Nonviolent video game
Encyclopedia
Nonviolent video games are video games characterized by little or no violence. The term "nonviolent" as applied to video games is objectively ambiguous as virtually any game with conflict contains violence in some form, however minor. The apparent vagueness of the term is resolved by examining the definition of "nonviolent video games" as it is applied. Non-violent video games are defined in the negative by a disjunctive
modus tollendo ponens argument. As such, 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, employ the term 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, 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 non-\violent 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.
, 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. " 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. 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.
Although discussion of the impact of violence in video games came as early as 1976's Death Race arcade game or Palace
's Barbarian (1987) featuring 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
, 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.
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:
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.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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. The publishing of these non-violent alternatives has gained support from a number of social realms and the rationale for purchasing such games often derives from the results of studies indicating a high degree of relationship between violent games and youth violence.
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.
In 1997, Christian conservative
activist
and (now former) attorney Jack Thompson brought suit against Atari
, Nintendo
, Sega
, and Sony Computer Entertainment
on behalf of the victims of Heath High School shooting
in James v. Meow Media
. The suit was dismissed in 2000, absolving the companies of responsibility for the shooter's actions based on a lack of remedy under Kentucky tort
law. In 2002, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld the dismissal, and in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court
denied certiorari
, refusing to review the case because it was not dismissed on 1st Amendment
grounds.
In 2000, the County Council for St. Louis, Missouri enacted Ordinance 20,193 that barred minors from purchasing, renting, or playing violent video games deemed to contain any visual depiction or representation of realistic injury to a human or a "human-like being" that appealed to minors' "morbid interest in violence." This ordinance was challenged in 2001 by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) as violative of freedom of expression as guaranteed by the first amendment. The IDSA cited the 7th Circuit case of American Amusement Machine Association v. Kendrick as precedent suggesting that video game content was a form of freedom of expression, however in 2002 the Eastern District Court of Missouri ultimately issued the controversial ruling that "video games are not a form of expression protected by the First Amendment" in Interactive Digital Software Association v. St. Louis County.
In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre
, a $5 billion lawsuit was filed in 2001 against a number of video game companies and id Software
, the makers of the purportedly violent video game, Doom by victims of the tragedy. Also named in the suit were Acclaim Entertainment
, Activision
, Capcom
, Eidos Interactive
, GT Interactive Software, Interplay Entertainment
, Nintendo
, Sony Computer Entertainment
, Square Co.
, Midway Games
, Apogee Software
, Atari Corporation
, Meow Media, and Sega
. Violent video games mentioned by name included Doom, Quake, Redneck Rampage
, and Duke Nukem
. The suit was dismissed by Judge Babcock in March 2002 in a ruling suggesting that a decision against the game makers would have a chilling effect on free speech. Babcock noted that "it is manifest that there is social utility in expressive and imaginative forms of entertainment, even if they contain violence."
In 2003, Washington State enacted a statute banning the sale or rental to minors of video games containing "aggressive conflict in which the player kill, injures, or otherwise causes physical harm to a human form in the game who is depicted by dress or other recognizable symbols as a public law enforcement officer." In 2004, this statute was subsequently declared an unconstitutional violation of the first amendment right to free speech in the Federal District Court case of Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Maleng.
In 2005, Jack Thompson brought suit against Sony Computer Entertainment
and Grand Theft Auto
in representation of the victims of the Devin Moore shooting incident. On November 7, 2005, Thompson withdrew from Strickland v. Sony
, stating, "It was my idea [to leave the case]." He was quick to mention that the case would probably do well with or without his presence. This decision followed scrutiny from Judge James Moore, however Thompson claimed he received no pressure to withdraw. At the same time, Judge James Moore had taken the motion to revoke Thompson's license under advisement. Jack Thompson appeared in court to defend his pro hac vice
right to practice law in Alabama, following accusations that he violated legal ethics. Shortly thereafter, the case was dismissed and Thompson's license was revoked following a denial of his pro hac vice standing by Judge Moore who noted that "Mr. Thompson's actions before this Court suggest that he is unable to conduct himself in a manner befitting practice in this state." In March 2006, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld Judge Moore's ruling against the dismissal of the case.
In 2005, California State Senator, Leland Yee
introduced California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793
which barred ultra-violent video games and mandated the application of ESRB
ratings for video games. Yee, a former child psychologist
has publicly criticized such games as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
and Manhunt 2
, and opposes the U.S. Army
's Global Gaming League. Both of these bills were passed by the assembly and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
in October 2005. By December 2005, both bills had been struck down in court by Judge Ronald Whyte as unconstitutional, thereby preventing either from going into effect on January 1, 2006. Similar bills were subsequently filed in such states as Michigan and Illinois, but to date all have been ruled to be unconstitutional.
In 2005, in reaction to such controversial games as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
along with Senators Joe Lieberman
and Evan Bayh
, introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act
(S.2126), intended to protect children from inappropriate content found in video games by imposing a federal mandate for inclusion of ESRB
ratings. All three senators have actively sought restrictions on video game content with Sen. Lieberman denouncing the violence contained in video games and attempting to regulate sales of violent video games to minors, arguing that games should have to be labeled based upon age-appropriateness. Regarding Grand Theft Auto
, Lieberman has stated, "The player is rewarded for attacking a woman, pushing her to the ground, kicking her repeatedly and then ultimately killing her, shooting her over and over again. I call on the entertainment companies—they've got a right to do that, but they have a responsibility not to do it if we want to raise the next generation of our sons to treat women with respect."
In June, 2006, the Louisiana case of Entertainment Software Association v. Foti
struck down a state statute that sought to bar minors from purchasing video games with violent content. The statute was declared an unconstitutional violation of the 1st Amendment. Amici filing briefs included Jack Thompson.
On September 27, 2006, Senator Sam Brownback
(R-KS) introduced the United States Truth in Video Game Rating Act
(S.3935). The act would require the ESRB to have access to the full content of and hands-on time with the games it was to rate, rather than simply relying on the video demonstrations submitted by developers and publishers. Two days later, Congressman Fred Upton
introduced the Video Game Decency Act
(H.R.6120) to the House.
Lawsuits and legislative action have provided economic and legal impetus to the non-violent game movement. Although court holdings have tended to protect video game manufacturers' products as examples of free speech and free expression, the high publicity of these cases within the video game community together with the common legal tactic of interweaving a violent-video-game-to-high-profile-school-shooting narrative has had something of a chilling effect on ultra-violence in video games. Companies such as Nintendo have publicly expressed their desire for more family-oriented video games, and as public outcry over violence in video games has arisen, new non-violent video game manufacturers have stepped in to fill the market need for alternative video games.
effect. For this and other reasons, the effectiveness of rating systems such as the ESRB to actually curb violent gameplay in youth gaming has been characterized as futile.
Table of violence ratings
A number of studies have been conducted specifically analyzing the differences between male and female preference in video game styles. Studies have vacillated between findings that the gender effect on violence preference in games is significant and insignificant, however no firm conclusions have been achieved to date. The number of studies in this field has blossomed contemporaneously with greater gender studies
, and a degree of tension exists in the field between the traditional stereotype of violence as a male-dominant characteristic and the realities of the marketing data for violent games.
In 2008, an example of such studies was funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice to the Center for Mental Health and Media. These studies were released in the book, Grand Theft Childhood
, wherein it was found that among girls, nine of the "top ten [most popular video games] were nonviolent games such as Mario
titles, Dance Dance Revolution
or simulation game
s" compared to a majority of violent games in the top ten favorites of boys. Ultimately, the conclusion reached in Grand Theft Childhood was that "focusing on such easy but minor targets as violent video games causes parents, social activists and public-policy makers to ignore the much more powerful and significant causes of youth violence that have already been well established, including a range of [non-gender-linked] social, behavioral, economic, biological and mental-health factors." This conclusion supports Surgeon General
Satcher
's 2001 study (supra).
Despite this conclusion, general awareness of the issue together with traditional stereotyping has led a number of game developers and designers to create non-violent video games specifically for female audiences
. Advertisement placement and other marketing techniques have in the past targeted women as more receptive to non-violent video game genres such as life simulation game
s, strategy game
s, or puzzle video games. Although these genres often contain certain degrees of violence, they lack the emphasis on graphic violence characterized for instance by the first-person shooter
genre.
, and his legal actions against violent video games have been intimately linked to his religious views. As groups like the fundamentalist Christian
population have increased in number of adherents, new marketing opportunities have developed contemporaneously. Several religion-centric games forums such as GameSpot
's "Religion and Philosophy" forum have developed within the greater gaming community in reaction to this growing niche.
, stating "It's absurd, ... you can be the Christians blowing away the infidels, and if that doesn't hit your hot button, you can be the Antichrist blowing away all the Christians." (The game reviewers IGN
, Ars Technica
and GameSpy
have disagreed that "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" is overtly violent.) Similarly, James Dobson, PhD., founder of the Focus on the Family
group, has advised parents in relation to video games to "avoid the violent ones altogether.
Although Christian games have been around since Sparrow Records
' Music Machine for the Atari 2600
, there have been few genres as unassailably violent as that of the first-person shooter
(FPS). The majority of games that have been banned for violence have been FPS games, and for this reason, Christian games in the FPS genre have struggled to overcome the blurring effects of the violence inherent to the genre. Games such as Revelation 7 and Xibalba, for instance, have attempted to avoid claims of violence by using "off the wall" absurdist
humor with enemies such as flying, bat-winged clown heads (modeled after the biblical Jezebel
) that shoot rays out of their nose, or alien Nazis (a mocking reference to Raëlian
religious beliefs) Other Christian FPS games such as Eternal War have avoided the issue by expressing the view that justified violence is morally acceptable.
