Lesson 8-Violence and Games

Question 0

What was a violent, controversial game?

Answer 0

Splatterhouse. The game gives you a massive meat cleaver which lets you chop the heads off enemies and green goo explodes out of their neck stumps

There was a japanese and american version(american version was toned down)

Question 1

Painting that created a legacy in the gore visual aesthetic found in games

Answer 1

Francisco De Goya’s Saturn Devouring his son

Question 3

What genre emerged from the 1980s

Answer 3

The platformer

Question 4

What is platforming?

Answer 4

Jumping onto, and swinging between platforms

The first platforms had static screens

Question 5

What is the best known static screen platformer?

Answer 5

Donkey Kong. But the idea of having these
screens stitched together,
where when you got to the edge of
one screen you'd jump to the next,
was really kind of a middle ground
that took us from the static
screen platformer of Donkey Kong, to the
scrolling platformer that we saw later.

Question 6

What are common in platformers today?

Answer 6

Power-ups(ex. mario can have fireball power when he touches the fire flower

Question 7

What was the advantage of the game, Faith. Why was violence secondary?

End of 8-1

Answer 7

Because the designs of the game utilized on Faith’s stealth and running abilities.

Question 8

Sega’s Nights Into Dreams was very underreated. But what did it do a good job at? (Think of Kingdom Hearts)

Answer 8

Controlling your character while moving the camera at the same time. It did a really good job taking advantage of these sorts of constraints

Question 9

What was the controversial game that had a Japanese and American version?

Answer 9

Splatterhouse. The Japanese version was much more violent than the american one.

A massive meat cleaver lets you chop the heads off enemies and green goo explodes out of their neck stumps. Additionally the green blood splattered in the setting stays where it is, and provides a sort of aesthetic for the game.

Question 10

What is the painting that left a legacy on games?

Answer 10

Francisco De Goya’s painting, Saturn Devouring his son

Question 11

Violence is a part of how we tell stories, and how they can actually shape a game mechanic. SO which game uses stylized violence but does so ineffectively?

Answer 11

The game, Dante’s Inferno which follows the original epic poem. It could be argued that the game follows the spirit of the original.

ex. Dante’s lover Beatrice is slaughtered in the game. The gory scene is meant to motivate the hero to take action, but its gratuity and senselessness comes off as lazy writing. (female in the refrigerator)

It also depicts Beatrice poorly

Question 12

From an aesthetic standpoint, violence can

Answer 12

be used within the narrative to set a mood and a sense of urgency within the story

Question 13

Given our discussion then, the purpose
of blood and gore in a game is.
A, to induce gut-wrenching
fear in the player.
B, to give the player
a sense of agency as he or
she witnesses the incredible
power of their avatar.
C, to provide hilarious and excessive
death animations that amuse the player.
D, to add nothing.
Publishers force studios to use
these elements to increase sales.
Or E, dependent upon the way these
elements are used in context with
the game's genre, story, and mechanics.

End of 8-2-Blood and Gore

Answer 13

E is the most correct answer
because context is what matters.
The meaning of blood and
gore in a game is dependent on, and
changes with the context of that game.

Question 14

What do most games use to keep the player engaged? (This is what you would call a game mechanic)

Answer 14

They use feedback mechanisms. Since games are interactive mediums, players are able to receive feedback, for all kinds of actions like solving puzzles, exploration, treasure finding etc.

But in the context of violence, the feedback mechanism may be good or bad. Such as you are punished for unlawfully killing a citizen for doing nothing at all in Assassin’s Creed.

Question 15

End of 8-2-Blood and Gore

Answer 15

….

Question 16

Which game (from the same company as Ultima III) allowed players to kill NPCs with little consequence?

Answer 16

Crusader: No Remorse

The protagonist is an assassin sent to infiltrate a heartless multinational corporation.

The assassin generally kills guards, but what is most troubling is that the player is allowed to kill office or construction workers with little to no consequence. The player is not punished, but rather is rewarded with loot drops.

