Do games make you violent?

Let's see what common sense tells us about games making us violent.

Being a game designer, I am often asked these questions...
Do games make people violent?
Do games have an adverse effect on kids?

The game development fraternity will expect a NO for an answer. Others who know that I am part of that fraternity would expect a NO from me as well. And looking at how I've started this article, I am sure you are already expecting a shocker that I am going to claim otherwise. But let's read on before we jump to any conclusion... ;)

A few days back, I was 'following' an argument on a game developers forum about how random journalists who don't know what they are talking about, make wild and unfounded claims that games make people violent. Their stories, at times, backed by the equally clueless armchair academics with statistics to back their claims. I know for a fact that 80% of such stats are conjured out of thin air. (Got it :D) Anyway, once such an article is published, it is customary for the game developers to waste no time to pounce on that article and the writer to show how wrong and malicious that research is. And that something must be done to save the games industry from these 'enemies of games.' On such forums you dare not contradict the protectors of the games industry.

The most favorite defense of game developers is to pass the buck on to the most logical victim (victim of all victims) - the movie industry. 'Why blame the games when movies have been making people violent for over a century?' I really wish to see how the movie fraternity reacts to that!

The other favorite defense is to make everyone play Portal (A First Person Spatial Puzzler). Kids become bright after playing that game, is their claim.


I agree that opinionated journalism is a bane but, believe me, games are not the only victims. Also, whenever someone puts a real bullet in someone's head, the attitude of searching through his games library first and then, if required, checking out his hidden weapons inventory and criminal record as optional corroboratory exhibits is nothing short of a gimmick to grab the headlines.

So what's my take? 

On games
- Anything (including games) that entertains possesses the power to influence your thoughts.
- The extent and the kind of influence depend on the malleability of that person's mind.
- If a game can influence you positively (like most puzzle games), it can affect you in a negative manner as well.
- That most games, by themselves, aren't good or evil.
- Games can definitely trigger certain behaviors (I usually prescribe a couple of games as a suppository whenever people on my team suffer from a creative block. It works like magic :)  )

On people and them not allowing children to play video games 
 - I have a feeling that most game developers and journalists tend to think of their customers/readers as people with sub-par intellect. So much so that they believe that reading articles about how good or how bad games are, can tilt the balance in either direction.
- People, in my opinion, can very well decide if they want to play games or not and which games to play.
- People also know how to best bring up their child. The games industry should refrain from patronizing parents about how playing video games will or won't affect their child. After all, we aren't taking the responsibility of that child, are we?

Do games (video games specifically) make people violent?
No. 

Can they make people violent?
Yes they can (especially if the person has a violent disposition). Also it will be a great exercise for the game developers to dig deeper into why and how games were invented and for what purpose. I am talking about absolutely ancient games.

Can people be made violent by factors other than games?
Yes.
As a trial, just try to mouth, 'You should be given an award for your great traffic sense', to a passing motorist. Point a finger at him if possible and see how he reacts.

So does the debate over whether games make people violent or not, holds any water?
No. It's a pointless debate.

- regards,

Abhishek

Recognition

Just like if you wear your jeans long enough, even the odor it emanates after...say 15 days dies off on the 20th day and then there remains no reason to wash it in the first place. I say that I've been gone for so long, it's no use apologizing. And so let's begin.

One day, I was sitting at my desk going through my office mail, preparing my to do list for the day, jotting down points for the daily meetings for the 7 or so projects' that I have been directly or indirectly involved in ....in short, I was preparing for the day. Suddenly one of my Rareandraring Game Designer apparated at my desk and enthusiastically started telling me something. It took me, not more than, a couple of seconds to 'realize that he was there and look up and listen', but he was already talking about MS Dhoni...world cup...sachin tendulkar...

'Come again', said I.

Apparently my direct report had, by some snag in the system, been attending a training course that I was supposed to attend. From his gestures and enthusiasm it looked like he'd been thoroughly liking what he had been attending. I smiled. Someone seems to have giving him the idealistic stuff and he was lapping it up. I started listening.

'I wish I could be like Mahendra Singh Dhoni.' he said.

I patted myself on the back for such a flawless analysis of what a company training can be and ultimately yield. (And now you see that I pat myself on the back quite a lot) Anyway, I thanked the system or the person who had made the mistake.

Now you'd expect that I should ask him, 'Why?' . But when you are rareandraring, the raring part takes care of such meaningless questions. Cause my enthusiastic designer had already launched into explaining why he wanted to be like MSD.