Some of these games, despite containing objectively violent content, have been affirmatively labeled "non-violent video games" by marketers and faith-based non-violent gaming communities. In direct response to the Columbine High School massacre
(alleged to have been caused by the shooters' obsession with the game, Doom), Rev. Ralph Bagley began production on Catechumen, a Christian first-person game produced by N'Lightening Software involving holy swords instead of guns. In Catechumen, the player fights inhuman demons using holy armament. When "sent back" the demons produce no blood or gore, and for this reason it has been described as a non-violent game. The intent of Catechumen, according to Rev. Bagley, is "to build the genre of Christian gaming. People are tired of having these violent, demonic games dictating to their kids." Among Christian FPS games, a lack of gore has often been used as the minimum standard for non-violence. Christian game reviewers have at times characterized non-Christian games such as Portal and Narbacular Drop
as comparatively non-violent games despite their lack of a Christian focus.
An example of a notable Christian video game organization is the Christian Game Developers Foundation, focusing on family-friendly
gameplay and Biblical principles.
, the player employs the Vedic
abilities of astrology, Ayurvedic healing
, breathing (meditation), herbalism
, Gandharva Veda music, architecture (which let you purify demonic areas) and yagyas
(rituals). Gameplay involved acquisition of the siddhi
s of clairvoyance, levitation, invisibility, shrinking and strength, and the ultimate goal of the game was to achieve pure consciousness by removing karma
through completion of quests and cleansing the six chakra
s in ascending order. The only way to actually win the game is to complete it without harming or killing any other living creature. Despite the violence-free requirements of the main character, however, a player could die and be reincarnated in a number of different forms like a human, a pig, a dog, or a worm. Whatever form you came back as would limit the way in which you could interact with other characters in the game. Like the majority of games that have been labeled non-violent, violence in the game that is applied to the character rather than that the character applies is not considered to make the game a violent game.
is a commandment of non-violence. This moral mandate extends to human as well as non-human life, and as such it runs directly against much of the violence that characterizes today's video games. Although primarily browser game
s, a number of stand-alone video games eschewing violence, such as the 2007 Thai game, Ethics Game have been created that promote the Five Precepts and Buddhism generally. The Buddhist concept of dharma
has been emphasized in a number of Buddhist games as a reaction to perceptions of the adharmic
state of modern games. The concept of Zen
has also influenced a number of nonviolent video games such as Zen of Sudoku
, and The Game Factory's Zenses series.
' William "B.J." Blazkowicz) are characterized by militant anti-Nazism
, a number of non-violent Jewish games (such as the Avner series by Torah Educational Software (TES)) primarily aimed at younger audiences has emerged with the intention of promoting Jewish religious concepts related to the Torah
. One notable non-violent game that explores Jewish themes is The Shivah
, a puzzle-adventure game featuring a non-violent battle between Rabbis that takes the form of an insult swordfight.
, and Under Siege, Muslim developer Afkar Media has also produced at least one non-violent game entitled Road Block Buster. In Road Block Buster the hero must "jump[] around [] doing tricks to soldiers ... [attempt] to get over any barrier or road block implanted by Israeli Defense forces without using violence, [and] earn respect by helping surrounded people whom [sic] can't get through the separation walls."
. Sarbloh Warriors
, planned to contain mild violence, and characterized by the BBC as Anti-Muslim, entered production as a major Sikh game, but seems to have left active production around 2007.
called The Seven Valleys which he exhibited during the ACSW conference at the University of Ballarat
. Based on the Unreal Tournament
engine, The Seven Valleys was designed with the intention of "illustrat[ing] the unillustratable, and 'subvert[ing]' the image of violent video games in the process." Nelso was interviewed by ABC Radio on the subject in February of the same month.
's non-violent puzzle video game, WordJong for the Nintendo DS
has been considered a Taoist puzzle game.
s, role-playing games
, strategy game
s, and the first-person shooter
.
Emergent and more recent gameplay genres such as music video game
s are for the most part naturally non-violent. Purposive video game genres such as educational game
s also are primarily non-violent in nature. Other electronic game genres like audio game
s are also most frequently non-violent. The indisputably non-violent nature of these games are often considered self-evident by members of both the non-violent gaming community and the gaming community at large. As such they are often not explicitly identified as such. Typically, explicit identification is applied counterintuitively to titles where there might otherwise be a question concerning non-violence. This has led such categorization to be viewed with mistrust, hostility, and mockery by those who fail to recognize the comparative nature of the definition or who disagree fundamentally with the underlying purpose of the genre.
Among traditionally non-violent games are included maze games, adventure game
s, life simulation game
s, construction and management simulation
games, and some vehicle simulation game
s among others. These games are generally less frequently described as non-violent due to the self-evident nature of the descriptive term. Prior to the development of games specifically designed for non-violence, non-violent gamers were limited to these traditionally non-violent genres, however a number of games even under the traditionally non-violent umbrella may be considered arguably violent. Minesweeper
, for instance, is an abstraction of a scenario that often leads to a patently violent result.
Other common traditionally non-violent genres include adventure game
s, puzzle games, music video game
s, programming game
s, party games, and traditional game
s.
Examples of traditionally non-violent games include:
Action games have typically been among the most violent of video games genres with the liberal employment of enemies to thwart the actions of the player-character, and an emphasis on killing these enemies to neutralize them. As action games have developed they have become progressively more violent over the years as advances in graphic capabilities allowed for more realistic enemies and death sequences. Nevertheless, some companies like Nintendo
have tended to shy away from this kind of realism in favor of cartoon and fantasy violence, a concept also implicated in the increase of youth violence by media violence research
ers. This has created a spectrum of violence in action games. Non-violent video game proponents have labeled a number of games containing comparatively low-level violence as non-violent as well as games such as the anti-violent serious game
, Food Force
.
Studies have also shown that there are tangible benefits to violence in action games such as increased ability to process visual information quickly and accurately. This has led to support for the development of action games that are non-violent which will allow players to retain the positive visual processing benefits without the negatives associated with violence.
Examples of non-violent action games include:
Other Notable Examples:
(FPS), that many players consider inherently or definitionally violent, has at times generated vociferous arguments that the concept is inconceivable and at best oxymoronic. This argument typically derives from a strict definition of violence as "extreme, destructive, or uncontrollable force especially of natural events; intensity of feeling or expression, " a definition by which the vast majority of video games may be described as violent. Despite arguments to the contrary, however, such characterizations have been employed as a marketing tool by makers and distributors of non-violent video games, and the degree of popularity enjoyed by games so described may be attributed to the comparative violence of other more violent members of the supergenre.
Non-violent first-person shooter developers have expressed the notion that it is the challenge of making a non-violent game in a violent genre that motivates them in part. Rarely, FPS games such as Garry's Mod
and Portal that have been developed without the specific intent of non-violence have been identified by reviewers and the non-violent gaming community as non-violent FPSes. Such characterizations have led to the concern that parents may allow their children to play these games, not realizing that there are still some elements of violence including violent deaths. Further ambiguities arise when determining whether a game is a first-person shooter, as in certain games such as Narbacular Drop
, the player doesn't shoot anything at all, but merely clicks walls with the cursor. Similarly, in games such as realMyst, the player merely interacts with the environment by touching things in the first-person and the term "shooter" is seen to be objectively inaccurate. Despite this, non-violent first-person games have often been characterized oxymoronically as shooters because of all comparable genres, these games are most closely similar to the FPS and often employ engines designed for the FPS genre.
Often modeled upon violent FPS games, non-violent FPSes such as Chex Quest
or the newer Sherlock Holmes games, may bear striking resemblance to the violent game whose engine they are using. Developers of such games often have done little to change the game other than replacing violent or scary imagery and recasting the storyline to describe "zorching", "slobbing", or otherwise non-lethally incapacitating enemies. Examples of simple changes intended to reduce violence for non-violent FPSes include the alteration of the red shroud from the death-sequence in Doom to become the green shroud from the slime-sequence in Chex Quest or the removal of the red shroud from the death-sequence in Half-Life 2
for the deaths in Portal. At times, similarities between violent progenitors and their non-violent descendants have proved strong enough that the non-violent developers have cast their game as a spoof of the violent version. This is apparent in Chex Quest. Off-beat and absurdist humor have been employed in a number of games order to tone down the serious content by makers of non-violent FPSes.
One subgenre of the FPS that typically is not characterized as non-violent despite the fact that gameplay revolves to a great degree around avoidance of battle, is that of stealth games. Although much of the gameplay characteristic to stealth games accords closely with the requirements of the non-violent genre, stealth games most frequently simply delay chaotic violence to focus instead upon controlled precision violence.
Examples of non-violent FPSes include:
Other Notable Examples:
Though infrequently regarded as explicitly violent, role-playing video games (RPGs) have traditionally focused on the adventures of a party of travelers as they spend days and months leveling-up to fight greater and greater foes. Fighting in these games is highly stylized and often turn-based, however the actions of the player-characters and the enemies that attack them are distinctly violent. There have been some attempts made to reduce this violence by rendering it in cartoonish format as in some members of the Final Fantasy
series or by recasting the enemies' deaths as "fainting," "sleeping," or becoming "stunned" as in the Pokémon series, however neither of these series has been explicitly labeled non-violent.
One rare example of an RPG that was designed as a non-violent video game is Spiritual Warfare, a game with enemies featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player wanders about converting the denizens of his town to Christianity while fending off the attacks of wild animals with holy food. Another example is A Tale in the Desert
, an MMORPG
based on economic development.