While the Ultima series has punitive consequences for undeserved violence, The Crusader series upended(basically contrast) that mechanic by giving rewards for killing harmless NPCs

Question 17

Where did the term NPC first rise in?

Answer 17

In tabletop role-playing games where the dungeon master or game master would control these characters.

Question 18

What is the reason for displaying two games that contrast each other in relation to feedback mechanisms in games?

Answer 18

To show that games really have no middle ground. The point is that in many games, consequences for killing are unidirectional.
You are either rewarded or punished for killing an NPC

Question 19

Sometimes, the issues of consequences from violent actions is neither about rewards nor punishments. What do they sometimes involve(in relation to a character/player’s conscience?)

What is a game that demonstrates this element when dealing with violence in games?

end of 8-3-Consequences and Morality

Answer 19

Sometimes they involve making moral choices.

This changes the relationship to the game and gives the player a moral context. They player can choose to avoid or commit act of violence.

The game is Fallout. In dialogue, the player is often presented with the option to talk their way out of a situation or bribe, or attack the NPC to get what they want.

The choice the player makes affects the story of the game.

It is worth noting that these feedback mechanisms are long term, so players have to think hard about their choices

different note: Dishonored is a good game that rewards the player for using non lethal methods to solve puzzles. Rewards for player is that they have better relationships with NPCs

Question 20

Many games use violence to manage progression.

What is an example of this? And what is the term for this example called?

Answer 20

Practically almost any RPG game since you need to kill a boss to advance in the game.

The term is gating. Gating keeps a player confined to a certain space until they satisfy some condition. Think of the Legend of Zelda, where when Link is in a dungeon, he enters a room. Suddenly there is a gate that shuts behind him. He looks, but he knows there is no escape. He looks back forward, and there is a miniboss in which he must defeat to get the key treasure item as well as make the gates retreat from their blocking position.

Question 21

Many games use violence to manage progression.

What is an example of this? And what is the term for this example called?

Answer 21

Practically almost any RPG game since you need to kill a boss to advance in the game.

The term is gating. Gating keeps a player confined to a certain space until they satisfy some condition. Think of the Legend of Zelda, where when Link is in a dungeon, he enters a room. Suddenly there is a gate that shuts behind him. He looks, but he knows there is no escape. He looks back forward, and there is a miniboss in which he must defeat to get the key treasure item as well as make the gates retreat from their blocking position.

Question 22

What is the distinction between passive and active violence?

Answer 22

In Postal 2, the player must, passively view violence throughout the game but the player does not have to actively commit any violent acts.

The player is put into frustrating situations like waiting in a long line at the bank, which encourages them to commit the violent act. Or the player is put into dangerous situations like being attacked by hate mobs. Regardless if the player decides to act violent or not, the story moves on. The violent acts are always optional in Postal 2.

Question 23

Some game manipulates the plater into committing acts of violence against innocents. What is the term for this?

end of 8-4- Violence and Mechanics

Answer 23

The unreliable narrator. The unreliable narrator misleads the player into believing one thing, when in fact reality is much different. The player does horrific acts of violence for what they thought were ethical reasons.

ex. in DreamWeb, the narrator convinces the plater to commit a series of murders in order to prevent a world apocalypse. What the player does not know, is that the protagonist is undergoing a psychotic episode. By the end of the end, the player learns that they have killed seven innocent people, due to the unreliable narrator. In other words, the player does horrific acts of violence for what they thought were ethical reasons. But these reasons came from the mind of a delusional man.

Question 24

What is the term for where games try to finesse(make delicate) morality and violence by making the player walk a moral tightrope?