'Remember when India won the cricket world cup, he (MSD) was calmly walking behind the team. He didn't crave for the limelight. He let Sachin Tendulkar take the center stage. That's the kind of attitude I want to have in life. ....' he said this and a lot more in one breath.

This conversation took me back a few days when during our design meeting, a topic about 'recognition' had popped up. Naturally, such a topic never pops up when there is an abundance of recognition. I was glad that such a topic came up because it told me that my team was indeed made of people with rareandraring attitude. These guys wanted a forum and an applause for the great work they've been doing. Amazing! More so because it wasn't the lack of recognition from within the team but from people outside. So when he was done, it was time for me to speak.

'So have you posted our latest game's review link on the Facebook?' I asked.

Pat came the proud reply, 'No.'

It was time for me to shine some sunlight up...
 'Even if Mahendra Dhoni breaks wind, it will make news about how he has lost form and how good he was at breaking wind. How did you know that he was in the background when Sachin was supposedly hogging the limelight? Because the camera was focused on Dhoni glorifying his gesture. And Dhoni knows it. He does not try to hog limelight because he doesn't have to.'

I stood up and looked around me. There was a guy sitting at the end of the office room playing Cityville. I told my designer to go and ask him about what game had he (my designer) worked on. All of us (me, my designer and the Cityville playing guy at the end of the room) knew the answer that he didn't know the answer. But I made him go through the exercise. So when he came back, I told him.

'We've just released one of the highest rated (internationally) video games made in India, ever! However, don't go expecting people to know about it on their own. Moreover don't expect people to play your game and somehow visit the credits section to accidentally come across your name. If you've done something that you feel proud of, let the world know about it. There is nothing wrong in publicizing your success when public recognition is one of your core driving factors. MSD can afford to not publicize his work because it's already being done for him. You, on the other hand, need to promote your work to reach that stage where you no longer need to promote it. So the next time when I ask you whether you've published that link on FB, I expect a yes.'

-----

I, as a game designer, believe that the greatest driving force for any true game developer is to entertain people and see them entertained. And when he does a good job, owns the bragging rights for it. If the recognition doesn't come his way, he must on his own volition make sure that it comes his way. Cause like money is to a business establishment, recognition is to an entertainer.

Low Cost Airlines of Games - Part 2

...continuing from where we left off earlier this weekend. If you still haven't read Low Cost Airlines of Games - Part 1, might as well do it now.


All the games that use the 'free to play and then fortune to keep playing' model presently, are amongst the first to make such games. They have got millions of players thanks to the immense popularity of social networking sites and proliferation of iPhone, iPad devices. Publishers are getting away with absolutely substandard products because there was nothing like it in the market before this (And I hope this doesn't become a norm). And because these guys are making billions of dollars, quite a few publishers are jumping onto the bandwagon to reap the benefits.

But when there is more than one publisher in the foray, you no longer have the monopoly. And when someone doesn't have monopoly, their product needs to be much better or different from the competition. And people can easily figure out best amongst similar products. In short, the kitty splits.

With the attention span of present generation rivaling that of a gold fish, the Publishers don't know what game might work and what might not. Therefore to stay afloat, even the Dev/Publishers that have been renowned for unmatched quality have to cut the production costs so that a flop game won't result in a huge hit on their finances (amazing use of flop and hit in the same context). And therefore, they essentially try to get a game out within minimum possible time.

Typically a AAA console game usually takes around 1.5 to 3 years to make depending on whether it is a sequel/episodic or a 'from the scratch' game. The production costs of such games are huge. When these games pay, the payoff is huge; when they flop, entire studios close down.

A free to play game, of the current generation, usually takes around 5 months or less to make and new content gets released periodically. If it's a hit, the publisher keeps it going, if it's a flop, they kill the game.

Games that get made in 5 months and which need to appeal to millions of people (quite a hard task that) cannot be of the same quality as AAA products, in any respect (Most of FTP games are still Open Beta and buggy). Eventually, this idea of selling/playing quick frivolous games will become stale, even for the players. In short, the games will have to evolve. Evolution is always complex and complexity means more time to develop. The idea of making a game in 5 months will take a back seat and we will be back to square one of making a quality 'free to play' game. Longer production cycles, heavy costs, too many publishers

So all this is for what?
Look forward to the next installment for some hilarious examples of what might happen to current generation games if they are made free to play!