Secular examples include Capcom's Ace Attorney series and Victor
's Harvest Moon series - a simulation/RPG game. Additionally, such RPGs as Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, Planescape: Torment
, and Deus Ex
have all been identified as containing certain modes of play that are mostly non-violent. This concept is also explored in the higher difficulty levels of the Thief series
.
For the most part, non-violent groups have not explored this genre of violent game. Gender-marketers have designed strategy games for both male and female audiences, however gender-linked treatment of violence has not occurred in this genre and as such, male- and female-oriented strategy games tend to contain equal degrees of violence. Christian developers have made various attempts at the genre including Left Behind: Eternal Forces
in which the player attempts to convert as many civilians in an apocalyptic future as possible by raising their spirit level and shielding them from the corrupting influences of rock-and-roll music and general secularism. The game has been criticized by such anti-violent video game personalities as former attorney Jack Thompson for strategy involving the slaying of infidels and non-believers, and for the ability of players engaged in multi-play modes to play as the Antichrist on the side of the Forces of Satan.
Secular non-violent video game designers have emerged from the serious game
s movement and include such anti-violence titles as PeaceMaker, a game where the player tries to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and A Force More Powerful
, a nonviolence-themed game designed by Steve York
, a documentary filmmaker and director of Bringing Down a Dictator, a non violent resistance film featuring Ivan Marovic, a resistance leader against Slobodan Milošević
who was instrumental in bringing him down in 2000. Though these games are anti-violent, however, failure on the part of the player leads to violence. Thus the goal of the game is merely shifted to active violence-prevention while the degree of violence used to challenge the player remains consistent with violent strategy games.
Some examples of relatively nonviolent strategy games include:
The separation of violent and nonviolent sports here illustrates a phenomenon also recognizable in the vehicle simulation game
genre. With both sport and vehicle simulation games, gameplay has traditionally been highly bipolar with nearly as many violent titles as non-violent. Just as there are non-violent and violent sports games, so too are there flight
and combat flight simulators
, space flight and space combat simulators
, and racing games and vehicular combat games
. Distinction of games as violent or non-violent here serves a purely practical purpose as gameplay may differ considerably beyond the merely aesthetic.
Such sports as Ping-pong
, golf
, and billiards, have in the past been identified as nonviolent. A common example of a nonviolent game that has been employed in a number of studies and government committee reports is NBA Jam: Tournament Edition.
An example of a notable non-violent sports game company is Kush Games
.
Disjunctive syllogism
A disjunctive syllogism, also known as disjunction-elimination and or-elimination , and historically known as modus tollendo ponens,, is a classically valid, simple argument form:where \vdash represents the logical assertion....
modus tollendo ponens argument. As such, 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, employ the term 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, 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 non-\violent 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 McLuhanMarshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
, a noted media theorist, suggested in his book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man is a pioneering study in media theory written by Marshall McLuhan. In it McLuhan proposed that media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study...
, that "[t]he games people play reveal a great deal about them. " 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. The same year, Surgeon General
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
, C. Everett Koop
C. Everett Koop
Charles Everett Koop, MD is an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as thirteenth Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989.-Early years:Koop was born...
, 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.
Although discussion of the impact of violence in video games came as early as 1976's Death Race arcade game or Palace
Palace Software
Palace Software was a British video game publisher and developer during the 1980s based in London, England. It was notable for the Barbarian and Cauldron series of games for 8-bit home computer platforms, in particular the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64...
's Barbarian (1987) featuring 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
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
's release of the first Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...
video game, and then in 1993 with id
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
'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
Dreamweb
Dreamweb is a DOS and Amiga parser-free cyberpunk top-down adventure game first released in 1992, then later released on CD in 1994, and developed by Creative Reality and published by Empire Interactive Entertainment....
(1992), Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
(1992), Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
(1993), Phantasmagoria (1995), Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
(1996), Blood (1997), Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (video game)
Grand Theft Auto is a 1997 action-adventure video game created by British games developer DMA Design and published by BMG Interactive. The game allows the player to take on the role of a criminal who can roam freely around a big city. Various missions are set for completion, such as bank...
(1997), Carmageddon
Carmageddon
Carmageddon is the first of a series of graphically violent vehicular combat video games produced by Stainless Games, published by Interplay and SCi...
(1997), Postal (1997), Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game developed by Midway and released in 1995, first as an arcade game. It is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series...
(1997), Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now (1998), Blood II: The Chosen
Blood II: The Chosen
Blood II: The Chosen is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Monolith Productions and distributed by GT Interactive, which was later purchased by Infogrames. Released on October 31, 1998, it featured Monolith's new fully 3D engine Lithtech, which was previously used in Shogo: Mobile...
(1998), Grand Theft Auto 2
Grand Theft Auto 2
Grand Theft Auto 2 is a video game that was released worldwide on October 25, 1999, by developer DMA Design , initially for the Windows operating system and the PlayStation console. The game was later ported to the Dreamcast console and the Game Boy Color. It is the sequel to 1997 hit Grand Theft...
(1999), and Requiem: Avenging Angel
Requiem: Avenging Angel
Requiem: Avenging Angel is a first-person shooter developed by Cyclone Studios and published by 3DO and Ubisoft in April 1999.-Background:Requiem draws heavily upon the Bible and Christianity for its influences, as well as the more usual sci-fi sources as found in other games. The background story...
(1999) among others.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were American high school seniors who committed the Columbine High School massacre. They killed 13 people—including teacher Dave Sanders—and injured 24 others, three of whom were injured as they escaped the attack...
, the shooters in the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
, revealed that they had been fans of the video game, Doom, and had even created levels
Doom WAD
Doom WAD format is default format of package files for the video game Doom or its sequel Doom II, that are containing sprites, levels, and game data. WAD stands for Where's All the Data?...
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.
In December 2001, Surgeon General
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
David Satcher
David Satcher
David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. FAAFP, FACPM, FACP is an American physician, and public health administrator. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health, and the 16th Surgeon General of the United...
, 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
Disjunctive syllogism
A disjunctive syllogism, also known as disjunction-elimination and or-elimination , and historically known as modus tollendo ponens,, is a classically valid, simple argument form:where \vdash represents the logical assertion....
. 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
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
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 GridmasterSudoku GridmasterSudoku Gridmaster is a Touch generations puzzle game for the Nintendo DS, released on March 23, 2006 in Japan, June 26, 2006 in the United States and October 27, 2006 in Europe. It was developed and published by Hudson Soft in Japan, and published by Nintendo in the rest of the world...
) - 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. AlleywayAlleywayis a video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo as a global launch title for the Game Boy. It is a Breakout clone and one of the first four games developed and released for the system. The game was released first in Japan in 1989, in North America later that...
, or Roller CoasterRoller Coaster (video game)Roller Coaster is a platform-based game which contains some strategy and puzzle elements. Uniquely it holds the claim of being the first video game to ever simulate amusement rides....
) - Games with enemies - Games with violent enemies which the player-character must avoid (E.g. the Eggerland series)
- Games with environmental hazards only - Games lacking enemies, but containing a potentially violent environment (E.g. Alleyway
- 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. DescentDescent (video game)Descent is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Entertainment Corp. in 1995. The game features six degrees of freedom gameplay and garnered several expansion packs...
)
Research
The history of video game developmentHistory of video games
The history of video games goes as far back as the 1940s, when in 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Estle Ray Mann filed a United States patent request for an invention they described as a "cathode ray tube amusement device." Video gaming would not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and...
shares approximate contemporaneity with media violence research
Media violence research
Research into the media and violence examines whether links between consuming media violence and subsequent aggressive and violent behavior exists...
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
Social learning theory
-Theory:Social learning theory is derived from the work of Albert Bandura which proposed that social learning occurred through four main stages of imitation:* close contact* imitation of superiors* understanding of concepts* role model behavior...
framework developed by Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura is a psychologist and the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University...
to explore violent behavioral modeling.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
have led some game designers to publish non-violent alternatives. The publishing of these non-violent alternatives has gained support from a number of social realms and the rationale for purchasing such games often derives from the results of studies indicating a high degree of relationship between violent games and youth violence.
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 CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
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.
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
and (now former) attorney Jack Thompson brought suit against Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, and Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
on behalf of the victims of Heath High School shooting
Heath High School shooting
The Heath High School shooting occurred at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, United States, on Monday, December 1, 1997. Fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire on a group of praying students, killing three and injuring five more....
in James v. Meow Media
Heath High School shooting
The Heath High School shooting occurred at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, United States, on Monday, December 1, 1997. Fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire on a group of praying students, killing three and injuring five more....
. The suit was dismissed in 2000, absolving the companies of responsibility for the shooter's actions based on a lack of remedy under Kentucky tort
Tort
A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
law. In 2002, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
upheld the dismissal, and in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
denied certiorari
Certiorari
Certiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...
, refusing to review the case because it was not dismissed on 1st Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
grounds.
In 2000, the County Council for St. Louis, Missouri enacted Ordinance 20,193 that barred minors from purchasing, renting, or playing violent video games deemed to contain any visual depiction or representation of realistic injury to a human or a "human-like being" that appealed to minors' "morbid interest in violence." This ordinance was challenged in 2001 by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) as violative of freedom of expression as guaranteed by the first amendment. The IDSA cited the 7th Circuit case of American Amusement Machine Association v. Kendrick as precedent suggesting that video game content was a form of freedom of expression, however in 2002 the Eastern District Court of Missouri ultimately issued the controversial ruling that "video games are not a form of expression protected by the First Amendment" in Interactive Digital Software Association v. St. Louis County.
