Nonviolent video games are video games characterized by little or no violence. As the term is vague, game designers, developers, and marketers that describe themselves as non-violent video game makers, as well as certain reviewers and members of the non-violent gaming community, often employ it to describe games with comparatively little or no violence. The definition has been applied flexibly to games in such purposive genres as the Christian video game.Christian Video Games Offer Wholesome Action: Game Makers Hope Non-Violent Alternatives Will Catch On. ABC News/Technology. 17 August 2005. However, a number of games at the fringe of the "non-violence" label can only be viewed as objectively violent.
The purposes behind the development of the nonviolent genre are primarily reactionary in nature. As video quality and level of gaming technology have increased, the violent nature of some video games has gained worldwide attention from moral, political, gender, and medical/psychological quarters. The popularity of violent video games and increases in youth violence have led to much research into the degree to which video games may be blamed for societally negative behaviors. Despite the inconclusive nature of the scientific results, a number of groups have rejected violent video games as offensive and have promoted the development of non-violent alternatives. The existence of a market for such games has in turn led to the manufacture and distribution of a number of games specifically designed for the nonviolent gaming community. Video game reviewers have additionally identified a number of games belonging to traditionally violent gameplay genres as "nonviolent" in comparison to a typical game from the violent genre. Despite the fact that some of these games contain mild violence, many of them have entered the argot of nonviolent gamers as characteristic non-violent games.
Video game violence and attendant controversies
Controversies surrounding the negative influences of video games are nearly as old as the medium itself. In 1964, Marshall McLuhan, a noted media theorist, suggested in his book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, that "[t]he games people play reveal a great deal about them".McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Signet. 1964. Re-issued 1994. . This was built upon in the early 1980s in an anti-video-game crusade spearheaded by the former Long Island PTA president, Ronnie Lamm, who spoke about her cause on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in December 1982.Gonzalez, Lauren. When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy. GameSpot feature. Retrieved 8 October 2008. The same year, Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, had suggested that games had no merit and offered little in the way of anything constructive to young people. Despite early general claims of the negative effects of video games, however, effects of these concerns were relatively minor prior to the early 1990s.
Discussion of the impact of violence in video games came as early as 1976's Death Race arcade game (a game with black and white graphics which involved running over screaming zombies). In the 1980s titles such as Exidy's Chiller (1986), Namco's Splatterhouse (1987) and Midway's NARC (1988) raised concerns about video game violence in the arcade. Home games such as Palace's Barbarian (1987) featured the ability to decapitate opponents. It was not until graphic capabilities increased and a wave of new ultra-violent titles were released in the early 1990s that the mainstream news began to pay significant attention to the phenomenon. In 1992, with Midway's release of the first Mortal Kombat video game, and then in 1993 with id's Doom, genuine controversy was first ignited as the wide and growing popularity of violent video games came into direct conflict with the moral and religious ethics of concerned citizens. Protests and game-bannings followed the publicizing of these conflicts, and controversies would erupt periodically throughout the 1990s with the releases of such games as Dreamweb (1992), Wolfenstein 3D (1992), Mortal Kombat II (1993), Phantasmagoria (1995), Duke Nukem 3D (1996), Blood (1997), Grand Theft Auto (1997), Carmageddon (1997), Postal (1997), Mortal Kombat 3 (1997), Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now (1998), Blood II: The Chosen (1998), Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999), and Requiem: Avenging Angel (1999) among others.
In April 1999, the fears of the media and violence-watch groups were legitimated in their eyes as investigations into the lives of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the shooters in the Columbine High School massacre in Columbine, Colorado, revealed that they had been fans of the video game, Doom, and had even created levels for it today dubbed "the Harris levels". A great deal of discussion of violence in video games followed this event with strong arguments made on both sides, and research into the phenomenon which had begun during the 1980s received renewed support and interest.Violent Video Games Produce Violent Behavior. About.com article. 9 November 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
In December 2001, Surgeon General David Satcher, led a study on violence in youth and determined that while the impact of video games on violent behavior has yet to be determined, "findings suggest that media violence has a relatively small impact on violence", and that "meta-analysis [had demonstrated that] the overall effect size for both randomized and correlational studies was small for physical aggression and moderate for aggressive thinking."