Answer 24

Ethical harm.
In the game Wasteland, Bobby begs you not to kill his rabid dog Rex. If you kill the dog, Bobby attacks you and your party. What if you just let the situation be(in which the rabid dog will probably infect others)

Question 25

Some game manipulates the plater into committing acts of violence against innocents. What is the term for this?

end of 8-4- Violence and Mechanics

Answer 25

The unreliable narrator. The unreliable narrator misleads the player into believing one thing, when in fact reality is much different. The player does horrific acts of violence for what they thought were ethical reasons.

ex. in DreamWeb, the narrator convinces the plater to commit a series of murders in order to prevent a world apocalypse. What the player does not know, is that the protagonist is undergoing a psychotic episode. By the end of the end, the player learns that they have killed seven innocent people, due to the unreliable narrator. In other words, the player does horrific acts of violence for what they thought were ethical reasons. But these reasons came from the mind of a delusional man.

Question 26

The big elephant in the room is that we have been ignoring the relationship between violence and realism, and how they bleed into one another. Realism is part of a larger conversation about violence and aesthetics. So now, we will be focusing on how realism plays a role in aesthetics of games

Answer 26

….

Question 27

Gory and cartoony games tend to stylize violence by depicting it in a…

Answer 27

less realistic fashion. It goes to show the different portrayals of violence can lead to an emotional response.

Question 28

What was seen as brutal, photorealistic violence?

Answer 28

Mortal Kombat II. Though now it is seen as over-the-top cartoonish violence

House of the Dead chooses to make zombie blood green instead of red. Which makes things seem a little more cartoonish.

Question 29

What is something in the real world that allows for graphics and physics in a game seem more realistic?

Answer 29

engine technology which allows developers to produce more realistic physics simulation. They spend millions to create realistic physics simulation to increase the degree of realism.Developers assume that realistic physics simulations lead to improved player immersion

While in Devil May Cry, the physics is over realistic making the gameplay feel more cartoony ballet, it borders on comedic(and awesome in my opinion)

Point is, we feel something when we are put in a violent situation. Going back to Goya’s painting, most people feel pretty squeamish looking it at. But there is more to psychological violence than blood and guts.

Question 30

What are the three claims that game violence research proposes?

Answer 30

Exposure to violence desensitizes individuals to real violence

video game violence causes individuals to act more aggressively

the more realistic violence in the game is, graphically, physically, or contextually, the more likely the person is to express aggressive thoughts

Question 31

Over all, there are complex relationships between a game’s mechanics, its story, its characters and how the character experiences all these things together. The simple good and evil dichotomies that make headlines for media do injustice to the ethically gray world of game violence.

End of 8-5-Violence as aesthetic

Answer 31

…

Question 32

Despite the mimicry, children do not outright copy behaviour, they modify it a little as they internalize it. So in relation to the children behaviour, what do we do?

Answer 32

We also internalize violence as a belief or thought and potentially act on it. From this, we reframe our whole persepctive: When a person experiences violent beliefs, they are more likely to interpret ambiguous situations as hostile in nature.

EX. After playing a few hours of Gears of war 2, video game violence causes individuals to act more aggressively

the more realistic violence in the game is, graphically, physically, or contextually, the more likely the person is to express aggressive thoughts

Question 33

The two questions,
video game violence causes individuals to act more aggressively
and
the more realistic violence in the game is, graphically, physically, or contextually, the more likely the person is to express aggressive thoughts
are based on which psychological theorist?

A. Jean Piaget
B. Carl Rogers
C. Alberta Bandura
D. William James

What is the man’s theory called and what does it do?

Answer 33

Alberta Bandura

Bandura’s social learning theory was based on a series of experiments involving children modeling violent adult behavior.

video game violence causes individuals to act more aggressively

the more realistic violence in the game is, graphically, physically, or contextually, the more likely the person is to express aggressive thoughts
General idea behind this social theory is mimicry
If kids see something violent on tv, theyre more likely to do something violent in real life.

Question 34

Despite the mimicry, children do not outright copy behaviour, they modify it a little as they internalize it. So in relation to the children behaviour, what do we do?

Answer 34

We also internalize violence as a belief or thought and potentially act on it. From this, we reframe our whole persepctive: When a person experiences violent beliefs, they are more likely to interpret ambiguous situations as hostile in nature.