In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
, a $5 billion lawsuit was filed in 2001 against a number of video game companies and id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
, the makers of the purportedly violent video game, Doom by victims of the tragedy. Also named in the suit were Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
, Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
, Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
, Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
, GT Interactive Software, Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
, Square Co.
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
, Midway Games
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
, Apogee Software
3D Realms
3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...
, Atari Corporation
Atari Corporation
Atari Corporation was a manufacturer of computers and video game consoles from 1984 to 1996. Atari Corp. was founded in July of 1984 when Warner Communications sold the home computing and game console divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel. Its chief products were the Atari ST, Atari XE, Atari 7800,...
, Meow Media, and Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
. Violent video games mentioned by name included Doom, Quake, Redneck Rampage
Redneck Rampage
Redneck Rampage is a 1997 first-person shooter game designed by Xatrix Entertainment and published by Interplay. The game features songs by Mojo Nixon, Reverend Horton Heat, Beat Farmers and other Psychobilly artists. As the name implies, Redneck Rampage has many hillbilly elements in it...
, and Duke Nukem
Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
. The suit was dismissed by Judge Babcock in March 2002 in a ruling suggesting that a decision against the game makers would have a chilling effect on free speech. Babcock noted that "it is manifest that there is social utility in expressive and imaginative forms of entertainment, even if they contain violence."
In 2003, Washington State enacted a statute banning the sale or rental to minors of video games containing "aggressive conflict in which the player kill, injures, or otherwise causes physical harm to a human form in the game who is depicted by dress or other recognizable symbols as a public law enforcement officer." In 2004, this statute was subsequently declared an unconstitutional violation of the first amendment right to free speech in the Federal District Court case of Video Software Dealers Ass'n v. Maleng.
In 2005, Jack Thompson brought suit against Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
and Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
in representation of the victims of the Devin Moore shooting incident. On November 7, 2005, Thompson withdrew from Strickland v. Sony
Strickland v. Sony
Strickland v. Sony is a court case whose central focus is on whether violent video games played a role in Devin Moore's first-degree murder/shooting of three police officers...
, stating, "It was my idea [to leave the case]." He was quick to mention that the case would probably do well with or without his presence. This decision followed scrutiny from Judge James Moore, however Thompson claimed he received no pressure to withdraw. At the same time, Judge James Moore had taken the motion to revoke Thompson's license under advisement. Jack Thompson appeared in court to defend his pro hac vice
Pro hac vice
Pro hac vice , Latin: "for this occasion" or "for this event", is a legal term usually referring to a lawyer who has not been admitted to practice in a certain jurisdiction but has been allowed to participate in a particular case in that jurisdiction.The right to appear pro hac vice is not...
right to practice law in Alabama, following accusations that he violated legal ethics. Shortly thereafter, the case was dismissed and Thompson's license was revoked following a denial of his pro hac vice standing by Judge Moore who noted that "Mr. Thompson's actions before this Court suggest that he is unable to conduct himself in a manner befitting practice in this state." In March 2006, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld Judge Moore's ruling against the dismissal of the case.
In 2005, California State Senator, Leland Yee
Leland Yee
Leland Yee is a California State Senator in District 8 which represents the western half of San Francisco and most of San Mateo County. Prior to becoming state senator, Yee was a California State Assemblyman, Supervisor of San Francisco's Sunset District, and was a member and President of the San...
introduced California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793
California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793
California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793 were two bills introduced by Speaker pro Tempore of the Assembly Leland Yee . Commonly called the "ultraviolent video games bills" or simply "video game ban" bills, these two bills restricted sales of "ultraviolent" video games from minors under the age of 18...
which barred ultra-violent video games and mandated the application of ESRB
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
ratings for video games. Yee, a former child psychologist
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
has publicly criticized such games as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
and Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2 is an action/adventure video game developed by Rockstar Games and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii on October 29, 2007....
, and opposes the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's Global Gaming League. Both of these bills were passed by the assembly and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
in October 2005. By December 2005, both bills had been struck down in court by Judge Ronald Whyte as unconstitutional, thereby preventing either from going into effect on January 1, 2006. Similar bills were subsequently filed in such states as Michigan and Illinois, but to date all have been ruled to be unconstitutional.
In 2005, in reaction to such controversial games as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
along with Senators Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
and Evan Bayh
Evan Bayh
Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III is a lawyer, advisor and former Democratic politician who served as the junior U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011. He earlier served as the 46th Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh is a current Fox News contributor as of March 14, 2011.Bayh first held...
, introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act
Family Entertainment Protection Act
The United States Family Entertainment Protection Act was a bill introduced by Senator Hillary Clinton , and co-sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman , Tim Johnson and Evan Bayh on November 29, 2005...
(S.2126), intended to protect children from inappropriate content found in video games by imposing a federal mandate for inclusion of ESRB
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
ratings. All three senators have actively sought restrictions on video game content with Sen. Lieberman denouncing the violence contained in video games and attempting to regulate sales of violent video games to minors, arguing that games should have to be labeled based upon age-appropriateness. Regarding Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
, Lieberman has stated, "The player is rewarded for attacking a woman, pushing her to the ground, kicking her repeatedly and then ultimately killing her, shooting her over and over again. I call on the entertainment companies—they've got a right to do that, but they have a responsibility not to do it if we want to raise the next generation of our sons to treat women with respect."
In June, 2006, the Louisiana case of Entertainment Software Association v. Foti
Entertainment Software Association v. Foti
Entertainment Software Association v. Foti is a lawsuit filed on June 16, 2006 claiming that a Louisiana law should be declared unconstitutional...
struck down a state statute that sought to bar minors from purchasing video games with violent content. The statute was declared an unconstitutional violation of the 1st Amendment. Amici filing briefs included Jack Thompson.
On September 27, 2006, Senator Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
(R-KS) introduced the United States Truth in Video Game Rating Act
Truth in Video Game Rating Act
The United States Truth in Video Game Rating Act is a bill introduced by Senator Sam Brownback on September 27, 2006. The act would require the ESRB to have access to the full content of and hands-on time with the games it was to rate, rather than simply relying on the video demonstrations...
(S.3935). The act would require the ESRB to have access to the full content of and hands-on time with the games it was to rate, rather than simply relying on the video demonstrations submitted by developers and publishers. Two days later, Congressman Fred Upton
Fred Upton
Frederick Stephen Upton is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1987. He is a member of the Republican Party and Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The district, based in Kalamazoo, stretches along the Michigan-Indiana border in the southwestern part of the state.-Early life,...
introduced the Video Game Decency Act
Video Game Decency Act
The United States Video Game Decency Act of 2007 is a proposed piece of U.S. video game legislation originally introduced into the 109th Congress as by Congressman Fred Upton on 29 September 2006. The bill was reintroduced into the 110th Congress as H.R...
(H.R.6120) to the House.
Lawsuits and legislative action have provided economic and legal impetus to the non-violent game movement. Although court holdings have tended to protect video game manufacturers' products as examples of free speech and free expression, the high publicity of these cases within the video game community together with the common legal tactic of interweaving a violent-video-game-to-high-profile-school-shooting narrative has had something of a chilling effect on ultra-violence in video games. Companies such as Nintendo have publicly expressed their desire for more family-oriented video games, and as public outcry over violence in video games has arisen, new non-violent video game manufacturers have stepped in to fill the market need for alternative video games.
Degrees of violence
Video game rating boards exist in a number of countries, typically placing restrictions (suggested or under force of law) for content that is violent or sexual in nature. Gamers seeking violence find themselves increasingly age restricted as identified violence level increases. This means that non-violent games, which are the least restricted, are available to all players at any age. This moral or legislative public policy against violence has the indirect effect of encouraging players of all ages and especially younger players to play non-violent games, however it also produces something of a forbidden fruitForbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is any object of desire whose appeal is a direct result of knowledge that cannot or should not be obtained or something that someone may want but is forbidden to have....
effect. For this and other reasons, the effectiveness of rating systems such as the ESRB to actually curb violent gameplay in youth gaming has been characterized as futile.
