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Adolescent males blamed for violent gaming trend
October 16, 1996
Web posted at: 9:00 a.m. EDTFrom Correspondent Don Knapp
SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- When the sight of a flesh-eating zombie gorging on his latest victim is the most entertaining aspect of a video game, people begin to ask if the virtual world of modern gaming has not gone too far over the edge.
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Sega, one of video gaming's giants, is one interested party that says the question of violent content in video games is one that needs to be addressed.
They are concerned about games where violence is the only acceptable answer to solving problems, and where women are almost universally portrayed as scantily clad victims waiting to be saved by a weapon-wielding male.
To air such concerns, Sega has sponsored a series of round table discussions where experts explore what impact, if any, today's obscenely violent games have on kids.
Sega says it's not attempting to control the direction of gaming content, but that it does want to influence the industry.
"We're not trying to be the industry censor," said Sega's Ted Hoff. "What we're really trying to do is set an example."
The conclusion of many experts who have looked into the effect of violent video games is that they are more a reflection of the target audience, adolescent males, rather than a trigger to producing a dangerous generation of blood-splattering youth.
Indeed, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Henry Jenkins thinks that gory gaming may be a convenient vent for youths traumatized by the pressures of growing up.
"A video game where you pretend to beat someone up is probably preferable to actually beating someone up in the back yard," Jenkins said.
The University of California-San Diego's Ellen Seiter is another who sees the video violence as a result, rather than a cause, of youthful male hormones.
"The games are focused on adolescent male fantasy, and the people who are the designers are not very far from that," Seiter said.
Seiter's concern with the violent gaming scene is not that it reflects an already violent society, but that girls may be left out.
She believes, as do many others, that playing video games is one the easiest ways to bring children into the information age.
"That's why I want girls to start playing video games," said Seiter, "because unless they're comfortable with the technologies, they're not going to succeed."
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