Despite this, the controversies and debate have persisted, and this has been the catalyst for the emergence of the non-violent video game genre. Non-violent video games are defined in the negative by a Modus tollendo ponens disjunctive argument. In other words, in order to recognize a non-violent game, an identifier must recognize the violent game as a distinct class. This has led to a degree of ambiguity in the term as it relies upon a definition of violence which for different identifiers may mean different things. In general, violence may be placed into at least three distinct categories: Totally non-violent games – Games in which absolutely no violence occurs. This category contains games characterized by lack of the death of characters, lack of sudden noise or movement, and often lack of traditional conflict. (e.g., Below the Root or Sudoku Gridmaster) Games in which the player acts non-violently – Games where violence occurs to the character-player as a result of environmental hazards or enemies but the character-player's reaction is to run away or otherwise distance himself from the violence. Games with environmental hazards only – Games lacking enemies, but containing a potentially violent environment (e.g. Alleyway, or Roller Coaster) Games with enemies – Games with violent enemies which the player-character must avoid (e.g. the Eggerland series) Games in which the player acts non-violently to other sentient beings – Games where a player acts violently against robots or other non-living non-sentient enemies (e.g. Descent)
Research
The history of video game development shares approximate contemporaneity with media violence research in general. In the early 1960, studies were conducted on the effects of violence in cartoons, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s a number of studies were conducted on how televised violence influenced viewers (especially younger viewers). The focus of many of these studies was on the effects of exposure of children to violence, and these studies frequently employed the social learning theory framework developed by Albert Bandura to explore violent behavioral modeling.
With advancements in video technology and the rise of video games containing graphic violence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, media violence research shifted to a great degree from televised violence to video game violence. Although under current debate, a number of researchers have claimed that violent games may cause more intense feelings of aggression than nonviolent games, and may trigger feelings of anger and hostility. Theoretical explanations for these types of effects have been explained in myriad theories including social cognitive theory, excitation transfer theory, priming effect and the General Aggression Model. However recent scholarship has suggested that social cognitive theories of aggression are outdated and should be retired.
One difference between video games and television which nearly all media violence studies recognize is that video games are primarily interactive while television is primarily passive in nature.Kirsh, Stephen J. Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence – A Critical Look at the Research. Media Violence and the Concept of Risk. SAGE Publications. 2006. p. 276. . Video game players identify with the character they control in the video games and there have been suggestions that the interactivity available in violent video games narrows the gap between the theory and practice of youth violence in a manner that goes beyond the effects of televised violence.Meyers, Kelly Stephen. Television and Video Game Violence: Age Differences and the Combined Effects of Passive and Interactive Violent Media. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College – Department of Psychology. December 2002.Greenfield, Patricia Marks and Cocking, Rodney R. Interacting with video: Volume 11 of Advances in applied developmental psychology. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1996. Acknowledgment of the fact that, for better or worse, video games are likely to remain a part of modern society has led to a brace of comparative studies between violent games and non-violent games. As technology has advanced, such studies have adapted to include the effects of violent games and non-violent games in new media methods such as immersive virtual reality simulations.Arriaga, P., Esteves, F., Caneiro, P., & Monteiro, M. B. (2008). Are the effects of unreal violent video games pronounced when playing with a virtual reality system? Aggressive Behavior, 34(5), 521–538.
Results have varied, with some research indicating correlation between violence in video games and violence in players of the games, and other research indicating minimal if any relationship.Anderson, Craig & Dill, Karen. Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, April 2000 Vol. 78, No. 4, 772–790. Despite the lack of solid conclusion on the issue, the suggestion that violent games cause youth violence together with the clear popularity of violent video game genres such as the first-person shooter have led some game designers to publish non-violent alternatives.Dobson, Jason. ACE, Christian Developers Conference Focuses On Responsible Game Development. Gamasutra. 3 May 2006.Viewizard announces the release of Memonix 1.4. GameZone. 28 April 2005.
Lawsuits and legislation As research supporting the view that video game violence leads to youth violence has been produced, there have been a number of lawsuits initiated by victims to gain compensation for loss alleged to have been caused by video-game-related violence. Similarly, in the US Congress and the legislatures of states and other countries, a number of legislative actions have been taken to mandate rating systems and to curb the distribution of violent video games. At times, individual games considered too violent have been censored or banned in such countries as Australia, Greece, etc.