Table of violence ratings
| Violence Level/Rating System |    ESRBEntertainment Software Rating Board The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and... |  ACB |  OFLCOffice of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand) The Office of Film and Literature Classification is the government agency in New Zealand that is responsible for classification of all films, videos, publications, and some video games in New Zealand... | BBFC British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom... & PEGI Pan European Game Information Pan European Game Information is a European video game content rating system established to help European parents make informed decisions on buying computer games with logos on games boxes. It was developed by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe and came into use in April 2003; it... |  PEGIPan European Game Information Pan European Game Information is a European video game content rating system established to help European parents make informed decisions on buying computer games with logos on games boxes. It was developed by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe and came into use in April 2003; it... |  PEGIPan European Game Information Pan European Game Information is a European video game content rating system established to help European parents make informed decisions on buying computer games with logos on games boxes. It was developed by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe and came into use in April 2003; it... |  USKUnterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle is the organization responsible for computer game ratings in Germany.- Ratings :... |  MJ/DEJUS |  CEROComputer Entertainment Rating Organization The is a Japanese entertainment rating organization based in Tokyo. rating video game content in console games with levels of rating that informs the customer of the nature of the product and for what age group it is suitable... | TIGRS Video game content rating system A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of video games into suitability-related groups. Most of these systems are associated with and/or sponsored by a government, and are sometimes part of the local motion picture rating system... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exceeding violence | Banned | |||||||||
| Brutal violence | 18 | |||||||||
| Extreme violence Graphic violence Graphic violence is the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence in visual media such as literature, film, television, and video games... |
AO | Banned | ||||||||
| Sexual violence Sexual violence Sexual violence occurs throughout the world, although in most countries there has been little research conducted on the problem. Due to the private nature of sexual violence, estimating the extent of the problem is difficult... |
Banned | Labeled | ||||||||
| Gross violence | Noted | |||||||||
| Intense violence | Noted | |||||||||
| Strong violence | 16/18 | |||||||||
| Historical violence | 12 | |||||||||
| Realistic violence | Labeled | |||||||||
| Fictional violence | 12 | |||||||||
| Fantasy violence | E/E10+ | Labeled | ||||||||
| Cartoon violence Cartoon physics Cartoon physics is a jocular system of laws of physics that supersedes the normal laws, used in animation for humorous effect. Normal physical laws are referential , but cartoon physics are preferential .... |
E/E10+ | Labeled | ||||||||
| Violence Violence Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g... |
T/M | RC | Banned | Noted | Labeled | 14 | Labeled | |||
| Moderate violence | 16 | |||||||||
| Mild violence | E/E10+ | 10/12 | Noted | |||||||
| Minimal violence | E | 12 | ||||||||
| Non-violent Nonviolence Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general... |
EC | G | U | 3+ | Alle | L | A | Family Friendly | ||
| Rape Rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The... |
Noted | |||||||||
| Glorified Human rights Human rights Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national... violations |
18 | |||||||||
| Glorified war War War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political... |
18 | |||||||||
| Blood and Gore | AO | Noted | ||||||||
| Realistic Blood | Noted | |||||||||
| Blood Blood Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells.... |
M | Labeled | ||||||||
| Animated blood | E10+ | Noted | ||||||||
| Moderate blood | 18 | |||||||||
| Minimal blood | T | |||||||||
| No blood | EC | G | U | 3+ | Alle/6/12/16 | L | A | Family Friendly | ||
Gender perspective
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
, and a degree of tension exists in the field between the traditional stereotype of violence as a male-dominant characteristic and the realities of the marketing data for violent games.
In 2008, an example of such studies was funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice to the Center for Mental Health and Media. These studies were released in the book, Grand Theft Childhood
Grand Theft Childhood
Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do is a book by Lawrence Kutner, Ph.D. and Cheryl K. Olson, Sc.D. In it, they draw various conclusions that run contrary to the rhetoric of some politicians and activists. Along with psychiatrist Eugene V...
, wherein it was found that among girls, nine of the "top ten [most popular video games] were nonviolent games such as Mario
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
titles, Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
or simulation game
Game (simulation)
A simulation game attempts to replicate various activities in "real life" in the form of a game for various purposes: training, analysis, or prediction. Usually there are no strictly defined goals in the game, just running around, playing as a character...
s" compared to a majority of violent games in the top ten favorites of boys. Ultimately, the conclusion reached in Grand Theft Childhood was that "focusing on such easy but minor targets as violent video games causes parents, social activists and public-policy makers to ignore the much more powerful and significant causes of youth violence that have already been well established, including a range of [non-gender-linked] social, behavioral, economic, biological and mental-health factors." This conclusion supports Surgeon General
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
Satcher
David Satcher
David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. FAAFP, FACPM, FACP is an American physician, and public health administrator. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health, and the 16th Surgeon General of the United...
's 2001 study (supra).
Despite this conclusion, general awareness of the issue together with traditional stereotyping has led a number of game developers and designers to create non-violent video games specifically for female audiences
Girl gamer
A girl gamer is a female who regularly engages in the playing of video games, role-playing games, or other games...
. Advertisement placement and other marketing techniques have in the past targeted women as more receptive to non-violent video game genres such as life simulation game
Life simulation game
Life simulation games is a sub-genre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual lifeforms...
s, strategy game
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
s, or puzzle video games. Although these genres often contain certain degrees of violence, they lack the emphasis on graphic violence characterized for instance by the first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
genre.
Religious perspective
Criticism for the violent aspects of video game culture has come from a number of anti-violence groups, and perhaps the most vocal of these are the numerous religious opposition groups. The moral codes of nearly all major religions contain prohibitions against murder and violence in general. In some cases this prohibition even extends to aggression, wrath, and anger. Violent video games, while merely vicarious in nature, have been the focus of religious disapproval or outrage in various circles. Notable anti-violent-video-game crusader, former attorney Jack Thompson is a self proclaimed Christian conservativeChristian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
, and his legal actions against violent video games have been intimately linked to his religious views. As groups like the fundamentalist Christian
Fundamentalist Christianity
Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...
population have increased in number of adherents, new marketing opportunities have developed contemporaneously. Several religion-centric games forums such as GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's "Religion and Philosophy" forum have developed within the greater gaming community in reaction to this growing niche.
Christian games
There has been a rapid increase in Christian video games in the last decade, however as Christian games have striven to compete with their more popular secular progenitors, there has been an increasing number of games released that blur the lines between Christian and non-Christian values. Jack Thompson, for instance, has publicly decried such Christian games as Left Behind: Eternal ForcesLeft Behind: Eternal Forces
Left Behind: Eternal Forces is a Christian real-time strategy game developed and published by Inspired Media Entertainment for Microsoft Windows. It was released on November 7, 2006...
, stating "It's absurd, ... you can be the Christians blowing away the infidels, and if that doesn't hit your hot button, you can be the Antichrist blowing away all the Christians." (The game reviewers IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, Ars Technica
Ars Technica
Ars Technica is a technology news and information website created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, science, technology policy, and video games. Ars Technica is known for its features, long articles that go...
and GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
have disagreed that "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" is overtly violent.) Similarly, James Dobson, PhD., founder of the Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
group, has advised parents in relation to video games to "avoid the violent ones altogether.
Although Christian games have been around since Sparrow Records
Sparrow Records
-Background:Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group, and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label"...
' Music Machine for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, there have been few genres as unassailably violent as that of the first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
(FPS). The majority of games that have been banned for violence have been FPS games, and for this reason, Christian games in the FPS genre have struggled to overcome the blurring effects of the violence inherent to the genre. Games such as Revelation 7 and Xibalba, for instance, have attempted to avoid claims of violence by using "off the wall" absurdist
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
humor with enemies such as flying, bat-winged clown heads (modeled after the biblical Jezebel
Jezebel (Bible)
Jezebel was a princess, identified in the Hebrew Book of Kings as the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre and the wife of Ahab, king of north Israel. According to genealogies given in Josephus and other classical sources, she was the great-aunt of Dido, Queen of Carthage.The Hebrew text portrays...
) that shoot rays out of their nose, or alien Nazis (a mocking reference to Raëlian
Raëlism
Raëlism is a UFO religion that was founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël.The Raëlian Movement teaches that life on Earth was scientifically created by a species of extraterrestrials, which they call the Elohim...
religious beliefs) Other Christian FPS games such as Eternal War have avoided the issue by expressing the view that justified violence is morally acceptable.
Some of these games, despite containing objectively violent content, have been affirmatively labeled "non-violent video games" by marketers and faith-based non-violent gaming communities. In direct response to the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
(alleged to have been caused by the shooters' obsession with the game, Doom), Rev. Ralph Bagley began production on Catechumen, a Christian first-person game produced by N'Lightening Software involving holy swords instead of guns. In Catechumen, the player fights inhuman demons using holy armament. When "sent back" the demons produce no blood or gore, and for this reason it has been described as a non-violent game. The intent of Catechumen, according to Rev. Bagley, is "to build the genre of Christian gaming. People are tired of having these violent, demonic games dictating to their kids." Among Christian FPS games, a lack of gore has often been used as the minimum standard for non-violence. Christian game reviewers have at times characterized non-Christian games such as Portal and Narbacular Drop
Narbacular Drop
Narbacular Drop is an environmental puzzle video game developed by Nuclear Monkey Software. It was released free online in 2005 on PC . It was the senior game project of students attending DigiPen. The gameplay consists of navigating a dungeon using an innovative portal system...
as comparatively non-violent games despite their lack of a Christian focus.
An example of a notable Christian video game organization is the Christian Game Developers Foundation, focusing on family-friendly
Family-friendliness
Entertainment or information is called "family friendly" if it is considered suitable for all members of the average family. In particular it means that it is not considered inappropriate for children, which may imply restrictions on engagement in, or depiction of, nudity, sex, violence, horror,...
gameplay and Biblical principles.
Hindu games
In 2006, Escapist magazine reported that a Hindu first-person shooter entitled My Hindu Shooter was in the works. In My Hindu Shooter, a game based on the Unreal EngineUnreal Engine
The Unreal Engine is a game engine developed by Epic Games, first illustrated in the 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal. Although primarily developed for first-person shooters, it has been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including stealth, MMORPGs and RPGs...
, the player employs the Vedic
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
abilities of astrology, Ayurvedic healing
Ayurveda
Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...
, breathing (meditation), herbalism
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
, Gandharva Veda music, architecture (which let you purify demonic areas) and yagyas
Yajna
In Hinduism, yajna is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...
(rituals). Gameplay involved acquisition of the siddhi
Siddhi
is a Sanskrit noun that can be translated as "perfection", "accomplishment", "attainment", or "success". The term is first attested in the Mahabharata. In the Pancatantra, a siddhi may be any unusual skill or faculty or capability...
s of clairvoyance, levitation, invisibility, shrinking and strength, and the ultimate goal of the game was to achieve pure consciousness by removing karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
through completion of quests and cleansing the six chakra
Chakra
Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...
s in ascending order. The only way to actually win the game is to complete it without harming or killing any other living creature. Despite the violence-free requirements of the main character, however, a player could die and be reincarnated in a number of different forms like a human, a pig, a dog, or a worm. Whatever form you came back as would limit the way in which you could interact with other characters in the game. Like the majority of games that have been labeled non-violent, violence in the game that is applied to the character rather than that the character applies is not considered to make the game a violent game.
