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Button Mashers is a periodic audio podcast covering a range of topics in the gaming industry. This blog was created for myself, Tetsuotrunks, as well as a few guest co-hosts, to contribute our 2 cents on topics that really don't warrant any discussion, or to just express things that we'd like to get off our chests. Check back often, as we update frequently and feel free to leave any feedback.

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Home » Archives » May 2008 »
Beating a dead hook...umm..horse
By TetsuoTrunks on 05.13.08 at 04:59 AM CST
So Kotaku had a story today on a Sociologist's study of GTA IV versus the presentation of violence and sex in other media. Naturally, as games are the biggest threat to American morals since "the bump", the study conclusively shows that GTA IV is LESS sensationalistic than "...most cops, politicians, policymakers, and even academics." So there you have it folks; clear scientific proof that GTA IV....wait, what? LESS sensationalized?

I'm gonna stop right here. It doesn't really matter if GTA IV is more or less sensational than the evening news or any cop show; what matters is the media wants to make this game its enemy and every police officer, politician, 'concerned parent' and lawyer they can shove a microphone in front of is all to happy to provide an 8 second sound byte to help their case.


The first problem with studies like these is that regardless of whatever findings they present, they are, at best, inconclusive. If the title was "GTA IV is less sensationalized violence than any cop show on American television", that wouldn't be irrefutable proof, that'd be an opinion. Even if all of the evidence in the presentation backed up that title to a T, it would STILL be nothing more than an opinion. And as human beings, we tend to be predisposed to form opinions not necessarily based on fact, but based more on supporting the notions that we believe are right. Politicians especially are masters of this; ask someone why we went to war or why they support laws that limit the rights and freedoms of certain people and they'll come up with an answer that uses a surprisingly large number of words to say absolutely nothing.

The point I'm kind of dancing around is that in the end, these kinds of studies are good for almost nothing, regardless of which side of the equation they fall on. Lets say every nation in the world agreed to the exact same law regarding the sale of violent video games to minors (with minor acceptable changes region to region, of course) using this one study as its basis. There would be 3 different main groups; the people who say it goes too far, the people who say it doesn't do enough and the people who are happy with the law as it is. Now, theoretically that shouldn't be possible. Everyone is looking at the same data and the same outcome, yet 2 out of 3 groups (which most likely represents the VAST majority) are unhappy with the end. Lets break down the conclusions.
1:The study said that GTA IV is less sensational than any given TV Cop show. OK, already we have an opinion issue. But, for argument's sake, lets say that this is proven quantifiably and irrefutably true; counting, say, the average number of bullets shot by people other than the protagonist (Niko or the police) in a given hour. Just as an example.
We then get split into 3 different trains of thought.
We should be more concerned about TV programs than we should about GTA IV and therefore we can leave GTA IV alone. Both GTA IV and normal television shows all need to be censored somehow. And finally Although television cop shows are quantifiably 'worse' than GTA IV, neither one of them is bad enough to warrant censorship. Already you see the problem. We've taken one statement that we used as pure fact and its branched off in 3 different directions. And even within those directions there would be further subdivisions and so on and so forth.

The point I am trying so hard to make is this. If cigarette companies can produce studies that show 'inconclusive' results linking their product to cancer, we have no chance of EVER seeing gaming definitively proven to have no effect on violent tendencies, even if it were true. So in the end, it almost doesn't matter who says what in any study. The important thing is to take notice of the situation, and facts, by yourself. Do some investigating, don't jump to conclusions, form your own opinions about things and make sure to engage in conversations with people who disagree with you.

The more you know!
Comments

Replies: 2 Comments

By Biccy on Thursday, May 15th:

These studies will sway the minds of some though, at least people are [i]trying[/i] to show those who just jump on the band wagon of "lets hate this cos I was told to!" that maybe they should rethink things.

Yes, they'll have little impact on the overall situation, but it'll change the view of a few people which is good enough for me.

By Biccy on Thursday, May 15th:

DAMN YOU ITALICS.