Is Pac-Man a Scourge? The Violence in Pac-Man and Other Games Discussed |
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Over at about.com, Aaron Stanton has written a pretty interesting piece regarding the testimony of Dr. Kimberley Thompson on the effectiveness of the ESRB rating system. Dr. Thompson cited a 2001 study on the violence in E-rated video games which, if most of us were to look at it rationally, would make absolutely no sense.
In that study, Pac-Man is 62% violent and Centipede, 92.6% violent. Amazing, no?
Even more amazing is that it was taken seriously, and that said research was done by observing how often the average player engaged in violent activity in the game within a 90 minute period. According to Stanton, applying that same measuring system "to 15 minutes of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, an M rated game, you find that it says Oblivion is 18 times less violent than Pac-Man, about 5%."
Stanton says that such a study was flawed simply because, while the research method seemed sound, violence in itself is subjective and, thus, fails to pass today's standards of common sense. He writes,
Asking around you find quite a range of what is considered "violence". Thompson's study is not particularly note-worthy because it has a measurement of violence that doesn't match the average American family. If you were to label the arcade version of Pac-Man as 62% violent instead of the ESRB rating E it wouldn't be more informative for consumers. In fact, it would be using a scale that most consumers disagree with.
At the same time, the study only applied to E-rated games, making the whole inquiry so specific as to pigeonhole gaming with a small subset, one that already is supposed to be rated as "For Everyone," if the Senate actually read between the lines and checked out a game store.
One thing that is actually done by the ESRB to help make informed decisions on their game ratings is surveying what "violent" is in our present context. Looking at it from the vantage point of playing Oblivion, for example: while you can spend as little as 30 seconds fighting in a span of 15 minutes, using the rest of the time to talk to people, some people may find it more violent because the graphics make the violence more real. That's the sort of thing, Stanton points out, that isn't mentioned at all in the study and in the testimony.
We gamers understand it, and a good number of parents might see the sense in finding out what constitutes violence in this day and age, but the problem lies in legislation not being able to understand the context of things. Lack of context leading to false understanding, and to the proposition and creation of unrealistic laws on even the least violent of games.
It's only too bad we can't tell them to focus on something more important, like drug addiction or gun control, or perhaps even the ozone layer.
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Comments [refresh]
They forgot one game:
Barbie Horse Adventures Mystery Ride(XBOX,PS2, GBA):
98% violent
Mary-Kate and Ashley: Sweet 16(PS2,GBA):
99% violent
DK Jr. Math(NES):
100% violent
"Video games are of the Devil" my mom use to tell me that. And to be honest, now days some of them are. But I would have to say that the worst games are ones you wouldn't expect. PacMan has ghosts in it trying to kill you. Centipede turns the tables and you become the killer.
But that is just the start. Games like Civilizations you murder entire cities... you don't just take them over, you have the option to murder the people. Take fight simulator games... I don't want to talk about this one too much because of its sad nature.
We take gaming so lightly, but when we really look at it we begin to realize what type of people we are creating in this world.
I can't tell if you were just mocking Bush or if you really think it's spelled "presedent"...
Is she related to Jack Thompson?
They forgot some games:
Barbie Horse Adventures Mystery Ride(XBOX,PS2, GBA):
98% violent
Mary-Kate and Ashley: Sweet 16(PS2,GBA):
99% violent
DK Jr. Math(NES):
100% violent
jack thompson is way behind games. all he wants is to be robots you have break the rules or else something bad will happen. like cameras in streets are being to happend = to the movie v for vendetta. vendetta saved the people from unfaithfull rules. he is fat bastard who can't get a life. there was violence for million of years at least maybe or thousands. jack is a violent man who should go to jail, remember donny darko great movie. games are just fun, stories, movies put all together thats it. i recently heard he got a release of bully cheater in line getting it first. je wanted to how violent it is. the esrb right to post those ratings what more do you want, it says on the box. come gta san andreas could of been Ao rating simply as that. i would of bought ao game. so does it mean adults can't play it because of violences come on please.
sorry for mistakes bye.
ps im old enough to buy porn mags, go to rand nc rating movies, and games to buys
id hardly consider throwing turtle shells at other turtles or jumping on imaginary creatures violent. What will that lead to? Increased turtle violence? This is the dumbest thing ive ever seen.