Question 35

A frequently cited meta-study, showed
a positive correlation between engaging in
violent behavior in video games
and one,
experiencing violent thoughts afterwards.
Two, desensitization towards violence.
And three, a lack of empathy,
and antisocial behavior.

What does this mean?

Answer 35

It suggests when we see violence on a screen, we experience negative personal effects. However there are many critiques of this perspective.

Question 36

Do academics dispute the idea that certain video games are violent in theme or content, or would they dispute the meanings and consequences of violence in video games?

Answer 36

They would dispute the latter since video games, when they have violence, they have violence. There is nothing to dispute about the designer’s choices.

Question 37

When academics discuss research that has
methodological problems, we mean that,
A, the researchers used the wrong
theory when supporting their claim.
B, what is being introduced as
a problem isn't a real problem.
C, the research techniques are either
not valid, or inappropriate.
Or D, the researchers didn't include
enough people in their study.

Answer 37

The correct answer is C.
This criticism is levelled at researchers
when someone asserts that the research
techniques were invalid or inappropriate,
or perhaps were poorly executed.

Question 38

What are some major methodological problems when researching about game violence

Answer 38

the level in which game violence affects a person is hard to measure since people come from a variety of backgrounds and it is unethical to get the case study to harm another case study. It is not accurate to make a case study(after playing the violent game) create a bowl of the spiciest liquid that they would give to a person based on their amount of violence. This is called the Hot Sauce Paradigm Sometimes an annoying sound(to an imaginary victim) is used instead of Hot sauce. Furthermore, all subjects know they’re participating in an experiment that has passed ethics review they all know or suspect that there is no person they are harming. There are also built in biases in how journals publish positive and negative results. So far, there is no answer to whether video games cause increased violent behaviour or decreased empathy.

ex. Undergraduates are either exposed to
a violent game like Mortal Kombat or
a non-violent game like Tetris.
Afterwards, the experimenters
try to indirectly measure if
playing the game changed that person's
level of aggression or violent thought

Bandura suggested that
children who witness an adult beating up
an inflatable toy,
a Bobo doll in this case,
were more likely to copy that behavior.
Bandura argued that children learn
to act by modeling adults, and
mimicking their behavior.

Question 39

Bandura's social learning theory
is based on the assumption that,
A, witnessing violent behavior
only has a psychological effect when
it is experienced in real life.
B, for violent behavior to have an impact
on an observer, it has to appear real.
Meaning this theory does not
apply to animations, or drawings.
C, the observation of violent behavior can
lead to the replication of that behavior.
Or D, witnessing violent
behavior only has an effect on
people who are already
predisposed to aggression.

Answer 39

The answer is C.
What Bandura is saying is that
the mere observation of some behavior,
violent or otherwise, helps to teach
the observers about that behavior.
His Bobo doll study showed that children
who witnessed other people acting
violently towards an inflatable doll were
more likely to repeat the same behavior.

Question 40

What were some methodological problems with Bandura’s study?

Answer 40

First, Bandura's study itself was
fraught with ethical challenges.
The children were taunted,
put into unfamiliar situations, and
teased about toys they couldn't play with.
It was highly problematic and
wouldn't pass an ethics review
board in that form today.
Second, many other studies,
as mentioned, use undergraduates
as their research subjects.
Mostly because they're convenient and
available.

Further, experimental studies
often fail to describe what they mean
by violence.
violence in games is
really hard to define,
nevermind study. Are they violent when
they allow the protagonist to kill an in
game character, or are explosions and
fast paced action considered violent?

Many of these experimental
studies compare the behavior of
players who play a so-called nonviolent
game, and then a violent one.
Given what you've learned so far in
this course, you can appreciate that two
games will differ in all kinds of ways,
not just in their portrayals of violence.
It is a mistake to assume that two
different games differ in terms of
violence and only violence.
ex. half life and mario(completely different) So think of experimenters comparing players with two entirely different games