Buddhist games
According to Buddhist morality, the first of the Five Precepts of ŚīlaSila
Śīla or sīla in Buddhism and its non-sectarian offshoots, is a code of conduct that embraces self-restraint with a value on non-harming. It has been variously described as virtue, good conduct, morality, moral discipline and precept. It is an action that is an intentional effort...
is a commandment of non-violence. This moral mandate extends to human as well as non-human life, and as such it runs directly against much of the violence that characterizes today's video games. Although primarily browser game
Browser game
A browser game is a computer game that is played over the Internet using a web browser. Browser games can be created and run using standard web technologies or browser plug-ins. Browser games include all video game genres and can be single-player or multiplayer...
s, a number of stand-alone video games eschewing violence, such as the 2007 Thai game, Ethics Game have been created that promote the Five Precepts and Buddhism generally. The Buddhist concept of dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
has been emphasized in a number of Buddhist games as a reaction to perceptions of the adharmic
Adharma
Adharma is the Sanskrit antonym of Dharma. It means 'that which is not in accord with the law' - referring to both the human written law and the divinely given law of nature. Connotations include unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, wickedness, or vice....
state of modern games. The concept of Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
has also influenced a number of nonviolent video games such as Zen of Sudoku
Zen of Sudoku
Zen of Sudoku is a Sudoku based computer game developed by Charlie Cleveland of Unknown Worlds Entertainment and released on June 20, 2006...
, and The Game Factory's Zenses series.
Jewish games
While the earliest games to feature a Jewish main character (the Wolfenstein seriesWolfenstein (series)
Wolfenstein is a franchise of World War II fantasy-themed computer and video games first developed by Muse Software and followed up by id Software...
' William "B.J." Blazkowicz) are characterized by militant anti-Nazism
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
, a number of non-violent Jewish games (such as the Avner series by Torah Educational Software (TES)) primarily aimed at younger audiences has emerged with the intention of promoting Jewish religious concepts related to the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
. One notable non-violent game that explores Jewish themes is The Shivah
The Shivah
The Shivah is a computer game designed and developed by Dave Gilbert with the assistance of others . The game was originally developed for the Monthly Adventure Game Studio 5th anniversary competition in June 2006, which it won...
, a puzzle-adventure game featuring a non-violent battle between Rabbis that takes the form of an insult swordfight.
Muslim games
Despite notoriety in the Western press for controversial violent games such as Under AshUnder Ash
Under Ash is a first-person shooter sometimes explained to be a response to how Arabs are pictured in computer games in general and America's Army in particular...
, and Under Siege, Muslim developer Afkar Media has also produced at least one non-violent game entitled Road Block Buster. In Road Block Buster the hero must "jump[] around [] doing tricks to soldiers ... [attempt] to get over any barrier or road block implanted by Israeli Defense forces without using violence, [and] earn respect by helping surrounded people whom [sic] can't get through the separation walls."
Sikh games
Exceptionally rare, the few Sikh games (e.g. Sikh Game) in existence are primarily browser-basedBrowser game
A browser game is a computer game that is played over the Internet using a web browser. Browser games can be created and run using standard web technologies or browser plug-ins. Browser games include all video game genres and can be single-player or multiplayer...
. Sarbloh Warriors
Sarbloh Warriors
Sarbloh Warriors is a computer game in development by Taranjit Singh, a Birmingham-based Sikh video game creator. It is touted as the first game mod with the theme of Sikhism...
, planned to contain mild violence, and characterized by the BBC as Anti-Muslim, entered production as a major Sikh game, but seems to have left active production around 2007.
Bahá'í games
In January 2007, artist Chris Nelson produced a non-violent art gameArt game
An art game or arthouse game is a video game that is designed in such a way as to emphasize art or whose structure is intended to produce some kind of reaction in its audience. Art games typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often standing out for aesthetic beauty or...
called The Seven Valleys which he exhibited during the ACSW conference at the University of Ballarat
University of Ballarat
The University of Ballarat is a dual-sector university in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It was formed by the passage of an Act of the Victorian Parliament in 1994, from the Ballarat College of Advanced Education...
. Based on the Unreal Tournament
Unreal Tournament
Unreal Tournament is a futuristic first-person shooter video game co-developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. It was published in 1999 by GT Interactive. Retrospectively, the game has also been referred to as UT99 or UT Classic to differentiate it from its numbered sequels...
engine, The Seven Valleys was designed with the intention of "illustrat[ing] the unillustratable, and 'subvert[ing]' the image of violent video games in the process." Nelso was interviewed by ABC Radio on the subject in February of the same month.
Taoist games
Video game publisher, DestineerDestineer
Destineer is a computer game developer and publisher based in Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 2000 by former Bungie Studios vice-president, Peter Tamte...
's non-violent puzzle video game, WordJong for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
has been considered a Taoist puzzle game.
Religion neutral games
Non-profit organization ' Heartseed ' set out to produce several non-violent games, drawing inspiration from a claimed agreement between several religions under the sign of nonviolence: "Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism and others, - because throughout all of them can be found a common thread of decency meant to propel us toward spiritual enlightenment". This project seems to have been discontinued.Types of non-violent video games
Non-violent video games as a genre are characterized as a genre by purpose. Unlike genres described by style of gameplay, non-violent video games span a wide number of gameplay genres. Defined in the negative, the purpose of non-violent games is to provide the player with an experience that lacks violence. Many traditional gameplay genres naturally lack violence and application of the term "non-violent video games" to titles that fall under these categories raises no questions regarding accuracy. For game developers and designers who self-identify as non-violent video game makers, however, the challenge has been to expand the concepts of non-violence into such traditionally violent gameplay genres as action gameAction game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
s, role-playing games
Role-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
, strategy game
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
s, and the first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
.
Emergent and more recent gameplay genres such as music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
s are for the most part naturally non-violent. Purposive video game genres such as educational game
Educational game
Educational games are games that have been designed to teach people about a certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play...
s also are primarily non-violent in nature. Other electronic game genres like audio game
Audio game
An audio game is an electronic game played on a device such as a personal computer. It is similar to a video game save that the only feedback device is audible rather than visual....
s are also most frequently non-violent. The indisputably non-violent nature of these games are often considered self-evident by members of both the non-violent gaming community and the gaming community at large. As such they are often not explicitly identified as such. Typically, explicit identification is applied counterintuitively to titles where there might otherwise be a question concerning non-violence. This has led such categorization to be viewed with mistrust, hostility, and mockery by those who fail to recognize the comparative nature of the definition or who disagree fundamentally with the underlying purpose of the genre.
Traditionally non-violent games
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s, life simulation game
Life simulation game
Life simulation games is a sub-genre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual lifeforms...
s, construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulation is a type of simulation game in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Strategy video games sometimes incorporate CMS aspects into their game economy, as players must manage resources while expanding...
games, and some vehicle simulation game
Vehicle simulation game
Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. This includes automobiles, aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, and a variety of other vehicles...
s among others. These games are generally less frequently described as non-violent due to the self-evident nature of the descriptive term. Prior to the development of games specifically designed for non-violence, non-violent gamers were limited to these traditionally non-violent genres, however a number of games even under the traditionally non-violent umbrella may be considered arguably violent. Minesweeper
Minesweeper (computer game)
Minesweeper is a single-player video game. The object of the game is to clear an abstract minefield without detonating a mine. The game has been written for many system platforms in use today....
, for instance, is an abstraction of a scenario that often leads to a patently violent result.
Other common traditionally non-violent genres include adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s, puzzle games, music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
s, programming game
Programming game
A programming game is a computer game where the player has no direct influence on the course of the game. Instead, a computer program or script is written in some domain-specific programming language in order to control the actions of the characters...
s, party games, and traditional game
Traditional game
In computer and video games, a traditional game is a computer program adaptation of a non-computer game . Board games and card games have been around for many years such as Go which is thought to have been around in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago, and although it is not known exactly when...
s.
Examples of traditionally non-violent games include:
- Sudoku GridmasterSudoku GridmasterSudoku Gridmaster is a Touch generations puzzle game for the Nintendo DS, released on March 23, 2006 in Japan, June 26, 2006 in the United States and October 27, 2006 in Europe. It was developed and published by Hudson Soft in Japan, and published by Nintendo in the rest of the world...
- A totally non-violent game wherein the player must assign the mathematically appropriate number to the corresponding blank in a grid. - Roller CoasterRoller Coaster (video game)Roller Coaster is a platform-based game which contains some strategy and puzzle elements. Uniquely it holds the claim of being the first video game to ever simulate amusement rides....
- A game featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must navigate a dangerous amusement park to collect pieces of money. - AlleywayAlleywayis a video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo as a global launch title for the Game Boy. It is a Breakout clone and one of the first four games developed and released for the system. The game was released first in Japan in 1989, in North America later that...
- A game with only environmental hazards featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must break blocks (mild violence) with a ball while avoiding the floor of the level. - The Eggerland series - A series with enemies featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must solve block-sliding puzzles in order to secure a key and unlock the door to the next room.
