It's just a game!

I decided to do a bit of research amongst my family and friends to get a sense of how seriously they took violence within game and how appropriate they thought they were for children aged 12 years and under. My results were somewhat interesting and borderline disturbing. My first interviewee found that 'shooting games', (mainly focusing on war and gangster games) were seen as "pretty bad, but it's just a game." This "but it's just a game" approach echoed over many other interviewees, mothers included!

After reading a few other blogs I came across one that caught my eye. (Nakita J - http://ftvms212-328-2010.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-game-blammed-for-hammer-murder.html) where the murder of a 14-year old was blamed on a videogame. The murderer was just 17. To see their reaction I told my family and friends that I had questioned moments before and their reaction seemed unmoved. "That wouldn't happen to us" they said. One even said "I'd still let my kid play that haha!" This sparked a few questions in my head. How violent does a game have to be until we find it violent and more significantly, do we not take violent games seriously merely because we call them 'games'?

The idea, absurd as it sounds, has increasingly grown on me; that it seems a game will remain 'just a game' until the actions played in them are mirrored into the real world!