vicarious outlet for their violent impulses. Occassionally, media violence is the subject of a moral panic such as the video nasties scare of the early 1980s."
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Looking at video games Post 9/11 and Pre 9/11, past games and whether the intent of violence has increased. Were pre 9/11 games as popular as now, has the amount of sales increased since the incident of 9/11. Is the increase of violence post 9/11 a factor which attracts more of an mainstream audience?
"Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to show how these games contain images and narratives that resonate with and reinforce a tabloid imaginary of post 9/11 geopolitics, glorify military power and elicit consent for the idea that state violence and wars are inevitable
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Media technology, effects of globalisation, news values, censorships and institutions.
"Hollywood and video-game makers not only failed to limit access by minors to violent games and movies but actually targeted children in the making and marketing of violent entertainment.
“Companies in the entertainment industry routinely undercut their own rating restrictions by target marketing violent films, records and video games to young audiences.”
“the media makes the world look a lot more violent than it is."
"The average child will see nearly 100,000 violent images in the media before he or she reaches the age of 18."
"Gurian notes that testosterone is an aggression hormone, and that boys can have 20 times the level found in girls. Because of this, and the way the male brain develops and is formatted, males are more attracted to violent imagery than females are. “Males likewise have more trouble controlling violent impulses,” he said, “which is even more reason for us to come to a better understanding of how the media affects little boys."
"Recent surveys reveal an extensive presence of violence in modern media. Furthermore, many children and youth spend an inordinate amount of time consuming violent media.
"Media violence produces long-term effects via several types of learning processes leading to the acquisition of lasting (and automatically accessible) aggressive scripts, interpretational schemas, and aggression-supporting beliefs about social behavior, and by reducing individuals' normal negative emotional responses to violence (i.e., desensitization)."
"Is it a coincidence that the game came out in 2007, when in January that year an extensive BBC poll found that 73% of the global population disapproves of the war in Iraq?"
"It's not about censorship, it's about protecting our children."
"Shooting dogs, beating children and murdering innocent civilians are dwarfed by the amount of unmitigated evil game developers are having their heroes portray."
"that games do incorporate powerful psychological techniques to create a compulsion loop, but without these there would be no substance to a game."
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Discussing moral panics which have arisen due to Call of Duty. What are these moral panics, who do they concern?
"research has associated exposure to media violence with a variety of physical and mental health problems for children and adolescents, including aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, fear, depression, nightmares and sleep disturbances."
“Any parent who goes out to the supermarket and shops for food for their kid wants to look at the can and know the ingredients. We don’t have a rating system that is content based, so we don’t know what we’re feeding our kids’ minds.”
“We wouldn't give our children a drug just because they ask for it. It's still important for parents to say no.”
"Children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences."
"Learning of aggressive behaviors and attitudes.” Media violence may not make children violent, but it may teach them that violence is a normal way of solving problems."
“Desensitization to violence.” This is the classic problem that horror movies face: Violence and gore may shock viewers initially, but they eventually become used to it. And heavy viewers of media violence may be less shocked by real-life violence."
“Fear of being victimized by violence.” Constant exposure to violence in the media may lead people to believe that violence is everywhere and that they should be afraid. Researcher George Gerbner has described this as “Mean World Syndrome.”
“Based on our results, I think parents should be aware of the relationship between violent video-game playing and brain function.”
"If we don't end war, war will end us." H.G. Wells must not have had violent video games in mind when he fashioned that quote, but the levels of aggression in war and video games is just the same. Some people have asked, "Are video games too violent"? The answer is yes, video games are much too violent, for they endanger the safety of other kids, they can affect a child's aggressiveness later on, and in our society, violence is on the rise. Violent video games are too violent and they must be stopped."
"Violence in videogames have always been questionable since they become more advanced in graphics and portrayal."
“Major moral panics in recent times have centred on fears about paedophilia, AIDS, drugs, knife and gun crime, Satanism, the MMK (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and effects of video games.”
“Cohen defines a moral panic as follows, a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values + interests; its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media.”
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Theories + audiences ( violent theories, hypodermic needle theory, cultivation theory, effects theory, uses + gratifications theory)
“Younger gamers, typically under the age of eight, tend to be more influenced by games and what they see on screen."
“We must get away from the habit of thinking in terms of what media do to people and substitute it for the idea of what people do with the media.”
VIOLENT THEORIES
"One would have to conclude that video games have always contained a high degree of violence, but just now are the realism and gore levels catching up to the level of violence in games."
"The violent video games are also the more popular games on the market" (Schutte et al. 1988; Funk and Buchman 1996; Quittner 1999)
"Children who view media violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation."
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY
- Passively intake or inject the mass media's portrayal and tend to believe it.
- Draws attention to power the media producers have.
- Injected Audience > Passive + Powerless
Audience are injected with the idea that war + violence is an enjoyable experience and the misrepresentations of race, gender and ethnicity are the correct portrayals within the video game.
CULTIVATION THEORY
- Different groups/audiences respond differently to the media put before them.
- Audiences gradually develop certain views about the world, some of which are 'false'.
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Looking at violence in a whole in video games. Looking at facts, figures, experiments based on violence.
"A large portion of today’s teenage generation spends much of its free time sitting in front of a computer screen shooting aliens, zombies or other teenagers sitting at another computer screen"
"There are also those who are more concerned by the notion that games negatively affect their users. Games have been vilified in the popular press for their supposed violence. Much of the apparent evidence for the link is founded on poorly conceived or simplistic research methods, generally combined with a very narrow understanding of what constitutes play, or a game, or violence. Digital games are accountable for their content, just as any other form of media must be. But, as yet, there is no compelling reason to single games out as having a greater ‘influence’ than television, for example."
"There is a mechanism, usually called ‘identification’, which makes viewers of ‘violence’ vulnerable to it – such that it thereby becomes a ‘message’ by which they are invaded and persuaded."
"Violence is a unit of meaning that can be abstracted from occasions and modes of occurrence, and measured – with the correspondent assumption that the more violence there is, the greater its potential for influence."
"Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to show how these games contain images and narratives that resonate with and reinforce a tabloid imaginary of post 9/11 geopolitics, glorify military power and elicit consent for the idea that state violence and wars are inevitable"
“Reinforcing the racism that justifies domination and mass killing becomes a key part of the authenticity of historically accurate war gaming.”
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Conclusion. Why does violence attract teenagers in specific.
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