- RobotsRobots (computer game)Robots is a computer game originally developed for the Berkeley Software Distribution—a derivative of Unix—by Ken Arnold. In the turn-based game, players are tasked with escaping robots programmed to kill them. Since then it has been reproduced as clone games for various platforms.-Gameplay:Robots...
- A game lacking violence to sentient beings wherein a player must either bomb malfunctioning robots or conserve bombs by stepping strategically in order to induce the robots to crash into one another.
Non-violent action games
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
have tended to shy away from this kind of realism in favor of cartoon and fantasy violence, a concept also implicated in the increase of youth violence by media violence research
Media violence research
Research into the media and violence examines whether links between consuming media violence and subsequent aggressive and violent behavior exists...
ers. This has created a spectrum of violence in action games. Non-violent video game proponents have labeled a number of games containing comparatively low-level violence as non-violent as well as games such as the anti-violent serious game
Serious game
A serious game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to products used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, religion,...
, Food Force
Food Force
Food Force is an Educational game published by the United Nations World Food Programme in 2005. Due to its content, it is considered a serious game . Players take on missions to distribute food in a famine-affected country and to help it to recover and become self-sufficient again...
.
Studies have also shown that there are tangible benefits to violence in action games such as increased ability to process visual information quickly and accurately. This has led to support for the development of action games that are non-violent which will allow players to retain the positive visual processing benefits without the negatives associated with violence.
Examples of non-violent action games include:
- SeiklusSeiklusSeiklus is a platform game for Microsoft Windows. It was created by a single author, cly5m, using Game Maker over a period of approximately 6 months.- Overview :...
- A totally non-violent game wherein the player traverses a natural landscape as a small person in order to get to the end. - Sunday FundaySunday FundaySunday Funday is a Christian video game that was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Wisdom Tree, formerly a subsidiary label of Color Dreams, in 1995. The game was the last to be released by any company for the American NES...
- A game featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player avoids bullies, clowns, and businessmen in order to skateboard to Sunday schoolSunday schoolSunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
. - Knytt - A game with only environmental hazards featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must guide a small creature through a series of caverns and mountains containing pitfalls and hazards in order to get to the end.
- Marble MadnessMarble MadnessMarble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny, and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a...
- A game with enemies featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must navigate his way through a marble maze while enemy marbles and other enemies attempt to knock him off or otherwise destroy him. - BarbieBarbie (video game)Barbie is an English language multiplatform video game Hi Tech Expressions starring Mattel Inc.'s Barbie. It is one of the few explicitly girl oriented Nintendo Entertainment System games.-Gameplay:...
- A game lacking violence to sentient beings wherein BarbieBarbieBarbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
must rescue Ken by defeating a host of shopping-mall-related machines gone haywire. - Barney's Hide and SeekBarney's Hide and SeekBarney's Hide and Seek is a game that was released on June 1, 1993 by Sega of America for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis video game system....
- A game lacking violence to any living creature; the player must find children and missing objects. The game is also educational and teaches young children about safety lessons.
Other Notable Examples:
- Crash Dummy Vs The Evil D-TroitCrash Dummy Vs The Evil D-TroitCrash Dummy vs. the Evil D-Troit is an action game developed by Italian developers Twelve Interactive for the Wii and PlayStation Portable. The game is based upon the crash test dummies used in vehicle safety inspections....
- Treasure Quest - a puzzle/action game
- Knytt Stories
- Steer MadnessSteer MadnessSteer Madness is an animal rights inspired adventure video game developed and published by Veggie Games Inc. The game was released in December 2004 on CD-ROM for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh.-Gameplay:...
- a vegetarian-themed game endorsed by PETAPeople for the Ethical Treatment of AnimalsPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
Non-violent first person shooters
The application of the term "non-violent" to genres such as the first-person shooterFirst-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
(FPS), that many players consider inherently or definitionally violent, has at times generated vociferous arguments that the concept is inconceivable and at best oxymoronic. This argument typically derives from a strict definition of violence as "extreme, destructive, or uncontrollable force especially of natural events; intensity of feeling or expression, " a definition by which the vast majority of video games may be described as violent. Despite arguments to the contrary, however, such characterizations have been employed as a marketing tool by makers and distributors of non-violent video games, and the degree of popularity enjoyed by games so described may be attributed to the comparative violence of other more violent members of the supergenre.
Non-violent first-person shooter developers have expressed the notion that it is the challenge of making a non-violent game in a violent genre that motivates them in part. Rarely, FPS games such as Garry's Mod
Garry's Mod
Garry's Mod is a sandbox physics game using the Source engine. Garry's Mod has been available on Steam's content delivery service since November 29, 2006...
and Portal that have been developed without the specific intent of non-violence have been identified by reviewers and the non-violent gaming community as non-violent FPSes. Such characterizations have led to the concern that parents may allow their children to play these games, not realizing that there are still some elements of violence including violent deaths. Further ambiguities arise when determining whether a game is a first-person shooter, as in certain games such as Narbacular Drop
Narbacular Drop
Narbacular Drop is an environmental puzzle video game developed by Nuclear Monkey Software. It was released free online in 2005 on PC . It was the senior game project of students attending DigiPen. The gameplay consists of navigating a dungeon using an innovative portal system...
, the player doesn't shoot anything at all, but merely clicks walls with the cursor. Similarly, in games such as realMyst, the player merely interacts with the environment by touching things in the first-person and the term "shooter" is seen to be objectively inaccurate. Despite this, non-violent first-person games have often been characterized oxymoronically as shooters because of all comparable genres, these games are most closely similar to the FPS and often employ engines designed for the FPS genre.
Often modeled upon violent FPS games, non-violent FPSes such as Chex Quest
Chex Quest
Chex Quest is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café as a Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 9 and up...
or the newer Sherlock Holmes games, may bear striking resemblance to the violent game whose engine they are using. Developers of such games often have done little to change the game other than replacing violent or scary imagery and recasting the storyline to describe "zorching", "slobbing", or otherwise non-lethally incapacitating enemies. Examples of simple changes intended to reduce violence for non-violent FPSes include the alteration of the red shroud from the death-sequence in Doom to become the green shroud from the slime-sequence in Chex Quest or the removal of the red shroud from the death-sequence in Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
for the deaths in Portal. At times, similarities between violent progenitors and their non-violent descendants have proved strong enough that the non-violent developers have cast their game as a spoof of the violent version. This is apparent in Chex Quest. Off-beat and absurdist humor have been employed in a number of games order to tone down the serious content by makers of non-violent FPSes.
One subgenre of the FPS that typically is not characterized as non-violent despite the fact that gameplay revolves to a great degree around avoidance of battle, is that of stealth games. Although much of the gameplay characteristic to stealth games accords closely with the requirements of the non-violent genre, stealth games most frequently simply delay chaotic violence to focus instead upon controlled precision violence.
Examples of non-violent FPSes include:
- realMyst - A totally non-violent game wherein the player explores a lavish 3D environment and solves point-and-click puzzles.
- H.U.R.L.H.U.R.L.H.U.R.L. is a nonviolent video game aimed at children that was released in 1995 by a publishing house called Deep River Publishing. It is a first-person shooter , and is part of the wave of nonviolent FPSes that followed closely on the release of Doom and other games such as Wolfenstein 3D in the...
- A game featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must navigate a playing-field avoiding enemies as they attempt to "slob" him with trash. - Narbacular DropNarbacular DropNarbacular Drop is an environmental puzzle video game developed by Nuclear Monkey Software. It was released free online in 2005 on PC . It was the senior game project of students attending DigiPen. The gameplay consists of navigating a dungeon using an innovative portal system...
- A game with only environmental hazards featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must navigate his way out of a dungeon filled with hazards. - Chex QuestChex QuestChex Quest is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café as a Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 9 and up...
- A game with enemies featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player must rescue his fellow cereal-pieces by "zorching" hordes of flemoids back to their home planet with various zorch guns. Instead of the player's face bleeding, the Chex piece becomes progressively more covered in slime. - DescentDescent (video game)Descent is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Entertainment Corp. in 1995. The game features six degrees of freedom gameplay and garnered several expansion packs...
- A game lacking violence to sentient beings wherein the player, in a ship, rescues human miners trapped in mines guarded by malfunctioning mining robots. The player has to navigate maze-like mines in order to save the hostages and shutdown the malfunctioning mine.
Other Notable Examples:
- Chex Quest 2Chex Quest 2Chex Quest 2 was released in 1997, after the release of the cereal box promotional game Chex Quest, and was available exclusively from the official Chex Quest website...
- a non-violent Doom cloneFirst-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
advergameAdvergamingAdvergaming is the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint. The term "advergames" was coined in January 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis, and later mentioned by Wireds "Jargon Watch" column in 2001... - ElebitsElebits, known in PAL territories as Eledees, is an action/first person shooter game developed by Konami Digital Entertainment and published by Konami for the Wii...
- A WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
-based first-person hide-and-seek game - Extreme PaintbrawlExtreme PaintbrawlExtreme Paintbrawl is a paintball video game released for Microsoft Windows/DOS on October 20, 1998. The game uses a modified version of the Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition v1.5 executable.-Criticism:...
- A non-lethal paintballPaintballPaintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
FPS - Foreign GroundForeign GroundForeign Ground is a first-person perspective game developed by Swedish National Defence Collegethat simulates peace keeping operations. Instead of focusing on combat, like most other games do,...
- Greg Hastings Tournament PaintballGreg Hastings Tournament PaintballGreg Hastings' Tournament Paintball is a T-rated first person paintball game released exclusively for the Xbox. The game gathered a cult following, consistently appearing on the Xbox Live Top 25 list posted by Major Nelson, peaking at the number nine position. A sequel, Greg Hastings Tournament...