This website is run and staffed completely by morons, some of whom don't even seem to have passed 8th grade English, so I'm not surprised this is on About.com. I can't believe this site has gotten as big as it has, considering how truly terrible it is.
As your lame presedent i say that this is a dumb plie of texes crud. I mean lets look at life
Cooking eggs 100%violent Your eating a unborn babby chick
Put one foot in front of the other 100%violent you kill 100's of tinny life forms
The animanacs 300% violent (Thank the acme corparation)
as your lump of a presedent i here by ban life now go shot your selfs no wate thats violen cant think over lode of thinking my mear mind (BOOM) Song that plays after you defeat bowser. Toad:Thank you mario but....ummm... Dr. Thompson is in another castle. Mario I know but hes next on my list...
we should ban all current gen video game and get rid of all this nonsense, we should go back to pong and other peacefull games like that
P.S. im a douche
how is this rel. to the wii?..
oh and LOL @ #9 comment
nocomment
BULL***** LAWL STUPID NOOBZ
ps. comment #2 blows my weiner
this is a perfect example of what these games should be shown as well done to the publisher he has my backing, any game above the 0.1% rating should be m(mature) and 2% banned there are the devils children. These games are the reasons for serial killings i mean just the other day some one tried to assassinate me with a lego block all because they played lego racers. and all you lot who have played pac-man are warped bastards
@ 11
if we go back to pong imagine the horror
pong is beyond violence i mean you're hitting a BALL back and forth
it's like being a bully at a school yard, taking someone's school bag and throwing it back and forth
this will also teach children they are living in a black and white world
nope pong is just too violent XD (if you can't tell i was only joking hehe)
PAC MAN should be banned immediately! I'm going to go on a psychotic rampage and kill and eat "ghosts" aka people and blame it on the game! (evil laughter)
You're a complete moron if you actually believe this argument.
First off, the ghosts in pacman are fictional simply because they're ghosts.
Second, in centipede you are killing bugs not humans.
So don't go blaming game publishers for something that has happened because a person misinterprets the meaning of the game.
That goes for those 2 games. Other games actually involving killing other humas actually is questionable as too much violence.
jack Thompson is going about this the wrong way:
1. Games dont make serial kilers, abusive childhoods do
2. Games are not very violent when you compare them to real life, or even just tv
and 3. Violance isnt always bad (ps. that is my opinion, it was not formed through playing video games)
in a day and age where the atmosphere is so bad that the human population is only expeted to live another 200 years, we see VIDEO GAMES as a problem. pathatic
-A
so i assume this war in Iraq is because Bush totally got pwned in Halo, right? i mean, video games cause violence, correct? that explains *everything*!! *rolls eyes*.
this kind of ***** is never going to end, you know. not until you younguns decide to support another billion dollar industry. maybe if people buy enough ipods, they'll be deemed violent because it leads to people getting smacked by buses as they walk across the street, listening to their favorite tunes (i shudder to think the last thing some people would hear as the bus crushes them is "Riding Dirty." *shudders*. i think i threw up a little in my mouth), then opportunistic politicians will find another scapegoat.
another thing to consider is that the government doesn't truly want to ban video games. why? because video games gross billions of dollars a year. and the U.S. Government/and States collects sales taxes on every game and console sold. they pretend they want to stop violent video games (while bombing other countries in the real world), because it looks good, and gets them votes and support from the people. in short, ignore the above paragraph about supporting something new, and continue to support games. as long as we continue to pour our hard earned money into gaming, it will be protected by the greed of the government and politicians everywhere. the moment gaming stops making dough, that's when it'll be all over.
Really do these people having anyting else to do but B**** about games? I could understand games of this generation but Pac-Man. What the F*** is going on?
u people actually spend time talking about the violence in pacman !! OH MY GOD --- GET A LIFE
Don't you forget Bobby Boucher, Video Games are the devil!
Just so that people can stop *****ing, this study is meant to show that any video game in the world can be violent if you can see it that way. They aren't saying that all video games are violent. They are saying that all the neo-yuppies that complain about GTA can just as easily complain about Pac-Mac and Mario.