Video games have turned out to be a major part of life for a majority of people as a source of entertainment in the modern technology age. Over the last five years, the gaming industry has gone through a massive technological advancement ranging from 32-bit retro games to 3d real-life gaming techniques that have made games much fun (Coeckelbergh, 2007). Currently, there is Oculus Rift which is one of the virtual realities gaming headset technology that is currently under development. Several years ago, people played Mario to save the family, queen of Mario but today, people play God of war to avenge the family. Based on such a greater difference, it becomes apparent that the concept of avenge leads to the violent thoughts. These games, therefore, serves as learning instruments and have had a striking consequences in children causing great ethical concern. Video games, therefore, have been reported to have adverse effects on children and adults particularly those who refer to themselves as hardcore gamers (Sicart, 2011). Research has shown that increased hours of gaming in most instances cause massive inactivity and health problems like obesity. More precisely, some of the video game firms like Nintendo have warnings on their gaming products that apparently states that an individual should take breaks every hour to avoid harm to the eye or seizure as a result of overexposure (Wonderly, 2017).
To understand the causes and implications of video gaming, it would be important to address the three primary questions as follows: Are video games impacting the actual social life of children and gamer? Do we need so much violence in games? Are video games really the villains in our violent age? In the first question, “Are video games impacting the actual social life of children and gamer?” it is evident that the question will help to analyze the impact of video games on the real social life of individuals and its ethical concern. In most instances, the gamers and children would spend most of their time playing the games rather than engaging in important social activities (Wonderly, 2017). Socialization has thus been reduced with the emergence of sophisticated games. Today, it is evident that most children remain indoors unlike in the past when they would be seen participating in various sports. Lack of socialization has made an individual be strangers in their communities and families. Further, lack of active participation in social activities like sports has led to increased rates of health problems that are associated with long-term, exposure to video games.
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The second question is, do we really need so much violence in games? It becomes apparent that the society does not necessarily need so much violence in the games. The presence of violence have risen numerous ethical concerns becomes it negatively affect children and adult gamers. According to Sicart (2011), violent games could have driven that majority of the violent behaviors shown among children. Based on the notion that video games are part of the entertainment, there is always diverse ways to entertain children rather than engaging them in violent activities. The question is thus important because it will help to focus on the significant aspect of ethical concern as brought out in violent video games and the measures that should be taken to address the issues.
The third question is, Are video games the villains in our violent age? Based on various violent video games such as the God of wars, it is clear that the content of the game has numerous violent actions such as Mortal Kombat that in the end instill violent behavior among children. Most of these video games give the children options to kill and shoot or to attack an enemy, and the same is applied to real-life situations. Therefore, it is true that video games have become villains in the present violent age. The question is important in this analysis on ethical concerns of technology because it helps to understand how video games have created violent behaviors among the children (Coeckelbergh, 2007).
References
Coeckelbergh, M. (2007). Violent computer games, empathy, and cosmopolitanism. Ethics and Information Technology , 9 (3), 219-231. (Pdf)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10676-007-9145-3?LI=true
Sicart, M. (2011). The ethics of computer games . MIT Press.
https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bO6LK2wYNXMC&oi=fnd&pg=PP6&d q =+Gaming+and+Violence++and+ethical+concern&ots=eEI6nRl_5B&sig=Bd6FVDkuPnsWjyQI QIDVs5tS PI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Gaming%20and%20Violence%20%20and%20ethical%20co ncern&f=false
Wonderly, M. (2017). Video Games and Ethics. (pdf)
https://philpapers.org/rec/WONVGA