- A non-lethal paintballPaintballPaintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
FPS - Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'DGreg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'DGreg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'D is a E10+ rated, action sport, first person shooter developed by The Whole Experience, under joint venture with Paintball Players Productions, LLC, and published by Activision on Xbox, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation 2...
- A non-lethal paintballPaintballPaintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
FPS - Ken's LabyrinthKen's LabyrinthKen's Labyrinth is a first-person shooter DOS game, released in 1993 by Epic Megagames . It was mostly coded by Ken Silverman, who went on to design the Build engine that was used for rendering a first-person viewpoint in Apogee Software's Duke Nukem 3D...
- a non-violent WolfensteinWolfenstein (series)Wolfenstein is a franchise of World War II fantasy-themed computer and video games first developed by Muse Software and followed up by id Software...
clone - Laser ArenaLaser ArenaLaser Arena is a FPS PC game designed to simulate laser tag. Play modes include Free for All , Team Match, Duel, Domination and Mega Target. Players have 3 "health canisters", and every hit diminishes one of them...
- non-violent arena-style laser tagLaser tagLaser tag is a team or individual sport or recreational activity where players attempt to score points by tagging targets, typically with a hand-held infrared-emitting targeting device. Infrared-sensitive targets are commonly worn by each player and are sometimes integrated within the arena in...
FPS - Nerf Arena BlastNerf Arena BlastNerf Arena Blast is a first-person shooter developed by the now-defunct Visionary Media Inc. in 1999, and was touted as a "family-friendly alternative to Unreal Tournament"...
- A non-lethal NerfNerfNerf is a toy brand created by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. The acronym NERF stands for "Non-Expanding Recreational Foam". Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, but there are also several different types of Nerf toys, such as balls for sports like football,...
FPS - NRA Gun ClubNRA Gun ClubNRA Gun Club is a nonviolent first-person target shooting game by Crave Entertainment. The game allows gamers to enter the shooting range and shoot at paper targets, watermelons and sporting clays. The game contains over 100 licensed and recreated firearms. The game was rated by GameSpot 1.6 out of...
- A first-person target-shooting game - Super 3D Noah's ArkSuper 3D Noah's ArkSuper Noah's Ark 3D is an unlicensed video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and for DOS. It was released by the biblical video game producer Wisdom Tree in 1994, and was the only commercial SNES game that was not officially sanctioned by Nintendo...
- A non-violent Christian video game - Nanashi no GameNanashi no Game-Reception:As of September 30, 2008, Nanashi no Game has sold 60,000 copies in Japan. It was scored 30 out of 40 by Famitsu magazine.- Sequels :...
- non-violent Horror FPS Game from Japan
Non-violent role-playing games
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series or by recasting the enemies' deaths as "fainting," "sleeping," or becoming "stunned" as in the Pokémon series, however neither of these series has been explicitly labeled non-violent.
One rare example of an RPG that was designed as a non-violent video game is Spiritual Warfare, a game with enemies featuring a non-violent main-character wherein the player wanders about converting the denizens of his town to Christianity while fending off the attacks of wild animals with holy food. Another example is A Tale in the Desert
A Tale in the Desert
A Tale in the Desert is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game set in Ancient Egypt, run by the independent company eGenesis. The initial software download and all new content are free, with a monthly subscription required to play beyond the first 24 hours.-Gameplay:A Tale in the Desert...
, an MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
based on economic development.
Secular examples include Capcom's Ace Attorney series and Victor
Victor Interactive Software
Victor Interactive Software, Inc. was a Japanese video game software publisher and developer, established in 1970-08-03 as a division of Victor Entertainment.In 1996-10-01, Victor Entertainment Inc. merged with Pack-In-Video Co., Ltd...
's Harvest Moon series - a simulation/RPG game. Additionally, such RPGs as Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game developed for Windows by Black Isle Studios and released on December 12, 1999 by Interplay Entertainment. It takes place in Planescape, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy campaign setting...
, and Deus Ex
Deus Ex
Deus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...
have all been identified as containing certain modes of play that are mostly non-violent. This concept is also explored in the higher difficulty levels of the Thief series
Thief (series)
Thief is a series of stealth video games in which the player takes the role of Garrett, a thief in a fantasy/steampunk world resembling a cross between the Late Middle Ages and the Victorian era, with more advanced technologies interspersed...
.
Non-violent strategy games
As with role-playing games, strategy games have traditionally focused on the development and expansion of a group as they defend themselves from the attacks of enemies. Strategy games tend not to be explicitly described as violent, however they nearly universally contain violent content in the form of battles, wars, and other skirmishes. Additionally, strategy games tend to more often strive for realistic scenarios and depictions of the battles that result. Counteracting this violence, however, is the fact that strategy games tend to be set at a distant third party perspective and as such the violence of the battles tends to be minute and highly stylized.For the most part, non-violent groups have not explored this genre of violent game. Gender-marketers have designed strategy games for both male and female audiences, however gender-linked treatment of violence has not occurred in this genre and as such, male- and female-oriented strategy games tend to contain equal degrees of violence. Christian developers have made various attempts at the genre including Left Behind: Eternal Forces
Left Behind: Eternal Forces
Left Behind: Eternal Forces is a Christian real-time strategy game developed and published by Inspired Media Entertainment for Microsoft Windows. It was released on November 7, 2006...
in which the player attempts to convert as many civilians in an apocalyptic future as possible by raising their spirit level and shielding them from the corrupting influences of rock-and-roll music and general secularism. The game has been criticized by such anti-violent video game personalities as former attorney Jack Thompson for strategy involving the slaying of infidels and non-believers, and for the ability of players engaged in multi-play modes to play as the Antichrist on the side of the Forces of Satan.
Secular non-violent video game designers have emerged from the serious game
Serious game
A serious game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to products used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, religion,...
s movement and include such anti-violence titles as PeaceMaker, a game where the player tries to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and A Force More Powerful
A Force More Powerful
A Force More Powerful is a 1999 feature-length documentary film and a 2000 PBS series written and directed by Steve York about non-violent resistance movements around the world. Executive producers were Dalton Delan and Jack DuVall...
, a nonviolence-themed game designed by Steve York
Steve York
Steven H. York is a documentary filmmaker who has worked in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America on subjects ranging from religious fundamentalism to American history to nonviolent conflict.- Life and career :...
, a documentary filmmaker and director of Bringing Down a Dictator, a non violent resistance film featuring Ivan Marovic, a resistance leader against Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
who was instrumental in bringing him down in 2000. Though these games are anti-violent, however, failure on the part of the player leads to violence. Thus the goal of the game is merely shifted to active violence-prevention while the degree of violence used to challenge the player remains consistent with violent strategy games.
Some examples of relatively nonviolent strategy games include:
- E.T.: Cosmic Garden
- Outpost Kaloki XOutpost Kaloki XOutpost Kaloki X is a city-building video game for the Xbox 360 that places the player in the role of a manager, tasked with building a financially successful fantasy space station. Outpost Kaloki X is available for download from Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points...
- a strategy/simulation game - MudcraftMudcraftMudcraft is a web-based shockwave real-time strategy single player game. In the RTS genre, it uses gender-neutral gameplay designed for both core and casual gamers. Players control mud people, attempting to create structures and more mud people, as well as stay alive despite the elements and animals...
Non-violent sports games and non-violent vehicle simulations
According to the Funk and Buchman method for classifying video games, there are six categories into which games may be divided:- general entertainment (no fighting or destruction)
- educational (learning or problem solving)
- fantasy violence (cartoon characters that must fight or destroy things, and risk being killed, in order to achieve a goal)
- human violence (like fantasy violence, but with human rather than cartoon characters)
- nonviolent sports (no fighting or destruction)
- sports violence (fighting or destruction involved)
The separation of violent and nonviolent sports here illustrates a phenomenon also recognizable in the vehicle simulation game
Vehicle simulation game
Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. This includes automobiles, aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, and a variety of other vehicles...
genre. With both sport and vehicle simulation games, gameplay has traditionally been highly bipolar with nearly as many violent titles as non-violent. Just as there are non-violent and violent sports games, so too are there flight
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
and combat flight simulators
Combat flight simulator
Combat flight simulators are video games used to simulate military aircraft and their operations...
, space flight and space combat simulators
Space flight simulator game
A space flight simulator game is a genre of simulation video games that lets players experience space flight. Highly realistic examples lacking any sort of combat include Orbiter and Microsoft Space Simulator...
, and racing games and vehicular combat games
Vehicular combat game
Vehicular combat games are typically video or computer games where the primary focus of play concerns automobiles or other vehicles, normally armed with guns or other weaponry, attempting to destroy vehicles controlled by the CPU or by opposing players...
. Distinction of games as violent or non-violent here serves a purely practical purpose as gameplay may differ considerably beyond the merely aesthetic.
Such sports as Ping-pong
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, and billiards, have in the past been identified as nonviolent. A common example of a nonviolent game that has been employed in a number of studies and government committee reports is NBA Jam: Tournament Edition.
An example of a notable non-violent sports game company is Kush Games
Kush Games
Kush Games was a video game developer based out of Camarillo, California. They focused on non-violent, sports video games such as MLB Baseball 2K and NHL 2K...
.
See also
- A Modest Video Game ProposalA Modest Video Game ProposalA Modest Video Game Proposal is the title of an open letter sent by activist/former attorney Jack Thompson to members of the press and to Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein on October 10, 2005...
- Christian video games
- NonviolenceNonviolenceNonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...